Author Archive

Last night I was browsing through very old old postings on my previous online Letmestayforaday guestbook. I lost counting, but I think there are some 10,000 posting in it.

An online guestbook is a type of online form that allows site visitors to sign in, leave comments or feedback, and review previous messages. That was way before blogs had their own comment entry forms, long before YouTube responses and instant twitter replies.Anyway…

It’s funny to recapture the discussions on it again (bottom to top).

First it was about my English spelling and grammar. A few folks were commenting on the mistakes I had made, however I am not a native English in any way. Others backfired on that discussion again and told the few they should not take my writing that serious and enjoy more along with my experiences in my daily reports.

One posting I still find incredible creative and I don’t even know if the poster wrote it herself. On June 25 in the year 2001 Nina from Panama posted these lines:

Lets face it: English is a terrible language.

There is no egg in the eggplant, no ham in the hamburger and neither pine, nor apple in the pineapple.

English muffins were not invented in England.
French fries were not invented in France.
We sometimes take English for granted.

But if we examine its paradoxes we find that Quicksand takes you down slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

If writers write, how come fingers don’t fing?
If the plural of tooth is teeth, shouldn’t the plural of phone booth be phone beeth?
If the teacher taught, why didn’t the preacher praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what the heck does a humanitarian eat!?
Why do people recite at a play, yet play at a recital?
Park on driveways and drive on parkways?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language where a house can burn up as it burns down and in which you fill in a form by filling it out.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which of course isn’t a race at all).

That is why when the stars are out they are visible, but when the lights are out they are invisible. And why it is that when I wind up my watch it starts but when I wind up this story it ends?

UPDATE:
These lines seem to have been created by the great mind of upper-wordaholic, logolept, and verbivore Richard Lederer. Check out this site I found about this British author.

This is Daniel. Daniel has leukaemia. Daniel needs a bone marrow transplant. Otherwise he dies.

Together with the student organisation ASLS Romania I am supporting the very necessary cause of a young Romanian, called Daniel Răduță who is diagnosed with leukaemia and who is in desperate needs of a bone marrow transplant.

A national online campaign (in Romania) has helped him raise 144,000 euros (!!!) so far, but he needs around 150,000 euros. Read the rest of this entry »

Because he is The Greatest Muppet Ever.
Search your heart.
You know it to be true.

All thanks to John Scalzi!

Nothing makes the economy appear sound like scores of corporations lining up to spend $3 million for a 30-second advertisement that may or may not help their company. Even after a year filled with government bailouts, Bernie Madoff and $4-plus gas, there’s still plenty of money for Super Bowl commercials.

But will this year’s advertisements be any good? Too often, today’s Don Drapers fail to look at what has worked in the past — mostly simple spots that involve animals, potty humor, violence, celebrities, sentimentality, a stupid catchphrase or some combination of the above.

Below are the choices of CBS and its voting audience for the 10 best Super Bowl ads of all time. Including the best of the best and the ones that did not make the Top 10. Whatever, Super Bowl Commercial Galore!

It’s the original show, broadcast a few days before the 44th Super Bowl in February 2010, but I cut out the bullshit mambo jambo of tv-hosts that repeat every thing three times and treat you like you are still in kindergarten too…

By the way, MSNBC also made its own list of best Super Bowl ads.

Twitter is a perfect democratic forum: if people don’t like what you have to say, they can vote with their fingers. With a quick click, choosing the unfollow or block features, your feed is forever removed from their life.
However, for businesses small and large, the goal of Twitter and other social media tools is to build relationships, not tear them down.

To master the fine art of friending followers, here are five ways to not be annoying. Read the rest of this entry »