As reluctant as I am to rob you of the joy of being greeted by the Animated Farting Brain atop my blog, I did want to nudge you with regard to a few of the features I've added recently to The Dept.
If you take a look along the sidebar, you'll encounter in Other Departments 2 new blogs: Catalina tu Vecina and Manolo's Shoeblog. The first is another look-at-life blog which has a question for commenters to answer every Wednesday; the second is a fun fashion blog written with a very definite persona and voice.
Scrolling farther down, after the archives (On File at the Dept.), I've added a new sidebar daily post: The NBC Evening News' Brian Williams Tie Report. This small feature will be updated daily--or at least every day that I watch the NBC Nightly News and Brian Williams is on it, sporting a cravat. I am obsessed with his tie selection (see my recent comments to Neil and Anali on last post), and I have decided to indulge myself. If anyone would like to bring this feature to the attention of Brian Williams, well, go ahead. I'm sure he'd be thrilled that someone is paying attention. I mean, I would be. And by the way, Brian Williams, your suit selection tonight was also spot on as well. I love the way you are setting a new trend with the extended shoulders, a sort of homage to the forties Bogart look. And I also detected the subtle pinstriping--don't think for one minute that I didn't. I did.
But I digress.
Directly below TNBCENBWTR (The NBC Evening News' Brian Williams Tie Report!) is the Official Angel of Death "Days Left in Office" Countdown Clock. If you want one of your own on your blog, just click the URL below it and you can travel to the site to get it. It's very comforting to watch the seconds and minutes tick away, knowing that it is, indeed, going to end. It really is. And I can watch it happen whenever I need to.
Now scoot down, down, down past all those funny buttons that allow you to get The Dept. on your mobile or your Yahoo! page or other ways that don't boost my Ego/Vanity (Hit Counter), and you'll see a little message about emailing me. Oh, but it's true! I set up an email account just so that you could email me directly in case you have comments that you don't want to share with the rest of the hoi polloi. Although, I have to tell you, The Dept. hoi polloi is extraordinarily discerning. By the way, hoi polloi is one of those terms which have become terribly misused. Most people think that hoi polloi is a term for uppity people. That is entirely incorrect. Hoi polloi means, literally "the common people." As a matter of fact, it is redundant to even say the hoi polloi. When you do, you are saying the the common people. But, as you can see by my usage above, it has passed into commonplace language, so it is a useless battle to fight, much like whom. But, we all must never stop fighting the battle against the non-word "irregardless." THAT IS NOT A WORD, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! PROMISE ME YOU WILL HELP MAKE IT STOP! Just say "regardless." It is enough. Ahem.
But I digress.
We were talking about emailing me by clicking on the handy and convenient "Click here" exhortation that I graciously provided for you. Please do make use of it should you like to.
Finally, has anyone ever gotten all the way to the bottom of my blog, ever? I mean, has anyone ever read my footer? Anyone know what the quote comes from? A Challenge! No Googling, now! What did we ever DO before Google? Makes me wonder if we know things now, or just know where to find them.
Regardless of the farting brain, I returned to your blog and enjoyed your new post.
ReplyDeleteHey, Nance, thanks for the plug!
ReplyDeleteNot to worry, I have the same pet-peeve with "irregardless." Here's my pet peeve: "If I would have known..." Just once I would like to hear a newscaster on TV say, "If I had known..."
I'm ashamed to say I don't know that quote! Off to Google it. One thing: You might want to change your settings so that the main page only shows the last two or three posts. Otherwise it's a heck of a long way to scroll down to see that quote. :-)
LOL! This is hilarious! I love the tie report!!! : )
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm sorry to say that this is the first time that I ever saw the footer. : (
I have noticed your quote before, long ago, but I quickly scrolled down to see if it had changed. Gatsby, right?
ReplyDeleteThank you for the hoi polloi definition. If one is going to be part of the hoi polloi, then you should know what it means!
Love the tie report. Fabulous addition!
mum--thanks for visiting The Dept., and especial thanks for the correct usage of REGARDLESS! you, as obviously one of the discerning hoi polloi, may stop by any time.
ReplyDeleteo'tizz--you're welcome. we educators must lift each other, mustn't we? with regard to your pet peeve, i shall help with your nerve-grater if you agree to assist with mine. and i also shortened my main page a bit. i had lengthened it at one time on someone else's advice. how funny!
anali--glad you like the Tie Report. i'm ashamed to admit how long it took me to figure out the HTML for it. i am not fluent in that language.
j.--good girl! it IS from The Great Gatsby, a remark by its narrator, Nick. I cannot wait to teach that novel; I adore it. When is the last time you re-read it? GET ON IT. hee hee.
v--
ReplyDeleteditto your sentiment re: "whom."
gets particularly tricky when clauses are employed. do you own a copy of Strunk & White's "Elements of Style"? Or a nice, sturdy classic Warriner's? Certainly the trendy "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" is pleasant and soothing reading, but it cannot replace either of those two when one is girding one's loins for serious battle.
I own Strunk and White but worship the no nonsense grammar and usage gods and goddesses at the Associated Press. Their manual is so neat, well organized, concise and clear, it is good NEWS (!) to writers everywhere.
ReplyDeletePlus, they go where others fear to tread by defining who gets to be Ivy League and precisely the difference between an off-Broadway play and an off-off-Broadway play. They even split hairs on the difference between pupils and students, but they let me split infinitives for the greater good of the writing. My kind of peeps.