Lifestyle Editing: Sorting out the Letters
Why do I always want to write "vacuum" with two "c"'s and one "u"?
Lifestyle Editing: Lessons from “The Little Prince”
Several years ago when the father dear and I were perusing a second-hand bookstore, he came across Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince. He told me that he had been forced to read the book when he was in grade school, and that he had disliked it based on the excessive amounts of analysis that the teacher had instructed the class to do. Even with this memory, however, the father dear bought the book for me - I cannot recall, now, whether he bought it because he thought that I would truly enjoy the story, or if he bought it because it's one of those books that everyone "should" read.
Regardless of the reason behind the gift, I did indeed read the small book (which can be finished in the space of a few hours), and I enjoyed it immensely. There is something very sweet, sorrowful, and real about The Little Prince and the characters in it. Here are some of the real-life lessons we can take away from this strange and compelling novella:
1) "Growing up" doesn't mean we have to lose perspective. As many people get older, they tend to become more set in their ways and value system. This, however, inhibits further growth, because it prevents us from seeing other points of view and from taking the time to slow down, really see the world, and enjoy ourselves. Adults may reach their peak physically, but mentally we should strive to continue our education (academically and/or from life experience).
2) Something may still be of "great consequence" to someone else, even if it is meaningless to you. That is what makes us all different, special, and unique. That is what enables us to connect with and relate to others and share our knowledge of the world. It's something to keep in mind when we encounter people with vastly different opinions from our own.
3) As with the baob trees overtaking small planets that the little prince is witness to, we should all be aware of "bad seeds". Continual maintenance of soil is necessary to stamp out bad seeds and cultivate good ones - just the same as we should cultivate that which is positive and healthy, and do what we can to prevent poor habits from developing.
4) We form our understandings of the world based on our experiences from and impressions of it. Thus one person may see the world entirely different from another - and thus we may have problems of miscommunication. We need to anticipate potential problems so as to deal with them immediately when they arise.
5) Too much time spent agonizing over money or careers or to-do lists will run us down and prevent us from appreciating life and the relationships that we have. As the fox in The Little Prince says, "...there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends anymore." (65). Put love first.
Have you read The Little Prince? Is there another book you've read recently that you extracted some life lessons from? Share in the comments below.
Preview of Thursday’s Blog Post
"Words are the source of misunderstandings."
The Little Prince, page 65.
Analyzing Everyday Rhetoric: The Puzzle of the Karma Cup
Tip cups are a common feature found in cafes. In recent years, the word "tip" has changed to "karma". By calling it a karma cup, the baristas of the cafe are likely increasing their chances of getting more tips. After all, if the patron believes (even subconsciously) that they will have "good karma" by leaving a tip, they will be more likely to do leave the tip.
Karma cups are a real puzzle to me. If one believes in karma at all, it sounds as though the basic premise of karma is that by doing something good for someone else's sake, one will be rewarded for their good deeds. However, it seems that labelling the tip cup as a "karma cup" isn't going to increase the likelihood of people giving tips for the sake of giving someone their just reward: instead, it seems more likely that patrons will be taking into consideration how they can bring back positive energy to themselves. And that contradicts the point of doing something for the sake of someone else, because in essence one is then giving the tip in the hope that it will return positively on them in the future.
When a cafe has a cup labelled "tip cup", the point of the cup is very clear. If you like the service, you drop a few coins in the cup. If you don't like the service, then you probably aren't going to open up your wallet. A tip cup is honest in its wording; the point of the cup is made clear and obvious.
"Karma cups", on the other hand, are a more subtle way to entice patrons to give money in the hopes that the world will return the "good deed" back to them. Even people who do not believe in karma or who are not superstitious are still liable to pause and think that it's worth it to leave a coin or two - just in case it promotes positive return in the future.
It would be interesting to do a study to find out if more customers leave money in a cup labelled "karma" over a cup labelled "tips". Personally I prefer the straight-up bluntness of giving a tip, rather than the notion of giving money in the event that it will benefit me. Gratuities should be for the people behind the counter who have done work that we appreciate; it shouldn't be something that we grudgingly hand over because we want "good karma" to come back to us. If it does, then so much the better - but that shouldn't be the main reason for why we tip.
What are your thoughts on the rhetoric of the karma/tip cup? Do you find yourself giving more when the label reminds you that you will benefit from your tip rather than if you just think about giving the money for the sake of the work that the person behind the counter has done? Do you think that a person who pours coffee and then hands it to you over the counter deserves a tip, or should a tip only be left for someone who has to wait on your table? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
The Practical Guide: Job Interview Tips, Part Two (The Interview)
Read our Job Interview Tips, Part One: Preparation before you check out this post.
Jobs do not tend to be handed to us on a silver platter. Although I haven't had too many job interviews, I have been able to learn a lot from the handful that I have had. For some people, job interviews are one of the scariest things they will ever have to do for the job. These tips could help you to pass your interview - and even to enjoy the interviewing process.
1) Dress appropriately. For an interview, I wouldn't be as concerned about wearing closed-toed versus open-toed shoes as I would about dressing in a professional manner. Don't wear anything too flashy and never wear jeans. A simple blazer can class-up most outfits. Be aware that the weather may take a turn for the worse, so have a back-up outfit ready: if you plan on wearing a skirt and pumps but then it begins to rain, it would certainly be a better choice to wear pants and shoes that won't fall apart (or cause you to slip on the sidewalk!). Rain pants and a rain jacket are another good option to protect your clothes. Don't worry about showing up looking ridiculous; you can pop into the washroom to peel off your outer layers and you will appear much more presentable than if you arrived looking like a drowned rat.
2) Accept the glass of water if/when it is offered. You will likely feel nervous throughout the interview, and your mouth is going to get dry fast from answering so many questions. Having a glass of water on hand will also give you something to reach for throughout the interview, and it will likely put you at ease. Choose water over coffee or tea if the options are offered, however - there's always the possibility that your hand will be a little shaky from nerves, and you definitely don't want to accidentally spill a hot beverage over yourself!
3) Allow your tone of voice and gestures to speak for you. You might say all the right things, but if you slouch or if you speak in a careless manner or use slang, the interviewer won't be very impressed. On the other hand, if you have difficulty in answering the questions but you have good posture, articulate your words well, and use your body language to indicate interest, the interviewer will be able to see that you have the capabilities to develop job-related skills over time.
4) Don't be afraid to ask questions. Ask for clarification if you do not understand something that the interviewer has said. You will fare better if you fully understand the question than if you try to cobble together a response which in fact has nothing to do with the question (and yes, I have unfortunately learned that from experience). Show interest in the company by inquiring as to how it is run and the experiences that both the employees and the clients have had.
5) Remember that the interviewer wants you to succeed. This is perhaps one of the best statements that I have ever heard an interviewer say. They aren't there to scare you off; they want a new employee just as much as you want a new job. If you act with polite confidence, offer a firm handshake, and think of the interviewer as a person with a similar interest and goal as your own - that is, for you (presumably the ideal candidate!) to get the job - then you will be in a much more comfortable position which will reflect in your demeanor.
What steps do you take to prepare for an interview?
The Practical Guide: Job Interview Tips, Part One (Preparation)
Jobs do not tend to be handed to us on a silver platter. Although I haven't had too many job interviews, I have been able to learn a lot from the handful that I have had. For some people, job interviews are one of the scariest things they will ever have to do for the job. These tips could help you to prepare for your interview - and even to enjoy the interviewing process.
1) Do your research. Know about the company, know about the people who work for it, and know about their mission statement. You don't have to memorize it all, but you should be able to have a good grasp of what the business does and the kind of people who work there. When you have an awareness of what kind of background the employees have, you can also use this to your advantage: if you notice that all of the employees have Bachelor of Science degrees but you have a Bachelor of Arts degree, play up your strengths as a creative individual with excellent communication skills, for example (not that I'm saying that those with a Bachelor of Science degree aren't as creative or as proficient with communicating - but a Bachelor of Arts is more likely to have to hone those skills in a university setting).
2) Know where and when the interview is. Don't necessarily assume the interview will be held at the place where you would be working. Figure out how you will get to the interview ahead of time so that you have an idea of how long it will take. Make sure that you check your phone and e-mail for messages the morning of the interview, just in case something unexpected has arisen and your interviewer is calling to change the time. Also find out who will be interviewing you, and how many people will be on the interview board. It may come as quite a shock if you are expecting to be interviewed by one person, only to learn upon your arrival that there are three people waiting for you!
3) Prepare for all kinds of different questions. Look up on the Internet for frequently asked interview questions. Think of several different scenarios in which you have been put in, and examine how you reacted to these situations in the past. Imagine potential obstacles you might come across in the job you are interviewing for, and work out how you will overcome them. Know what salary range you will be willing to take the job for.
4) Expect at least one question in which you will not know the answer. In one interview, I was asked if I prefer red or white wine, and what kind of tree I would be if I could be a tree. In another interview, I was asked for my opinion on a local news story. Yet another interview focused on questions about giving examples of situations in which I demonstrated leadership skills. All of these questions threw me for a loop. There's going to be something unexpected, no matter how prepared you are. Relax and take a moment to think about the question if you don't have an answer right away.
5) Know your strengths and weaknesses. Be able to pinpoint what you do well and what you can improve on, and be proactive to determine how you can improve on weaknesses (or, even better, how you have already been able to turn your weakness into a strength). The better you know yourself, the better you will be able to present yourself to your interviewer.
Check back next week for Job Interview Tips, Part Two: The Interview.
Forms of Rhetoric: Tips for Starting a Blog
Blogs are cropping up all over the Internet these days. They are a great way to get involved with a community, to have discussions with like-minded people, to share knowledge and get feedback on the opinions that you voice, and to promote a business, service, or product. Society has become so fast-paced now that it is also a good way to stay in touch with friends and family! If your father dear lives on the other side of the world, for example, it can be a way for him to keep tabs on you if you only write e-mails once or twice a week (*waves to the father dear*).
If you have never started your own blog before, here are a few essential tips to keep in mind:
1) Talk to someone who already has a blog. If you have absolutely no idea what you are doing and don't know what a widget is or the difference between Blogspot and WordPress, it will make your life much easier to sit down with someone who knows what they are doing so that they can explain it to you and walk you through the process. It's always fun to play around and make your own discoveries, but that is much more enjoyable to do after you have a grasp of how blogging and blogging platforms work. Get help from someone who has a little bit of experience.
2) Make use of forums and graphic designers. Getting a free blog is generally the best way to do it for beginner bloggers. My health blog was originally at Blogspot before I moved it to WordPress before I then became self-hosted (which means that I pay a small fee for my blog - the purpose of this is that it allows you to have a website address without the ".blogspot" or ".wordpress" in it, and it also gives you much more freedom to personalize the site). Having a free blog is an easier way to do it if you don't know what you are doing because everything is laid out in a very easy-to-understand format. But if you do have problems, or if you do decide to go the self-hosted route, then I definitely advise reading the Frequently Asked Questions pages and checking out the forums of your blogging platform. I also have an awesome graphic designer who makes my website look pretty because, frankly, I have very little knowledge of how websites work beyond the basics of writing a blog post. Get help from a professional to save yourself hours of confusion and frustration.
3) Choose your topic and audience. This can be a little vague when you first begin, but as you continue to blog you will find yourself writing more and more about one particular subject. I like the very generalized topics of "health" and "rhetoric", because they allow me a lot of freedom to write on a variety of topics. Many bloggers change their blog name over the years because they find that the title is too limiting for what they want to write about. Choose your blog title wisely (or just randomly choose a title that you sort of like which will then wind up being exactly perfect for what you blog about. Apparently I run off of intuition). Also be sure to keep in mind who your audience is: if you want to appeal to everyone, try not to neglect a whole group of people! Many of my blog posts at Living Healthy tend to have more of a feminine viewpoint, which may not be as interesting to male readers. It is important to recognize that and to come up with ways to prevent yourself from leaning too far to one side.
4) Start blogging because you love it. If you don't enjoy writing, or if your heart isn't really into the content of your work, then it will become a chore rather than a hobby. Where's the fun of that? Also go into it without any expectations of getting compensation for your work. Yes, some bloggers do make a living from writing blogs, but they are a small few. Most bloggers rely on a day job with their blog as a side project. When I first started my health blog, I never expected to have companies contact me to give me free items for product reviews. Now I find that I have to sometimes turn companies down because I have too many freebies coming in! It is one of the perks, but it isn't something that you should rely on to happen: it took at least a good solid year before I began receiving offers from companies. Your blog topic will also be a factor in whether or not you will be likely to eventually receive products. Because this rhetoric blog has such a specific focus, I think that it is highly unlikely that I will receive offers from companies beyond the odd book or two. But that is okay, because the blogging that I do is all about the love for it and the desire to spread awareness about the rhetoric all around us.
5) Keep it short and sweet. I will admit it: I do not follow this rule. I am known for my rambles and tangents. I write blog posts upwards of 1,000 words on my health blog when most readers probably only want to read blogs with about 500 words per article. But although I could shorten my posts, I feel that to do so would be to sacrifice my voice and to take away from the message that I'm trying to convey. I am fully capable of keeping articles short and sweet when it is necessary - I am always exactly at or just under my word count for the newspaper that I write for - but if I'm the one in control, I like there to be plenty of information for people to peruse if they so desire. Plus I'm kind of addicted to writing. That too.
6) Don't get discouraged. It may take five blog posts or 50 before you start getting more than one or two comments per post. The number of comments has no bearing on the number of readers. Some writing styles and some blog content are more accessible for people to respond to than other styles and content. Even if you look on your blog stats and you see that your readership is really low, it doesn't matter. Over time - and it may take months or years - your followers will expand (hopefully the group of followers, not the individuals, of course). Regardless of if they do, remember point number four: blog because you love it. Take this as a writing experience for yourself, as a personal project, as a way to expand your portfolio. Enjoy yourself and write for yourself just as much as for the people that you hope will find your writing to be helpful.
Now that I have grossly exceeded point number five, I would love to hear any advice you have for starting up a blog. Good experiences? Bad? Share them! And if you are ever in need of beginning a blog of your own, don't hesitate to ask for help - the more blogs the merrier!
The Practical Guide: Random Rare Word (Stolid)
When the boyfriend first began using this word, I was sure that he was making it up. It seemed like a combination of "stoic" and "solid", and according to the Canadian Oxford English Dictionary, it actually is rather similar to a cross between those two words! I have been enjoying integrating this word into everyday conversation. It's surprising how many circumstances offer the opportunity for its usage.
Stolid (adjective)
1. Failing or unlikely to feel or express emotion.
2. Failing or unlikely to excite emotion; dull, uninspired.
See also sto-lid-ity (noun), stol-id-ly (adverb), and stol-id-ness (noun).
Obsolete: French stolide or Latin stolidus.
Lifestyle Editing: From Snail Mail to E-mail
The current state of literacy is getting me down.
I do not think that it is only a romantic notion that our society was at one point quite adept at writing letters. At one point, I believe that people actually cared about composition and spelling and grammar. That appears to no longer be the case, at least for the majority of the population.
Although the speed of communication today is remarkable and desirable, it also has the drawback of being almost too fast. Once upon a time, we wrote letters to one another and sent them by post. The time it takes to write and mail a letter meant that we gave more thought to what it was that we were writing. We no longer take careful thought and consideration before communicating our ideas; instead, we simply type them into an e-mail and hit the "send" button without properly re-reading it. The most we'll do is scan the e-mail quickly to ensure it says what we want it to say.
What upsets me about this is that public relations representatives for companies are some of the worst at doing this. As a health blogger and review writer, I receive many requests from companies to write reviews for their products. An astonishing number of their media contacts will write to me with a word or punctuation missing from a sentence. These are common typos; mistakes that arise from carelessness and a belief that communicating quickly is more important than communicating in an articulate fashion.
It only takes a minute or two to copy and paste the e-mail into a Word document to check for spelling. It only takes an extra hour to set aside the e-mail correspondence after writing it, to return to it and read it over again and edit it for mistakes. I appreciate a prompt reply if I am corresponding with someone in the media, but I also appreciate seeing that the person has taken the time to consider what they are saying and how they are saying it.
Our work can never be edited too many times. There is always one more thing that we can change and improve. It doesn't have to be perfect when it goes public, but it should be as perfect as you can make it in the allotted time space that you have. Put the effort in to show that you care, and people will respond in kind.
Forms of Rhetoric: Print vs. Online Dictionaries
I covet dictionaries of all shapes and sizes. My Canadian Oxford English Dictionary is one of my most prized possessions. When I'm playing Scrabble and myself or my opponent constructs a word which I know of but do not know the exact definition for, I gleefully turn to the O.E.D. to learn the definition.
When my beloved O.E.D. is not available, I readily turn to an online dictionary (my go-to is Dictionary.com). It may not be as nice in terms of being able to hold it in my hands and flip the pages, but online dictionaries have their own benefits, too. Let's take a look at the values of these two types of resources:
Print Dictionaries
1. The hardcover versions - such as my Canadian Oxford English Dictionary - are absolutely gorgeous. They could be the centrepiece of a room. This kind of dictionary can serve as a coffee table book; it is as much an art piece as it is a functional material.
2. It includes extra references at the Index in the back of the book for good measure, such as a Style Guide and a brief History of the English Language. It is also arranged in a very organized fashion (alphabetical, of course), with little tabs along the side to show where the next letter begins.
3. When you're flipping through it, your eye is liable to be caught by a word that you might never have noticed before. This has the advantage of springing new words on you without you expecting it. Really fun words, like "meretricious" and "merganser"! It's a pleasure to come across words without warning.
Online Dictionaries
1. If you are without a dictionary - or if a dictionary is in another room and you're too lazy to leave your computer to run and get it - an online dictionary can find the word for you in a snap! It's right here at your fingertips. All you have to do is open a new browser window or tab and type in the word in the search bar.
2. When you inevitably misspell a word in the search bar, the online dictionary will come up with several suggested terms for the word that you might have intended to spell. This is a great feature, because it can be frustrating to open up a print dictionary and try to find a word when you aren't sure of a couple key letters at the beginning of the word. You'll be drowning in the dictionary for ages as you try to sludge through and find the word you want.
3. It has nifty additions such as a brief historical origin of the word you're looking up, in addition to options such as a thesaurus. It also provides random words of the day, Word Picks, and a translator feature.
So which is the best choice?
As far as I am concerned, print and online dictionaries each have their own positive and negative points. Nothing would ever induce me to get rid of my hardcover copy, but I also love the convenience of an online dictionary for those times when I want to know the definition of a word now. Moral of the story: a person can never have too many dictionaries at their disposal.
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Recent Posts
- Lifestyle Editing: Sorting out the Letters
- Lifestyle Editing: Lessons from “The Little Prince”
- Preview of Thursday’s Blog Post
- Analyzing Everyday Rhetoric: The Puzzle of the Karma Cup
- The Practical Guide: Job Interview Tips, Part Two (The Interview)
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