Wordwork|play

Anti-Arab Bias in Dictionary Definitions

Though not much has happened on Wordwork|play for a few months, it has not been abandoned. It has merely been left to lie fallow for a while. I have continued to read, watch, think, and yes, cook, but I haven't done much writing. There is still more change afoot at my day job, and I'm moving to Hamilton at the end of June, but the change is now more measured and controlled. I think I'm almost ready to resume more regular writing here.

As for watching and thinking, my partner and I watched the 1997 biopic Wilde recently, a fascinating and ultimately frustrating biographical story in which two terms, used quite casually, got me thinking again about anti-Arab bias in dictionary definitions. On a few occasions, the dialogue contained the terms arab and street arab, terms with which neither of us were familiar, though negative connotations were clear.

A few days later, indeed within the same week, I came across this article from the Jordan Times about Merriam-Webster's decision to drop entries considered offensive to Arabs and Muslims. The terms at the center of the protest to Merriam-Webster, by Zarka University president Ishak Ahmad Farhan and the Professional Associations Council president Wael Saqqa, were anti-Semitism and arab. They would like to see the entries for these terms changed and/or dropped from the next edition.

While I would never suggest the dropping of entries from a dictionary or thesaurus, and indeed find it of the utmost importance that they be retained, I do believe that, as with other offensive and racist terms, the entries need to be clear about the fact that they are offensive and reference the context out of which they arose. Leaving them as they are serves not only to perpetuate negative racial stereotypes, but leads the reader to believe that these negative images are still held by the editors and publishers.   

So I did some investigating. My 2003, 2nd Edition Oxford Dictionary of English does not list the lowercase arab on its own, but does list street Arab as "noun archaic a raggedly dressed homeless child wandering the streets." The online Webster Dictionary lists Arab as "n. 1. One of a swarthy race occupying Arabia, and numerous in Syria, Northern Africa, etc.," and as a subcategory, "Street Arab a homeless vagabond in the streets of a city, particularly and (sic) outcast boy or girl." YourDictionary has, as definition 5 under Arab, "a waif left to roam the streets; street Arab." It lists street Arab separately as well. In my cursory search, only the Free Dictionary mentioned, in its definition, that it was 'sometimes offensive'.

The definition of anti-Semitism is another example. Semite is defined, in the Oxford Dictionary, as "noun a member of any of the peoples who speak or spoke a Semitic language, including in particular the Jews and Arabs." It is followed by an etymological reference to "Sem 'Shem', son of Noah in the Bible, from whom these people were traditionally supposed to be descended." Semitic is defined as "adjective 1 relating to or denoting a family of languages that includes Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic and certain ancient languages such as Phoenician and Akkadian, constituting the main subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic family. 2 relating to the peoples who speak these languages, especially Hebrew and Arabic."

The prefix anti-, as most of us know, stands for against, or opposed to. But put it in front of Semitic and it doesn't simply mean opposed to or against Semites. As pointed out in the aforementioned article, Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, defines anti-Semitism as: “opposition to Zionism: sympathy with opponents of the state of Israel.” What of the anti-Arab sentiment in which a great deal of the Western media and Hollywood blockbusters are soaked? Is this almost fashionable opposition to Arabs and Muslims, a people clearly defined as Semitic, not then anti-Semitism? It clearly is. But not according to our dictionaries.

I checked the definitions for a number of other offensive and racist terms -- Chink, gook, Jap, Kraut, nigger, and wop -- in my Oxford English dictionary and found all of them prefaced with 'informal, offensive' or some such acknowledgment. I think it's time the editors and publishers of modern English dictionaries did the same for terms offensive to Arabs. Leave the terms and definitions in the dictionaries, but at the very least be clear about the fact that they are offensive. And why not include a little historical context? Check arab and anti-Semitism at the Online Etymological Dictionary. There we find that the offensive definition of arab has to do with a settled people's bias against nomadic peoples. As for anti-Semitism, it is acknowledged that, though most commonly used to mean anti-Jewish, the term is not restricted to such use. It even suggests that "[t]hose who object to the inaccuracy of the term might try H. Adler's Judaeophobia (1882)." Why not use anti-Semitism as a general term for 'theories, actions, or policies' that are against Semites in general, and use more restrictive terms with reference to a specific Semitic people, i.e. Judaeophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Jewish, anti-Arab, anti-Assyrian, and so on?

Extended Break from Reviewing

It's been over a month since my last review. I feel bad about it, sometimes, but then remind myself that it is unpaid and entirely voluntary. It's a hobby, for now. But this type of hobby demands a lot in terms of time, focus, and energy.

Lately there has been a lot of change (I know, lead change, change is the only constant, etc.) at work and a fair bit of stress. While I don't usually take work home, the business and stress while at work makes me want to just relax once home. I have little energy left for serious writing. And yes, I do classify reviews as serious writing.

Anyway, when energy and focus are low, I end up working with and writing about food. People often talk about comfort food, but they are referring to particular dishes that give them comfort. I find working with and writing about food itself comforting. So most of what little energy I have left after work has lately been directed towards sprouting, cooking, and my food blog, Vegan Miscellanies.

Review of Something About the Blues Submitted

I finally managed to find some time to complete and submit my review of Al Young's Something About the Blues. It is awaiting publication on BC Magazine. I will post it here as soon as I see it there. Sorry for the very long delay.

In other news, I am almost done reading The Archimedes Codex, and I hope to get to its review soon.

Life Interrupts...

Life interrupts, and quite rudely, I might add. Consequently there hasn't been reviewing going on here of late.

Failed Experiment: Writing in Early Morning

A number of things robbed me of my time over the weekend, so I did not get my review of Something About the Blues written. And last night I was feeling really tired, so I came up with the plan to hit the sack early
to get up at 0400 and get a couple of hours of writing done before going to my day job.

No, I did not sleep through the alarm. I actually got up at 0400, turned on the computer, and came up with a prodigious amount of nothing. I didn't really feel tired. In fact, I was well rested. What I did discover was
this: inspiration does not strike me early. Creativity is at near zero in the wee hours. Whatever I managed to squeeze through the keyboard came out flat and lifeless. The lesson? If I want to get more than a few flaccid
sentences onto the page, I must do my writing in the evening. With my day job, of course, staying up late or pulling all-nighters is not really an option. Certainly not a wise one.

So, for anyone awaiting that review, please accept my apology. It will have to wait a bit longer.

LibraryThing

I discovered LibraryThing yesterday. It lets you create an online catalogue of your personal library. And you can post and read reviews, click on the books to buy them from Amazon, as well as get in touch with people who have similar libraries. Pretty neat.

I've begun adding my books to LibraryThing. It'll take a while though, as I have a lot of books and no barcode scanner. I have to enter them all manually, though even that is made quite easy.

Check out my library (in progress) on the right hand side of my site, near the top.

Update on Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets Review

My review of Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets should be posted very soon now. It has been written and is awaiting publication.

Now it's on to Al Young's Something About the Blues. I've already read a good chunk of the collection and have been listening to his poetry readings on the accompanying CD as well.

I look forward to sharing it with you soon.

Holiday Productivity

I haven't posted or published anything in a few days, aside from NODs. My day job has kept me rather busy the past week in preparation for the holidays, leaving little time or energy for reading or writing. Though I will spend some time with family over the holidays, I hope to get at least one review written and published, that of Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets, and get some reading done as well.

I don't celebrate Christmas. And I don't accept the oft-advanced argument that Christmas -- a holiday imposed on all of us through the audiovisual pollution of flashing lights and tinseled trees, Christmas carols, product pushing and the cheery-fake 'Merry Christmas' -- is merely a cultural affair. It is not. It is a Christian affair and should not, in a society that claims to have secular government and continues to welcome new immigrants from all parts of the world with the promise of religious freedom, equality and multiculturalism, be State-sanctioned. A secular government in a multicultural society should hold no religious event above any other. Either institute official holidays for the significant events and celebrations of all religions or stay out of it altogether!

Since the State is involved in pushing Christianity by making Christmas an official holiday, I choose to take advantage of the extra time to withdraw, as much as possible, from all things Christmas-y to get some reading and writing done. Of course I take advantage of any holiday to relax a little with good food, drink and company. However, the list of upcoming books for review is getting longer than I like to see it and there is some exciting reading (and listening) ahead. After Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets I get to immerse myself in Al Young's Something About the Blues.

Update: Ecohouse Review

My review of Ecohouse should be up in a couple of days. It has been written and is awaiting publication.

Now on to Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets, by William Bonner and Lila Rajiva. I'm well into it and, all things going as planned, should be writing it's review next weekend.

I'll being posting NODs from it beginning tomorrow.

Managing the Day Job/Writing Balance

I still find it very difficult to manage the day job/writing balance. My day job can be quite draining even when routine. But when major changes happen--rearrangements of personnel, business realignments, changes/additions to workload, etc.--and things are neither quite secure nor settled, I am left with no energy to spare after work beyond dinner and passive activities like watching movies or t.v. shows (I generally spend very little time on the couch and in front of the 'idiot-box').

There have been some major changes at work over the past few weeks that have resulted in little reading, and even less writing getting done. I don't get paid for the writing I do (though I'm always open to offers/requests), so it might be said there's no pressure. There is pressure, mainly self-imposed, but pressure nevertheless. My stack of books-to-be-reviewed is growing, as you can see in the 'Upcoming Reviews' module, and I feel bad about keeping the publicists/publishers/authors whose books are in the pile waiting. I also feel bad about disappointing readers who come to my site to read about specific books. And then I feel bad about not writing enough, about not making enough progress as a writer--I haven't published an article or review in almost a month, nor have I sent out any queries.

The recent changes at my day job--there have been quite a few--resulted in a major case of writer's block. Even on nights when I sat down at my computer and opened a page, determined to get something written, I could not even think up a simple lead-in paragraph to an article or review. Completely blocked. So instead of wallowing in self-pity, which I hear is not uncommon among writers, writers generally being a disturbed lot, and to make myself feel better, I'd love to hear from other struggling writers who have a non-writing day job. How do you manage the balance? Please do comment!

Now back to my writing...

So Many Changes, So Little Time and Energy

Just a quick update... If anyone is wondering where my review of The Great Arab Conquests is, it is coming. I finished reading it, but there have been so many changes at work leaving me too exhausted after work to do much at all.

I do insist, however, on reading during my lunch break at work. I've begun reading Ecohouse. Very interesting...

I have a bit of a history of taking myself too seriously and being hard on myself, so I don't want to keep slipping into guilt and apologies and promises. Once I have an opportunity to quit my day job and do writing on a full-time basis, I will hold myself to more rigid time lines.

Book Review: Consider the Source; A Critical Guide to the 100 Most Prominent News and Information Sites on the Web, by James F. Broderick & Darren W. Miller

(Published Oct. 31, 2007 in BC Magazine)

Whether you are a newshound, student, journalist, or writer, this handy guide to news websites should save you a great deal of time.

Whether you are a student, writer, journalist, or newshound, you are often in need of sources. For most of us, the days of spending hours in a library accessing card catalogues, microfiche, and microfilm are over. Not only do most of us no longer need to use such time-consuming and inefficient technologies in search of information, many of us rarely feel the need to physically step into a library. We now have the power of the internet to access, from the comfort of our homes, an almost endless stream of information. Though we may still need to buy or borrow books, magazines, journals or newspapers for our research, the internet once again gives us ready access to information about them, their publishers and authors, and a means to buy or reserve them.

With such ready access to information, and such a dizzying number of sources, how can we know which sources to trust? How do we know the information we access is not only accurate and thorough, but also fair and balanced? How do we know whether a given source has a political, social, ideological or demographic agenda or bias? The long answer is to take the time to read our sources thoroughly and critically, and to research the authors, institutions, publishers, and sponsors behind them. Increasingly, people either lack the critical thinking and analytical skills necessary to judge their sources, and/or lack the time to do so.

This is where Consider the Source; A Critical Guide to the 100 Most Prominent News and Information Sites on the Web by James F. Broderick and Darren W. Miller comes in. They have done much of the work for us. At least for a hundred sites. As the title quite unambiguously suggests, this book examines and guides us through 100 prominent online news and information sites. It purports to give us "a glimpse behind the screens of the most important news and information Web sites--from those connected to global news services to those connected only to the modems of independent journalists and idiosyncratic culture watchers."

Jim Broderick, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of journalism at New Jersey City University in Jersey City, New Jersey. He started his career writing for Indiana State University's newspaper, The Indiana Statesman, and has written for newspapers and wire services in New York City and in the Midwest. Broderick is the author of two books--Paging New Jersey: A Literary Guide to the Garden State (2003, Rutgers University Press) and The Literary Galaxy of Star Trek (2006, McFarland Publishing)--and lectures frequently on New Jersey literature and pop culture.

Darren Miller has worked as a reporter and editor for newspapers in New Jersey and North Carolina. He spent two and a half years covering the people and politics for The Mountaineer. Miller has also been editor-in-chief of The Gothic Times in Jersey City, New Jersey, writing about such topics as the death penalty, murder trials, municipal corruption, and natural disasters. He has appeared in schools and elsewhere to talk about journalism, and writes about the media on his blog, Taking Notes.

Broderick and Miller, having recently written Consider the Source together, are now working on Web of Conspiracy: A Critical Guide to the Conspiratorial World on the Internet, a book about conspiracy theories and the Web. Much more information, as well as links to the 100 sites profiled in Consider the Source can be found on their website, The Reporters' Well.

Consider the Source obviously does not, nor could it, discuss or even list every important sources of news and information on the internet. How then did they decide which sites to cover and which to leave out? The authors do state that the sites chosen have a certain prominence, reputation and importance and, significantly, that they offer content that is largely free. How exactly prominence, importance, or reputation were defined is not entirely clear. These are, after all, subjective terms. Was prominence based on a certain circulation or number of hits, or were polls conducted? How was importance defined? Important in what way and to whom? And what exactly constitutes a certain reputation? However these terms were ultimately defined, having extensively perused the guide, it seems the sources--some of them well-known, others less so--cover a wide spectrum and are treated critically and fairly.

Consider the Source examines the strengths and weaknesses of each site, listed in alphabetical order, and provides links to them. The criteria used to critique the sources are fairly straight-forward: balance, thoroughness, compelling writing, and sensible use of available technology. Each source is covered under the following useful, and fairly brief, sections: "Overview," "What You'll Find There," "Why You Should Visit," "Keep This in Mind," and "Off the Record." These provide the reader with not only a general overview of the source as a whole, but also the site's main features, reasons to visit (or not to visit, in some cases), lesser known aspects, such as it's history or ideological roots or leanings, and other interesting facts. For every source, also, a URL and small visual snapshot are provided. And at the end of each there is a rating displayed as 1 to 5 newspapers.

As important as content in a site's critique is its accessibility and user-friendliness. Some sites, while scoring high in terms of content and historical importance (see AFP--Agence France-Press, "considered to be the oldest news agency in the world"), received a low final rating because their sites were poor (1 newspaper out of 5 for AFP).

At the end, Consider the Source has an appendix listing all sites covered by their ranking, from five newspapers down to one. This is a very handy feature, allowing the reader--perhaps I should say user--quick access to rankings for specific sites. Though handy, I sincerely hope users will read, at least once, the complete critique of each source used. And this leads me to one concern. So many people already don't take the time, or have the critical skills, to adequately determine the value of a given source. This guide, though very useful as a reference for the busy researcher, does not provide, except perhaps by example, access to the tools themselves, to the critical skills needed to analyze sources. There are, after all, many more sites on the internet than the hundred discussed here.

Consider the Source should fit comfortably on the busy researcher's reference shelf. Whether you are a newshound, student, journalist, or writer, this guide should save you a great deal of time in getting a sense of the reliability and usefulness of at least one hundred prominent, important, and reputable news and information sites. Put it next to your writer's guides.

Update: Review of Consider the Source Submitted

My review of Consider the Source has been submitted to BC Magazine. I will post it here as soon as I hear that they have published it.

Thanks for your patience.

Update: computer up and running and using Linux

My new computer is finally up and running, though I lost the OEM installation of Windows Vista. Somehow, during the installation and update process, the boot files got damaged and I could not get back in. Because the computer did not come with an operating system disk, I could not re-install it. I'm not much of a fan of the Microsoft empire anyway.

So now I'm running Linux all by itself on this computer. I ran Debian before, but this time opted for the Ubuntu distro by Canonical, itself based on Debian. I read about it some time ago and told one of my brothers about it. He tried it and really liked it. So now I decided to give it a shot. So far I'm really liking the look, feel, and functionality. Running Linux all by itself does--it must be said--involve a bit of a learning curve, and requires a bit more learning and work when it comes to installing some things. I have yet to find out how to install Java Virtual Machine so that I can install and play online Scrabble.

Anyway, while the computer is finally up and running, having spent much of the weekend fiddling with it, I feel too drained to do any reviewing tonight. I think I'll hit the sack early tonight.

Update: Adland Review Submitted

My review of Adland has been submitted. Am waiting for publication on Blogcritics before posting here.

Thanks for your patience.

Hankering After Good Literary Fiction Titles for Review

I've gotten into a non-fiction groove for quite some time now, not because I wanted to review more non-fiction than fiction, but rather because I've seen very few fiction titles offered through blogcritics of interest to me. While I haven't done a thorough analysis of blogcritics' offerings, it seems to me that there is much more, in terms of books, in non-fiction, while the bulk of fiction is genre-based.

Non-fiction reviewing is great, don't get me wrong. I've read and have written on some very interesting books lately, and there are, if you'll glance at the 'Upcoming Reviews' module in the sidebar, some very interesting and informative books coming up in the next month or so. As for genre fiction, though I acknowledge its place, it's not really my thing.

I have been in contact with Sourcebooks and am awaiting some poetry collections--"Poetry Speaks Expanded" and "Something About the Blues." I am looking forward to those, but I am also hankering after some really good literary fiction. I've been eying the books short-listed for the Giller, Governor General's, and Man Booker Prizes.

Anyway, I hope to get back into literary fiction after the current pile of 'upcoming reviews' are done. Here's a call to publishers, publicists and authors to send me books of literary fiction for review. Though I am just one person with a day job and therefore cannot promise to review all books sent me, I am certainly always open to receiving review materials.

Update: Adland: a Global History of Advertising

I'm afraid my review of Adland: a Global History of Advertising will not be published this weekend. I did not get to see family last weekend, Canadian Thanksgiving, so am focusing this weekend around family.

I'll continue to post NODs though for little glimpses of the book.

Thanks.

Update: Teeth Review Submitted--Waiting for Publication

My review of Teeth has been submitted to Blogcritics Magazine. I will post it here as soon as I get word that it has been published there.

Now it is, unfortunately, to sleep and then to work at my day job. And tomorrow I begin reading Adland: a Global History of Advertising, by Mark Tungate.

Update: I'm Back...

I am back from my business trip in Green Bay, WI. I did not have an opportunity to access my e-mail there, nor post to my weblog, so I have only just now been able to post my review of Virtual Worlds: Rewiring Your Emotional Future.

I also did not get an opportunity to get much reading done, so upcoming reviews will likely be pushed out further again. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Still Waiting for Publication of Review...

I'm leaving on my business trip within half an hour and my review of Virtual Worlds: Rewiring Your Emotional Future still hasn't been published by Blogcritics. Blogcritics has a policy that articles and reviews submitted to them must first be published on their site before being posted on authors' sites. I want to honor that.

Perhaps they are having technical difficulties, or staffing issues. I don't know. In either case, since I don't currently have a laptop, I will try to find an internet cafe somewhere in Green Bay, WI. If I am unable to find one, or end up not having the time, the review may not be up until I get back towards the end of the week. And there will be nothing else posted during that time then either. But I will be taking a couple of books with me--Teeth and Adland: A Global History of Advertising. Hopefully I get some reading time.

Update: Waiting for Publication of Review, and Business Trip

I was hoping to have my review of Jack Myers' Virtual Worlds: Rewiring Your Emotional Future posted here today, but I have not yet received notice from Blogcritics that it has been published there. I still have a couple of hours today. I will be going on a business trip to Wisconsin tomorrow and will not return until around Thursday, so I really wanted to get it posted before the trip. Aargh!

Update: NBCC, Literary Blogs, BlogRush, and the Word on the Street

I recently became a member of the National Book Critics Circle and have added a linked button to the NBCC site (see middle sidebar, halfway down). I am happy to be a member of an organization that not only supports reviewers, but also supports literature through its campaign to save the book review, as well as through the content of its websites--NBCC main (especially useful here for the general reading public are the "Useful Book and Criticism-Related Links"); and Critical Mass, their blog (especially "The Critical I: Conversations With Critics and Review Editors", and "Critical Outtakes: Discussions With Writers").

To further support literature, I've also added "Literary Blogs" to my sidebar. Expect this to grow as I discover more. This is not a comprehensive list of blogs discussing literature, but rather blogs I myself visit now and again. While I take pleasure in having people read my reviews and reflections on literature and writing, I firmly believe that diversity of perspective is as important as biological diversity. Read, think, discuss. Read my site, read their sites, and I hope you'll return to Wordwork|play.

I also joined BlogRush today, a blog syndication network (click here to learn more about them), in an effort to get my site out there a bit more. I don't know yet how that will work out, but I thought it worth a try. I'll try to fine tune the widget a bit over the next little while to control what type of sites appearing in the BlogRush box to make them content-relevant.

And tomorrow, my partner and I are going to The Word on the Street book and magazine festival at Queen's Park Crescent in Toronto. I'm so excited. It'll be the first time for both of us there. There'll be arts organizations, educational and literary associations, institutions, and libraries, book publishers and sellers, magazine publishers and sellers, workshops, media, etc. I'll report on that, hopefully, tomorrow night after we return from the event.

NOD: Virtual Worlds, then onto Teeth, Another First for Me

My review of Virtual Worlds should be submitted today, published on Blogcritics Magazine, then posted here by tomorrow or, at the very latest, Monday. Here's another thought-provoking NOD from Virtual Worlds:

Being connected is what 16-32 years olds (sic) live for, says Sky Dayton, who founded EarthLink in 1994 at the age of 23 and is now CEO of Helio (a joint venture of EarthLink and SK Telecom). "It's not content that's at the core of new media; it's communications..."

And now on to Teeth, by Aracelis Girmay. This will be my first poetry review. I have, of course, written essays on poetry during my university days, but writing reviews for the general public is quite another matter.

There have been many firsts since I began reviewing. There was, not so long ago, my first novel review. I stressed about that one a fair bit. Then there was my first non-fiction book review. I stressed about that one a fair bit as well. And now I am about to embark on my first poetry book.

I hope my first attempt will not be too amateurish and will, at least somewhat, do the work justice. Ultimately it is you, the reader of my reviews, who must judge their effectiveness. While I continue to ask your indulgence as I hone my craft, I do very much appreciate your comments and feedback. Indeed, I solicit feedback.

Review of An Ocean of Air Submitted--Waiting for Publication

I have submitted my review of An Ocean of Air and am now waiting for it to be published on Blogcritics Magazine before posting it here.

I'm well into the next book for review, Virtual Worlds, and shall report on that this coming weekend, maybe sooner. Will have to see how time and energy go.

Err, the Dog Ate My Review?

Well I really thought I'd have my review of An Ocean of Air published by now, yet the page just sits there, cockeyed and nearly empty, staring back at me. I really was, am, excited about writing it, but I've been so tired, and I've had difficulty getting over the blank screen, opening paragraph hump.

I tried cluttering up the screen with a list of all the major scientists whose stories are told in the book, stories that add up to the story of air. But I should perhaps have put them on a separate page, for they now distract me. Worse, they seem to taunt me. Lined up on the otherwise empty page, I hear them murmuring with impatience. Some, I suspect, are returning to their experiments. Joseph Priestly is doing party tricks with his vials of inflammable air. Thanks for the effort, Joe. And whats-his-name, the shy farmer scientist, William Ferrel, too shy to say anything, is instead using a stick to etch diagrams and calculations onto my walls.

I'm sorry guys! Here I've lined you all up, from Galileo up to James Van Allen, and yet I seem unable to get on with it. Maybe it's the pressure. Please divert yourselves. Go into town for a bit. I'll try to finish the review tonight.

Monetization of Wordwork|play

While I feel somewhat conflicted about advertising, you have no doubt noticed that I do have Google ads on this site. I have a couple of small Google AdSense boxes in a sidebar, one content-, the other referral-based, and have recently also accepted an independent paid advertisement that will soon be posted.

And just yesterday, I became an Amazon associate. This I don't feel as conflicted about. I review books. Understandably, especially if my reviews have been favourable and successful, readers will want to buy the book about which they have just read. Now they can click on the titles or images of the books I have reviewed, or happen to mention in another context, and purchase them directly. In the process, I earn a little bit of money to support what I love to do here on Wordwork|play.

Since I would really love to do this full time, I hope I will see some increase in earnings soon. If you are so inclined, having enjoyed the writing on this site, there is also a tip jar (button) in the sidebar.

Thanks for stopping by.

On to An Ocean of Air, by Gabrielle Walker

I have submitted my review of David Livingstone Smith's The Most Dangerous Animal and am waiting for Blogcritics to publish it before posting it here.

Now on to other things. Since I am already well into my next non-fiction book for review, Gabrielle Walker's An Ocean of Air: Why the Wind Blows and Other Mysteries of the Atmosphere, I will begin my NODs for/to this fascinating book.

The previous book was, for the most part, depressing. This one, because of its subject matter, is light. Aside from my NODs and occasional reflections related to them, I will not discuss the book much further until my review of it is up.

Today's NOD, a few sentences about Joseph Priestly, will be accompanied by comment because it is so admirable, and yet so difficult to emulate:

Priestly had no fear of false starts and misconceptions, and detailed all of his mistakes for the benefit of the "adventurers in experimental philosophy" who would follow him. Nor was he afraid of being caught out in his errors. "He who does not foolishly affect to be above the failings of humanity," he once wrote, "will not be mortified when it is proved that he is but a man."

While I do have a fear of false starts and misconceptions, that fear having been firmly driven into me through socialization and past experience, I do agree with Priestly in principle. As much as he detailed his mistakes for the benefit of the scientists who would follow him, I had planned, when first starting this blog, to detail my own mistakes related to writing. I must say, however, that acknowledgment of being new to a task, or to be blunt, having fucked up, is not easy. I feel a certain amount of pressure to conceal both my newness to professional writing and my missteps along the way in order to project a favorable, accomplished, professional image. The fear is that such acknowledgments would prejudice my readers and hinder me in my progress. Who, after all, wants to hire a newbie?

I will gladly be 'caught out in my errors.' Though not pleasant, it presents a great learning opportunity. That is why comments are always open on my posts. For that reason and, of course, for encouragement and discussion. As for the last part, I completely agree. I am but a man, but human. I have no illusions about my human failings.

Look for more interesting little tidbits in the form of NODs from Gabrielle Walker's book.

Today's Creative Offering: Whole Blood

Well, did a little bit of research after work today, comparing the organization of various literary blogs, particularly those specializing in the review of books. Not much energy for anything else though...

Oh yes, I did see an Italian movie entitled "Life is Beautiful" (though I can understand some of it, I had the benefit of subtitles). Very well done, despite the dark subject matter. Never got around to seeing it when it first came out.

Why did I not have much energy? I had an appointment with the local Canadian chapter of benevolent vampires... Pardon the corny humour. I donated blood.

Must go to sleep to get ready for my day job. At least it's Friday. Happy Friday! Then it's back to my books and my site.

Construction... Refocusing... More on This Soon

Please excuse the lack of progress with reviews. I am working on tidying up this site, narrowing/sharpening its focus. So if you see some things changing on this site over the next week or so, you'll have some inkling as to what is going on here.

Wow, that really takes up time and energy! The reworking/refocusing, that is.

NOD (Nugget of the Day): Irresistible Morsels from Current Reading

Most books worth reading, be they fiction or non-fiction, contain at least one or two striking phrases, phrases that stand out because they are cleverly or beautifully constructed, or because the idea(s) they contain are particularly powerful. Each of these descriptors--clever, beautiful, powerful--itself could be unpacked and further defined. Each of them, also, is subjective. Really good books contain numerous such phrases.

Not so long ago I picked up an old Aldous Huxley book, a work of historical fiction entitled The Devils of Loudon. I hadn't read more than 20 pages before realizing that there were simply too many delicious nuggets in that book to continue reading sans pencil. I stopped reading, grabbed a pencil, and instead of continuing where I'd left off previously, returned to the beginning. Armed with a pencil, I was able to capture, by underlining, the many beautiful, clever, disturbing, insightful, powerful, or shocking sentences and paragraphs.

It may be an old habit formed in university English courses, but I rarely read a book without pencil in hand. Or if it's a borrowed book, small sticky notes. And this is always the case when reading a book for review. It may take me a little longer to get through a book, stopping here and there to underline or write a note, but the process helps me find relevant points for discussion more readily. And, significantly, it is also a great aid to memory, underlining the selection, as it were, in one's memory.

To share the many wonderful nuggets contained in the books I am reading and reviewing, I will begin posting, under a new category, my nuggets of the day (NOD). I will try to post one daily, but please don't hold me too rigidly to this schedule. The NOD, conveniently, will also serve as a nod to the book (and author) from which (whom) it is derived. Less significantly, it will also provide busy readers with daily fascinating and thought-provoking, yet quickly-read, posts. There shall be no reason, if you'll excuse the pun, to nod off when reading these.

'Upcoming Review' Dates: Learning from (Guilt-tripped by) Visitor Stat Indicators

I've been checking my Site Meter visitor stats on a daily basis, with much the same regularity as my e-mail. Though the daily number is still quite low, I've noticed certain patterns. First, after I publish a book review, there is a brief spike in traffic referred either by Blogcritics, or by Google search results for the book in question. Second, there is the repeat visitor, arriving two or three times via a Google search result, followed by direct visits (i.e. has typed in URL directly or bookmarked my site). It is the last type of visitor that makes me most happy. It is also the one that can make me feel guilty.

I suppose you could call it shooting self in foot. After my recent addition of the 'Recently Reviewed' and 'Upcoming Reviews' sidebar modules, I've noticed more repeat visitors. These repeat visitors often arrive for a particular book listed as an upcoming review. And that's where the guilt comes in. I begin to feel bad that people keep coming back to my site looking for a particular review, and keep on being disappointed.

So, to help those readers, especially since I have so little time after my day job to read and write, I've added dates for each upcoming book review into the module. Please note, however, that these are very tentative. I try very much to read and review at least one book a week, but sometimes, either because I'm too busy and/or the book in question is long and complex, it takes a little longer.

To anyone looking for a particular upcoming review, please check the tentative date beneath the notes. I will try, whenever I can't meet a review date, to update you on my progress. If only I had more time to devote to reading and writing, or were paid for it, I'd be so much more productive. As it is, I try to squeeze a little time in during my lunch break at work (less than an hour a day, after a quick bite to eat), and after I get home from a long day's work.

Errata in Review of If Olaya Street Could Talk

In e-mail correspondence, John Paul Jones, the author of If Olaya Street Could Talk pointed out a couple of mistakes I had made in my review. Since I value and strive for accuracy and integrity in my writing, I am grateful to have them pointed out.

I wrote that KFSH was modeled on St. Jude's. Here's the author's correction: "King Faisal Specialist Hospital was not modeled on St. Jude's. KFSH commenced operation in 1975. It was in the late '80's that Dr. Al-Rashid starting building his St. Jude model, 40 km away from the KFSH hospital. It was eventually given to KFSH to manage and operate, and became an integral part of the KFSH operation."

Secondly, I had written that a number of the 9/11 hijackers were from the same area as Juhaiman Al Ataybi. Correction: "Juhaiman Al Ataybi, the leader of the group who took the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979 was from Qassim, which is about 300 km north of Riyadh. Several of the 9-11 hijackers were from the Asir, the mountainous region from in the far west ( Yemen's "lost provinces"). The confusion no doubt came when I said that we may have very well passed each other on those mountain roads - the post-mortem on the attack indicated they had split up, and converged on Mecca from all directions, in small groups."

Apology to My Readers: Technical Difficulties Delaying Reviews

I've had so many computer issues this week. I did get my computer back up and running a couple of days ago, but have not yet had the mindspace to get down to the review of John Paul Jones' If Olaya Street Could Talk.

Though I wrote a small post yesterday on food, I will, barring any further technical difficulties, finish the review today. It should be up on this site by tonight, or at the latest tomorrow night, after Blogcritics Magazine, for whom it is being written, publishes it.

If anyone has been checking back, waiting for this particular review, or upcoming reviews, I'm sorry for the delay..

Two New Modules in Sidebar: Upcoming and Recent Book Reviews

Since I am doing a lot more reviews of books lately, and I intend to continue doing so, I decided to add two new sidebar modules. One is designed to entice, the other to remind and redirect. 'Upcoming Reviews' shows readers a list of books currently on the soon-to-be-read-and-reviewed shelf, while 'Recently Reviewed' shows readers the books I have recently reviewed and connects them either to Amazon.com (if image is clicked) to purchase the book, or to my review (if link in notes is clicked).

I hope these new additions will be helpful, even if a bit redundant. Three of my recent reviews have been syndicated to advance.net and boston.com, so I do get some more visitors from across the United States and elsewhere. Once on my site, whether via online news sites or otherwise, these modules are meant to provide easy access to further reading. Maybe readers who liked a specific review will not only read other reviews I've written, and/or come back to my site from time to time for upcoming ones.

On the Power of Polished Writing

I see certain misuses and abuses of written English all over the place. I see people confusing 'there', 'their', and 'they're'. I see people confusing 'then' and 'than'. I see improperly placed apostrophes, improper pluralization, and false back-formations. The really sad thing is that these errors are appearing all over the place--billboards, magazines (both in ads and in articles), newspapers (both large and small), personal and business websites and, of course, workplace memos.

I don't mind neologisms and slang in certain contexts, nor (though it took me a while to get comfortable with this) the use of the plural pronoun to eliminate gender bias, nor abbreviated, modified, shorthand forms in internet chat programs. But please, please, take some time to check your work when publishing material, whether on the workplace intranet, the internet, or print media!

Seeing these errors in corporate e-mails and memos is irritating enough. Seeing them in advertisements and on corporate websites is, quite frankly, off-putting. Seeing them with increasing regularity in newspapers and magazines is simply ridiculous! Are our schools not imparting language skills anymore, passing on elementary language skills like punctuation, spelling and grammar? We all make a typo here and there or forget how to spell a word, but little errors and misuses such as the above are indicative of improper/incomplete education and/or carelessness. And as far as the print media is concerned, where the heck are the proofreaders and editors? Should they not be catching these things?

So what set this rant off today? Well, I read a memo at work wherein two increasingly common mistakes were made--'your' used in place of the contraction for 'you are', as in "your supposed to wear the company badge at all times," and an apostrophe used to pluralize, as in "visitor's are required to sign in." These errors irk me so. I've often thought, when confronted with such glaring errors at work, of stepping forward to become an unofficial proofreader/editor of corporate communications. But then, knowing my employer, I would likely end up with an extra workload and no concomitant pay raise.

Good writing packs more punch. A well written article is more likely to be taken seriously than one riddled with typos, spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, or punctuation problems. It works the same way if the content is spoken rather than written. The words of someone who speaks clearly and enunciates well will generally carry more weight. The same goes for inflection, but that is for another post.

Allow me to proffer an example from my university days to illustrate the power of polished writing. I had written an essay for a religious studies class in which, as the professor later pointed out, the argument was circular. I still got an A for the paper because, as the professor explained somewhat sheepishly, it was so well written and such a joy to read. Of course professors nowadays are also bombarded with horrendous writing, especially in first year classes, leading some English instructors to spend a significant portion of a first year English class on grammar and essay writing. Though feeling a mixture of elation and embarrassment at the time, I now think the professor made an error in judgment in overlooking the circular logic.

Rightly or wrongly, it pays to write well. That is not to say that one should follow Strunk & White to the letter. There is something to be said for the natural evolution of language, as with neologisms and slang, and much to be said for the creative and purposeful break from convention by those familiar with it, by those who know the rules. In the end, however, clear, correct, polished writing packs punch. You are well advised to write with care. And don't be shy about consulting a dictionary or style guide from time to time.

Syndication of Posts and Whole Blogs

A couple of my book reviews have recently been syndicated to online news sites. I had published the reviews first on Blogcritics Magazine. The books editor then selected my reviews and passed them on for syndication to advance.net and boston.com. Having little past publishing experience and exposure, I was rather excited to find my writing made available to a much bigger audience through syndication.

Excited as I was to be syndicated, I wanted to find out more about the practice and process of syndication. So I did a little research. The relevant dictionary definition of syndicate is to "sell (a comic strip or column, for example) through a syndicate for simultaneous publication in newspapers or periodicals" (The American Heritage ® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, via YourDictionary.com). The irony here is that, though my reviews are being published on multiple news sites simultaneously, they are not being sold to these sites, at least not by me. The only thing I get out of it is the exposure.

An article by Stephen Bryant on the USC Annenberg Online Journalism Review, entitled "Syndicate this! Linking old media to new," reports on the emerging relationship between old and new media. More specifically, Bryant addresses the syndication of blogs content on major news sites. Among them are such papers as The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News. Dave Patton, CEO of Pluck, has created BlogBurst to help news organizations select blogs for syndication.

The idea of BlogBurst is basically this: bloggers submit their sites to BlogBurst and their editors then look over each site to determine whether both content and quality are appropriate for syndication. Why can't news editors do this themselves? Apparently, says Bryant, it is less a matter "of ability than editorial control. Newspapers need to pre-approve content for fear of diluting their brand." In other words, they need someone to filter sites. BlogBurst provides that service to them.

I have given BlogBurst some thought, finding aspects of it, particularly the exposure it could give me, appealing, but also have some nagging questions. Once my site is selected as one for syndication, how free am I to speak my mind, to choose what I want to blog about, or even what language to use? I would gladly blog for a news site on specific topics on a regular basis, in which case I know by whose rules and boundaries I am constrained. I am also happy to have individual posts/articles selected for syndication, as is currently the case through Blogcritics Magazine. I am wary, however, of having someone's editorial control, someone's filter, restrict my creative range and freedom on my own blog.

I have only scratched the surface of the complex relationship, a quickly evolving one at that, between old and new media. Even as far as syndication services like BlogBurst are concerned, I have more research to do, so I keep an open mind.

What are your thoughts on the syndication of entire blogs? If anyone has experience with such, please share your insights with me. I'd be happy to hear from all sides on this issue.

Watching and Learning from Visitor Stats

Until recently, my visitor stats did not mean much to me. I simply did not have enough traffic, nor did I spend enough time analyzing it, to learn much. I still have relatively little traffic coming to my site and can think of several factors responsible--infrequent posting (I don't post quite every day), type of subject matter (social and environmental justice issues, literature, and writing), breadth of subject matter (see long list of categories), and the lack of a following (visitors who check back regularly).

Since I began writing for BC Magazine, I've noticed brief spikes in traffic after publishing an article with them. The highest spike came about a week ago, after my review of Andrew Beierle's novel, First Person Plural, was simultaneously published by BC and syndicated to the Advance.net and Boston.com news sites. My visitors over the next couple of days shot higher than they'd ever gone before.

I realized that the syndication of my book review resulted i