My wife gardens for pleasure and for the pleasure of others. She loves dogs and other animals. However, when the Newfoundland “puppy” next door wanders into the garden, patience suffers.
Sniffing around innocently, the 80 pound Newf (his father is 180 lbs.) knows little of the osteospermum and the salvia officinalis he “bewilders” with his bear [...]

Turning phrases to make a point
Clever and not so clever writers use old rhetorical devices as antimetabole and chiasmus to get our attention. What separates good from bad turns of phrases (or clauses) we leave up to you.
antimetabole is the repetition of words in successive clauses, but in reverse grammatical order (ex: “I know [...]

As an Iraq war policy loyalist, comedian turned political commentator Dennis Miller may be fairly labeled a French basher, a practice much ballyhooed by the American television media in the early days of the war. Remember, one in three French persons did not favor the United States’ invasion of Iraq. That’s 33%. In a pseudo [...]

At dinner recently with a group of friends, someone reflected on the shortage of food in “remote” parts of the world. Certainly, remote to our own, preferred experiences.
One thinks of names and corresponding images from Darfur, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia. One clearly sees the starving children, their gaunt faces, their weary eyes devoid of promise.
Annoyance [...]

In a recent posting, we complained about the lack of coverage by American media of the traditional, long-standing Olympic sports, notably Track & Field. We remarked that such sports as gymnastics, swimming, and beach volleyball, while themselves respectable, were emphasized disproportionately, that this was the case because NBC (National Broadcasting Network) was delivering audiences to [...]