dsng.net - the daryl sng blog

Sarah Silverman; Woody Allen as standup comic; Julie Christie; Michael Caine; Josie Lawrence and Tony Slattery on Whose Line Is It Anyway?; Paul Krassner, as always; "lay me down in sheets of linen"; the reappearance of David Byrne; old Black Box Recorder; Ryan Adams singing Gram Parsons; the White Stripes.

Lots of peeves people have about English as it's written and spoken on this fair isle are fairly common. and fairly well-known. Some bother me (using "would" instead of "will" - ugh!) and some don't (the inability to pronounce either of the "th" sounds). But these are my own peeves, or at least ones I haven't heard anyone else complain about yet: 1. Using "filial" to mean "loyal or devoted to the family". Look, the word means "familial". A son could beat up his parents and his relationship to his parents would still be filial, at least until they disown him for beating them up. In the phrase "filial piety" the word that means loyalty is "piety". 2. Using "911" to refer to September 11. A peeve that reflects the former copy editor in me I guess. In the first place, Singaporeans have always followed the British style of date/month not the American month/date. More importantly, wher

So I've been laid up with commitments over the last month and a half, which was topped off by the fact that I got my knuckle broken (my 2nd metacarpal , for the anatomically-inclined). AND THAT'S MY EXCUSE! But seriously, adult-onset left-handedness has been an interesting experience for me. :) Especially since before all this happened I was working on a story about a right-handed boy who wanted to pitch left-handed. The 'technical' term for this is a " boxer's fracture " - which pretty much describes what happened, I punched my spaaring partner as he kicked and broke my hand.