55 Fiction - Perfection

He sat poised, with fountain pen in hand. The piece of parchment - crisp, white, spotless - lay before him. He had to think carefully; the perfect idea.

Suddenly, it hit him. "Yes!" he cried jubilantly, raising his hand, as a single drop of beryl ink fell from the nib, engulfing whiteness with its inky stain.

40 Tips for Writing Good English

1. Avoid alliteration. Always.

2. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.

3. Avoid cliches like the plague; they’re old hat

4. Employ the vernacular.

5. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.

6. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.

7. Remember to never split an infinitive.

8. Contractions aren’t necessary.

9. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.

10. One should never generalize.

11. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.”

12. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.

13. Don’t be redundant; don’t use more words than necessary; it’s highly superfluous.

14. Be more or less specific.

15. Understatement is always best.

16. One-word sentences? Eliminate.

17. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.

18. The passive voice is to be avoided.

19. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.

20. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.

21. Who needs rhetorical questions?

22. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.

23. Don’t never use a double negation.

24. capitalize every sentence and remember always end it with point

25. Do not put statements in the negative form.

26. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.

27. Proofread carefully to see if you words out.

28. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.

29. A writer must not shift your point of view.

30. And don’t start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)

31. Don’t overuse exclamation marks!!

32. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.

33. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.

34. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.

35. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.

36. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.

37. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.

38. Always pick on the correct idiom.

39. The adverb always follows the verb.

40. And always be sure to finish what

found here! (:

Merchant of Venice

Beshrew your eyes, they have o'erlook'd me & divided me; one half of me is yours, the other half yours, mine own, i would say; but if mine, then yours, and so all yours. (Portia to Bassanio)

The quality of mercy is not strain'd, it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon e place beneath: it is twice blest; it blesseth him that gives and him that takes. (Portia to Shylock)

tea party

@dearlizzy

sometimes i wish i lived someplace else, so i could do things like this...

friday night dates

today was the last day of school and well, while i would miss the kids, it was kind of liberating to know that i would be on the other end of the homework spectrum. so i left school earlier to go for the teacher compass ceremony. it's supposed to represent my compass in teaching to "lead, care & inspire". there was a speech by one of the awardees about his experience from nie to teacher and it was food for thought. he was a Christian and it really got me thinking about whether teaching is my calling and what exactly it entails. today definitely marks the start of a journey for me.

so andrew and i went to burger shack then island creamery for dessert. its a good thing those two places are some distance apart! we definitely needed the walk, could've been longer tho. (: i was thinking about this post i saw earlier today about being a tourist and decided to take lots of pictures.






toppings!

sprinkle cones!

mudpie

nutella & pulat hitam (his favourite & mine)

looking at all the chalk features i'm kinda reminded of this photo i saw the other day in the new ikea magazine - the door of the children's bedroom in chalkboard paint. i asked andrew and he's okay with it. we are so gonna be the coolest parents next time cos we'll let the kids draw on the door. haha. (:

wooden rings (edited)

i saw a shop at (i think) united square selling wooden rings with giant jewels, but it seems i cannot find its website. i didn't get a chance to take a look, but i found some gorgeous wooden rings online. makes me want to try venturing into making wooden rings.

this one in particular would make excellent he & she rings. *hint to andrew.

[edited] - found 2 more gorgeous wooden rings! (:

anyway, been really busy and caught up with work. haven't really had time to craft or be creative. been doing little things like making guestbooks for my cousins upcoming wedding and the making notebooks for mom. other than that haven't really beaded or scrapped. i'm starting to miss it a lot. miss feeling inspired and being creative. so, shall endeavour to blog more in hopes of pushing myself more in terms of the creative aspect.

just a little update, been marking truckloads of exam scripts, to the point i felt like marking was my hobby. ): but teaching so far has been really rewarding for me in terms of the exposure and experience. i'm starting to fall into the routine of things, but maybe too much - during the exam period i had a hard time figuring out which day it was cos everyday was the same; mark, invigilate, repeat, and then one of those "you are a ___, when you ___." popped into my head. you are a teacher when you tell the days of the week by the lessons you teach. haha.

anyhoo with exams over, the girls and i finally had a chance to meet up for a meal and talk. can't wait to do that again next. san, andrew and i also watched Twelfth Night yesterday and that was fabulous. but more on that later when i get pics from san.

-S

teachers' day presents

it was teachers' day yesterday. this year sherwin gave his teachers mini chalkboard pegs and two pieces of chalk. i think its rather cute.