I was able to kick off the week shooting the second phase of this really cool installation at the roof garden of the Met, for Curatedmag. It was really cool to A. be in the Met when it is not open, and B. have that exclusive view from 40 above the deck of the roof garden. More, over here.
Now, we turn to overcomma-fication. A while back (over a year ago), I decided that I was going to start using less commas. Yes, I feel like legal writing has pretty much tainted my writing style forever. I know that I destroy all of my sentences with the way that I punctuate the crap out of them. But the funny part is that I was apparently anonymously called out on it, yesterday. Reagan had this bright idea of putting an anonymous submission form on her blob. She had it posted for like 20 seconds, and one of the first questions she received included this: “can you please teach jake how to use commas? his blog would be so good, but he is comma happy.”
Hahahahah. Sorry, anon. If it is any consolation, I haven’t been able to stop saying “awesome” either (which was another item of things to correct, in the list that I linked to above). Here is an (redacted) example of the insanely long run-on sentences that I have to deal with on a daily basis:
MEZZANINE C CASH MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”), dated as of June XXXXXXXX, among XXXXXXX, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Borrower”), having an address at XXXXX Street, XXXXX, Maui, Hawaii XXXXX; XXXXXXX BANK, N.A., a national banking association, having an address at XXXXXXX Road, Suite XXXX, XXXXXXX, California [zip] (“Agent”); and XXXXXXXXXX INC., a Delaware corporation, having an address at XXXXXXXXXXX, New York, New York [zip] (“Lender”).
You get the idea. After seeing that many commas in every sentence that I read at work, I must subconsciously feel like I’m not using enough of them, or something. I have pretty much been ruined. I think that part of it is the way that I haphazardly string my sentences together. It’s not that I don’t know what normal punctuation looks like, either. I read massive amounts of newspapers and magazines. What’s worse, is that when I’m proofreading a post, I will go through removing commas and it still ends up with way too many. I’m am so obsessed about it, that at one point I actually dug up some of my old articles from college, to see if I had the same issue back then. I didn’t. It really is something that has only started to plague me since law school.
So, anon, there, you, have, it. I don’t blame you if you can’t get past the commas, the “hahaha”s and the “awesome”s. But, at least you know I’m working on it, right? Hehe
Comments
11 responses to “Bamboo and overcomma-fication”
That’s too funny. And I hadn’t even noticed. 😉
That bamboo installation is insane and beautifully shot. I love the use of colorful climbing rope; it’s such an interesting contrast to the bamboo.
Now about this overcomma-fication thing: this is near and dear to my heart. I’m obviously biased toward overcomma-fication (I think the topic is #1 on my list of future blog posts), so my unsolicited vote is that you use as many commas and run-ons as you please. I also work in a corporate setting in which I deal with lawyers and cash management (!), and one of my job duties is to translate lawyer-speak into regular-person-speak. (This is something for which I plan to win the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes someday, by the way.) I think blogging is really interesting for people like us who have to check the corporate drone tone at the proverbial blog door. Commas and run-ons sound more conversational, no?
Oh, and because this comment is so long I had to find sponsors to pay for it, so I conclude with:
“This longest-ever blog-within-a-blog comment was brought to you by the comma, the run-on sentence, and the second cup of coffee I’m now regretting.”
Hahaha to this post. Perfect.
And hahaha to Maggie’s comment.
I wasn’t Anon, but I admit have noticed the comma issue too. I should add that it is the only grammatical flaw I’ve ever seen in your blogs, which are otherwise typo free. The “awesomes” and the “hahahas” are used at an appropriate frequency level IMHO…
Well, one more grammar tip… I can’t resist: it should be “fewer commas.” Not “less commas.” Hahaha.
hah.
I appreciate your comma usage, Jake. If you could throw in some additional semicolons, en dashes, and em dashes, I will feel right at home.
I heard about that at the Met! How lucky are you! It sounds so fun to be there with no one else around and get to just shoot pics. Very cool!
and use commas, if thats you’re writing style, who cares, do it how you do!
Who cares HOW you say it. Your photos and your content say it all. Isn’t it neat being in the Met? There are so many kids books about the Met, it makes living in NYC really special. I seem to over hyphenate ( which I understand is being eliminated from Modern English Usage) and over parenthesize. As long as you don’t sound like Brittany Spears, we like you. Ann
Whilst in college my English professor told me that when doing personal writing, you should punctuate exactly like you would speak out loud. This is so the readers can almost hear your voice in their head. Anyone who would anon. comment on your punctuation, probably only hears things in their own voice. Is that mean? Sorry if that’s mean. I feel like I have to defend myself as well. I. REALLY. LOVE. PERIODS. They just give perfect emphasis. I love ’em. Comma’s are so underrated. Without them, how would you breathe while speaking?
What is wrong with using commas?!
@Ann: I over-hyphenate (or should I say “over-em-dash?”), too. I consider it a rebellion against the complete lack of punctuation that seems so prevalent these days. Looking at you, FaceBook posts!
Sorry, left this part out: my boss overuses semi-colons. Where you would leave a comma, he puts a semi-colon. I’ve tried to explain the difference… so far, no luck. “I will be away (dates); and will not be available by cell.”