Communication Skills

Like many of you, I have been watching and worrying about my friends along the East Coast who were in the path of Hurricane Irene.

While I take it all seriously, I know that some moments of silliness are going to come out of the saddest situations. This is one of them.

A TV station invited people to share their photos and captions/explanations. This is one of them.

To all my English teachers and Language Arts teachers out there, I say: This is a great illustration of the need to write clearly!

Be sure to read the caption closely. [Click to embiggen.]



In case you can't read it, the caption reads: "We got almost 100 free sandbags from the town of Orange and filled them with our kids. We had flooding for the first time in 10 years during the Sunday storm two weeks ago. Trying to avoid it again."

I shared the photo and caption with my staff. Looking at the photo, I said: "They must have a lot of kids!" One of my colleagues retorted: "They must really love their car!"

Your response to the photo and caption?

Solitude

I just finished reading Scott Turow's Limitations.

In it, Judge Mason ponders one of his clerks: "John has slid into an increasingly reclusive and eccentric middle-aged bachelorhood.... It is routine to see him by himself in the courthouse cafeteria at lunch .... John never mentions any social engagements, and the common assumption seems to that he's gay. George ... still tends to doubt it. Aren't there genuine bachelors, unable to accommodate themselves to intimacy with anyone, who sink into the embrace of their own peculiarities?"

I often wonder if I have sunk into the embrace of my own peculiarities.

Hiatus

Every now and then, I seem to take a vacation from my blog. This has been one of those periods.

I read the blogs of many other friends who delve deep or who write frequently. I am in awe of them.

I'm going to try to write in my voice, without being daunted by the bloggers whom I admire. They are better bloggers than I. If I write briefly or quickly, so be it.