A few recent posts at Marketing Watchdog attempt to contain and focus the wide-ranging definitions for “brand” and “branding.” Wide-use spawns diffuse definitions talks about how the ubiquity and malleability of “brand” and “branding” are diluting their meaning. Coming to terms: “Brand” attempts to add dimension and precision to a term-of-art that now seems to be applied to just about everything by everyone everywhere. And, Coming to terms: “Branding” offers some … [more]
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The cartoon caption contest that appears in each issue of the New Yorker magazine has become a habit. It’s fun. It’s challenging. And, the experience is pointing up larger lessons about writing and creativity. Lesson One reaffirms a course I took in grad school taught by Glenn Karowski. Although textured and comprehensive, the main take-away can be summed by the class’s name: “The creative process.” Not creative magic. Not voodoo. … [more]
Here’s a clip that’d be worth watching just for its novelty value. It’s about grammar in general, spelling in particular, and it’s entertaining. You might even laugh. It also says a few things I’ve been saying over the years, but with a wit—not to mention Brit accent—that makes it more fun to listen to than my flat Midwestern drone. The best points (said better in the clip): How you spell, … [more]
Jun 142011
It was oddly reassuring to stumble upon the “blog” of “unnecessary” quotation marks. Kind of like going to a church-basement support group and finding out you’re not suffering alone. Knowing that others share a pet peeve can make it seem less peevey. (Except that the blog’s creator, Bethany Keeler-Jonker, doesn’t consider quotation marks a peeve. “I just think it’s funny to misinterpret them,” she writes on her FAQ, “almost always.”) … [more]
There’s probably a moral to the story that follows, probably something about the unexpected magic of creative sparks and how hard you have to fan to ignite them. Two months ago, I entered the cartoon caption contest that’s in each issue of the New Yorker magazine. I had been flipping to the weekly contest, probably since it started, but never before entered. I’d read through others’ entries and, if I … [more]
