Best Wishes in 2010!

A new year is, for many of us, somewhat of a new beginning. A time to reflect, take a look at where we've been, what we've done and accomplished and where we're going. As we face the choices and uncertainties ahead of us, to maintain a healthy mind, body, spirit and life - below are a few insights, inspirations and ways to manage stress.


Take breaks
Step back and observe
Review your purpose
Change your priorities
Leave five minutes earlier
Organize your space
Listen to your intuition
Visualize positive outcomes
Take care of your health
Don't forget, write it down
Simplify!
View problems as opportunities
Let go of "what ifs"
Go with your natural rhythms
Breathe deeply
Say no at times
Follow your passion
Stop the "shoulds"
Nurture good friendships
Respect your limits
Develop flexibility
Slow down and notice
Open your heart
Count your blessings

Will 2010 Be a New Decade?

Which Years Make Up a Decade?

Believe it or not, it's a contentious question. Most people think of the decade as the years ending '00 through '09 because we usually refer to a decade by those last two numbers--the nineties were 1990 through 1999, for example. The problem is that our calendar didn't start with year zero, and a decade is a 10-year period, so the first decade was years 1 through 10, and counting forward would make this decade 2001 through 2010.

The writers of the Chicago Manual of Style and Garner's Modern American Usage refuse to take a strong stand, but seem to lean toward starting decades with the year '00.

It's possible to make a strong argument that the decade is technically years '01 through '10. However, most people think of a decade as being the 10-year period that starts with the year ending in zero--so that is the best choice because it will convey what you mean to the largest percentage of your readers.







Sources: GG, CMS, GMAU

Christmas Blessings

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE!





Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.
Norman Vincent Peale

Christmas - that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance - a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved.
Augusta E. Rundel

Peace on earth will come to stay, when we live Christmas every day.
Helen Steiner Rice

Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.
Washington Irving

Christmas is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future.
Agnes M. Pharo

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.
Burton Hillis








~ Blessings To You And Yours This Holiday ~

The Spirit of Christmas

Today being Christmas Eve Eve Eve, I'd like to share a heartwarming story of the true spirit of Christmas. This was written by Laurie Pines and featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul.


**********************************************************************************************************************
"A Very Belated Thank You"

When my son, Mark, was in the third grade he saved all his allowance for over two months to buy holiday presents for those he loved. He had saved twenty dollars. Third Saturday in December Mark announced that he had made his list and had his money in his pocket.

I drove him to a local drug store, the modern version of what we used to call the "Five and Dime." Mark picked up a hand basket and went off on his own while I waited patiently reading a book at the front of the store. It took Mark over 45 minutes to pick out his presents. The smile on his face as he approached the checkout counter was truly joyful. The clerk rang up his purchases as I politely looked the other way. Mark kept within his budget and reached into his pocket for his money. It was not there. There was a hole in his pocket, but no money. Mark stood in the middle of the store holding his basket, tears rolling down his cheeks. His whole body was shaking with his sobs. Then an amazing thing happened. A customer in the store came up to Mark. She knelt down to his level and took him in her arms and said, "You would do me the greatest favor if you let me replace your money. It would be the most wonderful present you could ever give me. I only ask that one day, you pass it on. One day, when you are grown, I would like you to find someone you can help. When you help this other person, I know you will feel as good about it as I do now." Mark took the money, tried to dry his tears and ran to the checkout counter as fast as he could go. I think we all enjoyed our gifts that year almost as much as Mark enjoyed giving them to us.

I would like to say "thank you" to that incredible woman. I would like to tell her that four years later Mark went house to house collecting blankets and coats for people...and he thought of her. I would like to tell her that every time I give food to a homeless family, I think of her. And I want to promise her that Mark will never forget to keep passing it on.

**********************************************************************************************************************

Vocabulary

Weird Word gives you an opportunity to grow your vocabulary with not-very-common and/or not-frequently-used words.

Today's Weird Word is: NEBULAPHOBIA, and its pronounciation is: neb-u-la-fo-be-ah.


Nebulaphobia is noun, meaning: fear of fog.

His business trip to London caused him to be anxious, because he suffered from nebulaphobia.


Ask people if they suffer from nebulaphobia. You're bound to get a few confused looks!





Note: The source for most of the words featured can be found at Luciferous Logolepsy. They are so obscure, I was actually unable to find some of them at a couple of common online dictionary references, such as The Free Dictionary.com.

Prepositions

Prepositions are those little words that show us the relationship between nouns or noun substitutes. They come in two varieties, simple and complex, and they are always followed by a noun. The result is what's called a prepositional phrase.

- The ogre hid out under the bridge.
- Beneath the lily pad, the frog waited for a princess to kiss him.
- For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health...


The most common simple prepositions are:

about, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, near, of, off, on, since, through, to, toward, under, until, up, upon, with, within, without.

Complex prepositions combine two or three words to act as one preposition: according to, insofar as, instead of, along with. All you have to remember is that they, too, require a subject.

- Many card games are played according to Holye.
- Instead of the typical response, Jeremy chose to answer in Spanish.
- Tonight's performance is cancelled due to illness.


While prepositions aren't one of the major migraines in English, they do present a few issues. For little words, they can be misused in a big way. A few of the most obvious victims are in/at, from/then, among/between, and in/into.


*In or at? Use in with spaces (in the universe, in the bath, in a row, in a field of study). Use at with places (at the resort, at the top of the page, at the back of the room). Therefore,

- Although I sat at the front of the classroom in college, I was still bad in math.


*From or than? This one is easy. It should always be different from. The commonly heard different than is incorrect, (than isn't a preposition, it's a conjunction). Therefore,

- Even more than I thought, rugby is different from baseball.


*Among or between? Usually, among is used when more than two parties or things are involved. Between is preferred when there are only two.

- Smaller prizes were divided among the participants, while the big money was split between the two winners.

However, from its earliest usage, between has been extended to more than two, for instance,

- There were varying positions on the treaty between Timbuktu, Tasmania and Turkey.

In common usage, either among or between is correct. Just listen for the sense of the sentence.


*In or into? In many instances, either one is correct, or the correct choice is obvious. Into implies an action, while in most often describes a condition. For instance,

- Lassie jumped in/into the lake to save Timmy from the alligator.
- While skiing in Switzerland, I fell into/in a snow bank.



Source: The Gremlins of Grammar

Thoroughness Challenge

Thorough Thursday is a post consisting of paragraphs that contain spelling and/or grammatical errors. The paragraphs with the errors corrected and highlighted in red can be found at the end of the post.

Note: The purpose of the Challenge is thoroughness. You're only looking for errors in spelling and/or grammar. Names and places will NOT be misspelled, nor will there by any changes to punctuation or sentence structure. In addition, if there is a word that may have more than one accepted spelling, those also will not be changed.


Your Challenge paragraphs concludes our look at the history of blogs and blogging with the creation of Blogger - and beyond. This week you're looking for 9 errors. Good Luck!

*******************************************************************************
BLOGGER and Beyond

In late Janaury of 2001, in the depths of the dot-com crash, a San Francisco startup called Pyra Labs ran out of money. Its staff departed. The co-founder of the company, a young Nebraskan named Evan Williams, decided to make a go of it alone. He scraped together $40,000 in new funding and moved Pyra's servers into his apartment. This permited the company's 100,000 registered customers (and counting) to keep using Pyra's service, Blogger, to publish their online journels, or blogs.

A year later, Blogger had 700,000 subscribers. Whether sharing cookie recipes or commenting on weapons reports from Iraq, those writers were constructing a significent new form of grassroots media. Blogging turned tradtional publishing on its head, allowing anyone with a computer and modem (or even a smartphone) to gain a global voice for free. By 2003, Williams was able to sell his business to Google for a lucritive pile of pre-IPO stock. Three years later he and his partners launched yet another tool for global publishing, the micro-blogging phenomonon, Twitter.

At this point it's hard for some to remember that even in the late '90s most people still regarded web pages as things to read, not places to post and publish. It's an important phenomenen, one that leads not only to YouTube, Facebook, and Wikipedia but also to the transfomation of corporate and government communications.

*******************************************************************************



Now, let's see how thorough you are!

*******************************************************************************

BLOGGER and Beyond

In late January of 2001, in the depths of the dot-com crash, a San Francisco startup called Pyra Labs ran out of money. Its staff departed. The co-founder of the company, a young Nebraskan named Evan Williams, decided to make a go of it alone. He scraped together $40,000 in new funding and moved Pyra's servers into his apartment. This permitted the company's 100,000 registered customers (and counting) to keep using Pyra's service, Blogger, to publish their online journals, or blogs.

A year later, Blogger had 700,000 subscribers. Whether sharing cookie recipes or commenting on weapons reports from Iraq, those writers were constructing a significant new form of grassroots media. Blogging turned traditional publishing on its head, allowing anyone with a computer and modem (or even a smartphone) to gain a global voice for free. By 2003, Williams was able to sell his business to Google for a lucrative pile of pre-IPO stock. Three years later he and his partners launched yet another tool for global publishing, the micro-blogging phenomenon, Twitter.

At this point it's hard for some to remember that even in the late '90s most people still regarded web pages as things to read, not places to post and publish. It's an important phenomenon, one that leads not only to YouTube, Facebook, and Wikipedia but also to the transformation of corporate and government communications.

*******************************************************************************

Writing Dates and Times

Writing dates and times is something that falls under the category I refer to as grammar slang. So many people are unsure of how to write them, it has become a gray area where you'll find dates and times written out in any number of ways. There are grammatical rules, which I've listed below, with examples of proper usage.

Rule: The following examples apply when using dates:

The book will be published on August 9.
The book will be published on the 9th of August.
April Fools' Day is April 1.
The 1st of April is April Fools' Day.


Rule: When expressing decades, they can be spelled out and lowercased.

Example: I have several books from the eighties and nineties.


Rule: Whether you express decades using incomplete or complete numerals, do not use an apostrophe between the year and the s. When using an incomplete numeral, use an apostrophe to replace the first two numbers.

Correct:
During the ’80s, I purchased several books.
During the 1980s, I purchased several books.

Incorrect:
During the ’80’s, I purchased several books.
During the 1980’s, I purchased several books.


Rule: Spell out the time of day in text even with half and quarter hours. With o’clock, the number is always spelled out.

Example: He left at four thirty to meet with his agent.
Example: His meeting with his agent was at five o’clock in the afternoon.


Rule: Use numerals with the time of day when exact times are being emphasized.

Example: She received the message at 9:22 a.m.
Example: The meeting is at 12:30 p.m. sharp.


Rule: Use noon and midnight rather than 12:00 a.m. or 12:00 p.m.

Note: In printed matter, many times you will see A.M. and P.M.

In much the same way that E-mail and e-mail has evolved into email, AM and PM are also widely used, though not officially grammatically correct.

Sources: Grammarbook, Gregg Reference Manual

Happy Monday!

I'm going to turn everything upside down today! As much as I know you will all miss me terribly (smile), beginning this week I will be posting on Tuesday and Thursday. The posts you've become familiar with will be alternated from week to week.

Every so often there may be an additional post, because I KNOW I'm going to miss *seeing* you all on a daily basis; but those two days you can count on!




I sure have missed everyone!
See you tomorrow!

Spelling Challenge

Hey! What's the Spelling Challenge doing here on Monday? I decided to test your spelling skills at the beginning of the week rather than at the end! So let's get those brain cells all fired up and see how you do! Get your sticky note and pen, and write down the correct spelling for the ten words below.


NO PEEKING!

(Still loving this little peeking furry!)

1. falascious
2. drunkeness
3. subpeona
4. peurile
5. irrascible
6. deterance
7. viscious
8. afficianado
9. rhythym
10. tarrif


If you spell all ten words correctly, you get the beautiful sparkling gold glitter star! Good Luck!



Whether or not you get your star, everyone gets this spray of PURPLE glitter stars for your efforts! It just wouldn't be right not to have purple stars as part of the Spelling Challenge, now would it?


ANSWERS:

1. fallacious
2. drunkenness
3. subpoena
4. puerile
5. irascible
6. deterrence
7. vicious
8. aficionado
9. rhythm
10. tariff



Keep a smile on your face, spread some HAPPY, and

Happy Thanksgiving!

"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~


There will be no posts this week on CCP. I will be having a rather busy week in preparation of the holiday, and with all details yet to be worked out, things are rather unpredictable at this point.


I'm hoping to be able to take a moment here and there to peek in on things!





~ Treasure the time with family and friends ~
Enjoy and celebrate the festivities of Thanksgiving!

Blessings to you all!
~ Crystal ~

Spelling Challenge

It's Fun Friday's Spelling Challenge! Also, at the very end of this post is yesterdays Thorough Thursday Challenge, with the misspelled words highlighted in red.

Okay! Write down the correct spelling for today's words, and as usual the answers are listed below.

NO PEEKING!

(I just love this little peeking furry!)

1. temprament
2. boundry
3. seargant
4. acheivement
5. promissary
6. disasterous
7. surreptitous
8. absense
9. superintendant
10. exorbitant

BONUS WORD
sacriligeous

Time to see which if you get to add to that collection of virtual stars!
Spelling all 10 words correctly
gets you get a sparkling GOLD star!



Spell the bonus word correctly,
and you get the prized, very special, much coveted and very beautiful
Crystal Clear Proofing PURPLE star! It's a great star, isn't it?


Spell all 10 AND the bonus word correctly
will get a GOLD AND a PURPLE star!
(I know, the excitement is overwhelming!)



ANSWERS:

1. temperament
2. boundary
3. sergeant
4. achievement
5. promissory
6. disastrous
7. surreptitious
8. absence
9. superintendent
10. exorbitant

BONUS WORD:
sacrilegious


Yup, I did slip one in on you this week. "Exorbitant" was spelled correctly. Did I stump you? At least cause you to wonder about it?

So how many more stars did you get to add to your ever-growing collection this week? In place of having your name in lights, I had to keep with the whole star theme, and offer everyone a fun fireworks star! Tah-Dah!

Now, here is yesterday's Thorough Thursday post in its entirety, with the errors corrected and highlighted in red.

*******************************************************************************
Original weblogs had to be manually updated through multiple sections of a common website. The creation of the majority of tools that allow authoring and maintenance of articles posted in a reverse chronological order, initiated a much easier publishing process, for a less technical, expansive population. The result was the forming of a direct class for what is known as online publishing, which has given us the blogs we see today. Obtaining blog software like WordPress, Blogger and LiveJournal are available through a number of web hosting services. This provides blinding speed and instant reaction to any concern or topic on the "global podium."

Since 2002 blogs have gained notoriety and credibility for their part in breaking, shaping and spinning news stories. It has become a way of throwing important information into the public limelight. It now, for all intent and purposes, drives mainstream media by forcing them to follow their lead. Blogging has become a priceless tool for quality communication and a way for intelligent people to provide intelligent and valuable insight, opinions and information.

In 1999 new software services like Blogger and LiveJournal were launched, making blogs much simpler to create.

Today, more than one blog is created every second and there are currently over 100,000 million blogs worldwide.

*******************************************************************************
Every one of you deserves recognition, and that's why we must continue the tradition of spreading the now famous Crystal Clear Proofing HAPPY! This week you all get to put a smile on your face with this happy DANCING STAR!





Remember to live each moment, count your lucky stars, feel some HAPPY, and then spread it around!

Thoroughness Challenge

Thoroughly Thursday is a weekly post consisting of paragraphs that contain spelling and/or grammatical errors, and your job is to find them. Please do not list the errors you find within the post. The same post is repeated at the end of Fun Friday's Spelling Challenge, with the errors corrected and highlighted in red.

Note: Names and places will NOT be misspelled, nor will there by any changes to punctuation. In addition, if there is a word that may have more than one accepted form or there is more than one accepted spelling, those also will not be changed. That would not be fair...the purpose of the Challenge is thoroughness, not technicalities.


This week your Challenge paragraphs continue with the history of blogs and blogging as they evolve and begin to immerge as the blogs we're familiar with today. This week you're looking for 11 errors. Good Luck!




*******************************************************************************

Original weblogs had to be manually updated threw multiple sections of a common website. The creation of the majority of tools that allow authoring and maintainance of articals posted in a reverse chronilogical order, initiated a much easier publishing process, for a less technical, expansive population. The result was the forming of a direct class for what is known as online publishing, which has given us the blogs we see today. Obtaining blog software like WordPress, Blogger and LiveJournal are availible through a number of web hosting services. This provides blinding speed and instant reaction to any concern or topic on the "global podium."

Since 2002 blogs have gained notoriaty and credability for there part in braking, shaping and spinning news stories. It has become a way of throwing important infomation into the public limelight. It now, for all intents and purposes, drives mainstream media by forcing them to follow there lead. Blogging has become a priceless tool for quality communication and a way for intelligent people to provide intelligent and valuable insight, opinions and information.

In 1999 new software services like Blogger and LiveJournal were launched, making blogs much simpler to create.

Today, more than one blog is created every second and there are currently over 100,000 million blogs worldwide.

*******************************************************************************




Be sure to check back tomorrow to see how thorough you are!

Wednesday's Weird Word

Wednesday's Word is a weekly feature which gives you the opportunity to grow your vocabulary with a not-very-common and/or not-frequently-used word.


Today's word is: SCUNNER, and its pronounciation is: skun-er.

Scunner is noun, meaning a strong dislike; an aversion.

Personally, I have a definite scunner of spiders.

As a matter of fact, I was going to include a picture of a spider in this post, and I couldn't do it! I didn't want to "see" that all day! *shudder*

So, is there anything or anyone that you take a scunner to?

See you back next Wednesday for another new, weird word!

One Word vs. Two Words

Several words in our language can be spelled as one word or as two, depending on its meaning. Below is a list of a few such words, with sample sentences on how they are used.

Almost - all most
The plane was almost (nearly) three hours late.
We are all most pleased (all very much pleased) with the new schedule.

Already - all ready
The order had already (previously) been shipped.
The order is all ready (all prepared) to be shipped.

Altogether - all together
He is altogether (entirely) too lazy to be a success.
The papers are all together (all in a group) on your desk.

Always - all ways
She has always (at all times) done good work.
We have tried in all ways (by all methods) to keep our employees satisfied.

Anytime - any time
Come see us anytime you are in town, (one word meaning "whenever").
Did you have dealings with him at any time in the past? (Two words after a preposition such as at.)

Anyway - any way
Anyway (in any case), we can't spare him now.
If we can help in any way (by any method), please let us know.

Awhile - a while
One word as an adverb; two words as a noun.

You may have to wait awhile. (Adverb.)
You may have to wait for a while. (Noun; object of for.)

Everyday - every day
You'll soon master the everyday (ordinary or daily) routine of the job.
He has called every day (each day) this week.

Into - in to
He walked into the outer office. (Into implies entry.)
He came in to see me. (In is part of the verb phrase came in; to is part of the infinitive to see.)

Indifferent - in different
She was indifferent (not caring one way or the other) to the offer.
He like our idea, but he wanted it expressed in different (in other) words.

Maybe - may be
Maybe is an adverb; may be is a verb.

If we don't receive a letter from them today, maybe (an adverb meaning perhaps) we should call.
He may be (a verb) out of town next week.

Onto - on to
He lost control of the car and drove onto the sidewalk. (Onto implies movement toward and then over.)
Let's go on to the next problem. (On is an adverb in the verb phrase go on; to is a preposition.)

Someday - some day
Please set up a meeting with them someday next week.
Please set up a meeting with them for some day next week. (Two words when used as the object of a preposition such as for.)

Sometime - some time
The order will be shipped sometime (at some unspecified time) next week.
It took me some time (a period of time) to complete the job.

Whoever - who ever
Whoever (anyone who) is elected secretary should write that letter at once.
Who ever made such a statement? (Ever is an adverb.)


At times you'll find two words spelled as one, and the resulting one word is not a word at all, (a good example is alot). Our language has many such situations, rules, and exceptions to rules. This is why many people feel intimidated and frustrated by grammar.



Source: The Gregg Reference Manual

Fun Facts

In addition to motivational and inspiring thoughts, I'm a fan of trivia and what some call "useless knowledge." In my humble opinion, no knowledge is useless, but regardless, below is a list of some interesting fun facts. And who knows, these pieces of information might just come in handy with your writing! Anyway, they are fun little tidbits!


- All swans in England are the property of the queen or king.

- Urban birds have developed a short, fast "rap style" of singing, different from their rural counterparts.

- In Hong Kong, a betrayed wife is legally allowed to kill her cheating adulterous husband but she may only do so with her bare hands.

- Adding a drop of olive oil and lemon juice to an ice cube then running it over your face gives you better results than some expensive skin care products.

- You will weigh less if you weigh yourself when the moon is full.

- Honeybees never sleep.

- Every day is about 55 billionths of a second longer than the day before it.

- Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.

- Earthworms have five hearts.

- Fingerprints of koalas are similar (in pattern, shape and size) to the fingerprints of humans.

- If an Amish man has a beard, he is married.

- If a native Hawaiian woman places the flower on her right ear, she is available, (the bigger the flower, the more desperate).

- Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.

- Fathers tend to determine the height of their child, mothers their weight.

- A "lost world" exists in the Indonesian jungle that is home to dozens of hitherto unknown animal and plant species.

- As of 2006, more than one in eight people in the United States showed signs of addiction to the internet.

Mmmm...2006 is nearly 4 years ago. I wonder how many people are currently addicted to the internet...or better yet to blogging. After searching for an answer to that, the best I could find was that it is "in the millions."

Spelling Challenge

It's Fun Friday's Spelling Challenge! Also, at the end of this post are the words that were misspelled in the Thorough Thursday Challenge.

Do you have your sticky note and pen ready? Great! Let's get started! Write down the correct spelling for this week's words, and as usual the answers are listed below.

NO PEEKING!


1. vigilent
2. souvenier
3. occurance
4. noticable
5. alledged
6. definately
7. leutenant
8. noticable
9. existance
10. hiararchy

BONUS WORD
onomatopia

Now lets see if you can add to that collection of virtual stars you have!
As you know, If you spell all 10 words correctly
you get a sparkling GOLD star! (Isn't it pretty?)



If you spell the bonus word correctly
you get the prized, very special, much coveted and very beautiful
Crystal Clear Proofing PURPLE star!


For spelling all the words, including the bonus word correctly
you get a GOLD AND a PURPLE star!
(And you ROCK!)



ANSWERS:

1. vigilant
2. souvenir
3. occurrence
4. noticeable
5. alleged
6. definitely
7. lieutenant
8. noticeable
9. existence
10. hierarchy

BONUS WORD:
onomatopoeia


Because this week's bonus word is not all that common, I'm going to just make your day with its pronounciation and definition! Isn't that exciting? (Just play along with me, I'm having fun here...) LOL!

Onomatopoeia is a noun whose meaning is: The formation or use of words such as buzz or murmur that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to. It is pronounced: ahn-ah-mat-oh-PE-ah.


So? How'd you do this week? How many of those stunning stars do you get to add to your collection? To those of you who earned stars...

Here is yesterday's Thorough Thursday post in its entirety, with the errors corrected and highlighted in red.

*******************************************************************************

Blogging has become a whole separate world from the internet. Blogging actually came to the surface back in 1983, when it was referred to as "Usenet." It was considered a primary medium for moderated newsgroups which provided an area for posting discussions on virtually any topic, but was moderated by individuals or small groups. It wasn't until 1994, just a few years after the world wide web was created, that blogs evolved into what is more commonly referred to as an "online diary."

Blogging, while starting out slow, has rapidly gained popularity as a tool for many individuals, organizations and corporations, as a medium to stay in touch with and provide a means of creating an information system. On the individual platform, it is a way for average citizens to have a venue to communicate, reach out and provide feedback on practically any subject humanly conceivable.

The term "blog" was derived from what most knew as "web-logs." The term “weblog” meaning a regularly updated collection of links to other sites and comments, was originally coined by Jorn Barger in 1997, though what is commonly understood as blogging began as early as 1996. In May of 1999, Peter Merholz coined the term "blog" in a posting on his personal blog site, by mischievously breaking down the word weblog to "we blog." The "we" was eventually dropped, resulting in the term we are all familiar with: blog.

In broad terms, a blog is commonly thought of as an online journal, though they can range from intimate personal diaries to more journalistic newsletters. Some blogs focus on a narrow selection of topics of interest to the author, while other blogs cover a much wider range of topics.

*******************************************************************************As always, you all deserve recognition for your efforts! We must continue the tradition of spreading the famous Crystal Clear Proofing HAPPY and award everyone with the SMILEY STAR!





And wishing you all a very

Thoroughness Challenge

Thoroughly Thursday is a weekly post consisting of a couple of paragraphs that contain spelling and/or grammatical errors, and your job is to find them. Please do not list the errors you find within the post. The same post is repeated at the end of Fun Friday's Spelling Challenge, with the errors corrected and highlighted in red.

Note: Names and places will NOT be misspelled, nor will there by any changes to punctuation or capitalization. In addition, if there is a word that may have more than one accepted form or there is more than one accepted spelling, those also will not be changed. That would not be fair...the purpose of the Challenge is thoroughness, not technicalities.



This week your Challenge takes a look at the history of the blogs and blogging, and contains 9 errors.
Good Luck!



*******************************************************************************
Blogging has become a hole separate world from the internet. Blogging actually surfaced back in 1983, when it was referred to as "Usenet." It was considered a primary medium for moderated newsgroups which provided an area for posting discussions on virtually any topic, but was moderated by individuals or small groups. It wasn't until 1994, just a few years after the world wide web was created, that blogs evolved into what is more commonly referred to as an online diary.

Blogging, while starting out slow, has rapidly gained popularity as a tool for many individuals, organizations and corporations, as a medium to stay in touch with and provide a means of creating an infomation system. On the individual platform, it is a way for average citizens to have a venue to communicate, reach out and provide feedback on practicaly any subject humanly concievable.

The term blog was derived form what most knew as web-logs. The term weblog meaning a regularly updated collection of links to other sites and comments, was originally coined by Jorn Barger in 1997, though what is commonly understood as blogging began as early as 1996. In May of 1999, Peter Merholz coined the term blog in a posting on his personal blog sight, by mischieviously braking down the word weblog to we blog. The we was eventually dropped, resulting in the term we are all familar with: blog.

In broad terms, a blog is commonly thought of as an online journal, though they can range from intimate personal diaries to more journalistic newsletters. Some blogs focus on a narrow selection of topics of interest to the author, while other blogs cover a much wider range of topics.

*******************************************************************************

Be sure to check back tomorrow to see how thorough you are!

Wednesday's Weird Word

This a weekly feature where you have the opportunity to grow your vocabulary with a not-very-common and/or not-frequently-used word.


Today's Wednesday's Word is: GALIMATIAS, and its pronounciation is: gal-uh-mey-shee-uhs.

GALIMATIAS is a noun, meaning nonsense, or gibberish; confused, meaningless jargon; confused or unintelligible talk.

After several drinks, it was difficult to have an intelligent conversation with him, as most of what he was saying was galimatias.


Use galimatias in a conversation today! This one you could really have some fun with!


See you back next Wednesday for another new, weird word!




In appreciation to all who have served or are serving our country - THANK YOU and Happy Veterans' Day!

Remember to thank our Veterans today!