Misadventure of the Week
January 23rd, 2010I dislike terms like “misadventure”, where “mis” is tacked on to an old word to make a new one. But perhaps my use of it suggests I am coming to accept it…after all, like it or not, it is part of our language. My bigger pet peeve these days is writing like this: How do I feel about mis-applied prefixes? I. despise. them. One word sentences. YA writers love ‘em.
Anyway, THIS week in school I melted my purple sweater, that is to say, there are two rough shiny patches on the sleeves. Not standard cotton, huh?
It happened this way. In 8th grade Spanish the light on the overhead projector faded and finally went dead. (I use overheads in my 8th grade classes and LCD projectors in my 7th grade classes, mostly because that set-up works with what the classroom teachers already have. I think I prefer the LCD, except when I am going over the workbook pages, when my collection of overhead transparencies is useless.)
Naturally my cart is equipped with spare overhead projector bulbs and, being (sadly) experienced in these matters, I know not to touch the hot bulb with my bare hands. I thought my sweater sleeves would function well enough as a primitive sort of pot holder. And I guess they did…but for a fleeting moment, I imagined the smoke alarm being set off from the smell of melted sweater.
I’m glad to have finally expressed my ire at those one-word sentences. This is why writing is good- it brings out the deeper issues that I haven’t dealt with.
Hm. Sounds like fodder for yet. another. blond. joke.
You got any more soul-baring posts around here to which I may add more flippant remarks?
this is nothing…wait till you see what I put up next.
It’s funny you mention that–I’d been noticing the wealth of one-word sentences in the YA series we’ve been discussing and finding myself annoyed with the author.
I think the period is too final a punctuation mark for the effect they are looking for. My mind stumbles on the period and has trouble dealing with the chopped up thought…or something. I’m trying to justify my dislike.
I forgot to mention that the new bulb burned out five minutes after I changed it, at which point I gave up and moved to the white board.