Say it ain't so

Sad to say, Denver's first newspaper -- and the state's oldest business -- published its last edition today. Today's issue is a keeper, though. Full of great stories about and from the publication's storied past, as well as all of today's news. The front page features a goodbye to readers, framed by the first front page of the first edition, published April 23, 1859.

Just saw the photo on the Rocky's home page, and it's an empty newsroom. Makes me feel a little sick.

Here's an excerpt from the front-page goodbye:

To have reached this day, the final edition of the Rocky Mountain News, just 55 days shy of its 150th birthday is painful. We will scatter. And all that will be left are the stories we have told, captured on microfilm or in digital archives, devices unimaginable in those first days. But what was present in the paper then and has remained to this day is a belief in this community and the people who make it what it has become and what it will be. We part in sorrow because we know so much lies ahead that will be worth telling, and we will not be there to do so.

Rest in peace, Rocky. May your spirit live on in journalists for generations to come.

Whom, I?

Many people have trouble figuring out whether it's proper to use "I" or "me" in certain grammatical situations. And according to an op-ed piece in yesterday's New York Times, even presidents make the mistake of using "I" when they should be using "me." One reason the authors, Patricia T. O'Connor and Stewart Kellerman, offer for this error is what they call "hypercorrection:"

Then, why do so many scofflaws keep using “I” instead of “me”? Perhaps it’s because they were scolded as children for saying things like “Me want candy” instead of “I want candy,” so they began to think “I” was somehow more socially acceptable. Or maybe it’s because they were admonished against “it’s me.” Anybody who’s had “it is I” drummed into his head is likely to avoid “me” on principle, even when it’s right.

Another mistake along the same lines occurs when people write "whom" instead of "who." I think writers do this because they think using "whom" makes one appear more learned. Like when people use big words that they don't understand, just to impress the readers. Not that my students ever do that.

I don't mind it when I hear these mistakes in spoken language. We simply don't have enough time to edit ourselves when we talk. It's when you make mistakes like these in writing that brings out the crank in cranky editors like me. I'm sure many will disagree. I have a friend who is an English professor, and she cannot stand to hear "can I" when "may I" is preferred. I can take it or leave it. Does that mean someone will come along and take away my "grammar junkie" card?

Now don't get me wrong. I can't stand to hear people say things like "I seen that" and "It don't make no difference to me." Double-negatives also give me the willies. One has to draw the line somewhere.

What makes you cranky?

With a name like 'craigslist,' what do you expect?

Someone in my house has been printing out ads from craigslist. Either she' s looking to move, or she wants me to edit the ads. I hope it's the latter. Three of the four ads contained misspellings. I have a special prize for the author of the first ad, who threw in a second mistake for free.

"Heat included in Rent/Move in Speicial/ Avalible now..."

"OAKBROOK APARTMENTS: Unfirnished..."

"$500 Funished Studio Apartment ..."

I hope you're as appalled as I am.

So please, dear readers, if you're going to post something on the Internet, proofread it for goodness sake. And if you're not a born editor, ask a friend -- or an editing teacher -- to proof it for you.

Worth reading

I just finished "Black and White and Dead all Over" by John Darnton. What a read! It's a mystery that starts with the murder of one of the assistant managing editors at what appears to be a thinly veiled reference to The New York Times. What I love about this book are the details the author includes about how newsrooms used to be, and the longing the old timers seem to have for the "good old days." I remember hearing about those days at the Connecticut Post.
Cigarette butts hanging off desks, booze bottles stuffed inside drawers, reporters returning to the newsroom to file stories after their three-martini lunches. (No, wait, my bad. That last one happened several times when I worked there.)

This book has it all for old timers: the composing room, the pneumatic tubes, the typewriters. And can you believe the AME is found with an editor's spike rammed into his chest? If you know what an editor's spike is, you will love this book. If not, you might learn something.

One of the funniest tidbits Darnton uses is the fact that several of the "dinosaurs" -- journalists who've been there since the old days -- keep yellowed copies of what is considered the worst lead ever written at the paper. When work is slow, one of them will open a drawer and take it out and read it. Guffaws follow. Reminds me of the editor who, during a lull, used to yell across the newsroom, "Nixon just died!" At least he never did it on my deadline. Then there was the editor who used a line gauge (a fancy name for an editor's ruler) to open his soda can. (Hey, it makes sense. He never cut himself.) And then there was the story about the reporter who covered the Earthquake World Series in 1989. When the editor finally heard from said reporter after hours of wondering his fate, he asked for the story before asking how he was. How can you miss things like that?

What's next? Thespacebetweenwords?

Government officials in Birmingham, England, have voted to ban apostrophes in road signs. According to an Associated Press story, the officials spent so much time during meetings trying to figure out which place names needed apostrophes, they couldn't get anything else done.

I love the wordplay used by the AP writer, Meera Silva:

LONDON – On the streets of Birmingham, the queen's English is now the queens English.

England's second-largest city has decided to drop apostrophes from all its street signs, saying they're confusing and old-fashioned.

But some purists are downright possessive about the punctuation mark.

I wouldn't say I'm possessive. Fanatical, maybe. But not possessive.

'Your' an idiot

Stupid people should not be allowed to create bumper stickers. I was driving to work this morning and saw the following:

If your going to
ride my ass
pull my hair

I'm going to market my own sticker, but this one will be for smart people:

If you're going to
put something idiotic on your automobile,
at least use proper punctuation.

I guess I'll have to edit it down to fit. Any suggestions?

Which America do you mean?

I love the crossword puzzle in The New York Times. And, being a news geek, I love it even more when the puzzle includes themes on current events.

The last three weeks have included two Sunday puzzles dedicated to the election of Barack Obama. The first was a little tough. The theme was states that voted for Obama. The states' postal abbreviations (not AP style abbreviations) were included in circles throughout the puzzle. Great idea. Then on Inauguration Day, the puzzle focused on Obama himself, including references to "The Audacity of Hope," the U.S. Senate and Vice President Joe Biden.

But Tuesday's puzzle also had what I consider to be a major editing mistake. I can't remember the exact clue, but it was something like "Obama's title beginning Jan. 20, 2009." The answer was "President of America." Last I heard, the name of our country was the United States of America. "America" refers to the continents of North and South America. Obama is not the president of North and South America. People who live in countries like Canada, Mexico, Peru, Honduras and Greenland take offense to this type of thing. (Yes, Virginia, Greenland is part of North America.) And I find don't like it, either, thank you very much.

If we're going to take back our place in the world, let's start with being more sensitive about things like this.

I realize that like headlines, crossword puzzle answers must fit, but that's why they're so demanding to compose. If the writer of the puzzle couldn't find a good answer that fit, he or she should have rephrased the question.