So Elicia MacKenzie has been crowned Maria von Trapp (in the show, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?) for the upcoming Toronto production of the Sound of Music. Good for her! I did not see a single episode, nor have I watched any of American Idol or Canadian Idol. That surely puts me in a minority.

In honour of the new Maria, here are some of my favourite things in my work days the past couple of weeks:

• …when clients ask me to work my “magic” when writing, proofreading or editing something. I had one instance of that, plus a related “please ‘de-cheese’ this.”
• …when I run the readability stats on something I’ve written and come up with 0% passive sentences.
• …when a tricky article comes back from review with very few changes.
• …when the words flow and I finish the day’s writing with time to fit in a swim (under sun and blue sky, of course).
• …when I’m able to pull all my work together and meet deadlines before going away on vacation for a couple of days.

And that’s what I’m up to now. And by the way, if you’re an independent and business is quiet, just send a note around to your clients telling them you’ll be on vacation.

This has been bugging me since I read it in Monday’s Toronto Star:

“…the 26-year-old Arizona resident broke his tour maiden at Glen Abbey yesterday.”

Shades of 13th-century virgins being despoiled!

I suppose the reporter was trying (with a little too much effort, in my opinion) to link Chez Reavie’s win at the Canadian Open, his first, to his upcoming wedding.

“Maidenhead” is a 13th century term for virginity. “Maiden” itself is often used in the sense of new/fresh/a first attempt or occurrence, such as in a “maiden voyage.” I dug around a bit and found “broke his (or her) maiden” to be a fairly common term in horse racing wins. So maybe the reporter’s usual beat is the track.

Really, I found it a distasteful reference, and one more likely than not to alienate a female reader. The reporter no doubt felt that hearty male readers were his target audience, and they would hardly notice the term.

A column in today’s Toronto Star had a great way of describing the liver’s function:

“Almost all of the nutrients you eat have to pass through the the liver before moving to the heart for generalized distribution. Your liver decides what gets kept out, what gets patted down and inspected, and what’s allowed to be distributed in your body.”

Isn’t that a terrific way of communicating a complex process? I’m picturing security guards at the airport!

Can you explain to me what on earth I was thinking? When I packed my bags for a visit to Calgary last week, I deliberately put a bottle of wine for my cousin in my carryon bag, for safekeeping. That’s right. A container with more than 100 ml (3.4 oz) of liquid. That no airline will allow you to bring on board. In my carryon.

As I was checking my other bag, the Air Canada person said I could check two bags. She was surprised, because the current rules are one checked bag, and a second will cost you $25. “I just have one,” I said.

It was only as I started to walk towards Security, and reached for the plastic bag holding a few assorted liquids and gels in containers 100 ml or less, that it struck me what was in my bag. I have to give credit to Air Canada for helping me out. (Really!) The fellow at the Oversize/Fragile Items Dropoff (who I thought might have packing material) sent me to another check-in person. Her system would only allow me one bag, so she grabbed a box that fit the bottle and came with me to Person #1, whose system still showed I was allowed two items. Person #2 taped up the box while #1 checked it and printed out the baggage ticket. Person #2 came with me back to the dropoff point and we handed it over.

In Calgary, my main suitcase arrived on the usual belt. No sign of the box, which I expected to be wine-stained and full of broken glass anyway. At the Baggage counter, the fellow entered the claim number and told me the box didn’t make it on the flight, but would be delivered to my hotel later that night or next day.

After checking into the hotel, I went out to dinner with a friend. By the time I returned, the box was waiting for me – in one piece.

I know plenty of Canadians (including me) who have had bad experiences with Air Canada, so I’m happy to be able to share a story with a happy ending. So thanks Air Canada, and my apologies that in my flustered state I did not get anyone’s name.

Friday is your last chance to submit your favourite mondegreen to Merriam-Webster. “Mondegreen” is one of the new words M-W has added to the M-W Collegiate Dictionary this year, meaning “a word or phrase that results from a mishearing of something said or sung.” The original name comes from the mishearing of  “laid him on the green” in an old Scottish ballad as  “Lady Mondegreen.” Other examples:

• Row, row, row your boat, life is but a dream = Row, row, row your boat, life’s a butter dream
• The answer my friends is blowin’ in the wind = The ants are my friends

I was interested to find out how M-W chooses the new words accepted for the dictionary. “As soon as we see the word used without explanation or translation or gloss, we consider it a naturalized citizen of the English language,” said Peter Sokolowski, an editor-at-large for Merriam-Webster. “If somebody is using it to convey a specific idea and that idea is successfully conveyed in that word, it’s ready to go in the dictionary.”

Other words that made it this year: air quotes, mental health day and prosecco.

Marketers are going after another supposedly influential group these days: Generation Jones, a term coined by Los Angeles “culture expert” Jonathan Pontell. This is the group within Baby Boomers born between 1954 and 1965. It probably tells you something that Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are high-profile Jones members.

The distinction here is not age, but how you use media. Instant messaging? Facebook? web space? music downloads? All mark you as a tech-savvy early adapter. Take this test by Brazen Careerist Penelope Trunk to see if you fit the label. I made the grade, although the fact that I hadn’t heard the term before probably docks a couple of points.
The name Jones refers to the group being a “large anonymous generation,” and/or links to the slang term “jonesin’,” the craving felt by this generation of unfulfilled expectations.

Sadly, it appears Generation Jones is responsible for electing George W. Bush in 2004. Politicians are keeping a close eye on the Joneses for the next election.

When my elderly neighbour passed away more than a year ago, his daughter took time to mourn. Then she started the task of cleaning up and fixing up, intending to sell the place. It’s a small two-bedroom bungalow, so the likely buyer will be elderly.  The daughter knew this buyer would be unlikely to want to fix things, so she’s trying to do all that fixing ahead of time.

I’m taking away two lessons from this lengthy project.

1. Don’t wait to fix something that bothers you. Her parents had always planned to update the kitchen, redo the bathroom, paint and spruce up. They would have loved the changes she has made, and in fact the dad had promised his wife a new kitchen when they moved in years earlier. She died before the promise was kept.
2. Don’t wait for perfection. After the extensive renovations inside were close to being finished (and they have turned out beautifully), the daughter and I were chatting on the driveway. She mentioned that the numbers on the house were crooked and that was something else that would have to be fixed. I just looked at her and said, “Let the new people straighten them if it’s important to them.” She can keep on fixing this little thing and that little thing, but at some point she has to settle for “pretty darn good” or “almost perfect” rather than “perfect.”

You can apply that same philosophy to writing, and in fact to most of life. Don’t put off starting. Keep making small improvements that get you closer to perfection without getting hung up wanting perfection or nothing.

By now, you are no doubt among the estimated 15 million people who have viewed Matt Harding doing his goofy dance around the world. Talk about viral!

It’s interesting to see how his video has taken off. His web site – which shows he’s home in Seattle, just back from his second media tour – says he posted the latest video June 20. I found out about it in a New York Times article on July 8. Canada’s Globe and Mail ran a piece July 12. The Toronto Star had an article today, proudly noting that the paper was “the only media outlet to take serious notice” when Matt danced in Toronto last September; yes, our city made the cut.

Matt says that the New York Times piece has really changed things; “acknowledgement by the paper of record lends a weird air of legitimacy.” He’s now working on a book. Good for him!

If I had to say why Matt and his dance have so captured our imagination, I would guess that one reason is he seems so darned ordinary. The other big reason is that you can’t help but smile when you see him in place after place, doing his uninhibited, free-for-all, freestyle dance, especially when he is surrounded by locals throwing themselves wholeheartedly into it with him.  Don’t you think?

I had an interesting experience that followed up a session at the IABC conference on generational differences in the workplace.

Exhibit A. My husband (baby boomer) was looking for the phone number of a local golf course. He turned first to the closest print phone book and then the Yellow Pages. No listing in either one. Meanwhile, Son #1 (Gen Y) is saying, “Check on the web.” He does. Bingo, finds the number immediately.

Exhibit B. A person I met at the IABC conference has my business card with my e-mail address on it. In a follow-up, he contacts me first on Facebook, not e-mail.

An aside, for you word-lovers: a new (to me) term learned in the same session was “high ping quotient,” referring to someone’s responsiveness to instant messaging/e-mail/online activity.

Fun words spotted recently:

• BlackBerry prayer. The head-down, slightly hunched position characteristic of a person using a BlackBerry or similar device. (From Wordspy.com.)
• Word of Mom. Attributed to Mabel’s Labels (“labels for the stuff kids lose”), referring to word about great kid-friendly products being passed along by moms. (Found via BuzzCanuck.)

Unfortunate spelling spotted recently:

• …spending time “pouring” over data
• …shop for patio “wear”
• …”member’s” only

If you’re off celebrating the 4th of July,  enjoy your day, and keep your eyes peeled for random fun and/or misspelled words!