#journaleight

[crystalrussellseditingblog-blog]

Journal Eight: Word of the Week

Try as I might, I can't stay away from The New York Times. I have decided I need a subscription immediately, because ten articles a month is just sad. I do read other publications, but then I get bored and venture over to the minimalist jewel...

Source - The New York Times

Date - Oct. 17, 2012

Link - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/fashion/at-chloe-clare-waight-keller-pushes-femininity-forward-but-its-more-modern.html?pagewanted=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1351792890-KD/h1AY46AWI3D%20yD%20nHug

Title - Who are you calling girly? This article is an editor's pick of the Fashion & Style section and man is it good.

Word of the week - proverbially: characteristic of a proverb; having become an object of common mention or reference.

I was drawn to this word because it instantly makes me think of the Proverbs, a book of the Bible containing multitudes of wisdom and poetic lores. And indeed, it does refer to Proverbs. 

And here's a few great passages just for kicks...

"Ms. Waight Keller, 42, English-born (though she has lived and traveled extensively), is the ideal image of the Chloé customer. She was raised in dresses and the skirts of school uniforms and has spent much of her adult life rebelling by wearing pants. And she is the type of designer who can make leather pants — like the forest-green ones she was wearing in the showroom, with a cool blue cotton shirt — look as comfortable as pajamas. She keeps her head down and walks with her hands in her pockets."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"And she sought to reconnect the label with the more playful elements of its past, including tanks that were styled after basketball jerseys, sequined tuxedo stripes that ended with the point of an arrow, and a floral print that resembled something from Hawaiian surf wear."

[crystalrussellseditingblog-blog]

Journal Eight: Lede of the Week

Okay this writer is pretty good. My lede comes from the same article as my passage. Tia Goldenberg is her name. Here's her lede:

"When he drives around east Jerusalem, taxi driver Samer al-Risheq doesn't use GPS and tucks away his maps. In many parts on this side of the city, those tools are useless: The streets have no names." 

A clever way of introducing the no name issue of Jerusalem, from a taxi driver's perspective. She thinks outside the box. :) But as an editor, I'm always looking to improve. I would want the lede to pack more punch and be more succinct. I would have said: 

"When he drives around east Jerusalem, taxi driver Samer al-Risheq doesn't use GPS. Those tools are useless: The streets have no names.

[crystalrussellseditingblog-blog]

Journal Eight: Passage of the Week

Source - the AP Exchange

Date - Nov. 1, 2012

Passage - "The predominantly Jewish west has gleaming malls and leafy residential neighborhoods. Residents can be seen sipping cappuccinos on quaint cafe patios, and flowers line the streets. All streets and even the smallest of public squares have names on signs written in Hebrew, English and Arabic.

In east Jerusalem, many roads are narrow and potholed, there are few sidewalks and garbage is piled up on street corners. Residents have for years complained of neglect, saying they lack public services such as clinics and schools, even while paying local taxes."

Alright, if an article takes the time to describe something in its' own fashion, I'm going to like it. I'm a sucker for lines of alliteration, metaphors and overuse of adjectives. I liked this passage because these two paragraphs could sum up the point of the entire article. The article was entitled, "East Jerusalem streets get names, easing confusion."

[crystalrussellseditingblog-blog]

Journal Eight: Catch of the Week

Source - the AP Exchange

Date - Nov. 1, 2012

Catch - "...but only after this archaeological season did we gathered enough evidence to back up this claim." 

This should say "gather" instead. For some reason I always find mistakes on AP Exchange. Perhaps it's because it's a halfway newspaper, for the media before the breaking, but if my name was on the article I would want it be correct. This excerpt comes from an interesting little article titled "Bulgaria claims to find Europe's 'oldest town.'"