I was having trouble trying to figure out what post about this week. I have been fighting a cold and work has been a bear, so needless to say the motivation factor has been at a low.
The whole writer's block thing has been front and center. I know that there are hundreds, if not thousands of writing sites out there with advice on curing the block. I just didn't feel like meditating or using a prompt, etc...
The thing that finally gave me an idea came from one of the readings for this week's assignment, "Understanding Web design" by Jeffery Zeldman.
I found this to be a beautifully written piece on web design, designed verbally pleasing if you will. Two passages stood out from the rest that I want to share.
The first was "Those who understand the least make the most noise". Man, no truer words have been spoken and not just in the area of web design. How many times have we seen someone being boorish, loud, and just plain rude when they are losing an argument and simply have no good retort to the other person's point or position on a subject? And it is not just in politics, it is in everyday life, the "I'm the loudest, so I'm right" seems to be a stable of modern debate.
The second was "...obliged by commercial reasons to suppress some of what they know, emphasizing Barnumesque over brilliant."
I'll take this in two parts:
Who hasn't been to a manager's or staff meeting where something was discussed that was just for people seated in the room? I have. It changes your perspective on how you see things in a company. When you aren't in those meetings you can sometimes form an opinion on the information you have and you may disagree with management-loudly. (see passage #1) So in some respects the people in those meetings are "obliged to suppress some of what they know." to keep things running smoothly.
The second part, well it was just one of those phrases that just makes me love the English language One of those phrases I hope to put in my writing everyday.
"Barnumesque over brilliant." Love it more each time I hear it.
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