West Seattle Blog…

6 Comments

1. Thanks for the props, WS Blog folks…
   The “Overdevelopment” tag is unfortunate, though. I’d actually call this “underdevelopment”, since the proposed project is another large, single-use building with lots of surface parking that is better suited to a Westwood Village/Southcenter Mall-type of location.
   I’ve maintained that I lament the closing of the Charlestown Cafe, because I think a community “third place” like the Cafe trumps any kind of redevelopment, but if (and when, quite honestly) properties like this are redeveloped, we should hope that a good quality owner/developer would want to invest in the community and create a place that elevates it’s surroundings.

   Comment by MW — 10:30 am February 6, 2007 #

2. Please forgive me for what I’m about to do, in memory of my English professor, who carried a Sharpie in his pocket to correct errors of grammar appearing in public places. There’s a very simple rule for “its”: it never ever takes an apostrophe; except when it represents “it is.” There are never any exceptions to this rule, including possessives.

   The apostrophe error “lot’s” appears often in this blog too. It’s not necessary to use an apostrophe when you write “I’ve got lots of critics.” or, “Lots of people do it.”

   The reason I’m mentioning this is because the more often grammar errors appear in public places, the more common they become, and the more our children and the next generation take them for granted and repeat them.

   With all due respect.

   Comment by Dis — 3:16 pm February 6, 2007 #

3. Hi, Dis – would like to gently correct you — the errors you mention do not appear often in this BLOG, they appear in its COMMENTS. We have a former proofreader in the family and pride ourselves on an infinitesimal typo rate, in our official posts. As for the comments left by WS Blog readers, we do not edit them unless certain profanities are used (and we also reserve the right to delete insulting comments). Guess we should make that clear in the future “comment policy” we’ll be spelling out.

   Comment by Administrator — 5:13 pm February 6, 2007 #

4. Dear Admin: comment well taken; my mistake, sorry. I should have said errors appear in the comments. I can’t recall ever seeing an error in the blog itself.

   Comment by Dis — 8:19 pm February 7, 2007 #

5. Dear Dis…and this has what to do with the subject at hand? It’s (note the correct usage) not too hard to see that this is about the new Yahoo group formed by Mark Wainwright, and I for one, would like to thank Mark for doing this so we can stay informed about the subject of the Charlestown Cafe. I joined just today, and already have information from Mr. Mellum, the owner of the cafe.Dis, I hope you’re interested as much in what’s happeneing in our community as you are about our correct usage of the english language. We need people who pay attention, and you fit the bill. I hope you join….:)

   Comment by Jan — 2:08 am February 9, 2007 #

6. Jan, thank you. Please note the disclaimer at the beginning of my original post. I’ve worked with local governments and jurisdictions for many years, and I salute community activism. It’s democracy at its finest. In terms of strategy, concerned neighbors have impact and credibility when their message is clear, relevant, and grammatically correct. There’s no quicker way to lose your reading public than to present with errors of syntax and spelling. And thanks for the invitation. I’m very heavily involved; I’m sure I’ll see you around.

   Comment by Dis — 7:29 pm February 9, 2007 #

Sorry, comment time is over.