Sorrow

It has been a while since my last post, and if anyone is still reading, please click through to read the following article on the plight of copy editors.

I am a copy editor. I do not work in journalism, exactly, though perhaps I work on its academic fringe. I am a copy editor of financial research; I prepare research for global distribution, online and in dead-tree journals. My job is to take what you have written, what you have spent hours, days, or perhaps even years to create, and to turn it into prose that reflects your intelligence and hard work. I eliminate redundancies, correct logical errors, and, overall, make your work look good and be easily understood. Yes, the factual problems are yours, and the general concept of the paper will not benefit from my efforts, but when I'm done, you'll know.

Copy editors are under-appreciated. They always have been and they always will be. It is unfortunate that the world of the Internet, where news is posted ad infinitum, seems less willing to embrace the perfectionism once requisite for news sources.

For me, when I read news online and find large numbers and types of mistakes, I am less willing to accept the article at its word. For me, these mistakes signify a lack of caring, which in turn make me suspicious of any claims made within. For instance, if you can't figure out which type of dash to use, en or em, why should I believe that 365 peopled died in an airline accident. Maybe it was 36.5. It could have been 3.65 people who died in a hang-gliding accident.

Just know: A copy editor is your last line of defense against mistakes and embarrassment. We are full of knowledge--useful and useless--because we read all day, every day, for a living. Appreciate your copy editor, help him or her do their job, and appreciate it when they point out your mistakes. After all, that's why you need them.

Landscapes

From today's New York Times, I got a look at the otherworldly landscapes of photographer Sze Tsung Leong, a Chinese American.


Of note in his works is that in each photograph the horizon line falls at the same point, allowing his photos to be lined up end-to-end, and viewed as a constant panorama, despite the fact that each photograph is of a far-off destination. Some examples of locations include Germany, Egypt, and Inner Mongolia (Chinese). Many of his photos are slightly overexposed, giving a ghostly feel to some thriving metropolitan areas, but by taking such wide photographs and maintaining the ratio of earth to sky, Sze Tsung Leong has compiled a body of work that will be fascinating to any and all interested in travel and/or photography. I look forward to applying the horizon line technique to some of my photographs. You can check out the article and the interactive presentation at the New York Times' Website.

"Sex Infections"?

I bring this article from the New York Times to your attention for two reasons:

1) The headline
2) The implications of the content

First, the headline. I thought the term was "STD", not "Sex Infection". I too have a sex infection, an infection to have sex. Sex, according to the New York Times, is a disease with which one can actually be infected, and Baby... I've got it and I want to share it with you! Now on to more serious matters, you buxom, writhing, bipedal petri dish.

Second, the content. As a student of public universities the world over, I know the statistics. There were posters affixed to health center, dormitory, and dining hall walls informing the hot, sweaty (and sex-infected) student body about the chances of waking with fleas should one lay with dogs.

According the the new study brought to our attention today, the chances of waking with fleas if you go black and don't go back are much higher than if you are ragin' for caucasians. In their test for four major flea species (HPV, herpes, chlamydia, and trichomoniasis [some sort of parasite, eww...]), 50% of fine, mocha-hued women tested positive for one of the four. For those suffering from a debilitating melanin imbalance, the results are a filthy 20%.

For you guys who can't do math? This means that the sorority girl you picked up at the sports bar in a Bud Lite-induced stupor and whom you schtupped with reckless abandon without a condom had a 1-in-5 chance of infecting you, and not with sex disease - with itchy, burns-when-I-pee syndrome. When you're considering an evening with a young Nubian princess, just flip a coin; your chances will be the same.

But this may be the best part! These are teenagers! Just imagine the numbers AFTER a five-year program at a state university. When they graduate and get their first jobs, they should just give out cards listing what diseases they have so that you can match them with yours and not catch anything new!

Finally, don't be so down on your prospects for disease-free carnal knowledge! They say that for two of the diseases, condoms are relatively INEFFECTIVE! Do yourself a favor: spank it.

Happy snapper season!