Stephanie Rische

Blogger and Writer: Capturing Stories of God's Grace

Friday Favorites for October

friday_favorites_headerHappy Friday, everyone! Here are some of my favorite things from the last few weeks. Enjoy!

For football fans who love books, or book fans who love football . . .

These NFL-inspired book covers are downright clever. Anyone else want to read Island of the Miami Dolphins? NFL Teams Reimagined as Novels

For anyone who’s still a kid at heart . . .

These timeless quotes from children’s books may have been intended for children, but perhaps we need them more as adults. Quotes from Children’s Books

For my fellow grammar geeks . . .

If you are the type who is passionate about your vs. you’re and its vs. it’s, I promise these grammar-inspired cartoons will crack you up. There’s even a tip about why you should never date an apostrophe. Things You’ll Only Find Funny if You’re a Grammar Nerd

For anyone in any relationship of any kind . . .

I had a chance to hear Brené Brown speak at a conference earlier this year, and I really appreciate the way she nails the personal and interpersonal ruts we get ourselves into. This article offers a simple phrase that can change the whole trajectory of a conversation. Brene Brown’s Biggest Life Hack

 

Friday Favorites for August

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For anyone who read the fabled Aesop as a kid . . .

Who knew we had Aesop to thank for expressions like “Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched” and “Necessity is the mother of invention”? 19 Everyday Expressions That Came from Aesop

For anyone who loves to drink in a good book . . .

They’ve created a “drinkable book” for people in countries where it’s difficult to find uncontaminated water! Bug-Killing Book Pages Clean Murky Drinking Water

For anyone who loves a good “happy cry” . . .

My husband, Daniel, works with individuals with disabilities, and he recently shared this video with me. It captures people hearing their loved ones’ voices for the first time, and I promise you’ll need tissues. Deaf People Hear Sounds for the First Time

For anyone who appreciates the power of proper punctuation . . .

Good grammar may not save your life, but it just might save you a parking ticket: Missing Comma Gets Grammar Nerd out of Parking Ticket

For anyone who has wished for a do-over in a conversation . . .

This mom of a child with a disability has something to teach us all about how to handle insensitive questions. Instead of becoming defensive, what if we invited people in instead? What I Wish I’d Asked the Woman Who Questioned Our Use of a Handicapped Parking Spot

Friday Favorites for March

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Happy Friday! Here are a few of my favorites things lately. Hope you enjoy!

For anyone who celebrated National Grammar Day . . .

It was National Grammar Day earlier this month, and I found these grammar-themed haiku hilarious: 24 Haiku in Honor of National Grammar Day

For anyone who loves a theme party . . .

These literary-themed parties will hold you over amid the doldrums of March: 8 Literary Party Themes 

For anyone who needs to be reminded of the power of what we say (and don’t say) . . .

When’s the last time you told someone you were proud of them? Good words about encouragement from Shauna Niequist: Use Your Words

For anyone who needs a laugh today . . .  

In general, I’m not pro-vandalism. But these vandalized signs make wonder if I should reconsider: 33 Vandalized Signs

For anyone who is waiting for something . . .

Some wise words on waiting well from Nicole Eunice: “Is the difference between good and best usually only found in waiting?” Waiting Doesn’t Care How You Treat It

Friday Favorites for December…

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Here are a few of my favorite things recently. Enjoy!

For aspiring cooks . . .

This “edible cookbook” is the first cookbook you can actually read, cook, and eat. I think this might be the kind of foolproof cooking I need . . . Edible Cookbook

For my fellow grammarians . . .

If you’ve ever found yourself amused by unnecessary and often ironic quotation mark usage, you’ll get a kick out of this. The 30 Most Unnecessary Uses of Quotation Marks in History

For anyone who likes an encoded message . . .

Did you know that FedEx, Amazon, and Tour de France all have secret messages embedded in their logos? 11 Hidden Messages in Company Logos

For the word lovers . . .

Do you know what golem and claymore mean? How about taffeta and decoupage? If not, it might be because you’re the wrong gender. The 24 Words That Are Most Known Only to Men or Women

For anyone desiring true community . . .

“Vulnerability is less like a sweet golden retriever, all directness and love, and more like a cat—unpredictable, reserved.” Be Brave Enough to Make a Mess

Grammar Girl

I’m part of a writing group, and our assignment for last month was to write something funny. One of the suggested prompts was to imagine you woke up one day with a superpower. This superhero story is dedicated to all my fellow grammar geeks!

***

Surprisingly, it wasn’t the cape she noticed first, scratchy as it was around her neck. When she peeled her eyes open, the first thing she saw, as she did every morning, was the blasted orange sticker affixed to the skylight.

For “repairs” call 1-800-555-2369!

She glared at it, resenting its smarmy, illogical use of quotation marks. Do they mean the repairs will be ironic? She groaned, reaching for the pillow to cover her head. But before she could snooze for a few more minutes, she felt a tingle down her right arm, like a tiny electrical current. What was that? Did I sleep on my arm funny last night?

She looked at her outreached arm and noticed that her finger was pointing precisely in the direction of the offending sticker. She squinted at the orange rectangle more closely and gasped. The opening quotation mark had vanished! She pointed a tentative finger at the closing quotes, and it, too, evaporated, leaving behind no ink trace or grammatical scar.

She jumped out of bed, rubbing her eyes. Spying the Cheez-It box on the nightstand, she waved a hand in the direction of the cleverly misspelled Cheez. “Bam!” she said, and before her eyes, the z melted into se. Cheese-Its. Much better.

As she stared at her arm in wonder, she noticed a swirl of black behind her. Sure enough, she was wearing a cape—one with a gigantic cursive G in the center. In smaller letters underneath, the tagline read, “Saving the world, one comma at a time!”

Her phone beeped. She picked it up, annoyed to see that it was more spam.

UR eligible 4 a lower r8!

Her finger hovered over the Delete button, but then she paused. “Zing!” she cried, pointing a finger at the screen.

You are eligible for a lower rate!

She grinned smugly and got ready for work. Throughout the day she pointed her finger wherever she spotted grammatical violations. When she was stopped at an intersection, she changed the “Slow Children” sign to “Slow: Children.” When she passed the road-side market, she zapped the sign that read “Peach’s for sale,” sending the errant apostrophe into oblivion. At her desk, she scanned her e-mail messages for there/their/they’re confusion and affect/effect mix-ups. She reconjugated verbs, undangled modifiers, and eliminated all figurative uses of literally.

When she got home, she flopped down on the couch, exhausted but satisfied. Just as she put her feet up, she spotted a yellow envelope on the edge of the coffee table. She picked it up and saw her name on the front. What’s the occasion? She racked her brain, trying to figure out which holiday she’d overlooked. It’s not my birthday, not our anniversary . . .

She opened it up, and on the inside, in her husband’s unmistakable script, was this message:

Your beautiful.

She reached behind her head and removed her cape, setting it on the end of the couch. There were some things that not even Grammar Girl could improve upon. Or should that be “upon which not even Grammar Girl could improve”?

It didn’t matter. After all, there were some things even more important than proper grammar.

Friday Favorites for January

friday_favorites_headerEvery month I try to compile a list of my favorite discoveries. Here are January’s best finds.

  • For readers from any state in the US…
    I loved this—a map with the most famous book from each state. It kind of makes me want to move out of Illinois though. The Jungle? Really? Famous Books Set in Every State
  • For word lovers…Are you feeling gusted, gruntled, or sheveled? I didn’t think so. Here’s a list of words with a negative but no opposite: 12 Lonely Negative Words
  • For nostalgics with a funny bone…I promise these photos of people recreating family photos from their childhood as adults will make you laugh. And maybe even try it yourself: Recreating Ridiculous Family Pictures
  • For anyone who needs encouragement to do the right thing…
    Great parental advice: “You can’t come in without going out, kids. Always go to the funeral.” Always Go to the Funeral
  • For anyone who has ever felt pressure for their marriage to look one particular way…
    Refreshing insights about what spiritual leadership looks like in real life: Spiritual Leadership: A Movement in Three Parts

10 Grammar Saves in 10 Years

I’m not quite sure how I blinked and 10 years passed, but last month I woke up and realized it had been a whole decade since I jumped into the world of editing and publishing. It has been a good decade, and in honor of the mile marker, I thought I’d share with you 10 of the errors I’ve stopped from going into print over the past 10 years.

{Note: I have omitted the authors and titles of these books to protect the relevant parties, but rest assured, these are all real quotes from real books.}

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  1. My daddy was a steal worker, and my granddaddy was a steal worker.
    [Sounds like a kind of shady business to me.]
  2. Gelatins 2:16 clearly states that human deeds can never save us.
    [Shockingly, the book of Gelatins made it through spell-check but not canonization.]
  3. I was blessed by marring a Christian lady and having three kids.
    [The blessing doesn’t quite sound mutual when you put it that way.]
  4. As a society, we’ve developed an erroneous belief system that is about as subtle as a rattle snack.
    [Hmm, must be a Southern delicacy, up there with fried okra.]
  5. Joshua 2: Rehab helps the Israelite spies
    [The earliest evidence of a successfully implemented 12-step program . . . ]
  6. But the Pharisees hardened their hearts toward Jesus’ wisdom. . . . They planned to deny pubicly that he was Messiah.
    [I have nothing further to say.]
  7. This relationship is called “the hookup,” referring to repeated one nightstands.
    [I’m getting a mental image of row after row of identical bedroom furniture. . . .]
  8. Does that mean God wants us to never plop down on the coach?
    [I’m not sure he addresses that particular issue, but it does sound rather uncomfortable for all parties.]
  9. “You don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blond and naked” (Revelation 3:17).
    [Apparently, God prefers brunettes.]
  10. From an endnote source: (Colorado Springs: Multnomah Boobs; 2009), 275.
    [With apologies to the lovely people who work at Multnomah.]

ten_grammar_saves “There are two typos of people in this world: those who can edit and those who can’t.” —Jarod Kintz

“Only Southerners have taken horsewhips and pistols to editors about the treatment or maltreatment of their manuscript. This—the actual pistols—was in the old days, of course, we no longer succumb to the impulse. But it is still there, within us.” —William Faulkner

Friday Favorites

For grammar geeks with a sweet tooth:
I couldn’t help but crack up about these cakes gone grammatically wrong: Cake Wrecks

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For introverts (and those who love them):

Donald Miller shares these practical tips for living with and loving introverts: How to Get along with an Introvert

For word nerds:
If you are a word nerd like me, you will deliciate in these obsolete words. Let’s bring them back!
Obsolete Words That Should Make a Comeback

For anyone weary of the “perfect life syndrome”:
Shauna Niequist offers this insightful perspective about our tendency to compare our own real life with everyone else’s peak moments: Instagram’s Envy Effect

For anyone who knows someone who’s ill:
Here’s some practical advice about how to avoid sticking your foot in your mouth when someone you know is sick: How Not to Say the Wrong Thing

Friday Favorites

For grammar geeks…fri1

I do love me some punctuation. Here are some new marks for those situations when a semicolon just isn’t enough: Obscure Punctuation Marks That Should Really Get More Play

For sports fans…

I’ve seen a lot of fine moments in basketball, but this is most heartwarming thing I’ve ever seen happen on the floor of a gymnasium: When Both Teams Win

For book lovers…

This memoir by Melanie Shankle will make you laugh and cry: Sparkly Green Earrings

For tired moms…

This is for all my friends who do heroic mom-things day after day: Burnout Is a Thing

For folk music/bluegrass fans…fri3

I recently rediscovered this album, and I’ve been listening to the song “Still” on constant repeat: Marty Feldhake’s Fences and Fields

For anyone who loves someone with special needs: This article by Amy Julia Becker is a heartwarming reminder that all people are stamped with the image of God—a fitting way to acknowledge Down Syndrome Awareness Day: Missing Out on Beautiful

For anyone who is looking for a miracle…

This is a beautifully written story about how miracles tend to come in unexpected packages:

A Tuesday Kind of Miracle