An intriguing read from the comma queen, Mary Norris, on serial comma:

The serial comma is the one before “and” in a series of three or more things. With the serial comma: My favorite cereals are Cheerios, Raisin Bran, and Shredded Wheat. Without the serial comma: I used to like Kix, Trix and Wheat Chex. Proponents of the serial comma say that it is preferable because it prevents ambiguity, and I’ll go along with that. Also, I’m lazy, and I find it easier to use the serial comma consistently rather than stop every time I come to a series and register whether or not the comma before the “and” preceding the last item is actually preventing ambiguity. But pressed to come up with an example of a series that was unambiguously ambiguous without the serial comma I couldn’t think of a good one.

I have been putting the comma back (before the “and”) in my writing. For many years, I don’t include the serial comma because it appears to be cleaner. Then again as Norris points out, “The bottom line is to choose one and be consistent and try not to make a moral issue out of it.”

True parenting advice from Ijeoma Oluo:

As he gets older, there will be times where just trying to get him to take a bite of his fucking food will be a battle. You will want to pry his mouth open with one hand, and shove the food down his throat with the other. Don’t do this.

These days if the boys don’t want to eat, I honor their wish. They just have to stay starving until the next meal. One issue solved.

In the first reading of Joseph Williams’s Style, I have learned two essential writing tips: avoid nominalization (turning careless into carelessness) and embrace concision (deleting needless words). To demonstrate concision, Williams trims a paragraph in Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style from 199 words to 148 to 101. Then he cuts it to the bone with just 38 words. Because Williams packed so much writing techniques into this book, a second or third careful read is required.

A classic book offers classic advice on Writing with Style. John Trimble’s clear explanations backed up with carefully selected examples make it a useful and delightful read. The short chapter on diction is solid gold.

After making many wild experimental records, the Vijay Iyer Trio returns to jazz-oriented Break Stuff. With Marcus Gilmore’s fluid rhythmic patterns and Stephan Crump’ sturdy tempo complementing Iyer’s various voicings (from rigorous to arpeggio), the group co-constructs a wide range of repertoire. From the fragmented reimagination of Thelonious Monk’s “Work” to the African-inspired reinterpretation of John Coltrane’s “Countdown” to the intimate, heartfelt recreation of Billy Strayhorn’s “Blood Count,” the results are tightly conceptual and yet pleasantly accessible.

More than two decades into the game, Ghostface Killah remains unstoppable. Last year he dropped an excellent concept album detailing his return after being locked up for 36 Seasons. Yesterday he and the BadBadNotGood released Sour Soul. In the live instrumental setting, the BBNG trio lays out the smooth, elegant jazz-hip hop arrangements for Ghost to tear down. “Gunshowers,” for example, begins with the soothing electric guitar strumming. Then the thumping bass kicks in before Ghost rips through with his swag on word: “I bust boundaries son, you just do what you’re taught / My vocab is powerful, spit shit subliminal / Slang therapist, my whole style is criminal.” At times, the laid-back beats could hardly keep up with Ghost’s endless energy. As a result, one of the highlights of the album is “Tone’s Rap,” in which Ghost slows down his flow to the spacious backdrop and muses on his pimping game. Before the instrument takes over, he claims, “Pimping ain’t easy, but it surely is fun.” He could say that about his rapping career as well.

Bruce Ross-Larson’s Edit Yourself is like a little diet manual for writing. Ross-Larson shows you how to trim off all the fats in your writing and to focus on the core message. It’s a book to keep within reach when editing your writing. I’ll use it as a reference for my eating habit as well.

In Grammar for the Soul, Lawrence Weinstein proves that improving your grammar can enhance the quality of your life. Like yoga, mediation and exercise, he believes “Grammar can become a place to get in spiritual shape.” Learning grammar is my goal for personal growth this year; therefore, I find Weinstein’s take on inspirational grammar motivating.

With Grammar Moves, Weinstein and Thomas Finn turn Grammar for the Soul into a textbook that students would be interested in learning about grammar. What makes this book intriguing is that each grammatical element gets a personal trait. For instance, the colon is associated with being assertive and commas are associated with being organized. These connections help figuring out how each punctuation works.

Both books are worth rereading when you have a couple of hours to waste, like flying in a plane.

I now realize that I have a peculiar reading habit. I only read a particular subject until I couldn’t find any more books on it I want to read. In the past three years, I read most books on typography. Every time I go to the library, I stare at the typography section to see if I find anymore books I want to read on that subject. I also keep on eye out for new ones. I think I have exhausted that option.

Before typography I was obsessed with reading jazz. I read many biographies, particularly on Miles Davis. Somehow Miles’s life and music sparked so much interests in music writers. Books about the man and his sound keep coming out. A new one has released in the last month and I am eying on that too.

As a web designer and developer, I continue to read books related to the field including responsive web design, JavaScript, WordPress, usability as accessibility. Back in the days, I read as much Flash books as I could. I think I have wasted a huge chunk of my time on Flash books since I don’t even use it anymore.

This year I am tackling English grammar. I have always been fascinated with grammar, but could never master it. Several weeks ago, I went to Mason library to get some books to read on my vacation. I could’t get any on jazz or typography I wanted to read; therefore, I hopped over to the grammar section. I picked up June Casageande’s The Best Punctuation Book, Period. and Stephen Wilbers’s Mastering the Craft of Writing. I loved both of it and I wanted to read more. My recent favorites include Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft and Jenny Baranick’s Missed Periods and Other Grammar Scares.

Now I want to read as much as I can on this topic. I reread William Struck Jr. & E.B. White’s The Elements of Style now and then hoping I could remember all the advice from the book. I find books on writing and grammar intriguing because they are well-written. The authors have to master their own craft before they offer their advice.

I will be concentrating on grammar and writing for at least this year. I hope that I can get the grammar rules under my belt once and for all. For twenty years I have avoided learning it because I felt like English is always my weakest strength. It is time to get over it. If I re-read my blog posts, I could catch my own errors. I don’t do it not because I don’t care, but I don’t have time. Whenever I write a blog, I focus on getting the idea off my head rather than getting bogged down with grammar. If I am too concern with proper English, I would never have finished writing a blog post, but I will try to re-read at least once before I hit the publish button.

Ms. Baranick makes grammar not only easy to grasp but also fun to read. She uses pop-culture references and witty analogies to keep the subject engaging. It’s a concise book that could be knocked off in a few hours, and you’ll be convinced: “Writing stimulates our brains to penetrate language, conjugate verbs, and insert punctuation.”