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Acknowledgements

I actually do have a couple of things to blog about, but can’t manage them today.  That’s partly because last week’s virus returned with a vengeance:  on Sunday morning I could barely get around, my health status having been downgraded from “sick and sleepy” to “sick and sleepy and achey and whiny and a general pain in the ass.” I was supposed to be helping Janet’s mother move out of her house, but instead, I was just one more complication in a very complicated Extended Family Event.  (I did, however, help to clear out the basement, ferry things to Goodwill, carry boxes to the new place, and sit patiently with Jamie while the family carefully sorted through 70,000 boxes of photos and seventh-grade homework assignments.) I will say this, though:  Jamie’s still struggling with his version of this virus, and if, last Thursday, his body felt anything like mine does today, he’s not just a Special Olympian.  He’s a medal-winnin’ machine, the truly extraordinary kind of athlete whose competitive desire is not diminished by the petty frailties of flesh.

The other reason I can’t do fresh new blogging is that I have to finish up the Acknowledgements to Rhetorical Occasions, having finally completed the copyediting—or, as it is known around this house, the Optional Comma Restoration phase of the book’s production.  Now, it just so happens that I am aware of my fondness for the optional comma.  In fact, I sometimes use commas to mark caesurae, and you know, not everybody writes prose with caesurae anymore.  Look at the difference between one of these copyedited sentences before and after Optional Comma Restoration:

But in what world exactly would this enterprise count as analysis?

and

But in what world, exactly, would this enterprise count as analysis?

See how the latter is measurably more exasperated than the former?  That’s why you need your caesurae to do all the rhetorical work they can do.

All right, I know, nobody cares about my piddling little adventures in copyediting.  It’s too self-indulgent even for a blog.  So let’s move to a subject that everybody loves, a subject of truly world-historical significance:  the Acknowledgements.  As you may or may not know, Rhetorical Occasions will include a number of essays that were first “published” on this “web” “log.” (Which ones?  We won’t tell you!  You’ll just have to wait and find out.) Well, I was noodling around this morning, thanking this person and that, when it occurred to me that I should solicit the help of the witty and discerning readers who have helped this “web” “log” to find its place in the world.  Let’s have some fun with this tired old genre, folks!  Just suggest the names of some people I should thank in my acknowledgements—you know, like Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers’ fine rookie goaltender; Steve Fuller, for stopping by last November and insulting all the readers who’d challenged his defense of Intelligent Design; Geoff Harpham, for exceptional vehicular magnanimity; Roxanne Cooper, for outstanding achievement in the general area of mockery. . . .

In the meantime, one more pic of the medal-winnin’ machine.  I received this tape-breaking image via email last night.  Here’s Jamie comin’ right atcha:

image

Posted by on 04/17 at 01:50 PM

  1. Should you include the Nameless One in your Acknowledgements as a separate entity, or just fold him in under the generic “butt holes” category? Just a thought.

    Posted by  on  04/17  at  04:47 PM

  2. First, let me commend you for your defense of the Optional Comma. Huzzah!

    Second, can it be? Is there really...a typo? In le blog du Michael Bérubé? Unless “pidding” really is a word. Google asks, “Did you mean: pudding.” “Pudding little adventures in copyediting?” I say yes to pudding and to commas.

    Posted by Orange  on  04/17  at  04:47 PM

  3. You’re going to list me in the Acknowledgements section of your book? Wow! I need to mock more often.

    Posted by Roxanne  on  04/17  at  04:54 PM

  4. As a copyeditor in a former life, allow me to weigh in on the Optional Comma issue.

    The problem with the “In what world...” sentence in your post is that, whichever version is submitted to someone else for copyediting, you’ll get the other one back.

    I once worked with an author who claimed to have caught me redhanded at this.  I copyedited one book of his, and he liked my work so much that he specifically asked the publisher to assign me to his next book.  Afterward, he called me directly to say that he liked the way I’d added commas at various places to clarify his meaning throughout the first book—so much so that he’d taken care to use more commas in the second book, only to find that I “took them all out.”

    Not having the manuscript of either book at hand, I was defenseless.  But I suspect he may have been right, anyway.

    Posted by Swopa  on  04/17  at  04:59 PM

  5. No, Orange, there are no typos on my blog, ever.  I was alluding, of course, optional commas and all, to Eliot’s “Little Pidding,” whose fifth line, “The brief sun flames the ice, on pond and ditches,” contains one of English poetry’s most obviously optional caesura-commas.

    Um, I’ll go fix the typo now.

    Rox, you already mock, and mock hard.  The funny thing is that you’re actually in the acknowledgements of the other book.  But even that’s not very funny.

    As for He Who:  I suppose one of these days I should get around to thanking me for affording me so much bloggy fun.  But not today.

    Posted by  on  04/17  at  05:00 PM

  6. Hey, I was mocking you hours before Rox posted your picture. What am I, ground up lips and anuses wrapped in cornmeal batter on a stick?  And don’t forget Alex Pareene of Buck Hill, now half of Wonkette, who did the supreme mockery of your Gates photo.

    Posted by corndog  on  04/17  at  05:00 PM

  7. well somewhere along the way, the Clarke-meister has stepped forward with some precious gems, as well as a very heated, but well-deserved thrashing of one of HeWho’s minions, that reached denouement on Chris’s own personal blogspace.  Would you consider acknowledging NL for a categorical slapping as well??

    Get well though, first.  This virus seems to want to linger for at least a month, and if it does not get proper respect, it chooses to flare up at the most inopportune of moments and places.

    Posted by  on  04/17  at  05:13 PM

  8. It might be appropriate to thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster for giving you the strength to put those caesuric commas in the right place.

    Posted by Matt  on  04/17  at  05:56 PM

  9. Michael, I think the only technical question you need to answer is: Do I acknowledge Jean Ratelle specifically, or do I name the entire GAG line?  When was the last time either was acknowledged in a tract written for an academic audience?  (I mean other than the moving tribute offered up by Rorty in his essay “Wild Orchids and Rod Seiling.") You absolutely need to acknowledge Roxanne, Chris Clarke, and corndog. Each one has contributed to my growing reputation as “the guy with the hyena laugh” in my department. Hope you’re feeling better real soon.

    Posted by  on  04/17  at  06:37 PM

  10. Save the commas! I recently had a prof who insisted that I remove all commas, dashes, parentheses, scare quotes, and indeed quotations across the board, as well as words over three syllables and/or nine letters, whichever came first. He justified this on the grounds that he is a “bigshot” and “has a famous book” and has “read more literary criticism than [me].” I have so far been unable to purge his fascist voice from my head. My point, though: save the commas. And be sure to thank Mr Gorsky.

    Posted by  on  04/17  at  06:39 PM

  11. It’s hard to thank the mood of a specific place and time, but without the mood created somewhere in the neigborhood of late 2000 - early 2001 here in the U. S. of A., I suspect many people would not have been driven to Left Blogistan in search of psychological comfort. Without Left Blogistan, I never would have known about the Department of Dangeral studies and its universally feared and admired leader.

    An oppressive atmosphere is always good for the art world.

    captcha word: term

    Posted by  on  04/17  at  06:45 PM

  12. DB. Good lord.

    MB. No suggestions, acknowledgements-wise.

    But here’s a way out of that comma thing. I think the sentence is improved if you do is like this:
    -
    But exactly in what world would this enterprise count as analysis?
    -
    No way would you ensconce that exactly in commas. It’s perfect I tell you perfect he said yes I will Yes.

    --

    If you haven’t written the next sentence yet, by the way, I might suggest looking here for an answer to your question.

    Posted by  on  04/17  at  06:50 PM

  13. Michael -

    There has been some comment in grad-student blogistan about the behavior of PSU’s admissions committee (not notifying rejections by 4/15 or 4/17 as is the case this year) and there is even some question of a notoriously rude staffer.

    Check here for example: http://virtualannette.livejournal.com/104192.html

    What say you?  Is the department as bad as it sounds when it comes to dealing with admissions?  Or is the operation falling apart because you’ve been away on fellowship and copyediting instead of serving on the admissions committee?

    Posted by  on  04/17  at  07:01 PM

  14. Episode Eighteen (incorporating Virtual Annette by reference and hyperlink):  my goodness, that sucks.  No, the department is not as bad as this.  And no, I wasn’t on admissions this year, so I don’t know WTF is going on (and my absence in March was irrelevant to the admissions process).  But I’ll look into it, and copy Annette’s post to my department head for starters.

    Matt:  I am leaning toward the Flying Spaghetti Monster, not least because the book’s first four essays deal with the aftermath of the Sokal Hoax.  But first, as Chris Robinson suggests, I have to thank Jean Ratelle (and perhaps Gilbert and Hadfield as well) for creating the universe and all the beings in it.

    Corndog:  I’ll have you know that some of my best friends are ground up lips and anuses wrapped in cornmeal batter on a stick.  And how could I forget Alex Pareene’s moving mocking tribute to that photo?

    D.B., meet Swopa.  Swopa, D.B.  (I’m presuming, D.B., that your professor didn’t think much of Tristram Shandy, either?)

    Posted by Michael  on  04/17  at  07:20 PM

  15. Michael said:
    All right, I know, nobody cares about my piddling little adventures in copyediting.

    Are you kidding? I subscribe to a copyediting listserv where we discuss commas on a daily basis. Em dashes make me positively gleeful.

    I have to put my vote in for Chris Clarke to be included in your acknowledgements. His comments have given me the most coffee-on-the-keyboard moments.

    Posted by  on  04/17  at  07:22 PM

  16. If you’re going to thank all or part of the GAG line, I think you should also add thanks to Stephane Matteau (Matteau, Matteau). Oh, yeah, and Chris Clarke. (Capcha: either)

    Posted by alice  on  04/17  at  08:17 PM

  17. Such is the domination of technology in our society that when you said “virus,” I immediately assumed you meant computer virus.

    This is just a hi from a former student (Honors Postmodern Lit, Fall 2001).  I’m glad I’ve finally found your blog...I’ve been enjoying reading about Jamie’s athletic triumphs!

    Oh, and Clare--there is a copyediting listserv?  Can anyone join?  Do you talk about proper use of ellipses, too?  (And why *doesn’t* anyone know the difference between an em dash and a hyphen anymore?)

    Posted by  on  04/17  at  08:22 PM

  18. Update on that pesky sentence. My fiancee, who’s currently taking time out from her novel to edit my diss. (we’ve been swapping these duties more or less equally for some time), says: get rid of the ‘exactly.’

    I concur. But I have to.

    Posted by  on  04/17  at  08:37 PM

  19. Not to mention the keen need for a Society to Preserve (But Not Abuse) the En Dash. Whenever I find an en dash, it has invariably been plunked in randomly where either an em dash or a hyphen is needed. Yes, Clare—we need to know how to join this copyediting listserv.

    Is there such a thing as dangeral copyediting?

    Posted by Orange  on  04/17  at  08:39 PM

  20. Here’s the copyediting list page for those interested. It’s really high volume so I read it on gmail, skim, and delete.
    http://www.copyediting-l.info/

    Posted by  on  04/17  at  09:24 PM

  21. That Paul dude deserves acknowledgement for showing the world what not to do with a blog and IP addresses.  You know the one—if I name him, he will come.

    And I triple the nomination of Chris Clarke.

    Posted by Dr. Virago  on  04/17  at  10:10 PM

  22. Chris Clarke, for sure. And in the spirit of The Venerable Ed’s nod to the substance of mood and time & place, the Republican Party was very generous in 2004, expanding its big tent and welcoming this blog to the NY convention. Their gain was comma ironically comma mine too.

    Posted by black dog barking  on  04/17  at  10:20 PM

  23. Oh, I think I have to dedicate the book to that Paul fellow.  Especially since I’ve convinced UNC Press to put his picture on the cover!

    Alice, thanks for the memories.  As it happens, I just ordered the DVD collection of the 1994 Rangers-Devils and Rangers-Canucks series, and who could have imagined Matteau as the hero of game seven?  Or the series ending on a goal that wasn’t even a decent shot?

    Soma, thanks so much for saying hello, and good luck in law school.  You’re in Rhetorical Occasions too, you know—in the essay I posted a few weeks ago.  You were, as I recall, the person who asked me, at the outset of that seminar, whether I was using the term “postcolonial” in a cultural or an economic sense.  I don’t forget things like that.

    Posted by Michael  on  04/17  at  10:25 PM

  24. I think we need MORE copyediting. Sign me up for that listserv....

    And nice commas, btw.  : ) --Anne Fernald

    Posted by Anne  on  04/17  at  10:34 PM

  25. If you’re writing about the Sokal Hoax, a nod to Franz Bibfeldt might not be inappropriate.

    Posted by  on  04/17  at  11:23 PM

  26. Wow, after 3 soul crushing years of law school, I can barely believe that I once knew something about complex concepts like postcolonialism, or culture, or economics.  The especial irony of that question causing you anxiety (I think I can admit this since it’s probably too late for Penn State to revoke my degree) is that I’m pretty sure I didn’t understand a word that was said in that course, it was so way over my head.  I think students like me say things like that on the first day to keep professors from ever discovering that we don’t actually know what we’re talking about.

    Speaking of academic anxiety: I do, in fact, have to write 30 pages on legal writing pedagogy by dawn or I don’t graduate.  At least it’s not more than that.  I’m convinced that professors inflict this kind of anguish on students just to get back at their own professors…

    Posted by  on  04/17  at  11:27 PM

  27. Is there such a thing as dangeral copyediting?

    I don’t know if this qualifies, but one of the publishers I worked for was the Free Press, where I copyedited a handful of ideologically offensive manuscripts—and so was able to strike the occasional blow against evil.

    My favorite moment was innocently inquiring—purely as a copyediting concern, mind you!—of a Thomas Sowell wannabe why he repeatedly used “affirmative action” and “quotas” interchangeably, when after all, couldn’t affirmative action mean other measures as well?  (I gave an example, just to be helpful.)

    I would’ve loved to have done the same thing in Michael Behe’s Darwin’s Black Box, but I wasn’t scientifically knowledgeable enough to find an opportunity.

    In another case, when an otherwise respectable (as far as I could tell) multi-author academic book on psychology and intelligence included a reprehensible Bell Curve-like chapter, I was less subtle.  Informing the publisher first, I wrote a full-page note ripping the author a new anus (grinding and batter not included) for claiming that New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles were essentially black-dominated mini-states, as supposedly demonstrated by their election of black mayors.  (It helped that I could factually contest that statement on the basis of having lived in all three cities, and that I could modestly suggest how the author’s listed affiliation with the University of Northern Ireland!! might render his judgments of how it “feels” to live in certain U.S. cities less than credible in readers’ eyes.)

    Posted by Swopa  on  04/18  at  12:08 AM

  28. claiming that New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles were essentially black-dominated mini-states, as supposedly demonstrated by their election of black mayors

    Of the three I only know Chicago well. But, beyond the fact that the claim is inherently ludicrous, Chicago has only elected one black mayor, ever. And, if I recall correctly (and Wikipedia says I do), he replaced another mayor who had been elected by protest votes. He was moderately popular. All the other mayors, before and since, have been white. Ironically, the proper conclusion of his (terrible) logic would have been that Chicago is an Irish-dominated mini-state.

    Get well soon, Michael. As you can see, I also am a fan of (overusing?) the caesura comma.

    Posted by  on  04/18  at  12:37 AM

  29. Go Jamie! Sweet.

    Posted by Chris in NF  on  04/18  at  01:43 AM

  30. Is it wrong that I actually like griping about copyediting?

    Posted by bitchphd  on  04/18  at  01:59 AM

  31. It’s not wrong, Dr. B., if it works for you and your family.  But I bet you get hundreds of querulous and hectoring emails about it.

    Swopa, thanks for helping to undermine the Free Press and its occasional forays into post-Reconstruction era racism.  I noticed those embarrassing comma splices in Dinesh D’Souza’s 1995 bestseller, The Leopard’s Spots, and I’m glad to learn that you were responsible for it.

    Soma, the way I recall things, you did just fine in that course.  Besides, you’re right—Penn State cannot revoke your degree because of anything you post in a blog comments section.  But if you want, you can always sue GW Law for making you forget that you once knew plenty of things about complex concepts like postcolonialism, or culture, or economics.

    Posted by Michael  on  04/18  at  06:35 AM

  32. Surely the legendary spammer 木地板 deserves a place in your acknowledgements!

    Or should I say “The legendary spammer 木地板, surely, deserves a place in your acknowledgements”?

    Posted by Dave Munger  on  04/18  at  06:36 AM

  33. I think you should just go back to the real roots and thank Karl Marx and Osama Bin Laden for helping make possible the whole mad enterprise.

    Oh and maybe a shout out to this guy.

    Posted by  on  04/18  at  11:37 AM

  34. That guy has an interesting subtitle!  Maybe I’ll borrow the “1967-1988” part, too.  That would be teh funny.

    Posted by Michael  on  04/18  at  11:45 AM

  35. An odd story for Karl the Grouchy Medievalist:  my wife, who happens to hail from the bizarro-world of Htrae, agrees with your fiancée that the word “exactly” should be removed from Michael’s pesky sentence—but that the commas must remain!

    But in what world,, would this enterprise count as analysis?

    I gather this is how they write on Htrae.  Or Qward, or wherever.

    To the copyeditors, note that I am your worst nightmare.  My preferred sentence pattern involves (as you can see) at a minimum: a colon, followed by a hyphen, parentheses, and an m-dash.

    Posted by  on  04/18  at  03:39 PM

  36. I think Ralph Nader and SCOTUS are due a shout out in the acks. Why, without them, your humble blog likely would have been running on far less combustible fuel in the engine room and perhaps might never have generated the Obama/Bérubé 2012 ticket, the infamous RNC essays, and the highstakes wingnut-pride parade watch. (Or you could just consign Nader and SCOTUS to the sin bin and continue to “imagine all the people living life in peace.")

    Thanks for posting this super photo of Jamie! Hope you feel better soon.

    Posted by  on  04/18  at  04:15 PM

  37. R. Rushing: stop it you’re making my eyes bleed.

    But then again, when they drip on my laptop, they form the image of the Virgin. So I guess there’s some good in those commas after all:

    Posted by  on  04/18  at  05:17 PM

  38. Swopa, thanks for helping to undermine the Free Press and its occasional forays into post-Reconstruction era racism.  I noticed those embarrassing comma splices in Dinesh D’Souza’s 1995 bestseller, The Leopard’s Spots, and I’m glad to learn that you were responsible for it.

    Not me, I’m afraid.  That was another member of the cell.

    Posted by Swopa  on  04/18  at  05:54 PM

  39. this blog is good.

    Posted by 木地板  on  04/18  at  11:30 PM

  40. The legendary spammer 木地板, surely, deserves a place in my acknowledgements.

    Posted by Michael  on  04/19  at  12:42 AM

  41. Copy editing. Two words. You’re editing copy, not yediting cops.

    Posted by Wordsmith  on  04/19  at  02:22 PM

  42. Mm-hmm, because there’s no such thing as compound words? The Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary includes copyedit and copyeditor as main listings, with copy-edit and copy editor as variants.

    Posted by Orange  on  04/19  at  02:32 PM

  43. And what would be wrong, exactly, with yediting cops?

    Posted by Michael  on  04/19  at  03:45 PM

  44. Hang on to those commas. Of course you should use them to mark caesurae! The best copyeditors think of punctuation as musical notation, and think of writing as a way of transmitting spoken language.

    Nothing wrong with yediting cops, either, so long as it’s safe, sane, and consensual, and includes the serial comma.

    Posted by Ron Sullivan  on  04/23  at  05:53 PM

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