TresSugar

Monty Python's John Cleese on "I Could Care Less"

GiggleSugar — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:00:00 -0700

One of the most hilarious dudes who ever lived would like to interrupt his regularly scheduled program of being ultra silly and school you on the misused expression (also my pet peeve) "I could care less." For folks who are scratching their heads, and who regularly use this, let's think for a moment. If you could care less, that means that the thing you're trying to say you don't care about, you do care about just a little because there are other things you hypothetically, could care less about. Mmmkay? But I'll let Cleese do it, cuz he's got cool charts and a better delivery.

Dumbass of the Day

GiggleSugar — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 13:00:00 -0800

If you're gonna talk the talk, you better walk the walk (or plank!) sister. Ladies, behold our weakest link . . .

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Learn To Read, Not Write

GiggleSugar — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 08:00:00 -0700

The hard-core book clubs don't waste no time with grammar.

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Do Tell: What Would you Do?

DearSugar — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 07:00:00 -0700

A friend of mine recently went on a first date with a guy she met through mutual friends. They were engaged in great conversation until he, gasp--- corrected her grammar!! Now it's one thing when your mother corrects your grammar, but ladies, do tell, what would your reaction be if you were on a date with a man that barely knew you and had the audacity to correct your grammar during flirtatious conversation?

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Do Tell: What Are Your Biggest Pet Peeves?

TresSugar — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:10:00 -0700

Since it's National Pet Peeve Week I want to know: what gets under your skin? (Hopefully, it's not commemorative weeks for random things like pet peeves!) I'll start you off with some of mine.

Emails that lack proper grammar and capitalization.
Friends who take long cell phone calls while we're hanging out.
Corner markets that charge me $.25 to use my credit card.
Getting my meal at a restaurant after everyone else has already eaten theirs!
People who stand in front of the bus entrance, making me have to force my way through them.
Fingernail clipping in public.
The airport security liquids rule.
Cable personalities who make mundane stories sound like the end of the world.
People who eat stinky food in tight quarters.

Pheeww! I feel better. Now tell me yours.

Girl Crush Du Jour: Alexa Chung

TresSugar — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 06:00:00 -0700

Usually when someone is described as a "model turned" anything, I'm skeptical, so when I first heard about model-turned-TV-host Alexa Chung's new MTV show, It's On with Alexa Chung, I figured I'd steer clear. But after watching countless clips of the daily show, I'm smitten with this adorable British import.

It helps that even Chung doesn't relish her model past: "That sucked . . . you have to stand on a cross on the floor and no one talks to you, and I'm what you call a talker," she says in her MTV bio. Now the 25-year-old makes a living talking: she's not only cute and stylish (love this dress she wore to the VMAs) but she's also gifted with a very sassy, quick wit. To find out why else I like Alexa Chung and to see her in action, read more.

She's a bourbon drinker. Perhaps someday we can get together over old fashioneds and talk about books.
Speaking of which, her favorite book is Revolutionary Road, which I also think is awesome.
She tweets about grammar!
She's a do-gooder who is a brand ambassador for Oxfam, among other things.
Her casual but wise interview style feels like sitting around with a sarcastic friend. Check out the clip below of her interviewing Jason Bateman about Facebook, Twitter, and UFC to see what I mean.

It's On with Alexa Chung just wrapped up its first season, and it's back with new episodes Oct. 12. Are you an Alexa Chung fan?

Talking Trash: Smart B*tches Tell Us How to Buy Romances

TresSugar — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 06:00:00 -0700

Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan have helped romance readers discern the good smut from the bad for years with their blog Smart B*tches, Trashy Books. And now with their book Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart B*tches' Guide to Romance Novels, they offer a guide through the heady world of the $6.99 novel and defend it with wit and intelligence.

What's up today? Candy and Sarah tell use how they assign grades (they're harsh) to novels on Smart B*tches, Trashy Books and how to navigate book shelves packed with romance novels.

You grade books on Smart B*tches, Trashy Books, A-F; what makes an A? What loses points?

Sarah: A grade-A book for me is one that has a strong plot that takes familiar concepts and reinvents them into something new and different, with memorable and realistic characters, dialogue that is authentic and human, and a story that stays with you long after you've finished. I also find that books that reach A level with me are impossible not to read, so if I pick up the book to look at a page I end up rereading the whole thing.

Candy: An A book generally means that a) I loved it, and b) it's at the very least competently written. There's a certain floor to the craft for an A book. That's not to say I don't love schlock, because I do, but a schlocky book probably won't get an A, no matter how much I love it.

Generally speaking, books lose points if they don't engage me - if I'm able to step back from my immersion in the fictional world and I'm taking a hard look at the gears and bits that drive the machine, so to speak. When my internal editor has slowed my reading pace to a crawl, that's usually the kiss of death. Good books shut my internal editor up, and that's hard to do, honestly - hell, it's hard to get me to shut up, period, much less the pedant who lives in my head and gripes about how people just don't use the subjunctive properly nowadays.

Beyond Throbbing Bosoms was originally titled The Top Ten Signs You’re Reading a Very Bad Romance Novel. Is there a way to know to recognize a bad romance before wasting $6.99?

To see their answers, read more.

Sarah: If a book, any book, doesn't grab you after the first 30 pages or so, it's probably not to your tastes. That rule has served me well in any genre.

But the original title of the book wasn't Signs You're Reading a Bad Romance Novel, though that was part of the book that didn't make it into the final edition. My favorite was the poor copyediting that made a horse change color three times in two pages. Magic chameleon horse in historical England? Not good.

Candy: I call it the 10-page test. It's kind of analogous to bad visitors. The really bad ones generally announce themselves early on and proceed to eat all the hors d'oeuvres you've set out, then belch in your face. Many others, however, survive the 10-page test and prove to be awful visitors when it's too late to get them out of your house. So flip through the first pages, see if there are egregious plot or grammar flaws, figure out if the characters and storyline are your cuppa. It won't catch the more sneakily awful romance novels, but you should be able to root out most of the worst ones.

Check out previous posts from Candy and Sarah, and stay tuned tomorrow for recommendations for romance-novel virgins.

Briefing Book! China Surveillance Spying on Skype Users

LibertySugar — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:30:00 -0700

China: Wireless wiretapping? Chats over Skype network are being tracked and recorded by computers located in China. - Shanghaiist
McCain: Is John McCain a hipster? Campaign could roll out old pics to help McCain with hipster demographic. - 23/6
Abortion: Will it swing voters to McCain? Pro-life group prepares radio ad charging Obama allowed babies to die. - Talking Points Memo
Bailout: Bailout for House Email needed? The Write Your Representative feature on House.gov came under more stress than the credit markets. - The Lede
Biden: What might Joe Biden say at tonight's debate? McCain released web ad of Biden's greatest hits. - Townhall
Grammar: Does diagramming a sentence provide insight into the mind of its perpetrator? Amateur language buff takes a crack at diagramming Sarah Palin's sentences. - Slate

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The How-To Lounge: Rejecting Someone

DearSugar — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:00:00 -0700

No matter which end you’re on, rejection is an unpleasant experience. Though in some ways rejecting someone might be easier than being rejected, it can still be difficult to negotiate, especially if you want to do it nicely. So if you’ve got to let someone down easy, I have some tips to share. To see them, please read more.

Always proceed with kindness. Even if you don’t feel like being nice at the time, later down the road you’ll be thankful you kept things friendly.
Don’t treat anyone in a way that you wouldn’t want to be treated. Yes, we learned this one back in grammar school, but it’s incredibly true.
Avoid hollow sentiments. It’s easy to throw out all the clichés in the book, but your rejectee will appreciate hearing the honest truth. Applicable to breakups only: never use the “it’s not you; it’s me” line. Even if it’s true, no one believes it.
Consider your words carefully. Just because you’re being honest, doesn’t mean you can’t phrase things to sound gentler.
When people are being rejected, they’re likely to demand answers and get angry. If you encounter a situation like this, try to take their accusatory questions in stride. Their anger is normal, and it won’t help anything to get defensive.

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France Ready to Admit English Is the New Lingua Franca?

LibertySugar — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:00:00 -0700

French students struggling with English can soon take intensive English-language classes during vacations. France's education minister Xavier Darcos thinks poor English is a handicap disproportionately bestowed on the nonrich. He said, "Well-off families pay for study sessions abroad, I'm offering them to everyone right here."

This development deviates from France's usual protection of the French language. In 1635, L'Académie française (the French Academy) began conserving what it deems the proper vocabulary, usage, and grammar of the French language. Lately the academy especially tries to stop the Anglicization of the French language - email should be called "courriel" and walkman should be "baladeur."

While the French have a lofty academy to protect their language, American businesses turn to ordinary signs informing customers that "This is America. When ordering speak English." But with a loudening call for second-language fluency in both America and France, these countries' conservative forces may soon have more than one language to protect.

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