Dan Antion

It’s the Right Word – #1LinerWeds

Prior to the release of the third book in the Dreamer’s Alliance series, I’ve been reformatting the previous two books so that all three books have a consistent format. These changes aren’t significant, so people who have already read “Knuckleheads” and / or “The Evil You Choose” aren’t at a disadvantage.

Of course, as I go through the previous books, my eyes are still drawn to the things Microsoft Word says are wrong. In almost every case, these are issues Word had previously flagged and I had previously told it to ignore. Microsoft doesn’t take ‘No’ for an answer.

One of the problems with “Knuckleheads” is that it’s set in the sixties. We didn’t have ‘emergency responders,’ we had firemen. We didn’t have ‘servers,’ we had waitresses and waiters. One of the conflicts I have with Word is one where people my daughter’s age would probably agree with Microsoft.

“Word refuses to accept that there was a singular earphone packaged with transistor radios in the sixties”

In my defense, I present Exhibit-A

This post is part of Linda G. Hill’s fun weekly series One-Liner Wednesday. If you have a one-liner, or if you would like to join in on the fun, you can follow this link to participate and to see the one-liners from the other participants.

“I think I need to rest for a while. Oooh, there’s a street lamp.”
Getting closer
“Almost there.”
“There we go”
It might be a reach, but I think it’s an elephant
Swordfish?
It’s going to be a sunny day
It’s cold, but there was no wind, so the walk wasn’t bad.
Most of the geese are drifting south
The city is waking up to a sunny day
“That’s the Cold Dome over there on the right.” — “Watch where your going, Jimmy.”
“Who’s in charge here? Threeof you are going the wrong way. Three are going sideways. We’re never going to get to the shore at this rate”
“We’re dropping behind the others.” — “Did you forget? We can fly.”
The geese are enjoying a leisurely drift down the river.

59 comments

  1. Dan, love the sunsets, and the leaf shadows are right on. I also ignored Word’s things they said were wrong too. My editor agreed! That was good enough for me. Good luck with your third book. And Happy Thanksgiving .🍁 🎶🦃 Christine

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. “In my defense”… I’m always dealing with Word’s corrections and often give in, only to later have the corrected form returned to my first choice. It’s confusing, time-consuming, and so frustrating. But, honestly, I’ve learned a lot through the process. Have a wonderful, edit-free, Thanksgiving, Dan. 🦃

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. Love the photo of the “copper city”. I see the elephant and the swordfish in those leaves too! I’m not surprised the geese are so confused what with the crazy temperature ups and downs we’ve had. Poor things must have a headache trying to figure the weather out.

    Old Glory looking mighty proud…and rightly so. I like the sunbeam peeking through the trees and down to the ground.

    Wishing you and the Editor and Faith, and of course the tuxedos, a pleasant and relaxing Thanksgiving. Enjoy all the good food as well as the long walk you will need to take afterwards!
    Ginger

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks Ginger. I got to the park at just the right time on a perfect day.

      The geese were honking and cackling at each other. I was remembering driving on those family vacations before the Interstate highways were built. There has to be one goose in that flock that’s saying, “I am never flying anywhere with these guys again!”

      I hope you have a wonderful day, tomorrow and can avoid any and all retail madness the rest of the weekend.

      Like

      Reply

  7. Word is a poopy head. See what it thinks of that! Of course there was a singular earphone with a transistor radio. The radio was in a brown leather case and on the handle there was a little leather pocket with a snap in which you put your precious earphone. No room for more than one earphone in that pocket.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. One transistor radio I had even had a little cubby for me to snap the earphone in place when not in use. And kids nowadays think they’re so cool with those weird looking white things in their ears. Pffft! We were way cool back then.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. I am with you I remember the single headphone set that came with a transistor radio
    The photos are beautiful, wonderful sunsets and the leaf shadows are a definite dancing Micky Mouse and aa dancing bird with a long thin beak!
    💜💜

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thank you so much, Carol. I hope you enjoy the next book.

      I almost expanded on the notion about how features like spell/grammar check are based on “dictionaries” and those are built by people who entered the workforce long after some of these words and phrases were common. They don’t seem to do the research to see that they might not be common, but they might still be relevant.

      Like

      Reply

  12. I loved my transistor radio. My dad was the only one with the earphone so I put my radio under my pillow at night to muffle the sound – it also muffled the reception! Your photos are such a reminder of how much we have to be thankful for. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Dan.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. I used to keep my old transistor radio in a box of emergency supplies but, come to think about it I don’t know where it is since the move? I wonder if I pitched it with all the expired supplies when we moved? I guess it’s time to go do an inventory on emergency supplies. 😂
    I ignore Word when it says a word I know is right is wrong too.

    The shadows of the leaves did look like an elephant and swordfish!
    The river is lovely in the morning.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • My transistor radio got lost in several moves before got to CT. Having a stock of emergency supplies is a great idea. Having them organized and easy to find is an excellent idea !

      I was able to visit the river at a good time. I’m glad you like the pictures. I hood you have a great holiday weekend.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  16. I feel ya Dan. The primary difference as I see it is that when we were younger there was an inclusion of language, past and present. There is now an almost snobbish snub toward past histories which saddens me to a great extent. It’s one thing to dig one’s heels in and refuse to move forward. It is quite another for a society to try and cover the footprints of those of us who left them. Good luck with the mini trials of reformatting. Give em hell, dan.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I swear, this is more work than writing, Cheryl. No one complained about the format, but I like the way the third book looks, and I hope to get the other two, in line with it. I don’t understand wanting to bury the past. I want to know as much as possible about the past. The research I did to get the details right about the sixties was fun.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • I used to be more enthralled with antiques and old homes, often wishing I’d lived in another time. I feel differently now although I value every step we as a human race have taken for they have brought us forward. I firmly believe the adage, “Those who do not learn from the past are destined to repeat it.”

        Like

        Reply

  19. Just finished the second book . Didn’t notice the items that you mentioned . Who remembers the 60s anyway ! Hey , the kids in the first book weren’t on cell phones , so it’s all good .

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks Dan. I hope you enjoyed the book. The kids in the first book we on rotary dial phones ;-)

      It’s funny, the next two books are set in 2014. I had planned then to be in 2016 when I first wrote the outline (in 2010), but for some reason, FBI corruption, possibly corrupt female senators, didn’t seem to be a place to go in that year.

      Like

      Reply

  20. Exhibit A was a big part of my growing up. If anyone doubts their existence, I will testify to the opposite. It is ironic that something called “Word” has so many issues with…words. Finished book #1 and enjoyed it a lot, Dan. Looking forward to starting #2 next week.

    Like

    Reply

  23. So, just because we don’t have it today does that mean we’re supposed to deny that we had it in the past? Doesn’t that sound like rewriting history? Revisionist? And we know what happens when we do that! I love the shadow creatures from your leaves. I may have to do something with that…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  25. Every day I argue with my computer about words. I grudgingly admit that sometimes the computer is right, but it NEVER admits when I am right!! I also have to admit that that thing in your photo is too modern for me. Those of us who write about the past will fight our good fight. We were there; the stupid computer wasn’t!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  26. You tell ’em, Dan. How could Word not know this?! Your leaf shadows are fascinating, like ink blot tests. I can see the swordfish, but not so sure about that elephant – maybe a distant relative of elephants from another planet. :)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  27. Dan, I can’t lie. I’ve bought your books, but I’ve yet to start reading them. I must remedy that when things slow down over the holidays. Of course, you know how busy New Year’s can be for me with the TZ marathon in full swing. But I’m determined to relax a bit at some point and delve into your books. I’m sure I’ll enjoy them!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Add your thoughts or join the discussion. One relevant link is OK, more require moderation. Markdown is supported.

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.