Adventures in English Usage — Purposely vs. Purposefully

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It might not be a big deal to most people, but you ain’t most people, ai’ you?

Lina Lamont: "People"? I ain't "people." I am a - "a shimmering, glowing star in the cinema firmament."

Lina Lamont: “People”? I ain’t “people.” I am a – “a shimmering, glowing star in the cinema firmament.” (photo and quote courtesy of IMDB)

When I’m reading a scholarly piece of writing, and run across the word purposefully, I pause. It’s probably inadvertent because if the writer had used the correct word, I’d have breezed on by.

Immediately on the heels of the pause, I usually cringe because the author used the wrong word. Purposefully and purposely are purposely two different words with two different meanings. Because of ignorance, we’ve allowed purposefully to piggyback on purposely‘s meaning—which throws our language out of balance. The result is weak, muddy writing that casts aspersions on the authority of the author. If they don’t even know the difference between purposely and purposefully, how can I believe everything else they say? Read More →

Worship in Spirit and Truth (More on yesterday’s Fall Pruning Post)

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I don’t know how long it’s been since I wrote a “Spiritual Matters” post—I mean, yesterday’s post aside. Today I woke up feeling quite, quite good for a Monday and I attribute it more to writing yesterday than to the content of the post. Wait, let me say that betterer. I mean, I feel good because I wrote about spiritual matters yesterday, not just because of the specific content (about dealing with pain).

I was pretty tired last night, but I learned another cool thing while I reread what I wrote. I tried to tack it onto the post, but I couldn’t find the scripture I was looking for.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell

Elder Neal A. Maxwell

Today I listened to Elder Maxwell’s April 1997 General Conference talk (referenced in yesterday’s post), “From Whom All Blessings Flow.” It’s 6 minutes, 45 seconds long, and well worth listening to. (Elder Maxwell was ill with cancer at the time; he died 21 July 2004.) He quoted my scripture for me, right at the end of his talk.

  • “Behold, my brethren, he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of men; for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls. But behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also spake them unto prophets of old.” (Jacob 4:13)

I often read or hear the expression, “Worship the Lord in Spirit and Truth” (not sure if Spirit and Truth are capitalized), and I wonder what it means. Worship the Lord, I get; Spirit, I get; Truth, too. But why put it all together?

Last night I stumbled upon a possibility. Today I wish to add to it. Read More →

Daily Sketches, 6-9 August 2015

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Kerry says if I keep adding photos to The Daily Sketch page it will take forever to load, so I’m abandoning the page idea and blogging about my recent daily sketches in a regular post.

It was late on August 6th, and I’d spent considerable time earlier in the day loading all my pictures and writing about them–and learning about myself in the process. I’d made a quick computer sketch (thank you, Paint program), but I’m a stickler for doing the thing right; I needed to put implement to paper. I also needed some quick inspiration, so I grabbed Cat Bennett’s book, The Confident Creative. I admit I didn’t read what all the words said, just looked at the pictures and creatively built my own art activity: I drew a basic body outline and then personalized it.

I got the idea for this sketch from Cat Bennett's book The Confident Creative., chapter 20 "Being True to You." You'll notice there are words--that's how I am true to myself, by writing.

I got the idea for this sketch from The Confident Creative,
chapter 20, “Being True to You.” You’ll notice there are words–that’s how I am true to myself, by writing in the midst of drawing.
6 August 2015

I also finished up a picture (by adding words) I started on 3 Aug, so it’s dated for both.

I associate myself with this hue of green. There's a small stack of pictures on this paper (I think it's Ingres) and most of them are dominated by this color.

I associate myself with this hue of green. I have a small stack of pictures made on this paper (I think it’s Ingres) and most of them are dominated by this color.
6 August 2015

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Another Writing Exercise

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I’m not including a photo of the picture I started painting last night. You’ll just have to use your imagination. But I’m including a few photos of old artwork, to give this post some color.

A mood, a place, objects that may inspire . . .

A mood, a place, objects that may inspire . . .

This was a totally new experience for me. Last night I sat down to make a “midnight sketch”–something I’ve done three nights in a row now. I started sketching a little landscape scene, but my imagination got going and I found myself drawing a possible location for the story I’m working on with my writing partner, Heather.

Random landscape photo.

Random landscape photo.

Soon this imaginary place started suggesting stuff that could be in our story: maybe the people live up in the mountains, maybe there’s a lake, maybe . . . maybe . . . maybe . . . Don’t want to get too specific because it’s all a big secret at this point.

All you writers might want to give this a try. Draw a picture and see where it takes you. You might create a setting, an event, a character, or a mood for your next or current project.

WatercolorGirl_Enhanced_Colors_withYellow