Dashes are our friends

OK, people.

I've had this discussion with my colleagues a million times, but apparently I have to have it again.

Write this down: there are three kinds of dashes, all with their own peculiar applications.

First, there's the lowly hyphen (-). The hyphen is unassuming, yet vital. You can't make a compound-anything (see?) without them. Since we're not speaking German, running all of the words together to make one big word doesn't work for us. So we turn to the hyphen, which makes it the essential-yet-underappreciated dash.

Second, there's the en dash (–). The en dash is used when you have a range of something, like years. For example, "Bob the Hairless (1452–1498) was king for some length of time." Now, a lot of people just use a hyphen in this situation, but if you have the en dash option, you should by all means use it. It's classy, and doesn't cost much.

Finally, there's the em dash (—). The em dash is used to denote parenthetical thought without using parentheses. For example, "Many people—including Bob the Hairless—may not have realized this little-known fact." If you're not writing in English, then you might use em dashes instead of quotation marks when writing dialogue. If you're writing in English and using them for dialogue, you're just being pretentious.

Sorry about the diatribe, but this is for your own good.

Plastic geekery

Went to the Old Dominion Open 2005 scale modeling event today with MRJ, who was an extremely good sport. Mostly men there (≈85% by my calculation), with several patient women and children as well. While the majority of the participants are guys with an appreciation for three-dimensional representations of historical military (and other) equipment and personages, there are always a few individuals there who are just a little, shall we say, off. You can usually tell who they are by the German military unit t-shirt (think "Hitler Youth World Tour 1939-1945"), for example. They are to be avoided, no matter how much useful information they might possess about the exact model you're working on at the moment. No matter what.........okay, if they happen to be vendors, and are offering a good deal on a particular kit, then that rule can be bent just a little, but only a little. The conversation can consist of: "How much for the infantry figures?" "Seven dollars." "Great. I'll take them. Do you have a bag?" End of exchange, with a relatively clear conscience.

I won a can of spray paint—Tamiya Light Sand, in case you're even remotely interested.

Casual Thursday, or A Study in Flannel

Today is Casual Thursday. I get every other Friday off, and I have made the executive decision that I will wear jeans to the office at least one day a week. If I'm not working on a particular Friday, then Thursday becomes my casual day. Aside from the obvious comfort, it also serves as a visual reminder to my colleagues that I won't be around the next day. Beats having to send out an all-points email, anyway.

I never thought I'd become a flannel shirt guy, but that seems to be the case of the last few years. Maybe it has something to do with a slowing metabolism combined with a sort of reverse elitism (lots of -ism there). The overarching sense of self-importance/entitlement that pervades the DC area, along with the premium put on looks, is infuriating to me. Having been born and raised in a fairly typical middle class family in the Midwest, I occasionally still have issues with the East Coast presumptive superiority thing, even though I've been out here for nearly 12 years. So maybe the flannel shirts (aside from the obvious comfort and oh-so-stylish plaid) are some lame shot at the dominant local paradigm. (Love that word, paradigm.) I suppose I could be completely wacked on this one, too. I don't give a lot of credence to self-reflection, but others' mileage may vary.

The Midwest is not necessarily "better" that the East Coast per se, but people seem to be a bit more genuine and more inclined to engage on a human level. I do get the feeling (at times) in the DC area that a lot of people are actually hungry for some kind of human interaction but they just don't quite know how to pull it off, as if condescending to have a regular conversation would somehow lower their coolness factor. Of course, it could just be that they don't talk to strangers.

One other thing about the Midwest which might tip the balance in its favor: Midwesterners know Jell-O like nobody's business.

Inauspicious beginnings

Last night MRJ and I went to hear the Mingus Big Band play at the new Strathmore concert hall. The guys were really good--awesome use of dynamics and tempo--but they just didn't sound as good as they could have. The new hall is an amazing facility, with its maple and birch (MRJ said it smelled like an IKEA store), but I don't think it really lends itself to the big band experience. The band was really impressed with the place, but the sound just didn't overwhelm the audience like I think it probably should have. Some of that could be due to the placement of the microphones, though, because you couldn't always hear the lead horns or the trombones. Sound check, anyone? In all, though, they rocked. Recommended listening includes: Blues and Politics, The Essential Mingus Big Band, and Gunslinging Birds.