Comeuppance—Scary Intruder:
Apparently the Mistake-gods Take Revenge whenever someone, particularly a writer, has the audacity to overlook any of those that make up their community, you know like Myrtle-Misspeled-Word , Danny-Danny-Duplicate, Timny-Typo, or Oceana-There-Something-Omitted, all of whom joyously and loyally provide work for Madam Patricia Proofreader.
Warning itself Hit By Revenge
In my last post, I spoke about “Edits” in glowing terms and lauded them in such a way that it might appear that their only purpose is to bring me personal pleasure as I happily go about my work “hyperbolizing” and “scandalizing” with some occasional “sanitizing” occurring here and there. Well boy, did I get my comeuppance. In that very post, I was ambushed by Myrtle-Misspeled-Word and bushwhacked by Danny-Danny-Duplicate
I decided to send this apology post in an attempt to appease Her Majesty Queen Patricia in the hope she will ask that the Mistake-gods take revenge someplace else and leave me alone.
Apology, Apology…, Really?
So here is my official, supposedly un-coerced, apology. For the sin of overlooking the great work Ms. Patricia performs in making sure that I have no mistakes in my final copy and for the mistake of making it seem that the only reason for an edit is to have fun and for… Wait a minute. I feel like this is a shake down. This reminds me of movies I’ve seen where neighborhood grocers are required to pay for protection. Those that don’t pay quickly learn that they need protection from the protectors.
While I agree that Miss Pattie Proofie has an important role to play, I feel I have a right to think of Edits as my friends and think of the Pattie lady as only a necessary addition to the process of publishing. After all, in a perfect world, there would be no mistakes and there would be no need for Sister “Proofie.” In such a world, I could create an error free first daft and then edit to my heart’s content making sure I found all the right places to sanitize, hyperbolize, and scandalize.
Admission Of Guilt–Somewhat:
So now, that I am sure that my apology is to my readers and not just a desire to make the mistake gods take revenge elsewhere, I will provide a hint about one mistake and plead forgiveness for the other. Yeah, I’m taking the chicken way out by only providing a hint. After all, you fall in three different groups.
- Some of you may not have even noticed my errors. For those in that group who want to know how I made myself look silly, I say have at it; go on and rummage back through that last post and see if you find the error. Hint: it’s a spelling error, a very import word misspelled, and it goes all the way back to my product site (UlyssesSaysGifts); but you’d better hurry, as I am trying to fix each occurrence as fast as possible.
- For those of you who saw it and didn’t say anything, shame shame, as you should know by now or will know soon that I love to dish it, so I had better be able to take it.
- Finally, for those of you who told me about it—thank you very much, as you know I will only grow by facing up to what is. Though this is a minor issue, it serves for me to let you know that I welcome discussion favorable or not, so please talk back. After all, the bible says “You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17 (MSG),
As for the second error, well that was just pitiful. I sent a duplicate post the next day following the “Edits Are My Friends” post. You have to know that my intentions were good. Instead of sending it to only one person, I sent it to all of you again. My apologies to all.
Just A Taste Of Seriousness:
Okay, so most people don’t make a complete post about a mistake; but, remember my daughter told me to be me. So yes, I find fun in most things even when I stumble on this new journey. However, on a more serious note, I think it is of value to use mistakes, adversity, rebuke, stumbling, and rainy days for evaluation and reflection that might not come with 100% sunny skies. It’s all good if, in the final analysis, a better course is set. What are your thoughts and experiences?
Peace-Low for now. Remember, when the Mistake-gods take revenge in the future Ulysses Says they are just picking on poor me for NOT apologizing to them or to “Madam Pattie Proofie.”