So, Matain (Maw-tah-in) is a barangay when you cross the river on the way out of Barretto. You can’t get to the Subic side of things without passing through, and that’s what we did for our Friday group hike. And when I say “we,” I mean Swan and me, who were once again the only participants.
And since it was a day ending in a “y,” at beer o’clock we headed into Barretto.
First stop, the salon where I get my haircut.
Since we were in the neighborhood, we crossed the highway and enjoyed our first beverages of the evening at Red Bar.
Then we moved on to Cheap Charlies.
We did our nightcap at Wet Spot and had our usual good time, especially as measured by the number of lady drinks we purchased. Then, as bedtime approached, we headed on home where I prepared a batch of smoothies before calling it a night.
Is that last sentence correct? It seems I have compound predicate issues.
In other news, it seems I may been in line for a blowjob:
And Swan has finally lost her virginity:
Continuing with the August 2018 LTG archives, it’s three months into my life in the Philippines, and I have no friends. Eight years on, I still don’t have many. That’s okay, I have my Hash buddies, my hiking pals, and my drinking companion. If people don’t like me, it’s their loss. In this post, I talk about a couple of interesting folks I met at Wet Spot, including Dave Fischer. I still feel his presence every time I’m there.
In today’s YouTube video, the Filipina Pea reports on the impact of rising prices throughout the Philippines. As usual, it is the people who can afford it the least (trike drivers, sari-sari store owners, etc.) who are hurting the most. I fear things are going to get worse before they get better. I live in excess, so I’ll be fine. It’s hard to watch the suffering of the poor folks around me, though.
There’s a theme in today’s humor, see if you can tell what it is:
Yeah, I did that last one on purpose. Although I’ve always fancied myself a writer of sorts (high school journalism, creative writing, legal briefs, blogging), I’ve never mastered the intricacies of proper grammar and punctuation. It always sounds right in my head, but even when I’ve been shown the rules, I tend to ignore or misapply them. I’ll keep on trying to do better anyway.
One of the narrow passages that permeates Matain.
Whoa—this is a different error. I guess I was wrong. Can you spot the problem? Hint: It’s something like subject-verb agreement.
Then, as bedtime approached, we headed on home where I prepared a batch of smoothies before calling it a night.
Is that last sentence correct? It seems I have compound predicate issues.
The “bedtime approached” sentence doesn’t have a compound predicate. A compound predicate is where you’ve got the same subject doing two distinct actions. The sentence above is a complex sentence, and it has three clauses, i.e., three subjects and three predicates (verbs + the rest).
first subject: bedtime
first verb: approached
second subject: we
second verb: headed
third subject: I
third verb: prepared
In the above sentence, “before calling it a night” is not a clause: It has no subject, and “calling” is a gerund, not a verb. A complex sentence has at least one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. Your complex sentence has one independent clause and—count ’em—two dependent clauses.
independent (main) clause: we headed
dependent clause 1: as bedtime approached
dependent clause 2: where I prepared
You also failed to hyphenate “compound-predicate issues.”
So, as I said earlier:
Your pet mistakes mostly revolve around (1) commas; (2) when to use hyphens; and (3) not recognizing clauses and other sentence parts, like compound predicates.
No comma problems yet (of course, I’m not done checking), but the “when to use hyphens” problem happened again, and you didn’t recognize a complex sentence with all of its clauses, instead miscalling this a “compound-predicate issue.” There were no compound predicates.
It doesn’t help that Grammarly has a contrary view, although I trust Kevin more.
This is exactly why Grammarly is worthless. See here from an authority I respect. Same info here, but from a less authoritative resource.
Her first time making a birria taco. We both liked the taco, but the dipping sauce needs some work.
The taco looks good, but it’s still not red from the rendered fat that’s part of the meat-prep process. She really hates a coated taco shell, doesn’t she? It is possible to fry a dipped shell into crispness, but the heat has to be cranked up high.
That’s okay, I have my Hash buddies, my hiking pals, and my drinking companion.
Comma splice! Possible rewrites:
1. That’s okay; I have my Hash buddies, my hiking pals, and my drinking companion.
2. That’s okay. I have my Hash buddies, my hiking pals, and my drinking companion.
3. That’s okay: I have my Hash buddies, my hiking pals, and my drinking companion.
4. That’s okay—I have my Hash buddies, my hiking pals, and my drinking companion.
Guess we found a comma problem. It’s like clockwork. Same errors, over and over, day after day. Sammy fuckin’ Jankis.
Carolyn sounds like someone I know. At first, I thought “weigh in” needed a hyphen, but the Google AI god says no.
She’s using “weigh in” as a verb, so no hyphen. If it were a noun, we’d hyphenate. See my Substack article here, from last September. Scroll down a bit.
I’ll keep on trying to do better anyway.
Please stop saying that. You’re not even trying. And you know, maybe that’s just fine. But do keep a more realistic self-image. I’d see it if you were making ANY sort of effort. But the basic reason you’re not making any effort is that it’s not really important to you to improve, and there are no consequences for mental laziness. What can I do from all the way over here in Korea? Nothing. Not a thing. Again, that’s fine. Whatever. Just please be honest about the zero effort you’re putting in.
I’m not saying you live a zero-effort life. Take comfort in the effort you put into your walks, your “Decay Dance”s, and your assiduous drinking. You’re not lazy through and through; you obviously make an effort when you’re motivated to, but grammar just doesn’t motivate you, so you’re lazy about that. If I were really your teacher, I’d be more invested in finding some way to motivate you, but as you’re aware, I’m not really your teacher. So this is the hell we’re in. I preach-preach-preach for no good reason, and you ignore-ignore-ignore, all while vainly protesting that you’re trying, you really are.
I mean, seriously—when you see another of my paid-content grammar units published, do you even try the quizzes at the end? Do you then try the interactive quizzes I’ve created at the quiz website? Are you striving to get “A”s on those quizzes? If yes, there’s a button that turns your quiz results into a PDF, and you can email me your “A” (95% or 100%) as proof. Just please remember to put your name on the quiz (there’s a name blank at the top of every quiz). Hell—take a quiz, get an “F,” study more, take the quiz again, get a “D,” and so on, showing me your progress. That, frankly, would make me happy. Not that my happiness has ever been a motivator for you.
but even when I’ve been shown the rules, I tend to ignore or misapply them.
That, at least, is honest. And you tend to do these things (misapply, ignore) because you put no effort into learning. Until you overcome that inertia in your head, nothing will change, and as your brain gets ever more alcohol-soaked, things will only get worse. This is just another version of the “Everyone around him can see the problem, so why can’t he?” situation you’ve been in since your youth. Whether it’s women or grammar or whatever, it’s the same samsara, over and over.
If you sense an undercurrent of concern in all of my ranting, that’ll be your first step toward wisdom. But if you’re happy in your thickening fog of oblivious contentment, please just say so. And if you really do want to try to learn, please show the effort instead of talking about it. I ought to see a stream of PDFs in my email in-box, with slowly improving grades as time goes on. Until I finally see an “A.” Then more “A”s. Then nothing but “A”s, again and again and again.
Would I have bothered to write all of this if I’d given up on you?
Maybe what’s missing is a public affirmation from both sides: You accept me as a teacher, and I accept you as a student, then we strive together to help you improve. With that now explicitly decided, I would promise to find ways to motivate you to learn; I’d feel a sense of obligation to help my student do better instead of leaving snide and cutting comments all the time (i.e., I’d be a lot nicer instead of busting your balls). For your part, you’d feel a sense of obligation to me as your teacher—a sense of urgency, of concern about your own progress, a feeling of goal-orientation that you haven’t had up to now. But along with that will come the need for action and self-discipline: We’ll need to establish routines, maybe exchange daily or thrice-weekly emails in which (1) I throw different exercises at you, and (2) you answer within 24 hours.
But commitment, even if it means just ten minutes a day, is a scary thing, and lazy people shrink from it. They don’t want to be obliged to do anything. They’d rather just be left alone and unbothered. They don’t want to work. So please think carefully before you formally accept a teacher-student relationship. I won’t be at all offended if you say no. But just please be clear and honest with your answer.
Kevin, it’s hard to argue with the truth. While I appreciate the efforts you make to help me improve my writing, I can’t deny that I’ve failed to make a reciprocal effort at learning what you teach. I’ve always been lazy, and that has gotten worse now that I am an elderly retiree. That’s not an excuse; it is just an admission of fact. That said, it is not a joke when I mention my ongoing cognitive decline. Almost every day, someone greets me by name, and I am clueless as to who they are, let alone what their name is. So, recalling the rules and names of sentence structure five minutes after reading it is probably beyond my capabilities.
That said, I will continue to try to improve, but as you’ve noted, with minimal results. I appreciate your efforts and I am sorry to be a constant source of disappointment. I take no offense at your correcting me when I fail, but I also understand the frustration you feel when it seems I am unable or unwilling to apply your teaching. I’ll understand if you decide assisting me is a waste of time, but I sincerely hope you’ll continue to be a reader and commenter here.
That said, I will continue to try to improve,
No, you won’t. That’s my whole point. You’ve never tried. I’d have seen it if you had.
but as you’ve noted, with minimal results.
There have been no results. It’s the same mistakes, again and again, day after day. You can’t blame age for this—it’s laziness. It’s active resistance against effort. Even if it is age, why not fight it? Again, the answer is: laziness. No desire to fight. Fighting would require work.
Whatever. I’m officially declaring you hopeless. But hey, if you’re happy with your current level, then that’s all that matters inside your bubble.
I envision another tee shirt:
DON’T STRIVE.
SELF-IMPROVEMENT IS A SHAM.
BE HAPPY.
BE UNAWARE.
@Kevin. You are doing yeoman’s work here, but as I always ask people in my group when starting a project, “With this task, what is your measure of success after X amount of time? If after X period, you have not achieved success, why not? Is it worth pursuing? Is there another way to go about it?, etc.”
If the answer is that success (as you define it) is not achievable, better to cut losses and move on.
I am trying to get better in identifying and not worrying about sunk cost. Still pretty bad at it however, particularly when it comes to books. I’ll start one, dislike it but continue reading because I have already spent X amount of time on the book. I would be better off in just closing the book and starting another one.
Anyway, just my 2 pesos worth of worthless feedback. LOL
It’s been a sunk cost from the beginning, Brian. I just can’t stop trying to be a teacher, though, and that’s on me.
LOL
Keep fighting the good fight!!
(I don’t think I can embed a GIF but the below is the Korean person with a clenched fist saying “fighting!”)
https://tenor.com/bJ8dd.gif