Do you remember the commercials for Strattera, the ADHD medication, that came out a while ago? They showed a woman in a meeting. And then they showed her "thoughts" as a disjointed vignette. For example, as she sat in the meeting suddenly her thought was her kid at soccer practice, or her cooking a casserole for dinner.
The advertisement then said "If you can't concentrate, or your thoughts are disorganized, you might have adult ADD."
Well if that's the case, then EVERYONE has ADHD. I think that was the point of the commercial though.
For whatever it's worth, I think we all have elements of ADD to our personalities. Remaining focused 24/7 is impossible, and we need to let our thoughts swim amorphously in our subconscious for us to ever come to terms with them. Then and only then can we think clearly and coherently.
Oh, I lost my train of thought. Gosh darn ADD. In all seriousness, over the last few days my brain has been checked out and I can't hold a single thought for more than a minute. But I think that's OK. Over christmas break I focused on completing a difficult application, and it took all of my energy and attention. To recover, I've hit the opposite extreme - complete mental disarray and confusion.
What was I saying? Hee hee. As part of my current inability to say anything with substance, I will change the topic. My roommate and I were recently discussing how the meaning and nuance of language is deteriorating. The use of modifiers such as "like" and "whatever" are so commonplace that the actual meaning of the words "like" and "whatever" have been lost.
With the onslaught of e-mail, instant messaging and text messaging, I fear that all the strides in communication we seem to be making will be undone with the loss of all substantive meaning. Recently, while surfing the host site for my blog, I came upon some blogs by high-schoolers. Truth be told? I was *appalled* at the use of language and acronyms. It felt as if my every nerve were being scraped by a dull nail file.
I admit I am a grammar snob. I have mentioned this before, but I think hearing language used eloquently and correctly is a beautiful experience. Not that I am an excellent writer by any stretch of the imagination; nor am I the best in my every day speech. But I am trying to get better, and frankly this blog challenges me to do so by creatively articulating myself.
Who will challenge the next generation though? Will novels of the future be full of grammatical mistakes and peppered with acronyms?
Chapter 1:
Jane like walked into the room. Billy was standing there and OMG he was like "Hey Jane" but Jane was like "whatever" and then Jane said "Your shirt is untucked" and then Billy was so embarassed but then they both laughed OMG it was so funny ROTFL.
Someone (or the educational system at least) please help us.
My iPOD is making funny noises. I am so the girl who messes up all her technological gadgets. I lost my cell phone, broke my laptop, and managed to screw up my iPOD twice in a year. No wonder I'm all about books with words and trying to save the art of language. I am the quintessential luddite.
1 comment:
i think it's impossible not to break an Ipod. I got a nano for xmas and it has frozen on me twice until finally today, I think it died on me for good. I am not meant to have nice gadgets I feel. My cellphone dies on me every few months and my mother swears it's because my makeup clogs up the phone. Strangely enough, stupid theories made by indian parents, always turn out to be true, b/c that's what the guy at the cellphone store told me too. go figure!
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