11/365 - Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs

Today I discovered two "book review" posts I'd written (but neglected to publish) for my crochet/knitting/sewing blog.  I snapped a few photos to illustrate my points.  Started in 2011, finished in 2013.  What a pace!

Gender Guesser

Note: This looks familiar, so I've probably seen it before. Whether I've gotten around to writing about it is another matter. It's unlikely to interest anyone but me, so don't hesitate to skip it. :o)

I happened upon a "Gender Guesser", recently. No, it's not based on appearance. (If it were, I'd be mightily offended. Read on to see why. (g)) I won't try to explain how it works (because I don't really know), but basically you plug a chunk of writing into this program, and it tries to guess whether the author is/was male or female. There's one "score" for formal writing and another for informal writing. It's an interesting concept, so of course I had to give it a try. (And then another. And another.)

First, I tried my last entry (barring the part where I briefly quoted someone else). Results for informal: weak female. (No, that doesn't mean that I lack strength or moral integrity. ;o) It indicates that, according to the program, my writing style registered as female, but not emphatically so.) The "score" was 1009 female vs. 828 male, to be precise.

(It strikes me as odd that the "formal" score for that same text scored as weak male, meaning if I'd written it for something other than a casual blog-- as an essay, for example-- they'd guess it was written by a male. I wonder why would that be. . .)

Next, I went one entry further back, to the story about the trials and tribulations of life with Trixie. Results for informal: 607 f to 1186 m, male. Formal: 744 f to 717 m, weak female.

I skipped a couple of entries, then, because they were under the recommended 300-word minimum. So next up was a bulleted list. Very informal. Informal score: 336 f vs. 644 m, male. (The formal score was weak male.)

(By now, I was obsessed, so I kept going, even though the notes on the Gender Guesser page indicate that numerous texts written by the same person are likely to yield similar results. (g))

Entry about Gustav, Trixie and car tags:
Informal: 1120 f vs 1573 m, weak male
Formal: 941 f vs 846 m, weak female

"Disconnected Thoughts" entry:
Informal: 855 f vs 1271 m, weak male
Formal: 693 f vs 653 m, weak female

"Pupdate" entry:
Informal: 589 f vs. 588 m, weak female
Formal: 777 f vs. 416 m, female

"Random / what else is new" entry:
Informal: 3078 f vs 3606 m, weak male
Formal: 1947 f vs. 2230 m, weak male

So. . . Most of my "informal" results are male (albeit a weak male ;o)), while the "formal" results tend more toward weak female. Either my "informal" writing style should be classified as "formal" or I have a somewhat masculine style of writing.

Then there's the whole European English vs. American English element: "In general, if the difference between male and female weight values is not significant (a "weak" score), then the author could be European." Of course, obviously I'm not European, so. . . (shrug)

There's also this: "Professional female writers (and experienced hobbyists) frequently use male writing styles." I'm by no means a professional writer, but maybe I qualify as an experienced hobbyist.

Anyway, however unreliable it may be, the program served as a nice little amusement. :o)

Your Name in Print

There was a time-- starting back around seventh or eighth grade, I guess-- when I thought that seeing my name in print (in something more than a school-level publication) would be the pinnacle of success. I didn't expect to ever write anything that would make me world-famous, but even the humbler hope of simply being published and seeing my name in print gave me thrills.

Though other interests have since taken hold of me and I'm now much less given to literary daydream, the thought still has its appeal. However, if someone has serious hopes of publication, she probably ought to write more than the occasional slap-dash blog post or polymer clay tutorial, and as of yet, I haven't devoted the required time or effort to those old ambitions.

But--
Despite my lack of "stick-to-itiveness" (can you believe that's an actual word in the dictionary?) in the writing department, I have been granted the pleasure of seeing my name in print in a real, "live" book! It's not quite the same as being The Author, of course, but it's still plenty thrilling to be mentioned at all!

Here I am credited as one of the "participating artists", in the back of the book:


This opportunity pretty much fell into my lap one day when one of the authors, Ruth Rae, wrote to ask if I'd be interested in contributing some polymer clay mini food charms for inclusion in the book. She'd seen my photos on Flickr and thought they'd work nicely in a charm bracelet or two. (Thank you, Flickr! (g))

It's been a while since that happened (this book-making business seems to take a lot longer than you might think), but earlier this month my complimentary copy arrived-- A Charming Exchange: 25 Jewelry Projects to Create & Share, by Kelly Snelling & Ruth Rae.


In amongst so many lovely jewelry-making projects and glossy photos, you'll see my miniature cupcakes, Pop-Tarts, and cookies. And my name (in a few different places)! (g) It really is a neat thing to have happen just when you're least expecting it. :o)

Heat, Twitter, Spaniel-Dog & Punctuation

** ** ** ** ** **

It is sooo hot and humid, lately. Summer's here, with a vengeance. It'll probably be a few months before I spend any truly enjoyable time outside. ;o) I may exaggerate a bit. . .

** ** ** ** ** **

I guess Twitter is another of those places where people try to build up some sort of reputation for themselves. That's the only thing that would explain why random strangers (seemingly with little or nothing in common with me) suddenly decide to "follow" my twitterings-- or why, when I look at their profiles, I see that they're following thousands of other people. (One person is following over a hundred thousand twitterers!)

I don't necessarily mind if they "follow" me; I simply don't understand why they do it. They can't actually be reading all those twitters. I can barely keep up with the few people I'm following! ;o)

** ** ** ** ** **

My lovely psycho spaniel-dog decided this morning to go into the jungle behind the shed-- and stay there for a while. (She does try my patience, sometimes.)

I'd just come home from a quick errand. Even though it wasn't yet 10 a.m., it was already hot and steamy, and I figured Molly would want to come inside with me. I called her and soon heard her barking from behind the shed, but she refused to come.

My first thought was, "Oh great. She's found a snake!" That would be bad news at any time, but for her to find one now would be particularly bad timing, as it would be hard for me to get someone to come help quickly, today. (We really need to get a gun appropriate for shooting snakes. . . If I could even manage to get my crazy dog far enough away from the snake for me to try shooting it!)

Anyway, she soon stopped barking-- which made a snake seem unlikely. (She barks herself hoarse at snakes.) So then my pessimistic brain presented me with images of her lying in a stupor after being bitten-- or (even weirder) being constricted by someone's former pet python. (I think the heat was getting to me at that point.)

Peeking through the dense growth, I finally glimpsed her. She seemed fine, from what I could see, so I decided that she was either being obstinate (she has an admirable single-mindedness that is sometimes mistaken for pure stubbornness) or had become tangled in briars and was unwilling to pull herself loose.

After much fruitless finagling (with a squeaky toy and treats), I decided that I'd have to clear a path to reach her. Fortunately, her dominance proven ;o), she came out on her own before I had to get very deep into the jungle. I didn't see the big moment, as I was focused on cutting a path with a machete (or maybe something not quite that extreme), but she wasn't trailing briars, so I'm inclined to think she may have just been stubborn!

That settles it! The jungle behind the shed must be cleared. It hasn't been "pretty" for quite some time, but I honestly didn't realize it was that bad, as I tend to avoid that part of the yard. Things can spring up so fast, this time of year! And with a dog lacking the sense to stay out of jungles, something has to be done. . .

** ** ** ** ** **

I used to have a serious addiction to dashes (--), but now that seems to be overshadowed by my newer over-dependence on parenthetical statements (like this one).

. . . I mention this merely in passing, as I have no serious intentions of cutting back. Hyphens-- and now parentheses (what an odd word!)-- are some of the cheapest luxuries in my life, so I refuse to skimp. ;o) (Emoticons fall into this category, too, as you may have noticed. Only I do feel a bit ashamed of my addition to the smiley, the wink, and the "(g)". . . I fear I'm too far gone to be helped, though.)

** ** ** ** ** **