A fine list of things never to write, courtesy of The Washington Post

What would you add? For me, it'd be any derivative of an ad campaign slogan like "Got milk?" or "Just do it." But you probably already knew that.

Great list. We'd all do well to use it. » Washington Post’s Outlook section avoids these words and phrases bit.ly/105pTwC

— scott blanchard (@scott_blanchard) March 22, 2013

About getting the story just right

If you have a few minutes this weekend, sit down and read these stories. Though each isn't terribly long, the series is more than a quick read -- but I think you'll come away glad you spent the time.

As an editor, it was a pleasure working with Frank Bodani, who is committed to getting each story just right, so it reflects what each family is going through -- so the families will recognize themselves in the story, but also so anyone reading the stories can get to know them and relate.

As Frank wrote the stories, we talked about that each seemed to have its own theme as an undercurrent: one was about endurance, one about hope, one about a blessing. Let me know what you think.

'I am trying to learn something about sound when the eyes were not meant to hear'

What a great piece of personal writing this is. A deaf woman explains how she reads lips ... and how sometimes she can't ... and ponders what it all means.

An excerpt:

SOMETIMES I FEEL GUILTY that I lipread at all. I fear that I am betraying myself by accepting the conventions of the hearing world. I fear that I lack balance—that I am abandoning the communication tactics that work for me, in order to throw myself headlong at a system that does not care about my needs. When I attempt to function like a hearing person, am I not sacrificing my integrity to a game that I lack the tools to tackle, a game that in the end makes me look slow or stupid?
Deaf people—meaning Deaf people who live solely in the Deaf community, and hold on to an inherent pride in their Deafness—often speak of communicating as they please and letting the hearing world "deal with it." They believe in the beauty and, dare I say it, the superiority of sign language. Spoken language, compared with the visual nuances of signing, might as well be caveman guttural grunts.
When I lipread, I leave the clarity of sign language behind. I attempt to communicate with hearing people on their terms, with no expectation that they will return the favor. The standards I am striving for seem ridiculous: I am trying singlehandedly to cross the chasm of disability. Might not my stubbornness be of more harm than good?
I struggle with this. Some days I wonder what it would be like if I refused to speak. I could roll out of bed one morning, decide to take control of my communication on my terms, and make everyone write it down or sign, as other Deaf people do. Some days I resent myself. I wonder if I am weak, ashamed or overly anxious to please.