Weekly Wave: Misspelled city sign causes editor angst

DULUTH — One of my earliest experiences with editor’s angst occurred during my daily bus ride to and from school.

As the bus made its stops, picking up and dropping off school children in the Jamestown, Michigan area, one of the town’s signs always taunted me as we passed it.

Jamestonw (Autocorrect is digitally screaming at me right now.)

The transposed “w” and “n” still give me cold sweats, years after that wretched city limit sign was mercifully replaced by a sign with the correct spelling: Jamestown.

I wanted to sneak out of the house some night, grab a can of paint and a brush and edit that sign back to respectibility. But something told me the city leaders would consider that defacing public property, even in the name of correct spelling.

So the only editing I could do was in my head. Most folks in town knew it was misspelled, but apparently city officials were too cheap to order a new sign right away!

I’m constantly reminded of that sign when I’m off duty and see a word misspelled on a billboard while driving home from work, notice “it’s” used when it should be “its” on a paper I’ve been asked to edit, or trying to read an error-riddled Facebook post.

Editors can log off from their day jobs, but they never really shut off the editing machine. It runs 24/7 with no off switch.

I’m sure I’ve edited in my sleep before, whipping words, sentences and paragraphs into shape during some of the most boring dreams ever. But what keeps editors up at night are the errors they’ve missed (hopefully this edition of Weekly Wave has clean copy!) or worries about missing something with a big story.

A gentle word of advice from a perpetual editor: City leaders, please proofread your signs before installation.

Finding fast friends quickly

In our culture of fast food, time management coaches, CliffsNotes and speed dating, the emergence of fast friending was inevitable.

DNT feature reporter Teri Cadeau wrote about Hadrian DeMaioribus and his launch of fast friending (or should we say, good friends made quickly?) gatherings at Dovetail Cafe in the Duluth Folk School. 

As you can tell from the photo above, the participants put their cellphones down long enough to spend four minutes chatting with a stranger in search of in-person companionship.

Northwestern’s Swiss Army knife

So how did you spend last Friday night? Even if your work and social calendar kept you hopping, odds are great that you weren’t as busy as Josh Hanson.

The Northwestern High School senior was named Homecoming king, played trumpet in the band and battled along the line of scrimmage as both an offensive and defensive lineman.

Meanwhile, I was sitting on my couch, eating pizza and binging Netflix.

Reagan Hoverman somehow caught up with the ubiquitous Hanson and shared with our readers how much he packs into a 24-hour day.

Warning: Reading this story may make you feel guilty about sitting on your couch, eating pizza and binging Netflix. (Subscribers-only story)

Pat Paulsen meet Gus Hall

Unlike comic/satirist Pat Paulsen’s long-running gag about running for president, Gus Hall did run for president several times — for the Communist Party USA.

The Cherry native didn’t make much of a dent in the Electoral College, but his most lasting contributions involved unions rather than the Soviet Union.

DNT reporter Jimmy Lovrien’s Northlandia story about Gus Hall is an interesting read, especially as we quickly approach Election Day. (Subscribers-only story)

Catch a wave

Here are a few more stories from the past week to check out:

Internal review at City Hall: Duluth mayor takes heat for role of campaign manager/girlfriend
Clearing the air?: Nemadji Trail Energy Center partners withdraw air permit, project not scrapped (Subscribers-only story)
Four-year detour?: Blatnik Bridge project will leave Twin Ports with 1 bridge for up to 4 years. (Subscribers-only story)
Intriguing court case: Duluth jury faults Colorado couple for $250,000 inheritance theft (Subscribers-only story)
Tiny tamarins: Lake Superior Zoo welcomes twin monkey babies

Editor’s note: Weekly Wave is a newsletter that I publish every Friday morning. Please consider subscribing — it’s free — and hits your inbox just once a week. You can sign up here.

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