February 25th, 2010:
Federal Style homes
A Federal style home
Ubiquitous up and down the East Coast, Federal-style architecture dates from the late 1700s and coincided with a reawakening of interest in classical Greek and Roman culture. Builders began to add swags, garlands, elliptical windows, and other decorative details to rectangular Georgian houses. The style that emerged resembles Georgian, but is more delicate and more formal. Many Federal-style homes have an arched Palladian window on the second story above the front door. The front door usually has sidelights and a semicircular fanlight.
In some parts of the country, Federal-style homes are often called “Adam” after the English brothers who popularized the style.
Federal style
The Federal-style can be found in parts of Old Town Alexandria VA.
Fed: Interest Rates to Remain Low
Investors breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday when Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke told Congress that interest rates are likely to remain low for an extended period. The economy, he said, “still requires support for recovery.”
Investors see these low rates as a boon to a recovery of employment and business.
Bernanke’s announcement also took the edge off the news Wednesday that housing sales hit a new low in January.
“Even though nothing he said was particularly new, it was just enough to calm the ruffled feathers that were out there,” said Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist at Northern Trust in Chicago.
Source: The Associated Press, Tim Paradis (02/24/2010)
Maggiano’s Little Italy
Maggiano's Little Italy
Maggiano’s Little Italy is an Italian-style restaurant found in Tyson’s Corner at the Galleria. One of my clients recently discover that Maggiano’s is one of my favorite places to enjoy a meal and so they bought me a nice little gift certificate here. Maggiano’s menu features both classic and contemporary recipes—pastas, salads, steaks, seafood, regular chef specials, and specialty desserts. I love the ravioli’s and Parmesana dishes here. Maggiano’s offers lunch or dinner, carryout service, delivery and banquet spaces for special occasions.
If you like Italian food, I highly recommend trying Maggiano’s.
Maggiano’s Little Italy – Tysons Corner
2001 International Dr.
McLean, VA
Phone: 703.356.9000
Canal Way
Canal Way is located at the North Side of Old Town Alexandria, just a few blocks from the River. Canal Way has easy access to the George Washington Parkway making it ideal for commuters to Washington DC. Canal Way fits in well with the traditional colonial architecture of vintage Alexandria.
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- Entrance to Canal Way condos in Old Town
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- Canal Way courtyard in late Winter
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- A Canal Way townhouse in Old Town.
Showing properties
1 - 3 of 3.
See more Canal Way.
(all data current as of
5/21/2012)
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$799,000 : 1180 Pitt St, Alexandria3 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths
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$799,900 : 1182 Pitt St N, Alexandria3 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths
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$639,000 : 1148 Pitt St N, Alexandria3 beds, 3 full baths
Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.
Tour of the Duke at Old Town
The Duke at Old Town is located on Duke Street in Old Town Alexandria. I recently attended an Open House and snapped a few pictures.
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- Kitchen at the Duke
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- Living room at The Duke at Old Town.
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- Bathroom at the Duke at Old Town
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- Granite kitchen counters at the Duke.
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- fireplace at the Duke condos in the Carlyle District
Amenities of the Torpedo Factory Condominiums
Life at the Torpedo Factory does not center around a swimming pool. The Torpedo Factory is about life in one of Northern Virginia’s most exclusive neighborhoods.
Most units at the Torpedo Factory are situated around a private formal and well-tended courtyard.
crepe myrtles at the Torpedo Factory
Units come with garage parking in Old Town. If you know the colonial streets of Old Town, you know what a luxury this is.
Union and King in Old Town
The single biggest amenity at the Torpedo Factory is the neighborhood.
Art Center
Fixing the Comma Splice
In a previous article, “Comma Error Number One: The Comma Splice,” I shared methods for identifying comma splices. Once you have identified a comma splice, there are two simpl
e ways to fix it:
1. Use punctuation that is stronger than a comma, like a semicolon (;).
Example: People want to know more about commas; I write to share some comma pointers.
2. Add a combining word—a coordinating conjunction—after the comma to strengthen the connection.
Example: People want to know more about commas, and I write to share some pointers.
Now, look at that second example sentence. Notice that I combined the sentences with a comma + and. Was there a better combining word than the coordinating conjunction, and?
I think so. Try this:
People want to know more about commas, so I write to share some pointers.
With this replacement in mind, here is one additional thought on coordinating conjunctions: always try to use the most fitting coordinating conjunction for the connection you are trying to express. If it’s a cause-effect relationship, “so” works perfectly. If it’s a choice, try “or.” If it’s a contradictory relationship, try “but” or “yet.” If the connection is purely one of coexistence, “and” works fine.
That is why these connecting words are called coordinating conjunctions: they not only join two sentences (conjunction), but they also coordinate—that is, they show the relationship between the two combined sentences. Coordinating conjunctions: conjunctions that coordinate. Ah-ha!
Here are some useful coordinating conjunctions and their functions:
Coordinating Conjunction Function
and coexistence
but contradiction
yet contradiction
so cause and effect
or choice
nor additional negation
With all of the coordinating conjunctions we have at our disposal for creating unified, effective sentences, why bother using semicolons to combine sentences? Why not guide your reader by expressing the relationship between the two sentence parts?
To answer this question, I will share an example I use with my students. Consider how to combine these two sentences:
1. Someone rear ended my new Mercedes today.
2. I’ve had a great day.
What is the best way to combine these? Let’s begin by trying the easiest coordinating conjunction, “and”:
Someone rear ended my new Mercedes today, and I’ve had a great day.
Ugh. That didn’t work. How about “so”? . . .
Someone rear ended my new Mercedes today, so I’ve had a great day.
This one doesn’t work either, unless the speaker is nuts. Why would anyone be happy to have their new car rear ended?
How about this one:
Someone rear ended my new Mercedes today, but I’ve had a great day.
But is this what the writer is trying to say? It depends. What if the car that rear ended the Mercedes was Bill Gates’ limo, and he gave the Mercedes’ owner one million dollars for the trouble? In that case, “but” would be the most fitting coordinating conjunction.
I think though, that the most likely tone is one of irony or even sarcasm. When the speaker says he has had “a great day,” he is stating the opposite in an ironic tone: he has had an outright crummy day. Such tones are best expressed with a thoughtful pause, but not a pause that is so substantial that it breaks the connection between the two sentences. An unspoken connection is needed. That’s where the semicolon comes in:
Someone rear ended my new Mercedes today; I’ve had a great day.
Notice that the semicolon replaces the comma + and construction. You might want to think of it as a semi-period or semi-comma. I think of it as a period-comma, and if you look at the symbol closely, it does have a dot (a period, of sorts) above a comma. I don’t know if that is what the Punctuation Gods say about the formation of the semicolon, but this visual explanation works for me.
The comma splice is one of two frequent comma errors. I explore the other comma error, the subject-predicate comma, in the next article.
Here is the link:
Christopher Altman, a community-college composition specialist, is passionate about bringing the art of effective writing to average, everyday Americans. He has published work in the field of medieval literature, and has authored a book on advertising language entitled, Telling the Truth to Deceive: How Advertisers Manipulate the English Language. Mr. Altman is an assistant professor of English at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, New York.
Comma Error Number One: The Comma Splice
In the introduction to commas, I shared the comma rule of thumb. Here it is again:
The Comma Rule of Thumb: Use commas to show pauses in your writing.
This rule of thumb is helpful for understanding commas in the most general sense; however, this rule has two exceptions:
1. For stylistic purposes, you may want to replace a comma with another mark or set of marks (like parentheses—or a dash). I will discuss those in future installments of Writer’s Toolbox. Stay tuned.
2. If you are combining two sentences, that pause should be a semicolon—not a comma. Using only a comma to combine two sentences is a no-no that those of us in the English business call a comma splice (comma joining).
Notice exception number two. In exploring commas, we need to examine the comma splice, perhaps the most frequent comma error, and the key exception to the comma rule of thumb.
Here is an example of a comma splice:
People want to know more about commas, I write to share some pointers on comma use.
Note that the example above contains two complete sentences:
1. People want to know more about commas.
2. I write to share some pointers on comma use.
Now, notice that I have placed only a comma between these two complete sentences. That’s a comma splice: a joining (splice) of two sentences with nothing but a comma.
The trick here is recognizing that you need more than just a comma to join two sentences. If ever you are unsure that you have committed a comma splice, one simple way to check the sentence is to view the comma as a wedge in the sentence. First, look at what is left of the comma. Is it a complete sentence? In the same way, isolate what is to the right of the comma. Is it a sentence? If both of these are sentences, then you have a comma splice. If only one side is a complete sentence, then you know that you have not committed a comma splice.
Consider the following sentences. Are they comma splices? (Note: the answers are at the end of this article.)
- Identifying comma splices seems difficult, although it gets easier with practice.
- Commas have many rules, they have many applications.
- The apostrophe is often overused, the comma is similar to the apostrophe in this regard.
- I enjoy writing about punctuation, and I hope it empowers my readers.
Answer Key to Comma Splice Questions:
- This is not a comma splice. Notice that if you separate the sentence into two parts on either side of the comma, the right side of the comma (the clause, “although it gets easier with practice”) is not a complete sentence. The writer here is right to use a comma, since it involves the combination of a sentence and a clause.
- This is a comma splice. You may have thought otherwise, since the pronoun “they” in the second part seems incomplete, in that it refers to the noun, “commas,” in the first part. Although contextually incomplete, the words, “they have many applications,” do form a complete sentence. Comma splices are not a matter of a sentence being contextually incomplete, but a matter of their grammatical completion.
- This is a comma splice. “The apostrophe is often overused,” is a complete sentence, and so too is the second part, “the comma is similar to the apostrophe in this regard.” Here we have two sentences joined with nothing but a comma: a comma splice.
- This is not a comma splice, since the example uses more than a lone comma to combine the two sentence parts. (The writer uses the coordinating conjunction “and” along with the comma.) Remember the rule: A comma splice is a joining of two sentences with only a comma. I will explore coordinating conjunctions in the next article, “Fixing the Comma Splice.”
Now that we have looked into identifying comma splices, do you want to know how to fix them? If so, follow the link to the next article, “Fixing the Comma Splice.” (It’s a creative title, isn’t it?)
Here is the link:
Christophe
r Altman, a community-college composition specialist, is passionate about bringing the art of effective writing to average, everyday Americans. He has published work in the field of medieval literature, and has authored a book on advertising language entitled, Telling the Truth to Deceive: How Advertisers Manipulate the English Language. Mr. Altman is an assistant professor of English at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, New York.
Life in Old Town at its best.
The courtyard
The Torpedo Factory complex is located between Lee Street and Union Street in Old Town Alexandria just one block from King St. and across the street from the Carlyle House. The Torpedo Factory offers 1, 2 and 3 bedroom condominium homes centered around a well-kept courtyard. The Torpedo Factory doesn’t offer the standard condo amenities like a pool and fitness room.
Instead, the neighborhood is the amenity here. The Torpedo Factory is surrounded by restaurants, shops and tourist attractions. It’s only one block from the Potomac Waterfront and is across the street from the Torpedo Factory Art Center. If you’re looking for a home in historic Old Town and you don’t want the maintenance that townhouse will require, you’ll definitely want to check out the Torpedo Factory.
Torpedo Factory as seen from Carlyle House.
The Torpedo Factory is located directly behind Alexandria’s beloved colonial manor: the Carlyle House.
Carlyle House
The Torpedo Factory is across the street from the Torpedo Factory Art Center and a block from King St. and the King St. Trolley.
King St. Trolley
The Torpedo Factory is just 1 block from the Alexandria Waterfront and many parks and paths.
Old Town at the Potomac
The Comma: Introduction–The Comma Rule of Thumb
The Comma Rule of Thumb: Commas Show Pauses
Despite its seemingly ever present frequency in writing, the comma is seen by many
as one of the most mysterious and indecipherable marks of punctuation. Commas are used for so many purposes in writing, that it is difficult to formulate a single rule of thumb for comma use. As someone charged with the task of teaching comma use to novice writers, I decided to formulate an approachable and applicable comma rule of thumb.
As its name implies, the comma rule of thumb does not apply to every situation, but serves as a dependable guide for ninety-nine percent of situations. Here it is:
The Comma Rule of Thumb: Use commas to show pauses in your writing.
Imagine that you are speaking your sentence aloud. Hear it in your mind as you write. Wherever you hear pauses within the sentence, put commas in those places. If you have trouble hearing the sentence in your mind, then read it aloud. Just make sure you read it naturally—the same way you speak, and not like a robot. That reading will reveal where commas belong.
There are only two exceptions to this rule:
1. For stylistic purposes, you may want to replace a comma with another mark or set of marks (like parentheses—or a dash). I will discuss those in future installments of Writer’s Toolbox. Stay tuned.
2. If you are combining two sentences, that pause should be a semicolon—not a comma. Using only a comma to combine two sentences is a no-no that those of us in the English business call a comma splice (comma joining).
The next two articles will cover (1) identifying the comma splice and (2) fixing it.
Want to know more about commas? For your convenience, here are links to this series of articles on commas:
- Comma Error Number One: The Comma Splice
- Fixing the Comma Splice
- Comma Error Number Two: The Subject-Predicate Comma
- Other Comma Errors
- Comma Function: Commas Set Off Mid-Sentence Interrupters
- Comma Function: Commas Set off Introducing and Concluding Elements
Did you come into the conversation late? Do you want to go back to the first article? Here is your link:
Christopher Altman, a community-college composition specialist, is passionate about bringing the art of effective writing to average, everyday Americans. He has published work in the field of medieval literature, and has authored a book on advertising language entitled, Telling the Truth to Deceive: How Advertisers Manipulate the English Language. Mr. Altman is an assistant professor of English at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, New York.
