A combination of time, procrastination, falling out of the digital loop due to computer death, and another blog means that The Scriptorium hasn’t been as frequently updated lately as I would like it to be. But I have stumbled across a few links this week that might be of interest to those who, like me, are of a “Lang-and-Lit” mind.

First, a couple articles from The New York Times. One examines the different ways people use the English language — and the vehemence with which they defend those ways. The other is by a teacher who would rather see a greater love of literature nurtured in schools instead of an emphasis on technical competency.

Then there’s an article that looks at the recent evolution of a certain bad word and whether it demeans or empowers. Do I really need to append a language warning? While we’re on the subject, a question: what makes a vulgarism a vulgarism?

And finally, the audio-visual portion of this miscellany. At last year’s Comic-Con, noted comics writer Grant Morrison answered a fan question with an extended musing on the intrusion of realism into fantasy fiction.