My Animal Troubles

Nobody knows, not even the Internet, but there may be ten million different species of insects on this planet, many of which have bitten me.

The other night, in an effort to stretch my brain and intellect, I watched Nova. The show focused on some part of the world I also don't know and some animals who live there. Among the animals featured, and becoming extinct, was this guy, a fossa or foosa.

Now here's the thing. They're pretty cool / weird looking things, fairly doglike and catlike both, long, and numbering only around two thousand or so. This bums me out, but then I get upset with myself. At the start of the show I didn't even know they existed and here I am, twenty minutes later, worrying about their survival. If they were already extinct I wouldn't feel too bad, but what's disturbing is that I wouldn't feel bad if I'd never heard of them, either.

If I hadn't watched that show and in twenty years they were all gone it would have zero impact on me. Now, just because I know, it seems more relevant. Funny how learning causes pain.


Not so much about writing, but I have a pet peeve. I don't know what's happened to the superlative in American English.

I have yet to come to terms with misusing hopefully, and I still consider it wrong to use it in place of "I hope" or "we hope." But what's bugging me now is everyone ignoring the comparative and just jumping to the superlative.

As far as I'm concerned there's no such thing as "one of the best movies." There's only one "best" movie -- that's why it's the best. Is it that much harder to please me and say "one of the better movies?" I'm convinced that best means one, is unique. I can understand it slipping into speech, but can't stand it when I read some edited publication that makes the error of using any superlative when talking about a group.

Grrrr.