Awkward=not hackneyed and CNN-ese? Feel free to send a link to your perfect writing, friend. By they way, let's have a write off...take one really classical sentence, and then write something completely constricted by the grammatical frame of the given sentence. (Born and raised in NJ, fluent in four languages and proficient in three others, so the "flair" of my language may be something you don't come across in your corner of America.)