Priorities in Language

My youngest son, Luke, is slowly but surely acquiring language and speaking skills. He will talk at you for hours, saying nothing at all, but being so sure of what he is saying that you must take him seriously. Lately, though, he has started using actual words; and using them correctly. The following words make up his entire "real" vocabulary:

• no
• yes
• up
• uh-uh
• mama
• bite
• O (for Owen, his brother)
• chuga-chuga-choo-choo

His priorities are clear here. He is also working on saying "thank you", but he says it begrudgingly and never clearly. According to my baby book, my first words were "baby" and "cookie"; I was a selfish fatty from the beginning.

Who do you write like?

A recent internet meme allows you to copy and paste text which an application then analyzes and tells you who you write like. I find it particularly interesting because it says that I write like H.P. Lovecraft (and in one instance Arthur Conan Doyle). Awesome!


http://www.boingboing.net/2010/07/15/chances-are-you-writ.html

Now, though, I feel compelled to write amazing, suspenseful, horrific things. The result will rest on my desktop and remain unseen by anyone but myself, but still, I will write.

Also, I tried to find a great Lovecraft quote and was sucked into reading pages and pages of things I have read many times over. That is true power.

Who do you write like?

Book Thursday: Eats, Shoots and Leaves

As an English major (wait, I have a degree...now how do I defend my nerd status?), I have always felt a particularly strong inadequacy when it came to punctuation. I picked up Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss out of the desire to be entertained (yes, I am still a nerd) and also because I hoped to learn a little about commas: my epic weakness.

As I type this, I worry that I am making mistake after mistake. I will not proofread this entry out of fear. If I do, I will dwell on each comma, questioning my every key stroke. I don't want to put myself through that.

I did learn much about the history of punctuation, the evolution of the comma, and the arguments over the proper usage or necessity of various marks of punctuation. I also learned more about my beloved interrobang!

This book got me thinking about where punctuation will be in the future. Text messages read like a punctuation-less hell, a grammarian's nightmare, and a spelling, well, I don't have time to talk about that now. This, is the primary method of communication for many young people (including myself) and yet, we don't take the time to communicate properly. Are these formalities on the way out? As Truss noted, improper English and incorrect usage has bled over into popular media and the internet is not edited. Where does this leave correct grammar and punctuation?

Though English evolved within the lower classes and is always changing due to the need of the people, (English is very much alive and fluid) I can't help but feel nostalgia for complete sentences with periods and everything! I appreciate it when I am easily able to read a paragraph and not wonder about the author's intentions.

I, too, am still learning about punctuation and grammar: it is a constant battle. It is one that can, however, be won and the reward is a wonderful one: the ability to communicate well. In a world where communication is lacking and yet ever so important, I see no reason to mess up one of the keys to clear, concise communication. Learning to communicate clearly doesn't have to be stressful, but it does require effort!

(This entry was proofread, but not dwelled upon)

Egumacashun

I have a college degree. Really. And now I am a graduate student.

This marks a big change in my life and in my blog.

As a woman, mother, student, feminist, friend, sister, daughter, and wife (among many other things), I find that, most times, my ramblings are far from articulate and usually thrust upon unwilling listeners and readers.

This blog--and these are merely my good-willed intentions, mind you--will serve to chronicle the life of a person exploring life while trying to maintain some semblance of sanity. It's going to be a difficult road, Blog, please help me to stay sane, to actually express things in writing, and never, ever judge me because I eat ice cream for dinner.