Quote of the Week

I know this book's been out a few years and many of you have read it, but I just love this line (and most others) from this book:

"To those who care about punctuation, a sentence such as 'Thank God its Friday' (without the apostrophe) rouses feelings not only of despair but of violence. The confusion of the possessive 'its' (no apostrophe) with the contractive 'it's' (with apostrophe) is an unequivocal signal of illiteracy and sets off a simple Pavlovian 'kill' response in the average stickler. The rule is: the word 'it's' (with apostrophe) stands for 'it is' or 'it has'. If the word does not stand for 'it is' or 'it has' then what you require is 'its'. This is extremely easy to grasp."
- Lynne Truss from Eats, Shoots & Leaves (p. 43)

I still remember this rule from Mrs. Frazier's grammar class in 7th grade. No science, no major logic, just "does it sound right?" If you reason it out (see above) you're probably right. Thanks, Mrs. Frazier. Get this book if you haven't already.

3 Doors Down

I love my car. I really do. It's a 92 Corolla with 206,000 miles on it. There's no washer fluid tank, the stereo sucks, the vinyl on the ceiling has either been ripped out or fallen out, and the door to the gascap was punched out (by me) when it wouldn't open. To make it even better, when I got the car 6 years ago, the rear right passenger door just didn't open. The previous owner didn't know why, but it just didn't work. No problem. A couple years ago, a youth (or yout) accidentally broke off the door handle to the rear left passenger door. Still, no problem. I just open the front door and reach around to open the door from the inside.

Well, last night a new chapter in the history of my car started. The handle on the driver's door finally broke off. I could feel it getting loose over the last few months. So, I've been very gentle with it, trying not to break it. But despite my efforts, the stupid thing just broke off yesterday. Its now an official problem. I only have one door I can open from the outside now. In order to get in, I have to open the front passenger door and reach over to open the driver's door, walk around the car and get in. I need a new car. Maybe. It still runs great. I just can't get in...