| I was up early this morning, logged into work by 7AM.
In my inbox, was an e-mail from my manager’s manager’s manager with the subject line: Sad News. And within the body of the short e-mail, this line: “[Employee’s name] fell ill suddenly yesterday, was transported to the hospital, but unfortunately did not survive.” That seems odd to me. Who “falls ill” and dies that fast? Sounds like a “pre-existing condition” or a heart attack or stroke to me, not “falling ill.” Maybe it’s just semantics. |
Speaking of semantics, even as a technical communicator with a Master’s degree from a Department of English, I struggle with this one. From today’s obits in the N&O:
| [Deceased’s name] loved being a grandmother, spending as much time with them as she could and wanted them to call her “Grammar”. [Deceased’s name] was a member of the Sigma Kappa sorority at NCSU where she graduated with a degree in English in 1975. |
Two problems:
- Since we live on this side of the pond, the period after “Grammar” belongs inside the quotation mark. The deceased herself would have cringed over that one.
- I just can’t support encouraging children to misuse a word like that. The next thing you know, grandpa will want to go by “Punctuation.” Poor kids, I can just hear them now: “
MommaComma, can we spend the weekend with Punctuation and Grammar?”
I’m just saying…
Some affirmations from the past couple of days:
- An invitation from my friend, MaryEllen: “I’m going to the symphony at Regency Park tomorrow night with some friends. Meeting up with Dani and Tim there too if you want to join us… would love to see you.”
- Regarding the use of my Typhoon 2 blog entry for advertising of next year’s Typhoon 3, one of the organizer’s said: “It would be awesome if you would allow us to use it.”
- From my friend, Myra: My favorite John!! You do make me laugh. I did read the entries about the funeral. Thanks for telling me you posted the eulogy. I went and read it last night. Jeanie was lucky to be so loved, by you, and everyone else. I’m impressed with your idea to interview her. That is such a “you thing” for you to do—completely appropriate, and exquisitely thoughtful. From the perspective of someone who never met her, you did a wonderful job portraying an image of what she was like. I loved her responses to some of your questions, especially the one about what she feared.
- From my friend, Kevin, whose birthday card was this one from someecards.com: I just opened your card and I LOVE IT! Thanks so much for sending it. I have to admit, I’m really glad that you were able to close the deal on the sale of my condo but I also know that I am REALLY going to miss you. You BETTER visit me in Seattle!
Dat sum goot chit: Before my friend Kevin left for his vacation in Europe, he gave me three boneless, skinless chicken breasts that he’d thawed, but had not had a chance to eat. For lunch today, I had the last of them—diced, sautéed in a combination of Teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, and a dash of Worcestershire sauce over some brown rice with a hint of cheddar cheese melted in it. Yum!
| You might be obsessed with food if you’re going to a baseball game and all you think about all day are the hot dogs, french fries, nachos, and popcorn.
You might be gay if you’re going to a baseball game and all you think about all day are the tight-fitting uniforms. You might be an editor for a living if you’re bothered by grammatical errors in the signs around the stadium. You might enjoy a baseball game if the real reason you’re going is to socialize with some of your favorite people meeting you there. Check. Check. Check. And, check. |
It was still 90°at 10:00 tonight, so you know it was a hot game—and not in a good way. In attendance in our group (in addition to Robert and myself) was: E-Ching, David, Courtney, Lucy, Will, and Brian.
I wish the grammar police part of me could go off duty once in a while, but it can’t. Cringes tonight included:
- The concession stand sign: BBQ, DOGS’, DRINKS (What exactly do the dogs own? Why an apostrophe after dogs, but not after drinks? I have questions!)
- Sign over urinals in men’s room: A Free Weeks Worth of… (Hey, there’s a sexy, superfluous apostrophe hanging out above the concession stand! Use it!)
- The girl who sang the national anthem sang, ” What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming? Who broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight…” Gurl!
My book club friend Suzanne was there tonight with her family. It was her son’s, Zachary’s, birthday and she’d bought the “birthday at the Bulls package.” It was Best Buy Family Night, so hot dogs, fries, and popcorn were each a dollar.
Courtney pointed out that August 26th is “Techie Tuesday,” and I said, “I’ll have to check my Palm Pilot, my Google Calendar, and my Blackberry to see if I’m free that night.”
Oh yeah, the Bulls lost 10-8.