So I have this fear. . .

So, I've been wanting to blog, but I have very little inspiration. My problem, you see, is that this has been one of those weeks which has made today into one of those days. . . I'm well aware that "one of those days" may have a different connotation for you than it does for me. I once had a middle school (student) teacher proclaim in a dumb-blonde, valley girl-esque fashion, (with head bobbing from side to side) "I think I lost my brain today!" I'm not sure she ever knew how often my friends and I mocked her and laughed for years to come. But today, more often than not, I was oh so tempted to send out a search party for my own coherent thoughts lost in the dark abyss. My world is racing ahead of me, leaving my head spinning. I'm tagging along for the ride, and thankfully my planner is there to remind me that my birthday is two, not one week away. (Yes I really did have to check). The keys on my keyboard are in a seemingly different order every two or three words, but all is well. My brain will return just as Little Bo Peep's sheep did. (I never knew the end of this nursery rhyme until reading it to my daughter!)
Up until this point, my title shouldn't quite fit in. That's because. . . as I started writing the title, I was certain that I had used it for a previous post. Two or three times I began to etch in a title, and "uh-oh, no, I think I've used that one." Which, is apparently a fear of mine?
I did see a great movie tonight: The Brave One. I was really impressed! It is well made, and I found it's producing, acting and plot to be quite thought provoking. Perhaps tomorrow I will have assembled a few of those thoughts and place them here for you.

Here's hoping your day is filled with a few naturally flowing thoughts!

My fascination with "Ellipsis dots"

So... I've been reading a grammar book. Yes that's right, a book called Keys for Writers. Despite the fact that I seem to understand how to write, I still have a lot of questions and general insecurities about English grammar. Some people seem to think that I should have to take classes on grammar, punctuation, and editing, but I don't. It's scary to realize that the more I learn, the less I can clearly recall the basics.
A sentence must have a subject and a predicate. Check. (So, "check" isn't a sentence). I often know when something isn't right, but the agony of trying to explain it! Sentence fragments are often a pretty big problem, but then I'm informed that "advertisers and writers occasionally use fragments deliberately for a crisp, immediate effect." Hmmm. I read on, "you will also find fragments used intentionally in question form." Well, what do we have here? "By all means, use fragments to achieve a specific effect." Unfortunately, what this author forgot to say is: if you're writing for a grade, make sure the person grading your paper will know that you wrote a sentence fragment. On purpose.
Now on to today's title. I've overused ellipses for over ten years. If you've ever read a letter or an email I've written... you know how true (and understated) this confession is. Well, now... I know why. "Note: Use three dots to indicate a pause in speech or an interruption." Hooray! All these years, instead of using a comma... I've only been trying to show that I'm pausing... those are my "hold on a minute my brain is searching, sorting or interrupting" dots. That's the only argument I have for overusing those tiny little dots. . . yup. . . that's all I've got for today.
The end. (For effect).

fat lip or black eye?

So, in case you forget that children hear far more than you may realize...

After eating with some friends I was asking which of the two bags of chips they would like to keep. One was turned away from me so his response was "eh?" Thinking that I'm being pretty clever I say "fat lip or black eye?" Clever perhaps, but soon my two-year-old says in the saddest whimper "I want black eye"... and then she keeps whining to her daddy "fat-wip fat-wip." So I give her some chips and pray she doesn't say these words to anyone that might report me!

Be ever so careful, small ears may pick up the most!