Blog
Connecticut in October…
I'm in Connecticut and being seduced by the glorious New England fall--the colors, the sun, the blue skies, the cool air, the endless green fields bordered by by tall trees and deep woods. Thank heavens I lived in Vermont for the 17 years that I did--otherwise, I...
Dinner At Aunt Chee’s
Often, the way it seems depends on who’s doing the observing. The first time this became irrefutably obvious to me was one day, years ago now, when I got two back-to-back phone calls, one from my mother, one from my Aunt Chee. I was living in Atlanta, they were both...
Seeing Paris
Needing a change from the relentless California sun, I decided to go to Paris. Fortunately, it was only 45 minutes away, so not a long drive and no suitcase necessary. Paris was in a theater—it's a movie. There was a time--actually, most of my life--that I could not...
A Lost Art
(Not exactly grammar, but a similar issue.) Spelling--a lost art. All I have to do is go to any message board out there in cyberspace to see the state of the general public's spelling. It's pretty scary. Yesterday I went to a spelling bee that my 11 year-old friend...
With He and I???
That did it...I just heard it again. The TV was turned on to the 6:00 news--apparently nothing earth shattering was going on. A reporter was talking about a dispute between a suburban mayor and his city council. What I heard the reporter saying was something about a...
Please, Mr. Alito, To the Rescue!
Being the grammar nut that I am known to be, I nearly stood up and cheered when I heard Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito deliver his nomination acceptance speech. Given that he was preceded on the speaker's platform by Dubya, it is no wonder that hearing Alito's...
To Lay or To Lie … That is the question …
In an attempt to tackle the eternally confused situation of "lie" and "lay," I am taking on two of the most confused and misused verbs in the English language. It would seem that the verb 'to lie'--as in to put one's body in a horizontal position on a bed, the floor,...
Nancy Babcock Becomes A Bride
Do you ever get so busy that you can't remember what you did last week, or even yesterday? I've just discovered a great way to catch up with and keep tabs on what I've been up to--I Google myself. I did that yesterday and boy, was I surprised at what I found! It was...
Cheese Straws and Lost Men
How could I have been so dumb? Going to the grocery store on the day before Thanksgiving is definitely not an activity willingly chosen by the sane. So, now we know the state of my mind. A suicide mission, if there ever was one. At least I went early--and in my own...