I established this blog more than a year ago (notice I didn't say "over" a year ago because "over" is a spatial term and therefore incorrect, and I only point this out now because this blog will often include my "concerns" about writing).
One "concern" is the annoying use of quote marks around a word or phrase for emphasis, irony or because the writer assumes the reader is too dumb to know the he/she is being facetious (i.e. the "cat" was actually a dog with an attitude), a technique often overdone. And yes, I know I have put quote marks around six words so far.
What I won't rant about are long sentences as my opening sentence is 43 words.
I will also take liberties with punctuation and grammar because I have a degree in English, which is really just a lifetime license to point out the punctuation, grammar, general writing and vocabulary errors of others.
I like to write and not "self-edit," a term an employee once used when explaining to me why her writing contained so many errors. She said she "didn't have time to self-edit" which of course meant she didn't want to proofread her work. She is a "former" employee.
I started this blog while working as the public relations and marketing director for one of the biggest colleges in Texas and that was bad timing and the reason my second post (I deleted the first one) is a year late.
But now that I am really retired (I am told I have retired more times that Brett Favre) I plan to post at least weekly.
I will also write often about my dogs that are my children and post inane photos of them (I orginally wrote "who" rather than "that" but my husband, a retired publisher and editor, read this over my shoulder and reminded me that no matter how much I love them, the dogs are "thats."
So now he has forced me to use those darned quote marks twice more!
For nearly 30 years I wrote a humor column for newspapers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and won state, regional and even a third place national award for it; so I miss writing this sort of thing and hope to make my readers laugh.
Let me get the ball rolling.
Ha, ha!
