NEO-NEOCON STARTED IT

Neo-neocon posted about the use of "it's" and "its." Long ago I mastered the use of the apostrophe with regard to possession, contraction, and omission. I will admit that it's about the only aspect of our language I've mastered, though. To this day I struggle with "me" versus "I," so I tend to avoid any wording that calls for it. Another thing I avoid, both verbally and written, is "it's not," because it sounds a lot like "snot." Not good in my opinion, so I reword it to either "it is not" or "it isn't." Weird, I know.

The book pictured is one I own and one I have an ongoing love/hate relationship with. I love that I have it, but hate when I read it, because it confirms to me how little I understand about the inner workings of our language. Mostly I'm self-taught in writing and speaking the language. I wasn't prepared when I arrived to college, and one day a teacher, psychology, asked me to stand before the class and read a paragraph from a paper I turned in. I read the paragraph, but when I got to the word "alot," (my spelling) he stopped me and made an example of me to the entire lecture forum. He went off on a tangent about spelling, grammar, punctuation, and how we should know these things by now. He never once touched on the subject at hand; he was talking basics of english and driving home his point at my expense. From that point on, I knew "a lot" more about "alot" and how it's two words and not one.

The teacher's tirade motivated me to go to a place called the library (all colleges have them) to learn a little something about the basics. However, at the time, I thought this guy was a complete asshole for treating me in this manner. Later, though, I would realize he had done me a tremendous favor; he took the time for something he thought was important, and that makes him a great teacher, in my opinion.

Anyway, the reason for this post--I'm rambling, I know--is that I was reading one of my regular blogs today and the "it's/its" came jumping out at me. Since I just read Neo's post I thought this was strange, and I even thought they were doing it on purpose because of her post. Again, weird. But, it wasn't done once, not twice, but three times in two posts. Once at the end of a post, then once in the following post's title, and finally someone did it in the first comment.

I know this particular blog well, but would never mention it because that never comes to anything good. Been there, done that. In fact, you could spell your name incorrectly and my lips would be sealed. Trust me on this. Later I noticed that the first incorrect "it's" was edited to "their," but the others still stand. Since I have such a weak grasp of our language, I would never identify the blog or suggest a correction; I will leave any correcting to the experts, which I am not.

For me, blogging is a pain, but in the end I enjoy it, and I especially enjoy the folks I come in contact with. I'm constantly checking and double-checking everything I'm about to post. Then after I post, I get to check again. Somewhere something must be dangling, misspelled, or just plain awkward. I can only hope I don't embarrass myself, so I always try to do the best I can because I know many of you are in the business of writing or publishing or something related. And I'm always open to any advice you might have regarding my writings. Feel free to use the comment section, or the less embarrassing email would be most appreciated. I'm open to your critique because I'm here to learn, and when I read your blogs, I usually learn something new everyday.

Someday, I hope, I'll be like Kitty at Kitty Litter. I figure she types her posts out at about 175 words-a-minute, hits the publish button, and goes to lunch. Not me, I have lunch during my checks and double-checks. I sometimes double-check "spell check" just to be safe. I may be a lost cause.

So many rules, two little time---I know you think you caught me on the "two," but I know it's supposed to be "to"...or is it "too"?

Where's that book!!!