All I Want for Christmas . . .

No, I am not going to wax lyrical about my front teeth. Although I must admit to getting a splendid new molar yesterday to replace one that had broken off. My dentist was so happy about his new machine that allowed him to take a photo of my mouth and design a new tooth and color and polish it. When he wheeled in the new computer equipment to give me a lesson in dental design, I told him he was like a little boy who had found this equipment under the tree. I gulped a little as I wrote the check which follows the check to the dishwasher and cook top repair man and to Lenscrafters for my new glasses which I hope will enable me to read the newspaper in the morning. If they do, it will be worth it.

What I want is a series of two or three classes in punctuating—specifically blogs, which have a slightly different flavor. I am not sure if I learned punctuation in school—I suppose we must have because so much of our work was written.  I am sure I would not have been allowed that dashy thing in the last sentence. It is colons and semi-colons which cause me confusion, and where to put commas and periods (not a word I would have been allowed in England!) when I am using quotation marks.

I have Strunk and White in one corner of the basement and Eats, Shoots and Leaves in another, but I don't think I can deal with them. I have two close family members who are editors, but I don't think my daughter or son-in-law can constantly sit beside me and advise.

There we go: should it be "constantly sit" or "sit constantly? Adverbs after verbs, I suppose. Except for effect.