Grammy Mary's Blog

Did you know?

Grammy Mary — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 12:58:53 +0000

M-w.com now lets you leave comments on dictionary entries if you are signed in on your Facebook account. Craziness.

I saw this shirt last night at T-REX Cafe and I almost bought it.

That’s all for now.

“We all have a dinosaur deep within us just trying to get out.”

Top o’ the marnin’ to ya

Grammy Mary — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 13:40:46 +0000

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Remember reading Slainte on your Bennigans receipt? Well, if you’d like to learn some Irish phrases, check out this article about Slainte.

Did you know…?

On any given day, 5.5 million pints of Guinness, the famous Irish stout brand, are consumed around the world. But on St. Patrick’s Day, that number more than doubles to 13 million pints. (National Geographic)
There are US farms that specialize in four-leaf clovers, producing as many as 10,000 a day (to be sealed in plastic as “lucky charms”) by feeding a secret, genetically-engineered ingredient to the plants to encourage the aberration. (Wikipedia)
You can impress your friend with this cool little website that features Irish sayings—complete with audio pronunciations.
Today there are 36.5 million U.S. residents with Irish roots—this is almost nine times the population of Ireland itself. (U.S. Census Bureau)

Irish or not, you can still take part in a festive celebration. Green beer. Green truffles. Green punch. Irish soda bread. Rainbow cupcakes. Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes! The possibilities for creative food and drink are endless!

Let’s talk about Shane MacGowan. In case you don’t know, he’s the Irish frontman of The Pogues, who are reportedly playing their last show tomorrow in NYC. My brother is there and my good friend is working it. I’m sure it will be amazing! Aside from writing and baking, music is my main passion in life, so I’m celebrating the holiday with some good Irish tunes. Though it’s one of their more popular songs, I love Fairtytale Of New York. Here are the lyrics:

It was Christmas Eve babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me,
won’t see another one
And then he sang a song
The Rare Old Mountain Dew
I turned my face away
And dreamed about you

Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen to one
I’ve got a feeling
This year’s for me and you
So happy Christmas
I love you baby
I can see a better time
When all our dreams come true

They’ve got cars big as bars
They’ve got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
It’s no place for the old
When you first took my hand
On a cold Christmas Eve
You promised me
Broadway was waiting for me

You were handsome
You were pretty
Queen of New York City
When the band finished playing
They howled out for more
Sinatra was swinging,
All the drunks they were singing
We kissed on a corner
Then danced through the night

The boys of the NYPD choir
Were singing “Galway Bay”
And the bells were ringing out
For Christmas day

You’re a bum
You’re a punk
You’re an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God it’s our last

I could have been someone
Well so could anyone
You took my dreams from me
When I first found you I kept them with me babe
I put them with my own
Can’t make it all alone
I’ve built my dreams around you

Ah, I love it. Here’s a video, though this doesn’t have the best sound.

“Luck is believing you’re lucky.” ♣

Areal, a real word?

Grammy Mary — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 14:22:09 +0000

According to the National Weather Service, areal is a word. Some people might not know that. Read more here.

Here are some often-misspelled words in case you’re interested.

I was at the beach this past weekend and witnessed some skywriting. It appeared that the plane was practicing, because the words appeared upside down over the beach. Perhaps he wasn’t targeting beachgoers, but it seemed odd. Anyway, the message was that GOD LOVES YOU. I wondered if people who didn’t believe in God—atheists, those who believe in other spiritual beings, etc.—would get offended. Then I wondered what the rules were for skywriting and how much it costs. Here’s some info if you are curious.

I’ve decided that I’ll be starting a (mostly) vegan food blog soon. Stay tuned. I’ll gladly share the link once it’s up!

“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”

I couldn’t pass up this cat…

Grammy Mary — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 15:55:36 +0000

Hope you’re enjoying your weekend!

“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.”

Nashinal Grammer Day, March Forth

Grammy Mary — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:12:59 +0000

If you are celebrating National Grammar Day today, then I hope you proofed my subject line.

How is National Grammar Day being celebrated around the Web?

CNN has an article highlighted some unforgettable Bushisms and Palinisms.
Huffington Posts shows off some unfortunate grammar mistakes.
You can send a Grammar Day e-card, courtesy of Grammar Girl.

Obviously this list goes on…

Some other fun ideas to celebrate the day:

Play Words With Friends, Scrabble or Boggle.
Buy yourself a Word Puzzle book at the store.
Play proofreader for a day by paying special attention to the signs, menus, notes and papers you encounter today. Then, see if you can spot any errors.
Bake some Scrabble cookies!
Make some alphabet soup.
Try to go a day without your text “auto correct” or your spell-checker.
Read a random Grammy Mary post.

Lastly, you can check out the new Push site. Push is an ad agency in Orlando, for whom I do lots of proofreading, copy editing and writing.

Have a great weekend!

“Never leave home ahead of your axe and sword.”

Still learnin’

Grammy Mary — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 19:58:52 +0000

As you know, I often cruise for news stories related to grammar, proofreading, English, language, reading, writing, etc. And typically when I Google “grammar” in the News section, Kelsey Grammer stories pop up. I don’t care much about celebrities, but, for shits and giggles, I decided to click on an article. This one is cracked me up. If you’re bored, you can read all about Kelsey, his jealous ex and his young bride.

Excuse me if we’ve already discussed this, but I have a very low tolerance for people who exclaim, “O-M-G!” I’m talkin’ verbally here. Writing it in a text, email or IM seems somewhat acceptable to me (for some odd reason). But when people say it, I cringe.

If you haven’t read Schott’s Vocab blog, I suggest you check it out. You’ll be able to impress your friends with fun words and phrases.

I stumbled across this site that states:

“There are many words that have no rhyme in the English language. ‘Orange’ is only the most famous. Other words that have no rhyme include: silver, purple, month, ninth, pint, wolf, opus, dangerous, marathon and discombobulate.”

Did you know that?

I leave you with the intro to one of my favorite shows growing up… and, of course, a positive quote.

“You miss 100% of the shots you never take.”

:-)

Grammy Mary — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 21:58:19 +0000

Have a good weekend, friends.

“If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play.”

What’s wrong with this picture?

Grammy Mary — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:59:49 +0000

Oh, boy! There are so many grammatical errors here. They will need to pay someone far more than $10 an hour.

Happy Saturday!

Grammy Mary — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 14:49:40 +0000

Ever since I was a child, my mother has told me that I have marched to the beat of a different drum—doing whatever I want, whenever I want and however I want. I believe that one should choose whichever path in life that he/she desires. Whether the road less traveled, more frequently traveled, go wherever you want. For somewhat of a twist, I present to you one of my favorite poems. Some people think this poem is about taking the road less traveled but an overwhelming amount of snobby literary critics state that it’s about leading people to believe the road is less traveled, when in fact both roads are the same. If you slowly read the poem, rather than skimming it, perhaps you’ll side with the critics. Either way, enjoy!

The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

With the power of the Sherpa…

Grammy Mary — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 14:09:23 +0000

I woke up around 4:15 yesterday morning. My self-diagnosed chronic sinusitis had caused severe congestion and it was hard to sleep in bed without feeling like someone was trying to choke me. So I intended on sleeping upright, on the couch. With my pillow, tissues and blanket in tow, I shuffled to the living room. I decided to turn the TV on for some odd reason. And, due to some incredible shows, I stayed awake.

Most captivating was the episode of I shouldn’t Be Alive about a guy who survived a near-death experience on Mt. Everest. He was saved by his own mental strength and determination as well as some help from the Sherpa. Due to their genetics and history of living in high elevations, their bodies are well adapted for the sport of climbing. And they act as guides to the many visitors of Nepal who are brave enough to attempt the journey. They are amazing people. The entire story made me so excited about life. And about humanity. It restored my faith in people.

The other morning, some angry driver behind me was holding down his horn because I wasn’t making a right on red. The lane I wanted to turn into was full and I was doing the right thing by not turning to block the intersection. Unfortunately, Mr. Angry and Impatient wasn’t having it. Once there was room to go, I crept into the lane. He flew past me, then slammed on his brakes. Rolled his window down. Gave me the finger. Shook his fist at me. And SCREAMED at the top of his lungs. He had a female passenger and some other people in the car. He was so angry that it made me feel uneasy. Talk about a lack of class. People like that need to calm down. Such folks really lead me to believe that the kind human spirit and peace has diminished in this world. But then I get reminded that it hasn’t.

In other news, why can’t every day feel like Friday? Maybe it can. As I sit at my desk, excited for the weekend, I’m wondering how I can make an attempt to be this fired up Monday through Thursday. I’m really going to try. After all, life is all about perspective.

“Attitudes are contagious. Are yours worth catching?”