How to punctuate with parentheses, Part I.

Hey, this is easy. Parentheses are used to create an aside to the reader, and are less of a break than dashes, but more profound than the break created by a comma or commas. And, unlike commas or dashes, parentheses only come in pairs. Though the decision whether or...

Editing: Why bother?

Gee, why bother to breathe? When you use your language with authority, then by gosh and by golly, you look like an authority. With authority comes credibility, and with credibility comes that most important coin: trust. A couple of weeks ago, I took my car to a car...

How to use a semicolon, Part II

The second main use of the semicolon is to separate items in a list when one item has its own comma. For example: My favorite books are Gone With the Wind, Alas, Babylon, and The Bronze Bow. How many books are in that list? Three? Four? Not sure? It helps to remember...

How to use a semicolon, Part I

There are two main uses of the semicolon (;): to join two complete sentences without benefit of a conjunction, and to separate items in a list when one (or more) of the items has a comma of its own. In the first use, the trick is to imagine a see-saw. (Do we still...

I love you, Randy Rainbow!

Yes, it’s official! I have publicly declared my love for YouTube star Randy Rainbow in The New York Times! Permalink: https://nyti.ms/2NdtCe5#permid=28486337 If you don’t know Randy, you need to! “Hey, USA we just elected us a mean girl!”...