LOL! Thanks for posting that link, Laura. I'm not sure how I missed that, but I'm glad you pointed it out. I'm a huge fan of Sarah's and her web site. (The site she references in the essay, Mighty Big TV, is now
www.televisionwithoutpity.com and it's famous for its satirical recaps of popular television shows.) One of the recappers, Pamela Ribon (known as Pamie on TWP and on her own website
www.pamie.com), wrote the very popular book Why Girls Are Weird, which I highly recommend.
On a side note, I loved this essay not only because she effectively explains so many common grammar mistakes, but because of her indignation. When I was editor of my university's newspaper, I would routinely receive applications riddled with typos, misspellings and grammar errors. Why in the world would I hire someone to be a writer - or god forbid an editor - if they can't be bothered to run spellcheck? Grammar, spelling and proofreading matter. I've said it once, I'll say it a hundred times. I cannot take someone seriously when they don't bother to take the time to think about what they are writing. Yes, everyone makes mistakes. And no, I don't expect formal writing in casual, personal emails. But if you want to be taken seriously - whether you are applying for a job, requesting a raise from your boss, soliciting donations for a charity, etc. - you MUST know how to write properly.
Stepping down off my soap box now, but it felt good to get that off my chest. <G>
Annie
