before and after

Gee, I really wish I had the photos. But I was stupid enough not to take them. Just like I'm stupid enough to miss the exit I need for the airport three (count them, THREE) times. I'll never forget that I-80 is the freeway to be gotten on. You wouldn't think driving to the airport would be that hard. But apparently it is. Or it was for me this morning. (Sorry Lindsey! Let's laugh in twenty years. Right now, I'm still in pain over it.)

But let me paint a picture with words:

Imagine a crockpot. I put in some curry stuff (very descriptive, I know) to cook in said crockpot. Later on, I came home, excited to cook the rice to go with it and EAT (which I love doing, can I just say that?), and saw not what I put in the crockpot, but rather, its charred remains. A solid mass of black, burned to the edges of the crockpot, burned to itself. Sending up killer odors instead of the delightful (although strong) scent of curry.

This was a week ago. After alternately soaking, washing, scraping, Bar Keeper's Friend (thank you, Sarah), and oven cleaner (with overnight action), an additional washing (all occurring over the ensuing week period, approximately), I think it might be salvaged.

Glory be.

I didn't think it was possible, but apparently, miracles do happen.

P.S. Do you ever do really stupid things? But then it ends up being ok?

I have an announcement

I like spaghetti.

once upon a time

A high school friend recently posted a status on Facebook that said

" J____ loves a kicking baby."

I really love reading things wrong.

I read "J____ loves kicking a baby."

Delightful. Mostly because I'm fairly positive she is a good mother, and a kind human being, and certainly, if she weren't, she wouldn't broadcast the fact on Facebook.

Which blog to blog?

I didn't know where to post the Christmas tree lauding, so I decided to do both (via a reference on this blog to the oft-neglected married-person blog)!

Here's the link:
http://timandarowan.blogspot.com

I'm not shy about drawing attention to this in all the ways I can think of (Facebook, other blogs, etc.). I'm mostly hoping that someone will really appreciate my bloggage. And that somehow, I'll know they appreciate it. When people comment on my blog, it makes me feel so good.

And tell me please: Why is that the case?

Chicago!

This post may not be what you think it is. Mostly I'm talking about the Chicago Manual of Style. You know, the orange bible?

I've been having this problem of late, so I decided to ask Chicago about it (via their Q+A).

I even composed a rhyme--a sort of rain dance--for good luck:

Got a burning grammar question, or maybe two.

Chicago, I'm counting on you to pull through.

(Q+A, Q+A, Q+A, rah-rah-rah!)

Here it is (If you have any thoughts, please tell me.):

I know that 6.123 says that a question mark should never accompany a comma or period because it is stronger than these punctuation marks. But what about a colon? I have several times wanted to compose a sentence with a similar structure to the following:

"Which of the two following phrases is more correct?: 'our house, mine and Tom's,' or 'Tom's and my house.'"

I don't know how to punctuate this sentence. (And on an unrelated note, I'm not sure how to avoid awkwardness when it comes to joint possessives where one of the possessors is a first-person personal pronoun.) Is there a way to do this easily? Or do I need to rewrite?