Suzi

I can't control how others perceive me but I can control how I put myself out there.

Modern communication laziness… one-click bookmarking, spell-check etc… the lot of it… it degrades us, everyone…

OK. All that said, I gotta also say, that I really like leo's comments, especially the "…it gives me a tiny glimpse…" part.

Yeah it's all about communication…

And that brings to mind the questions,

What am I looking to communicate?

And, what is it that you're getting from my efforts at communicating?

Hmmm… those two could be wholly different things.

Oh wow an old memory just popped up -

My best friend through 5 years of high school, went to college out of state. As a freshman in college, I wrote her a letter (back in the day when pencil and paper ruled). And forever more, I will never forget how to spell her last name, because on the return address of her reply, she'd written it, finnIgan. I never got it wrong again.

Honey

[Aw, thank you - but honestly I didn't want to make anybody apologize or feel shamed. I kinda wish I'd let my ranting phase pass before I put this whole thing up, but for transparency sake I'm leaving it up now. No need to apologize, regardless. - ss]

but since you asked… your b now officially lowercase over at mine.

[Wow, thanks for that comment. I really like that idea. My background is also in brand identity, advertising, & design, so sometimes I think I get pretty darn caught up on the little details. I like this take on it, thanks. - ss - ps: I caught on to "fucken" from Neil Gaiman, one of my favorite authors ever. I'm a thorough ears with feet like that. ]

Do you really think there is a lot of grammar fetishizing in contemporary American culture?? I just don’t think most people care that much.

That said, I see your point, which asks us to think about the fetish not just in terms of sexual power but social power–something that’s often unacknowledged by disciplinarians wielding rulers or red pens.

I think you’re right that class privilege needs to be taken into consideration. I would say that class, race and gender all play significant roles in governing not just who has access to grammatical knowledge but also the constitution of grammar itself.

All of this doesn’t mean that traditional grammatical rules/sentence construction is “a pile of classist bullshit.” I don’t think that anyone is saying that grammar is sacrosanct or makes us better people.

In my view, putting words together clearly helps us to interrogate received ideas and social norms and even gain access to new modes of pleasure and enjoyment.

Loved Secretary. Loved it.