They Said What? A Look at Election-Speak

I am fascinated by how technology allows us to analyze text. Besides some of the snappy tricks I have learned in using Word (where was auto-summarize when I was in graduate school?), tools like Wordle allow us to create visual representations of text in order to analyze word choice. One of the most fascinating things I have done with Wordle is to take the text of a presidential candidates speech during the primaries and put it into Wordle while working with social studies teachers.

I have officially been "one upped" by the creators at this site who have done a full scale lexical analysis of the presidential and vice-presidential debates this year. In addition to a sometimes mind-numbing analysis of the words that are used by each candidate, the following image was also shared:



I am not a huge fan of Venn diagrams in writing but I thought this was a very interesting image to share with students (please visit the site- there are many, many more!) and to have them think about what this analysis might mean in the context of persuasive speech.

Dangerous Extremes

Last week, I was given a little momento from my summer writing experience. A nice purse/pocket sized copy of The Writer's Life: Insights from the Right to Write by Julia Cameron. I've decided to randomly open to a page and read when I am feeling like a little inspiration. And today, I opened to this:

"Writing is communication, yes, but that communication begins internally. The Self communicates to the writer and the writer communicates to the Self. The gist of that communication is what the writer communicates to the world. When the world is allowed to interrupt too early, the Self withdraws. Showing our writing to hostile or undiscerning readers is like lending money to people with terrible fiscal pasts. We will not be repaid as we wish. Our work will not be valued. They will respond in dangerous extremes, "brilliant" or "awful." (Long experience teaches that extremes of any kind, high or low, are dangerous to the writing process because they create self-consciousness.)"

This really hit home after a discussion this afternoon in our regional ELA forum around editing and revision strategies. The teachers were great to share ideas and questions but it made me think a great deal about when in the process we start asking students to edit or revise their work. Are we sometimes in a rush to get a "finished product" that we don't allow ideas to linger, the words to ferment and really come of age? Do we ask students to do peer editing without really having them understand what they are looking for in someone's piece of writing? Do we focus on too much when we review student writing - rather than narrowing in on one or two elements that their skills and egos can handle?

I also started thinking about how often we share our own writing with students. Not just the finished, polished piece but the evidence of our own struggle with the writing process. The notebook full of crossed-out words, arrows, and frustrated scratch-outs so deep they wear a hole in the paper. Do we share on a regular basis that writing is hard? Do we let them edit our work or suggest revisions?

I wish that I could say I was better at this - at showing that I struggle with it just as much as they do. But somehow, when I am invited into classrooms or work with teachers I am considered the expert. I need to be better at sharing my writer's notebooks and rough drafts - at saving the drafts and modeling the reflection that went into each revision. And most importantly, I need to show how we can avoid the dangerous extremes of "awful" and "brilliant" in order to really value writing.

25 Words of Wisdom - Slideshare

Thanks to all who contributed some words of wisdom for writers! As promised here is the compilation of advice!

25 Words Of Wisdom - Writing

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25 Words of Wisdom

It seems lately that brevity is the soul of wit in my life. Whether it is six word novels, 140 characters on Twitter or capturing the essence of my status on Facebook, the fewer words the better. (A very poor excuse for lack of regular blogging however!!)

I've been thinking a great deal lately about how the technology tools I use change not just my relationships with people, but also how I write. I no longer feel the need to write the great American novel, or any other novel for that matter. Instead, I think about who I am writing for and which tool is the best place to capture that writing.

I am always looking for ways to have students think about their writing and I come across some pretty powerful stuff in my feeds. This is one of the most recent ones to catch my eye:

25 Words of Work / Life Wisdom

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That 25 word challenge had a focus on things we see too much/too little of. I am thinking of a different 25 word challenge here: What words of wisdom do you have for writing?

Post your words in the comments section and I'll create a similar slideshare for everyone!

Picture Books to Start the Year!

I love to give picture books as gifts - to adults as well as to children. With so many of them, it seems that they were written as a reminder to the adult world. And when you look carefully - they can help show students the power of writing. I thought I would share some of my favs and one that I am hoping to own soon!

The first day of student attendance in our district was also the high school principal's birthday, as well as the day she had to face the school community and tell them about the death of a student the previous day. I had already purchased her present, a copy of The Three Questions, but I quickly saw how much she embodied the essence of this book. It is one of my favorites and I often share it with the leaders in our region because it pulls things together for me.

We worked this week with regional colleagues on trying to define 21st Century Skills and begin to work on embedding them in what we do with school districts. The topic of the NYS Assessments came up (doesn't it always?) and the conversation was rich and robust around it. Much of it centered around the fact that we can teach for more than what those tests require and our students will fare well. That was refreshing to hear as readers of this blog know well that I personally adhere to what I call the "Diffendoofer Philosophy" inspired by Hooray for Diffendoofer Day. I can never plug this book enough!!

Talking about those skills reminded me that one of my goals has been to stretch the right side of my brain a bit more and the search for inspiring creativity and play for students. One of my favorites to use with writing (and the trait of ideas) has been "Not a Box" and I am now the proud owner of "Not a Stick." These books are amazingly creative and can spark the imagination of just about anyone!!

And just this morning, courtesy of A Year of Reading, I found one to add to my list: Butterflies in My Stomach and Other School Hazards. The timing is perfect (back to school) but so is the "word play" - our students are sometimes so literal that dealing with idioms can be difficult. It looks like this book will help with some of that and I can't wait to get my hands on it and start creating writing lessons!!

New Beginnings

Driving to work this morning and forgetting about the extra 10 minutes that school buses can add to my commute - I passed the many students waiting outside for the bus. Some in new clothes, most with an incredible air of despondency (for the end of summer) and anticipation (for a new school year) and all preparing for a new beginning.

Depending upon where you work - the first day of school for students can have a very different feel from the first day of school for the teachers and staff. The students some how add an extra level of excitement and anticipation for the school year - it somehow isn't real until they arrive. Each year for me was a time to set new goals for myself and my work, to make it that much better for this group of students than it was in previous years. It was about building relationships with my colleagues and trying new things to engage and inspire our students.

Now that I work with teachers more than students - it still has the same feel for me. I can support and encourage their work and be much more objective about the impact they have on their students than they are. Teachers can and do change the world.

This year is an especially difficult year for a district in which I am honored to work two days per week as curriculum coordinator. We lost a student yesterday - an incoming freshman - in a tragic ATV accident. To begin the school year in such a way is difficult. But the teachers and staff and community have pulled together to help students (and each other) through this difficult time. Neighboring districts have also reached out a hand to lend support and a shoulder to lean on. They are not immune to loss - one district ended their school year the same way that we are beginning.

In times of loss, we often wish that we could have one more moment to say a final "I love you" or "I am sorry" or "You mean the world to me." We don't get those moments back but can learn instead to make sure that we say them to others on a regular basis. As schools in our region come to session this week and we all have new beginnings - I think this student from Dallas has said it to those that matter to him. Will you say it to those that matter to you?



Cross posted on Grand Rounds.

Saying Good-Bye to Summer

As we all head back to our classrooms and meeting with students, a give from the big, beautiful world wide web:

Just launched a few weeks ago, The Picnic Basket is already home to 40+ reviews by librarians and teachers. Be sure to see what your colleagues have to say about the featured books (you can access reviews by the "comments" link under each title or title/genre headings in the left sidebar). Remember, there are more reviews due to come in (I know it's a hectic time of year with the start of school and those novels take a bit longer to read and review... we'll wait!), so be sure to check back as you consider what books to bring into your classroom or library.

My first book to review is on its way to me - and I can't wait!!

Two Great Tastes that Taste Great Together

One of my favorite commercials growing up (odd - I know) was the one for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups with Robby Benson and Ralph Malph:



I am a huge fan of peanut butter and chocolate and can't think of a better pairing until I got this: the presidential elections and Google Docs!!!

Google and the National Writing Project have teamed up to create Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future—an online writing and publishing project that invites young people to write about the issues and concerns they want the next president to address.

With Google Docs, a free online writing tool, teachers guide students through the process of writing a persuasive letter or essay to the presidential candidates and publish their work on the Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future website.

You can get more information on the project here As a social studies lovin'-writing-technology geek this project is a dream come true!! Please share it far and wide!!

Oh! And remember - there is no right way to eat a Reese's cup!

Again with the commas!!

After having spent a powerful and moving week focusing on finding my voice and writing, writing, writing it was back to the old grind today. I have plenty more to share about the voyage of writing that I am on but first, a comma commercial.

Regular readers of this blog know the fixation I have with commas. (OK - well, there are just three of you that I can claim as regular readers but I am grateful to each and every one of you!) I post about them here and here and here. Bottom line - I have an obsession with commas.

So I just plain laughed out loud reading this post over at Poynter Online and his fight to retain the serial comma. My favorite line of the entire piece happens when Poynter reads his editor's writing and finds that she leaves in the serial commas she is constantly deleting from his work:

"So the editor who takes out my serial commas fights for her own. It's like being a Yankee fan married to a Red Sox fan. You can't win."

I am not sure where you stand on the issue of commas - but this piece sure does make you think about style!

Revision

I am cherishing our writing block this week. It just long enough to write without having your brain shut down. It comes in the morning while I am still somewhat fresh (albeit a bit sore from Boot Camp!). And while writing, I am surrounded by quiet, despite having at least ten Fellows around me.

I shared my "portrait" for the third time today in a peer review. Two of the times I shared my purpose for writing and my intended audience. The third time - I did not. I wanted to see if the piece could stand on its own legs.

It did and so it is soon to be something that is "publishable." Where? I have absolutely no idea but since it was written within my community, for my community it will probably be here.

The revision process has not been easy. I've had to not only look at the words but how I put them on paper. Is the tense correct? Spelling? Did I really mean to say that there - or is it more powerful three paragraphs down? But because I care about the piece - I soldier on each day giving it fresh eyes.

It makes me think about our students and the revision process. Do we give them the chance to write about something they care about, are invested enough in to want to revise? Or - as I suspect may be the case - do they revise because we tell them to?

Janet said it powerfully in our debrief session today. I am sure that I am not capturing her thoughts exactly but the heart of it was as follows:

"I need to let go. I can teach kids how to revise their work but I can't make myself go it."

Have we become so detached as teachers of writing that we have forgotten what the process feels like?

Finding Your Voice

“Genre is our choice of the kind, the shape, the parts our writing, speaking or communication might take. Voice is our choice of words, rhythms, gestures, tones—the particulars, the individualities our writing, speaking, or communication might take.”
Richard Strong

This week, I am immersed in learning while at our annual retreat for Communities for Learning. In addition to the great food and great minds that are here, it is a chance for me to explore my own work and refine it. This year, we also have the option of participating in a daily writing block.

I was inspired to find my voice through my blogs during our summer retreat 3 years ago. At the time, I was frustrated in my job and struggling to find a purpose for what I do. After having spent a week with Richard Strong and Harvey Silver around engaging students, I came to our summer retreat ready to focus on literacy in social studies and to integrate what I had learned from Silver and Strong. Much to my surprise (and sheer joy!) Richard Strong was spending time with us as well!

I worked diligently on my protocol that week, being sure to sound like an expert and ready to impress people with my work and knowledge. And then I got to meet with Richard and share my work. He was very, very thoughtful and after reading through it and marking some pieces with a red felt tip marker, he put my work down and just looked a me. And looked at me.

I could tell he was searching for the right words and panic struck my heart - would I be rejected by someone I just felt invigorated by? How would I handle this devastating blow?

He leaned back in the chair and said something to the effect of "I have watched you these past two weeks learning and interacting with your peers. I know the content you are writing about and know that you know it as well. But what I read on this paper is not done in your voice. I don't know who is writing this or who they are writing to - but this is not you."

And so began my search for voice.

Our writing block today began with a discussion about the genre that we write in as Fellows, as well as how we share our work. And we discussed digging deep to find our voice and then crafting the mold in which can reside for others to read. I chose to participate in the writer's block because I want to stretch myself, to take some risks in my writing. Writing for a blog post is easy - but can I write a script or a portrait? Have I really uncovered my voice - or I am just putting one out there that sounds like me?

And so continues my search for voice.

Little Women Revisited

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead. - Louisa May Alcott

When asked to name my favorite book - I never hesitate. It is, without a doubt, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I can remember still the day that I received my personal copy of the book - red, hard-covered and inscribed with a message from my aunt who had given it to me for my birthday.

I devoured the book for many, many reasons. It was set during the American Civil War, one of my favorite time periods in history (I am also a closet Gone with the Wind fan!). It was about women and in particular, one very strong woman named Jo. I come from a long line of strong women (my mother is coincidentally one of four sisters) so any connection along those lines hooks me immediately! It had romance- which is tame compared to what we find in literature today. Most importantly - as I read the book, the characters jumped off the page at me and I could imagine being there in that house with the March sisters.

So - I was intrigued by a recent NPR piece that focused on a mother-daughter book club that read Little Women and the reflections of women who as a child found Jo to be their favorite character and with the passage of time are not so sure about that choice. Was Jo someone to look up to or an unrealistic ideal? Was the message of the book not as rebellious as I remembered but rather another voice shouting the merits of marriage and home and hearth?

I plan to re-read the book again soon - perhaps with my Second Grade niece as we work on her summer reading or maybe all by myself. And I wonder if the next time I am asked to name my favorite book if my answer will be the same....stay tuned!

One more year down....

Two weeks ago, we held our last regional ELA forum for the year. These forums are a way for the teachers of our region to gather, share their best practices, ask each other lots of questions and hopefully build a network (community?) of fellow teachers. We have had some amazing teachers share what they do throughout the entire year - from reading and writing strategies to school-wide collaboration with artists in residence to differentiated reading instruction. Almost every one contributed to the conversations and the ideas - I know that I walk away each time having learned something new.

The group really drives the agenda and I am excited about the possibilities for next year. We'll continue our talks on summer reading lists and whether or not the students really read, we'll share strategies and speakers we have seen, and maybe, just maybe, we can move the community online to continue to share between face to face meetings (one of my ultimate goals!)

One really interesting example that was shared by one of our high school teachers extraordinaire was how she is plans to use Shelfari with her students. This teacher is one of the all too rare "I let them read what they want to read so that they learn to love reading" types of teachers. She engages her students regularly with different reading strategies, is reflective of her work and is always looking for new ways to engage her students. Since she wants to share what she reads and to track what her students read, she is thinking of using Shelfari to help them create these lists. Then, as the students move from one grade to the next, the teachers can see those and build upon the lists. In my ideal world - the librarian would hook in next and be able to make purchases for the school library that are relevant to the kids, based upon their recommendations!!

I use GoodReads myself - same type of concept but visually, Shelfari seems a bit more appealing. (You can see my bookshelf on the left - if you join, add me as a friend!)Whichever you choose - I think it is a great way to share reading in the classroom and one I am thinking about implementing with several groups this summer and next fall.

All teachers seem to be in continual planning phase and as we wrap up one school year and ready for the next - what are your plans for the fall and what are you reading/doing to prepare? Are you remembering to take some time for yourself and take a trip or visit local sites of interest? Share in the comments section and give me some good ideas!

What really matters?

I've been having some interesting conversations lately with teachers around the issue of editing and revising student work, often lumped in with conversations around grammar. The conversations usually start with strategies for working with students on editing or revising their work (harmless) to when and how to teach grammar (much less harmless).

Inevitably - we end up discussing cliff-hangers such as diagramming sentences ("they are really powerful for visual learners" I am told) to dangling participles (I kid you not - this one happened today!!) My personal opinion is that these lessons in the abstract (i.e. without reference to a specific piece of writing) do absolutely nothing to impact how I write. Unless there is something in MY writing that I can connect the lesson to and then use that lesson to revise, I lose the meaning/importance of lesson. Thus, I believe that grammar is best taught not in isolation but in mini-lessons and as they appear in student writing.

I think that this comes from the writer in me that values ideas over the correctness of the piece - at least initially. As someone who drafts and re-drafts their writing, at first blush I am more concerned with the ideas and how I have put them together than I am about the finer points of grammar, punctuation, and often word choice. I need to put the piece away or seek feedback on the ideas (revision) before I can turn my focus to the editing.

And this - I know - comes from those teachers in my past who, with the power of their red pen and marginalia, reduced my writing to a series of mistakes that I had made, rather than seeing the power of the words within. Feedback - both the focus and how it is delivered - can make or break any writer.

And so I ask you to please read this blog post about how feedback can extinguish a writer's flame and then decide what is really important when we read student writing.

Source Note: The diagram of the Pledge of Allegience at the top of the page comes from the Capital Community College Guide to Grammar and Writing.

Are there alternatives to a 5 paragraph essay?

I was fortunate enough to spend two days last week with Heidi Hayes Jacobs and some of our regional teachers investigating and thinking about "active literacy." One of the comments that Heidi made, among several, that really pushed some buttons in the group is to stop teaching the 5 paragraph essay.

She is right, I think - but that didn't make it any easier to hear. I am preparing for a workshop this week on Step Up to Writing and that structure is one that many teachers apply the color coding scheme to. In working in our region, I hear "5 paragraph essay" stated as if it were a genre. I suppose in many ways, and for many different reasons, it really has become one.

But one of the things that Heidi pushed people to think about with literacy is that people are not just literate in writing and reading. That listening and speaking are critical elements of literacy. And that new technologies open up yet another form of literacy that we need to address.

So it must have been fate that as I have been sitting on everything we discussed last week, my favorite Scottish blogger and someone who really pushes my thinking about literacy posted this on his blog:

How do you measure creativity. How can we work out the struggle of the 'exchange rate' of assessment. What is "the equivalent" of a 1500 word essay?

- an animation?
- running an online discussion for a week?
- scripting and posting a 3 minute podcast?
- authoring an explanation in Flash?
- annotating a week's worth of delicious links?

What are your suggestions of 'equivalence' in an ingenius, creative school system?

I am not going to answer with my thoughts in the hopes of prompting some thoughts around this. Tell me - what do you think?

Lookybooks!

I tend to get lost in book stores. Not literally - but time tends to slip away from me once I cross the doorframe. And I never seem to leave without having left a hefty chunk of my paycheck behind.

I buy all kinds of books. Ones my friends recommend on Good Reads, one that I read about on blogs or other places, ones I just happen to randomly pull from the shelves and read.

I spend hours in the kid lit section as well. As my nieces and nephews learn to read and find out what they enjoy - I try to find other books for them to try out. Kindergarten niece read Fancy Nancy at the Museum on our vacation to Aruba. This book was great for teaching vocabulary a la Lemony Snicket but in a much more pleasant setting!!

So it was my great delight to find a reference to Lookybooks waiting for me in my RSS feeds!! This new site is still in beta but allows you to read the entire book online, not just the cover and selected pages. There are not a lot of books available yet - but it seems that more get added each day. And did I mention that it is free?

Here is one that I stumbled upon that I really like as a mentor text for kids writing about their trips. Having just come back from spring break in WNY - it seemed appropriate!! Great details with interesting pictures - this book is also a strong example of voice. Check out Zoe Sophia's Scrapbook:An Adventure in Venice:



What Lookybook do you recommend?

Random Thoughts on Words

This isn't the blog post that has been stewing for quite some time on connective writing (I promise to post it soon!) but my Bloglines account has been chock full of thought provoking pieces on words that I thought I would share!

First, over at PaperCuts a hilarious post on "crapulence" and other examples of lexicon excess!! Seriously - I am finding a way to work these words into conversation tomorrow!

Then, PaperCuts goes on about the words NOT to use when reviewing a book because they are so overused!! Love it!

Then, a fellow professional developer from the area reflects upon a deep curriculum alignment project they have done and most interestingly on their findings regarding teaching vocabulary. A very powerful series of posts - with more to come!

Finally, in this time of political rhetoric and the ever-lasting election season, comes this cartoon. (I post it here only because of the connection to words and not because of any political leanings that I might have!!)



What is your final word?

Cartoon credit here.

Think Pink!

I recently finished reading Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future. The premise is relatively simple: the "left brain" jobs that people aspired to in the past (lawyer, accountant, software engineer) will fall by the wayside as a new kind of mind (the right brain thinkers) will emerge as a force for the future. The good news is - teachers are considered right brainers!!

More than laying out a different type of plan for future, the book actually contains a very nice "portfolio" piece after each of the six essential R-Directed aptitudes. This book had a high Post-It note quotient, which makes it a really good read. But as I began to digest some of what I was reading, I realized that writers are really right-brained as well and if we develop some of these six aptitudes, well - writers will rule the future!!

Design: Described as a whole minded aptitude, the focus is on an combination of utility and significance. Granted, most elements of design have to do with the aesthetic and the visual. Being useful without words. But with writing, it also has to do with how the work is presented. What type face is used. Cursive or print. The break of lines in a poem. There can be design in writing, to enhance writing, thereby increasing the significance of the words.

Story: This one is obvious - I thought. But what really struck home is the following passage; "When facts become so widely available and instantly accessible, each one becomes less valuable. What begins to matter more is the ability to place these facts in context and to deliver them with emotional impact." What more powerful reason to create rather than cut-and-paste?

Symphony: The ability to put together all the pieces - to see relationships between seemingly unrelated fields - to invent something new by combining elements nobody else thought to pair. Metaphors are a piece of symphony, as is every great novel that kept you reading because of the unexpected.

Empathy: The ability to imagine yourself in someone else's shoes and to intuit what that person is feeling. Good writers are able to capture that in their writing - great writers help others to feel it tool.

Play: There is great research in this section about the power of joy and laughter and play. The connection to writing for me was that writing has not become something of joy and laughter and play. It has become something that we make kids "do." Think of how many times a student has been punished by having to write something multiple times (including test corrections.) How can we add more play into writing?

Meaning: According to Pink, it is the search for meaning that drives us all. What better way to do that than thru writing? I think about all the problems I have solved by getting them out on paper, how journaling has helped me to think through what I am feeling, how creating a story has helped me to see the path that I must take. This is the power of writing.

My apologies to Mr. Pink if this is not how he intended his book to be used but I have not been able to stop thinking about the connections to writing and what we can do to inspire and grow these six aptitudes in our students through writing. Any thoughts??


Cross-posted on Grand Rounds.

Reading is Dead!!

For most of my lifetime, I’ve heard that reading is dead. In that time, disco has died, drive-in movies have nearly died, and something called The Clapper has come and gone through bedrooms across the nation.

I thought that might grab your attention! The above quote from an Op-Ed article in the NY Times in response to Steve Jobs' attitude about the Kindle. It seems that Mr. Jobs doesn't believe that this gadget that I covet will change much about reading - that "people don't read anymore."

As someone who spends a great deal of time and money in her local bookstore, who gives books as presents and can't seem to read enough - that statement made me sad. My family has always modeled and encouraged reading and we continue to do so with our next generation. My kindergarten niece, Gracie, is at the stage where she sounds out her words as she reads - opening the eyes of everyone to how we make sense of the written word. My nephew, aged 3, is at the stage where he memorizes the stories that have been told to him time and time again. Unlike his dad, whose favorite was Hop on Pop, Brody has No, David! down pat. Reading isn't dead in our family.

And I don't believe that is is dead elsewhere. I do, however, believe that it is changing. I don't think of "text" as purely a novel or short story or anything with a binding. I believe that it is anything that is written - including this blog. It is the exposure to words and ideas that is important, not the format. So I was thrilled this morning to read that Scotland has released it's new outcomes for literacy. Included in it's definition of texts (which is intended to be broad and future proof!) are the following examples of text:

novels, short stories, plays, poems, reference texts, the spoken word, charts, maps, graphs and timetables, advertisements, promotional leaflets, comics, newspapers and magazines, CVs, letters and e-mails, films, games and TV programmes, labels, signs and posters, recipes, manuals and instructions, reports and reviews, text messages, blogs and social networking sites, web pages, catalogues and directories. (emphasis added)

Now - I did not stumble upon this information by accident. It appeared in my Bloglines feed from someone else's blog and I followed the links to read the documents. That is the nature of reading today - not simply curling up with a book (I do that too!) but curling up with your laptop and challenging your thinking by reading what folks in other places are doing. In the past year, I have learned more about literacy from people in New Zealand and Scotland than I have here in the United States. Some ideas I have agreed with, some I have questioned. But all have helped me to form my understanding of literacy.

Reading isn't dead - but it is changing. Are you?


(Photo of PreK niece and 2nd Grade niece during "reading time.")

The Semicolon Rides the Transit

No - this is not the title of my upcoming best seller but a continuation of what some have called my comma obsession!! I was amused when Jenn told me in response to my comma overload that she would be seeking misplaced commas while in NYC - perhaps I was a bit over the top on that post. However, she can now spot appropriate uses of the semicolon while taking the subway!!

It appears that the long lost semicolon has been used "impeccably" on a NYC transit advertisement asking riders to take their newspapers with them when they get off the train. More importantly - it appears that while many of us have relegated the semicolon to the text world, many others in history have been severely impacted by their use or abuse of semicolons.

While this is an interesting read and one to share with all - perhaps the best part for me was the correction. Of course, it involved the use of those damn optional commas!! ;-)