CAPS ARE CRITICAL

I HAVE TO CONFESS THAT AT FIRST I THOUGHT I'D DO MY ENTIRE BLOG IN CAPS. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO MISSED YESTERDAY, I READ AN ARTICLE IN THE TIMES THAT PREDICTED THE END OF CAPS AND HYPHENS. DUE TO THEIR ENDANGERED STATUS, I'M TRYING TO DO MY PART TO RAISE AWARENESS OF THESE UNAPPRECIATED GRAMMATICAL NUANCES. But then I began to think about it. If I do the entire blog in caps, I am simply proving that caps are superfluous. You see, the beauty and power of caps is not when they're used constantly, but in their contrast to their lowercase siblings. If comic books allowed all of Superman's dialogue to be in caps, the POW and BANGs would have much less effect. So I'd like to ask you all to consider the importance of capitalization and, as we discussed yesterday, the hyphen. Consider it, include it in your daily correspondence, and, I challenge you, use your caps when texting. I know it sounds crazy, unneccessary and troublesome, but many scholars argue that the use of texting and e-mails from phones (thus requiring brevity)will be the major impetus for these losses in our language.

So if capital letters and hyphens are first, what's next? I'll tell you what's next, descriptive words. Longer words. Anything that requires more than a few letters, that's what. We use descriptive words, a broad vocabulary to be more clear. To enhance communication. So we will not be misunderstood. Will brevity put our relationships at risk? Or will we simply surrender to the neccessity of being 'understood enough' for the sake of time?

I did write a response to the New York Times author (well, it's a wip), but I'm up to two pages, so unless I can do some serious tightening, I doubt it will make it into publication. But that's the only reason. Ha.

I have some summer redneck snack tips for you. In order to make the list, they either have to be cold or very easy to make, in both instances a complement to the summer experience. So hang on for a red ride.
1. My favorite snack in a pinch- a spoonful of peanut butter sprinkled with mini chocolate chips from the freezer
2. A healthy snack that even kids like, strangely enough, a frozen wedge of lettuce with Ranch dressing to dip.
3. Sliced cucumbers in a bowl with crushed ice over the top. Drizzle with good balsamic vinegar and fresh dill.
4. Easy chicken salad- diced leftover chicken mixed with peeled and diced apples, a little mayo and lots of curry powder.
5. Fla-vor-ice- my favorite snack that relies on hyphens. You can buy 300 of them for, like, $1. Feed the whole neighborhood one ounce at a time.
6. Peanuts stored in the freezer. The better the peanut, the yummier the snack.
7. A pitcher of cold beer (about 5 beers) added to one can of frozen concentrated limeade. Yum.
8. Barbeque pork rinds right out of the bag. No carbs and yum-oh. Best pool-side snack ever.

Have a GREAT WEEK, everyone, and long live the hyphen, the capital letters, and the Redneck Snacks!

And P.S. You MUST go check out the ManBabies on Jody's blog. http://www.jodymace.com/news Sorry it's not a link. I can't seem to figure that out. But you can remember that easy little web address and it's worth it to see the ManBabies just to say you did.