Our son Gregory arrived late Wednesday evening. He’ll stay here with our grandson Quentin until Wednesday, when they drive home to Las Vegas. We had a great few days with Quentin, but now we can turn the keep-the-eight-year-old-entertained duties to Greg. Later today we three lads will visit Hooters for the traditional photo op; tonight I’m grilling peppers, Italian sausage, and polenta. Between the photo op and dinner Greg is taking Quentin to see the latest Pixar 3D movie. Tomorrow morning we’re riding bicycles in the hood; later Greg, Polly, and Quentin are going to a water park. Sunday is bicycle decoration day; Monday is the neighborhood 4th of July parade and brunch.
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The other day I wrote about extreme drought and the frightening possibility of a major wildfire in Tucson and surrounding areas, mentioning our city fathers’ conflicted approach to 4th of July fireworks: banning them while at the same time allowing vendors to set up fireworks tents all around town. Since then, Big Firecracker has sued Tucson over the fireworks ban. Of course!
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Summer doldrums at the Pima Air & Space Museum: two Wednesdays ago just two people took my 10:30 tour and no one showed for my 11:30; this Wednesday there were a few more for the first tour but once again none for the second. Now that monsoon season is here it’s hot and humid, and the giant swamp coolers make the hangars only slightly less miserable than the outdoors. I was dripping with sweat while talking to my first tour group Wednesday; they were too.
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On the word front, I was amazed and deeply disappointed to see this: Oxford comma dropped by a University of Oxford Style Guide. The Oxford comma, also known as the serial comma, is the one you insert (and that I will continue to insert, damn them) before the “and” at the end of a list.
Let me tell you what happens when you start omitting the Oxford comma:
- The highlights of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector.
- Among those interviewed were his two ex-wives, Kris Kristofferson and Robert Duvall.
- I own pictures of my friends, Hugh Grant and Dolly Parton.
The first two are actual examples. The third one is made up but is worth a second’s thought: are Hugh Grant and Dolly Parton actually friends of mine, or do I just happen to have pictures of them?
I’m not giving up my serial comma. Paul’s Thing will remain an Oxford Comma Zone!
The serial comma issue has been going on for quite a while now, and I agree that Oxford’s decision only adds to the confusion. I think your first example is the best, as is clearly links the last two descriptors with the first. I’ll be sticking with the serial comma, no matter what the Oxford Style Guide has to say about it. To quote again the New Yorker cartoon you cited recently, “I say it’s spinach and I say to hell with it.” And how do you ever FIND this stuff?
Another anachronism I’m sticking with is using two spaces between sentences. I understand the arguments against doing so, but I use the double space as a visual cue. Sentences are important. I think they deserve no less.