Shakespeare A to Z woot tee

Two more weeks until the family’s regularly schedule life resumes. w00t! Got two school registration events in the upcoming week and one the following week. I’m grateful to all schools for taking care of the supplies for family. We buy the supplies at registration and PTA takes care of the rest. No going store to store or wondering if the product is the right one. Plus, this approach also provides discounts because PTA can order them in bulk.

While it’s great to get everything done at registration, it’s hard on the wallet. Spirit wear, yearbooks, photo orders (high school only), PTA membership, supplies — everything in one shot for all kids. One school tries to ease the pain by allowing families to order school supplies at the end of the previous school year. Shame they don’t do that for spirit wear and other things so we can spread out payment. I know that it’d be more administrative work to coordinate all this.

I know… I know… I choose to have kids, now I pay for it.

I wouldn’t want to be a kid again dealing with growing pains and peer pressure. I do envy my daughter’s English reading list. Mostly, I read one Shakespeare (yes, I have that tee you see in the picture) play per year in high school and little else. She gets modern day reading. Her books this year? The Great Gatsby, The Scarlet Letter, Death of a Salesman, Walden, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (I don’t understand why this one is on 11th grade AP English reading list when I read this in 6th grade!?), Beloved and The Things They Carried. Last year, she read Ender’s Game. (How cool is that?)

The required reading varies by English class type. Standard English reads To Kill a Mockingbird (I read that in 10th grade) and The Great Gatsby (never had to read it). Standard 12th grade English has Macbeth (that I read in my senior year) and Brave New World. 12th grade AP has a long list, some of which I read in college including Heart of Darkness (I hated it). I won’t bore you with the complete list.

Brain food…

• 13 Writing Clichés That Will Kick Your Ass: These focus on writing advice not phrases.
• 50 Famously Successful People Who Failed at First: I just read a great Walt Disney story elsewhere that he was turned down by 302 lenders before getting a bank to help.
• 25 logos with hidden messages: Some very familiar and some new. All impressive stuff.
• The Age-Old Question: Can I Pick Your Brain? I’m not famous and yet, I hear from new writers on a regular basis asking about freelancing, writing and business. I don’t want to be mean or anything… I’d love to send them to this article… but I think it’d come across as mean. My current solution is to send them to several of my posts for new writers. And a long list of articles to help get started as a freelance writer.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Comic: Misplaced Apostrophes: I cringe when I see stuff like this even though I remind myself that our fingers sometimes do its own thing. I love Debbie Ohi‘s work. (P.S. Congrats to her winning two awards at SCBWI!) Goodness knows, I’ve tried drawing my own characters, but never liked the work. It’s not a picky thing, but the “I stink at drawing” thing.
• Inside Insides: Wonder cabbage, watermelon, tomato, dragon fruit and other food items look like in an MRI? Stop wondering, and start knowing.
• Space Invaders Counch: Gank the Invaders at Home: This makes a nice match to my Space Invaders shirt. Think it’s a little much to buy a couch to coordinate with my shirt
• 20 Most Inventive Cupcakes Known to Man: The most inventive… don’t know about that. I’ve seen impressive work by the bakers on Cupcake Wars — but a nom nom of a collection!
• 10 Funniest Rejection Letters: Still laughing…
• 30 Simple Family Pleasures: You don’t have to spend a lot or plan something big. The little things do matter.

What was your favorite required school reading? Why?

We’ve discussed apostrophes many times here, and we’re not going to stop anytime soon as long as the abuse continues. WikiHow’s How to Use Apostrophes mentions the frequent use of “photo’s” and it’s true. I know a few PTA parents who add an apostrophe in photos. I don’t understand why. It’s not as if it looks weird like saying your child gets straight A’s. Never been a fan of A’s, B’s, C’s… but As can be hard to distinguish.

Ew. Is anyone bothered by this recommendation? “Similarly, apostrophes can be used when talking about a word (e.g., this list contains a lot of do’s and don’t's) but quotation marks can make it clearer (“do”s and “don’t”s).” I think the use of “” looks worse than without it. Typically I use “dos and don’ts.” The adding of an “s” to indicate a plural on a one or two letter word looks awkward, but “do”s is horrific. Other than that nitpick, the article contains helpful advice.

Be careful when using here’s especially when you’re referring to more than one item. Here’s does not represent “Here are…” I’ve been guilty of this one — habit!