Ramblings-n-Writings

Archive for November, 2007

I found the following deal at Money Saving Mom’s blog today….

Go here and purchase this 1 GB Flash Drive using Google Checkout for the first time. You will get $10 off your order for your first-time use of Google Checkout. Choose the free shipping option (7-9 business days) and it is completely free! Plus you can use Google Checkout for each e-mail address you have and receive $10 off each time!

….This is an awesome deal and solved the dilemma of what to purchase for our nephew’s Christmas gift! He never needs to know that it was a free gift. Now, let’s hope it arrives in time for Christmas.

I’m going to go back to exploring more free deals on Money Saving Mom’s blog…

Edited: When you are on the Buy.com website, check out the $10 bin for more awesome deals – DVDs, books, CDs, sports items – tons of stocking stuffers! Choose ones that also have free shipping and you can get them for free with a new Google Checkout account!

Looking for ways to save a few pennies? Have you heard of CVS’ card deals? Check out an explanation here at Money Saving Mom’s blog. Each week she publishes the best deals at CVS, and essentially, how to get free products!

I am a skeptic and thought how could it be a good thing since products at CVS usually tend to be priced higher than places like Wal-Mart or K-Mart? Well, once you learn how to use the CVS card to your advantage, it’s apparent that you can save a lot of money (much more than shopping somewhere like Wal-Mart).

In a nutshell (and Money Saving Mom’s blog explains it much better than I can), you initially pay for products in the beginning. But the products that you buy are ones that put money on your CVS card. For instance, my husband is a die-hard Diet Coke drinker. A few weeks ago, we purchased 4 12 packs for $12. We earned $3 on our card to use later. So, in one sense, we really got the Diet Coke at 3 / $9 – a much better deal than Wal-Mart offers! At our next visit, we’ll use the $3 towards our purchase and at the same time, purchase things that put money back on the card. And then on the visit after that, use the money on the card, make purchases that earn money etc.

The goal is to reach the point where you can purchase multiple products and only pay a couple of dollars out of pocket. Some people are able to purchase upwards of $30 every week for only a few actual dollars by continally rolling over the money on the card. Again, if I confused you, check out Money Saving Mom’s blog for a much better explanation!

Plus CVS offers coupons like spend $20 and get $5 off. And you can use manufacturer’s coupons too to make the deals even better!

Wow! It’s hard to believe it’s time for WoA #3! And it is really hard to believe that Thanksgiving is over!!! Where has this year gone?

Well, this week we’re going to talk about two rules. One is somewhat simple and the other is more complicated but by request. Remember, if you have a question about commas, leave a comment and I’ll answer your question in my next WoA.

1. Commas and Dates

Okay, some of you are probably scratching your head wondering why we should talk about commas and dates. The rules are pretty basic, but one in particular gets abused a lot.

The first rule is that the day and the year are separated by a comma. For example: November 24, 2007. When the date stands alone, only one comma is necessary.

The second rule is that when the date is in the context of a sentence a comma goes after the year as well. For example: On November 23, 2007, we celebrated Thanksgiving.

The third rule (and the most abused) is when you have just the month and year, no comma is necessary. For example: November 2007 is correct. November, 2007 is not correct.

Personally, the third rule is a pet peeve of mine. If you start looking for that rule, I think some of you will be shocked at how often people get it wrong.

2. Commas and Restrictive and Non-restrictive Clauses

A request was made to review the rule about whether or not to use a comma before the words ‘which’ and ‘who.’ Unfortunately, this rule isn’t as defined as the date rule. The clause rule is slightly complicated because it requires understanding of the restrictive / non-restrictive meaning and usage.

A restrictive clause is a clause that is necessary for the meaning of the sentence and does not require commas. A non-restrictive clause is a clause that is not necessary for the meaning of the sentence and, therefore, requires commas. Let’s look at an example of each…

Restrictive: The lady who is blocking the doorway is my aunt.
Non-restrictive: Four-wheeler riding, which my husband enjoys greatly, can be a dangerous and sometimes deadly activity.

In the first example, the phrase ‘who is blocking the doorway’ is necessary for the meaning of the sentence. The phrase distinguishes the aunt from all the other ladies in the room making the phrase necessary or restrictive. (It restricts the meaning of ‘lady.’) In the second example, the phrase is not necessary for the meaning of the
sentence. In fact, that particular phrase is almost like a parenthetical insertion.

So, when it comes to deciding if you should or should not use commas with a clause, determine if the information is absolutely necessary.

Does it add pertinent details to the sentence? Would the reader still be able to determine who or what you are talking about if the phrase was not included?

Restrictives and non-restrictives can be tricky. My recommendation is to study what you read. Find some examples in your current novel, magazine or newspaper and then try and figure out why the commas are or are not being used. Let me know if this rule is still clear as mud!

Again, if you have any questions about commas or other grammatical areas, leave a comment and I’ll address it in the next WoA!

A couple of weekends ago, the local farmers’ market held a Wild Foods Potluck dinner with music by a local group. The wild foods part was good. A large majority of the food was made with home-grown foods or wild animals like deer or rabbit. (No, I didn’t eat the rabbit, although my husband said it was quite good. I couldn’t bare the thought of eating Flopsy or Peter!)

The music was provided by the Calhoun County Kitchen Band and included authentic instruments. We arrived after the lady pictured played a washboard. According to my father-in-law, the washboard was an excellent instrument in this lady’s hands. For the majority of the songs, she played the drum shown in the front of the photo. For one song she totally intrigued me by playing the spoons. The spoons were nothing special – just your average dinner spoon – but in her hands, they became a musical instrument. She kept up an awesome rhythm throughout the entire song. By ‘awesome’ I mean for two little spoons, it was pretty cool!

Stay tuned for a picture of our new milk cow!

This post is a little late since my target day for posting Words of Advice is Saturday. But I have a good reason! I started a new medication on Friday, and it put me flat on my back for the rest of the day. Being out of commission for just one day put me severely behind on a lot of things, so what wasn’t necessary was put on hold. Now, I’m playing catch up!

I’m sitting here wondering what advice I can give this week. My editing WIP hasn’t seen the light of day for a week so no ideas from that source. Another possible source is my tutoring. I spend about 15-20 hours a week tutoring kids online in English and writing. It’s a totally awesome job and helps keep my mind sharp.

A recurring problem that I am aware of is the correct use of commas. Over the years, as a teacher, editor, proofreader, and tutor, I’ve found that people either know how to use commas or don’t have a clue. Well, maybe it’s not quite that bad, but close to it!

So, for the next couple of weeks, I think we’ll review use of commas. We’ll start out simple and progress to some more complex uses of the comma.

1. Commas in a series

First, what is a series? A series is a list of three or more things. The ‘things’ can be words, phrases, sentences etc.

Example: We have a dog, a lot of cats, and some fish.

In the above example the words in the series are dog, cats, and fish. Notice that they are separated from each other by a comma.

The questionable, and sometimes confusing, element to this rule is whether or not the final comma should be there (the one that comes after ‘cats’ in the example). Book publishing standards state the comma should be present. Journalism rules state no comma is necessary. Why the difference? Newspaper and magazine articles are published based on space. In an effort to include more information, journalists decided that by not having that comma they would gain a few extra characters in their article. Not a bad idea other than it tends to confuse people about what is the correct use of the rule!

My advice: Unless you are writing for a specific genre (books, newspapers, magazines), practice using the comma. Also, if you are planning on submitting your writing to a specific publication, study previous materials published by the publication. Do they use the comma? If so, use it. If not, don’t use it in what you submit.

2. Commas after long introductory prepositional phrases

Prepositional phrase? Come on! It’s been years since I was in English class. What’s that?

Prepositions are words like about, for, with, in, above, across, after, to, before etc. For a more complete list, do a Google search for prepositions. A preposition is followed by a noun creating a prepositional phrase made up of the preposition and the noun plus any words modifying or describing the noun.

Example: During the halftime of the football game, high school cheerleaders along with band members performed an amazing routine.

Our example actually has three phrases – during the halftime, of the football game, and along with band members. However, our rule focuses on the first two.

‘Of the football game’ describes ‘halftime’ in the first phrase making the complete prepositional phrase ‘during the halftime of the football game’ (remember a prep phrase is the preposition, the noun and any words that modify the noun).

Now that we know what a prepositional phrase is, let’s focus on our rule. The rule says a comma goes after long introductory prepositional phrases. How is ‘long’ defined? The rule of thumb is six words or more. So, if your prepositional phrase is in the beginning of the sentence and there are six or more words in it, you need a comma (just like our example).

Example 2: In the winter no one plows our road.

In Example 2 the comma isn’t necessary. However, there is no rule saying that you can’t put one there. In fact, I happen to like it better with the comma.

Example 3: In the winter, no one plows our road.

While a comma is tiny, it can be intimidating to many people. My advice to you if you are intimidated by commas is to take one of these rules and practice it this week. Make a deliberate effort to check your writing for the rule and to attempt to use the comma correctly.

If you have questions about the usage of commas, feel free to write a comment and I’ll address your question in my next Words of Advice!