David, I got to teach a coworker the "I'd like to thank my parents, God and Ayn Rand" sentence the other day. The serial comma does still have a will-to-live, at least under certain circumstances.
(N.b. I don't use it all the time.)
My comma problem is that I use them whenever I would pause or draw breath in a sentence when speaking. Which is more often than formally prescribed, but I use my commas in a completely logical way. I feel oppressed by the comma-deleters of this world. (Also, I make long and complex sentences a lot, so I need commas a lot, so I use them! I have mastery of compound-complex sentences; I
think
I have by this point reasoned out an approach to punctuation.)
Looks like it's time for this.
Heh. So the negative reinforcement comes out. Bzzzzzt!
unnecessarily gleeful
Oxymoron! Glee is necessary, and you can't overindulge in it. Particularly when you're evil. If you're not going to enjoy your evil then why bother? Jilli will back me up on this, I'm sure.
I love the serial comma, and am frustrated to no end here at work when I have to edit unemployment insurance state regulations, which never use said serial comma.
::hugs serial comma tightly to chest::
I will stick by the serial comma til death do us part.
On an unrelated note, while verifying that THE DAILY SHOW and COLBERT REPORT are in re-runs this week, I saw that the George Lucas / Green Screen Challenge winner Colbert episode is on Weds/Thurs. Which means the Salute to the American Lady is on as well (I think that's tonight/Tue, but I'm not 100% sure).
I hate today. I'm very sleepy, even though I slept just about all weekend (all that stuff I was going to clean in my apartment over the weekend? Nada!), have a nagging sinus headache and accompanying stuffed up nose, the Diet Coke I just drank has not kicked in and woken me up yet, and my boss is on vacation and I therefore can't claim wooziheadedness and take a half day off.
Damn.
Four more hours, and I can't concentrate worth a damn.
