November 28, 2003

6:24 p.m.

I blew off going to the movies with my mates tonight so I could go and switch my car for the van, which we're borrowing for this weekend's trip. Gigs in PA and MD. It's an experiment, really; we normally take two cars because a) we have far too much equipment to fit in either one of ours, and b) we have to spend some time alone, and driving is a good time to take advantage of that. So.

We were all kind of edgy this afternoon at practice; I in particular was in a shitty mood, ready to be combative about any idea. Then my mates were correcting each other and accusing one another of hypercorrecting (something they picked up from me). Finally we were just laughing about it, but I really want a little more sleep. It's gotten to where I cannot go to bed at a reasonable hour (before 1am, sometimes nearer 2) and I get pissed off if I have to wake up to the alarm for any reason. Maybe it's that winter onset thing, where you just need more sleep. Maybe I'm bored. Maybe I'm anxious. Last week when I had the stomach virus, my sister (who is a nurse) suggested maybe I had an ulcer. I thought, great, I haven't had many anxiety attacks lately, so I'm just rechanneling. Imagine my relief to find it was just a 48 hour bug with horrible cramps and diarrhea.

And can I outline a few English language mistakes that really tick me off? I don't care if it dates me; why aren't teachers teaching basic grammar and spelling any more? Why all the extraneous apostrophes in plural words? Some poor country has no apostrophes left at all, because we've appropriated all of them for our plurals. Hear ye: THERE IS NO APOSTROPHE IN A PLURAL WORD. YOU DON'T NEED IT. Grapes are grapes, not grape's.

Also, there is no such word as "alot." "A" and "lot" are two separate words, unless you are trying to say "allot," which means to apportion or mete out.

In addition, you don't "feel badly" unless your fingers aren't working properly. You feel bad.

And why, while I'm noticing, has some clever person invented that huge toilet paper roll dispenser for public toilets, only to have some moron decide it must be installed six inches above the floor where you can't reach the end of the roll?

Sometimes I just want to go on tour with a bottle of white out and a post-it note pad. I'd correct signs and menus nationwide, and leave tidy little sticky notes in rest stop bathrooms, for immigrant state workers whose first language isn't even English. "This should be installed alot higher. I feel badly that I can't reach the roll's."