Sunday, September 16, 2012

Save the Date


I know a lot of you live outside of the state or even out of the country, so I thought I would tell you now so you have ample time to request time off work, get pet sitters, buy a new outfit, and order your gluten-free meal for your flight. I am having my first book signing at my local bookstore, Apostrophe Books, on October 14 from 11:30-1:30.

Isn’t it serendipitous that my first book signing is at a bookstore named after a punctuation mark? And not just any punctuation mark: one of the most troubling punctuation marks. As evidence, I present to you an apostrophe mistake I found in my hood:


This is one of the most common mistakes people make with the apostrophe: they use it when a word ends in S simply to show there is more than one (AKA plural), which does not require an apostrophe: 

Reggae Sundays are aire, mon.

·         We added an S to the end of Sunday because we are talking about more than one Sunday.

·         Nothing actually belongs to the Sunday = no apostrophe

Apostrophes are only required when a word ends in S to show possession. If a singular word is possessive, it gets both an S and an apostrophe: 

This Reggae Sunday’s vibe was aire, mon.

·         We are only referring to one particular Reggae Sunday = singular

·         The vibe belongs to Reggae Sunday = possessive = apostrophe

However, what if we want to refer to the vibe of more than one Reggae Sunday? Well, we simply add the apostrophe after the S. 

The last four Reggae Sundays’ vibes have been aire, mon.

·         We are referring to four Reggae Sundays = plural

·         The vibe belongs to all of those Reggae Sundays = possessive = apostrophe

It just occurred to me that my book signing is on a Sunday, so this Reggae Sunday is my direct competition. In order to compete, I will be performing “No Colon No Cry” and “I Shot the Sheriff, but I Didn’t Use the Apostrophe." 

(If anyone is local, here is the address for Apostrophe Books. It would be so great to actually meet some of you: 4712 E. 2nd Street, Long Beach, CA 90803.)

(That didn't come out right. It would be great to meet ALL of you, but some of you may have a hair appointment that day.)



15 comments:

Stephen T. McCarthy said...

>>...I will be performing "No Colon No Cry" and "I Shot the Sheriff, but I Didn’t Use the Apostrophe."

See? That's the sort of thing that makes me like you so much.

I know you know I'm an idiot, so I know this will surprise you but... I have absolutely mastered the apostrophe (the "comma in the sky"), and I'm pretty good with the question marks (no apostrophe) too, ya know? Like, ya know?

I wish I still lived in L.A. so I could come meet you at the book signing. (Actually, I wish I still lived in L.A. for a lot of other good reasons as well.)

~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'

Shelly said...

I do hope the Colon and Semi- Colon stores will be next on your signing stops.

Congrats!

Liz A. said...

2nd Street? Be forewarned, parking is awful. (I'm local.)

James Garcia Jr said...

Congratulations, Jenny. That sounds awesome. Not the reggae music, but the signing. I'm not a fan of that form of music. Since Stephen brought it up in his comment, I don't even like "I Shot the Sherrif" when Clapton does it.

-Jimmy

JJ said...

i dont have a hair appointment but i'm half a world away :p
congratulations!

the late phoenix said...

i'm a California kid, but i'm afraid i'm not quite local enough. good luck! post lots of pics afterwards, huh? i'll be gluten-free like Novak Djokovic with you in spirit...

Duncan D. Horne - the Kuantan blogger said...

Well that's great news for you, and thanks for the apt lesson on the apostrophe! All the best with the book signing!

Kelly Polark said...

THat is so exciting!! And so cool that the store is called Apostrophe!
Enjoy the special night, JennY!

Sara said...

Yay!! Congratulations! That's so exciting AND appropriate. Did you seek out a punctuation-themed bookstore as your grand debut or was this a happy coincidence?

LOL at the sign. I only saw "gae Sunday's," so I thought we were dealing with a double-whammy of misspelling and wrongfully placed apostrophe.

Good luck and best wishes from Boston!

Genskie said...

Congratulations...I hope things work out well... I wish I could go but I am thousand miles away :(

Thank you for visiting my blog, it made my day :)

Theresa Milstein said...

I wish I had a hair appointment because I could use a trim. It's really the airfare and time that's stopping me from attending.

Have fun! I hope lots of people come.

Jemi Fraser said...

I hope it goes well - being out of country does make it a little tough to get there!

And now I'm going to be singing I Shot the Sheriff all day!

Lorena said...

So cool, MP!! Will you be giving grammar lessons? ;)

Janet Johnson said...

Gosh I wish I could be there. Hopefully I'm part of the "some" you'd like to meet. ;)

Jo-Ann S said...

I'll be there in spirit.