Agnes by Tony Cochran for September 12, 2022

I have to admit, sometimes it does seem as if the punctuation is random.

I will never fully understand commas.

In today’s text messages age, they are random, Trout.

That’s Agnes’ real problem; she begins projects and always quits before they’re completed.

Not always her fault, though—sometimes Granny Picklepuss makes her quit and fold towels!!

Random is kind of like the trailer park.

It’s a good thing Tony punctuates Agnes’ speech balloons, so she doesn’t have to.

Grandma, BTW, is very loving… and Agnes’ tie to reality.

Along with feeding, clothing, and doing her best to keep a roof over their heads, with hard work and very little means, she keeps her imaginative granddaughter’s feet on planet Earth.

She only stops a project when it’s unsafe, wasteful, or maybe sometimes just wildly impractical or in some other way irredeemable, not to be cruel.

There’s no reason a preteen can’t help with a few light household chores, to relieve the burden on an older caregiver who has good-heartedly stepped up to the plate when the parents wouldn’t or couldn’t.

I’ve never seen Agnes made to work hard, or stay home and do chores when there was a chance of fun.

Speaking of writing and punctuation and such, there are a couple of words that kind of throw me when written.

Contractions for the words “could not have”, and “would not have”. While “couldn’t’ve” and “wouldn’t’ve” seem to be acceptable, they just look weird when written.

Better though than “couldn’t of” and “wouldn’t of” though, that just irks me, and betrays the ignorance of the writer.

Let’s eat Grandma!

Let’s eat, Grandma!

Punctuation saves lives!

capitalization is also way overemphasized… ☺

grammar, like politics, can cause quite a bit of triggering when commenting online LOL

I would; think. random punctuation would, be: the easy – part^ ☺

woul’dnt it b&e wei?rd if punct:uation we—re r!andom

I am currently reading a book on Richard II and Henry IV that is very good and interesting, once I re-read all the long, drawn-out sentences and work around the random commas scattered without rhyme or reason and mentally include the missing commas,

How novel.

Semi colons: the forgotten hero of punctuation

I’m a writer and am interested in my subjects. Write first then punctuate. Writing well isn’t a common ability easier to get proofreaders. Get your ideas down and characters etc. then worry about spelling etc. is a good way. Also, any research can be fun too.

Even in print, in magazines, newspapers and sometimes books, spelling has become random, too.

“True, but neither are you.”