First blog entry

I don't know if how often I'll be doing this. And probably no one will read it. That's ok too.

I'm known on many message boards throughout various internet forums as Cowboy Bebop. For those that don't know, it's a popular title of a Japanese Anime show. I bought the movie on DVD on a whim one day. I'm generally not a fan of anime, but this one caught my attention and gave it a try. Sure enough, I liked the film and thus the show.

Anyway, I figued I'd add my two cents to the multitude of cents out here on the internet ethos on the things that matter to me.

I have lots of pet peeves. One of my biggest is the decline in grammatical ignorance plaguing the internet. The grammar that I see being posted is absolutely atrocious. Kids and adults appear to have difficulty discerning the difference from your/you're, to/too, we're/were, and their/they're/there. I realize that the English language is a difficult language, even for native speakers. But there's really no excuse for that! What are kids being taught in schools these days?

I don't have any children, but if I did, I know that I would not be sending them to public schools. It's mind boggling to me why kids and adults don't know the difference between these common, everyday words. I think part of the problem is laziness on both the student and the teacher. I don't know what else it could be. And don't give me that bullshit that teachers are having to focus entirely on teaching kids the necessities on how to pass state exams. If they did their job in the first place they wouldn't have to spend much time on that.

People like to play the "gotcha" game with me many times. They'll catch me making a typo or even an out and out grammatical error. I always forgive typos. They happen and when we're in a hurry are often time unavoidable. But what I don't forgive is the same people making the same mistakes again and again.

Ok, so you're probably wondering what the hell is the big deal. It's not a big deal in the small scheme of things, but I believe it is a problem in the big scheme. Young people need to understand that they're not going to get hired for a good paying job if their resume or cover letter is unintelligible. You won't even make it to the first interview, little alone any subsequent interviews.

I also feel that language and communication is important and that that is what separates us from other species. When that all goes to hell, then what separates us from them? Well, if you talk to the PETA nuts they'll say the animals deserve higher treatment than us, but that's another rant!