Some thoughts.

I’ve been finding myself a bit unimpressed with our selection of punctuation.  For all the progress and ingenuity man has witnessed in the past 100 years, we have failed to update the format of one of our most daily relationships.  Writing emails.  Texting.  Scrawling love notes across card-board boxes.  I am going out on a limb and saying that .?!,:”“() are not doing it for me.  They do not help me articulate my point, they are mere lackluster substitutes that I am forced to use, to keep passing the baton of good grammar.   Bellow are a few nuanced sentiments that fail to come across under the present infrastructure.

1.  Sarcasm.  I favorite bed-fellow of mine.  Yes the period at times assists in making the point, but wouldn’t it be lovely if } at the end of a sentence implied that the phrase was to be read sarcastically? Example. “Is that guy your boyfriend or something?  No, hes my brother}”  Simple.  Understood.  Humor, however small, cannot be missed.

2.  Question/statement.  This is tricky.  It’s a phrase between a question and statement.  In fact, it is an assertion but with a tiny fiber of doubt.  A question mark is too strong, and the period is too confident, boastful.  For this sentiment I shall use a <> Example: ” would you like to come to dinner at 8?  I am busy at eight…but I’ll come at 9<>”

Perhaps this argument seems trivial, but personally I would be some much more at ease with a wider array of punctuation marks to chose from.

I would like to know who I can contact about this debacle I’ve run into.  Is there a punctuation FBI?

If you count yourselves as one of my friends, please make sure you see these movies.  It is not required that you love them, or even like them for that matter, but I would be oh so delighted if you would, for that hour and half, consider them.

1.  A Serious Man.

2.  Silent Light.

One of the most beautiful scenes I have ever witnessed was in this film.  Watch it.  And then tell me which one it is.  Here is the trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etIzLiJfhqA

3. Bright Star.

Enjoy.

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.

Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann c.1920