Comma-tose—Part 2

Grammy’s Grammar Slam

The punctuation mark comma (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Review: The serial comma will kill your work if not careful. You use it for items in a sequence. See the post below this one for details. And a side note. If you don’t like the Oxford comma (the unnecessary one that comes before the last conjunction in a list), remember: that comma comes from Oxford, not Harvard, Princeton, or SUNY.  (See how I illustrated the comma?)

Today: Phrases of the Comma

1. When using an introductory adverbial or participial phrase, use a comma.
1. Adverbial. When I looked at the window, I saw a beautiful woman gazing back at me. (Oops, that was my reflection.)
2. Participial. After commenting on the strippers, Xavier and Cordelia left the nightclub.

Notice, in this case, there is confusion without the comma as well. If it is omitted, we first read this as: After commenting on the strippers Xavier and Cordelia. We’ve slurred my two factious antagonists. Which brings me to my second point?

2. If a short introductory phrase causes confusion, you use the comma.
1. I’m confused. After shooting the cop put his gun away.

Did he shoot the cop? Obviously not.

2. I’m no longer confused. After shooting, the cop put his gun away.

3. Oh and ahs—only if a slight pause is intended.
1. Oh, Carol is delightful
2. Ah, I didn’t win the super lottery. Next time I’ll buy a ticket.

c.   Exception.  Oh no. Ah yes. Oh my, I will never learn this stuff.

4.    Direct address. That’s when you address someone directly.

                  a. Hey, Reader, I’m talking to you.

5.   No no no! Yes yes yes!

                  a. Yes and nos get comma-d at the beginning of a work

                  b. But when you say, No no no! or Yes yes yes! No comma

Have I confused you yet?

No?

Sorry. In my next blog, I’ll strive for that. Remember a test is coming. It will have bonus points if you find my punctuation errors. What are your peeves?

The Coma of Commas

Grammy’s Grammar Slam

The punctuation mark comma (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Case of the Serial Comma.  Like the serial killers, we need to track down pesky serial (not cereal)commas.

• Items in a series are separated by commas: I won the Pulitzer Prize, the Book Circle Award, and the Nobel Prize for Literature.
• ATTENTION MLA Afficiandos who want to be writers. CMS states the Oxford comma (that’s the one before the conjunction) must be used. Sigh. What good was it learning MLA during my years of teaching English?

• Not sure about the commas? Stick an and between the elements, and voilà, no commas necessary.
• Ex. I didn’t win the Genesis Contest or the Novel Rocket Contest or the RWA Contest. What do they know? (see my first item.)

• Still not sure? Make the phrases very complicated, and with lots of clauses. Then you separate them by semicolons.
• Ex. I didn’t final in the Genesis, the premiere writing contest; Novel Rocket hasn't been entered, but plan on it; and I don’t care for pure romance, so RWA isn’t an option
• In a coma yet? One more. Etc. is set off by commas when it’s the final word in a series.
• Ex. I like dark chocolate, milk chocolate, etc., every day.

So, before I totally knock you over with my whiz-bang knowledge of commas, Tell me what some of your bugaboos, problems, questions, etc., may be, and we’ll look for answers. A test will follow!

Good Grief

Good Grief (Photo credit: Camps)

It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better (Eccl 7:2-3
KJV)

Good Grief. Sadly, despair hits us all, and when it does, we think, "What a stupid term good grief is. How can it be good?" Apparently, God believes this to be true.

Wait a minute, you state (Yes, I know I'm schizoid and you didn't say anything), God wants us blessed. And that is exactly why grief is good. How? Let's consider.

1. Death comes to all of us. When someone we love or know casually dies, we will grieve. Therefore, we learn to not put off until tomorrow the encouragement and love we need to share today.
2. Discouragement plagues us all. We work hard, only to fail. But what happens because of failure? If we do nothing, it defines us. If we work harder, we will produce the good product we desired. J.K. Rawlings is renowned for stunning success after repeated failure. Colonel Sanders had his chicken recipe rejected 1,009 times before someone saw its merit. (http://www.onlinecollege.org/2010/02/16/50-famously-successful-people-who-failed-at-first/)
3. It makes us humble. Think about the braggarts you know, famous or not. Does anyone like them? 
4. It heals us. My Ecclesiastes' scripture clearly states sorrow's healing qualities. What niggles our mind? Where have we failed? If we correct those, the weight the devil heaves at us dissipates and we become truly free in the Lord.

Beauty Like a Goose: Ps 139:14

I thank you, High God — you're breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration — what a creation! (Ps 139:14, THE MESSAGE)

Geese. Flocks of them vee overhead and awe us with their magnitude. Here in Malone, they congregate at the local pond, sometimes making the water appear to be a solid gray mass.

Millions undifferentiated by millions more. I tried to capture that proliferation in my photographs, but instead caught one in flight. And the beauty of the individual captured my imagination more than the bounty of the flock.

The round body captured the dim afternoon light and displayed his plumpness. Each feather is delineated, the curve of the wing fans like a flamenco dancer.

An ordinary goose is intricate, beautiful, vibrant and alive. And if a goose has such beauty, what about us? Travel to any city and see our proliferation. Those mobs annoy us, bump us, delay us. But God looks through the masses and see the individual. Intricate. Beautiful. Flawed. And His love blazes for each being.

How awesome is that?

The Seder: A Personal Testimony

By Shelley Fyman

I met Shelley at a writing workshop and we became instant friends. Through the years we kept in touch, both sharing our faith along with our love of writing. She is a conservative Jew, and in this piece, she shares her memories of the Seder.

My earliest Seder memory is sitting on Grandma Rose’s and Grandpa Harry’s couch in their living room, with several younger cousins and my brother; the table was fully opened and placed the length of the couch, bedecked with plates, silverware, wine cups with napkins underneath to catch the plague-spills, the seder plate which held the symbolic foods to tell the story, and hagaddahs (the book which held the story).

 Of course holiday candles had been blessed and lit.  Everything was shiny and festive, and everything had a story, which is why it was placed on the table – to attract the children’s eyes and get us to ask questions.

 In Grandma’s house we usually ate in the small kitchen, except for Seders.  My aunts and uncles sat on chairs across from the couch where the children sat.  My Grandfather read the entire hagaddah in Hebrew, start to finish—aloud and with ancient melody.  My father began the tradition of doing it in English, simultaneously, and each adult took a turn reading a page or two. 

The telling of the story begins with a child asking the Four Questions.  Every child had the chance to say as much of the formula as he could master. 

The food was fantastic.  There was chicken soup with baby egg yolks and matzoh balls.  There was chopped liver, gifilte fish, tsimmis, Passover rolls homemade, chicken, beef, potato kugel, salad… to name but a little.  For dessert we had sponge cake, fruit and nut logs, and of course, fruit compote. 

The most special marker of the holiday was the matzoh!  We were forbidden to eat any for the month prior to the holiday so that it would taste special and yummy on the First Night of Pesach.

There were songs, unique to the season, and we all had a favorite, which we sang out loudly.  There were games incorporated into the service; for example stealing the afikomen and then ransoming it back for whatever we were offered.

There is the myth of Prophet Elijah, for whom a place is set at the table, and wine poured.  At one point the children go to the door and open it for Elijah, leaving it ajar in the hope that he will come and drink. And we watch the level of the wine in his cup, swearing that we saw it go down!  And we all had wine, four cups by law had to be consumed for the seder to be ‘kosher’.  Of course, some cups were larger than others.  But all the children had rosey cheeks and slept well that night.

I have attended more than 60-years worth of seders, and each one shares these similarities. However now I am the Grandma, and I am passing on the pride in tradition and making memories for my granddaughter, Manhattan Sarah.

Passover Seder--Cup 4

The Four Cups

Chag Sameach: A Joyous Holiday. Passover will be celebrated from sundown tonight until sundown tomorrow.

Today, we look at the fourth and final cup of the Seder. It is believed Jesus didn't drink this one. After the third cup, He said, " But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom" (Matt 26:29).

This is Elijah's cup. The Jews always set a separate place because it had been prophesied that Elijah would return. The children look forward to his visit. During the Passover, anyone is free to come and share. I remember one boss who gladly opened his door to me to share his Seder. Sadly, I couldn't take him up on it.

At the end of the Seder, they sing a hymn. We see this clearly in Matthew 26:30 when the disciples sang a song and left for the Mount of Olives. This hymn would be Psalms 113-118, the Hallel. It is noisy and joyful.

Miscellaneous

• In the Mishna (the written form of the oral tradition), the Passover wine was prepared with warm water. This is reminiscent of Jesus' blood. When the soldier speared His side, blood and water flowed.
• In Exodus 12 the Passover lamb is always spoken of as singular
• It is hypothesized that on the very spot where Abraham was given a lamb for Isaac, is the very spot that Jesus was crucified.

Tomorrow I share a memoir from my dear friend about her remembrance of the Pesach Seder.
Until then: Chag Sameach.

Passover Seder--Cups 2 & 3

The Judas Kiss by Dore

The second cup is the Cup of Judgment. Now the father dips his finger into the second cup and drops wine on the white plate. One for each plague. It's a solemn time and no gloating. Scholars believe Judas left to betray Jesus during this cup of the Last Supper. From sundown to midnight, the family will stay at the table.

The third cup is the Cup of Redemption or Blessing. This is the most symbolic time. If you remember, the middle piece of matzo was broken, wrapped in linen and hidden. The buried bread is taken out in a ceremony called the afikomin. This is a festival procession, much like the triumphal entry.

• The father must redeem the bread with silver, just as Judas betrayed Jesus for silver.
• Everyone must partake of the bread, just as we must partake of the Bread of Life.
• This is the last thing eater, as though this will sustain them from now on.
• The father pronounces a blessing over it. Jesus, in Matt. 26:26, proclaims it as his body.

Tomorrow we look at the fourth cup. Do any of you come from Jewish lineage? Can you add to what I know?

Passover Seder--Pt. 2

The Cup of Sanctification

Yesterday we looked at the overview of the Passover Seder. Today we'll look at the ceremony. The first cup is called the Cup of Sanctification. For us it is the symbol of the blood of Christ--for the Jews, the blood of a lamb killed for their purification. The father drips the red wine onto the white plates. This cup:

• sanctifies the table and preparations
• shows the father's approval of the whole family's labor
• sanctifies everything between this year and the last.

The cup is drunk after the father washes his hands and prays. It is believed that during this part of the Seder, Jesus washed His Disciples feast.


The matzo, which is striped and pierced, is then hidden in a linen envelop with three compartments. The middle piece is taken out and broken. Half of the bread is wrapped in a linen napkin and buried. The hidden matzo will be resurrected later.


The youngest child, who rests on his father's chest, asks questions about the ceremony. During this cup the father opens the Haggadah (the showing), the Passover book and reads about the exodus.


While he reads--for two hours--the ceremonial foods are eaten:

• red horseradish--the bitterness of slavery
• parsley dipped in water--the crossing of the Red Sea
• lamb--an unbroken leg
• charoset--a mixture of apples, walnuts, wine and honey--the mortar that held the bricks the Jewish slaves built in Egypt
• matzo--the absence of sin
• uneaten, roasted egg

Of course there's more to be said here--but for now, I'll close the first cup. Tomorrow the second cup--Judgment.

The Passover Seder--Pt. 1

A Seder table setting (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Seder is rich in tradition, and rich in they symbolism of Jesus. To ready the house, it's swept and cleaned so that no trace of leaven can found. I heard tell that some devout Jews will even remove wallpaper.

The house is trimmed in white artifacts: tablecloth/napkins, candles, the father wears a white robe called a kittle. And the Kosher wife has a set of white dishes used only for the Passover dinner.


The woman by custom does not preside over the Seder, but she lights the candles. This is apt symbolism as a woman carried the Light of the world. Although, if your read the first comment below, her role is not written in stone.

During the feast, four cups of wine are drunk--and in order for the meal to be Kosher, all four must be drunk by everyone--including the children. But don't worry. According to my dear friend, Shelley,  some cups are smaller than others.

• Cup 1--Sanctification
• Cup 2--Judgment
• Cup 3--Redemption
• Cup 4--Praise

Note how the cups progress. It reminds me of the path to heaven.


Tomorrow we'll look at the activities as each of these cups is drunk. On Friday I will introduce my friend Shelley who will share her memories of the Seder.

The Passover

The Last Supper was a Passover Seder

     The Passover generally coincides with our Easter holiday. Some years a long span separates them, in other years they occur close together. This Friday begins Passover. With it coinciding with Good Friday, I'd like to share some wonderful things about Passover. At the conclusion of my look, my good friend Shelley, a Conservative Jew, will present information about the Seder.
     We know that Jewish custom is different than ours. Before we begin the study of the Feast of Passover, a few things need to be clarified.

1. The Jewish day begins at sundown. So sundown to sundown is one day. Passover this year will occur on the evening of the 6th and continue until the evening of the 7th.
2. The months are lunar months--roughly 29-30 days long. They begin at the new moon and always have a full moon in the middle.
3. The Jewish year is 360 days long. Every three-and-a-half years and extra month is added..
4. Two years run concurrently, the secular/government year and the religious years, so sometimes the months will have two names. Nisan--the first month--is also called Abid.
5. The first month of the secular year is October (Tishri).

     And Passover begins on the fourteenth day of the first month (Lev. 23:5)