Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Lost my mind in 'nam

I realize that the title has nothing to do with the below blog, but consider it like Led Zeppelin's album Houses of the Holy.

Today’s top ten list:

The top ten puctuation marks of all time.

10 – The period. Suffers from over exposure, but think of where we would be without it.

9 – The hyphen. Using it often in this blog!!

8 – The exclamation point. Not really a favorite, but No list is complete without it.

7 – The ampersand. I think actually wrinting the word and is easier than writing this thing, but because it looks so cool, it makes this list. Oh, here it is &.

6 – The pound sign. # Before touch tone phones, this was sometimes used to abbreviate the word “number”. It is also used in music to denote a “sharp” note. A very versitile and fun symbol. In a pinch it can be used to play tic tac toe.

5 – The tilda. Some may claim it is not english and maybe it isint, but without our friend the ~, Cesar Cedeño, would merely be Cesar Cedeno. The difference is clear.

4 – The section symbol. I wish this were on a keyboard. It would make my life so much easier. We need a § on every keyboard – NOW!!!

3 – The curly looking brackets. I have no idea what these are for other than mathematical order of operations. It is () first, then [], and finally {}. So if you see a math equation with {} in it, you are in big trouble.

2 – The at symbol. Before the internet the @ was a practical unknown. Now it is on everyone’s business card. You’ve come a long way baby!!

1 – The question mark. I know it is common, but the ? has always been a sentimental favorite. It reminds me of my college days. Really it does.

The story is that my fraternity was looking for a rush gimmick, and we could not find one. When the biff fratenity down the street decided to use a big !, as their sign, it was obvious that ours should be the ?

So perhaps a sentimental choice for number one all time, but hey it’s my list!! Feel free to make your own.

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