I just dragged myself back into my chair after falling out of it howling while reading this thread. Crystal, first you introduced one of my pet peeves, the mushrooming its/it's confusion, about which I try but don't succeed in being too patient. Then Fred, Olivia, Kathy and others, you had me rolling with your discourse about the decline of the English language soon to be followed, no doubt, by Western civilization itself. How refreshing to know someone else notices! I thought perhaps my being an editor in a former life had been the cause of a private curse whereby I was sentenced to edit signs and letters and language eternally. But, no, it's not a private curse! Yea! We're in this together.

The only bad thing is that now, after admitting my secret, I'll be tremendously embarassed next time I make a silly mistake in an LCT post. In fact, I'd better go back and reread ... and reread ... and reread ... what I just wrote .... :)