I'm Not That Popular

Okay, so we all want to be popular. It starts at an early age with the need to not be picked last. You remember, right? Those kids that never really seemed to fit in, usually because there was something different about them. I remember one guy who always smelled like bacon. (seriously, he always made my stomach growl, and dogs loved him) So while bacon is not necessarily a bad smell if you're cooking breakfast, it's kinda social suicide if you're a kid wanting to play kick ball.

But popularity is a tricky thing, and not easily managed. And sometimes people can be popular for all the wrong reasons. This brings to mind my high school classmate Claudia. She was extremely popular with the males of the high school. (although it must be said she was, conversely,  extremely unpopular with the females) Which led to a sort of general downfall of her overall popularity. Which is a shame, because I always thought she was sweet, and hope she did well in life.

Then there's that saying, "What is right is not always popular, and what is popular is not always right." I don't know who said it, I just saw it on the wall in "10 Things I Hate About You" and figured it must be a famous saying. It does seem to ring true, but there's a strong chance it was just made up by someone who smelled like bacon. I admit that as one of the "have-nots" in society there is a tendency for a bit of sour grapes to be thrown around, and I've done my fair share. Still hoping to end up on  a wall in a movie. (it could happen)

And now it's time to reveal the cause of this pondering of popularity. You see that little counter on the upper right hand side of my blog? Yeah, everyone has one, right? It counts the number of page views that your little blog gets, and it makes you feel really happy that while you're not exactly Lady Gaga, there are people who visit your site. Well as I was working on my blog pages the other day, moving things around, trying to get it just right, I noticed that the counter kept ticking every time I would view a page to see if I liked it. It counts ME. And since I like to tinker around with my blog a bit, most of the hits on that counter belong to yours truly. So you see, I'm not that popular. (but at least I don't smell like bacon)

She Loves You, Yay, Yea, Yeah...

Alright, I realize most of you don't really know me, but take my word for it, I'm a pretty easy-going guy. Which is not always easy on the Internet when you've got a degree in English. Now don't worry, I'm not the militant English degree guy. You know the people who feel the need to correct every little thing that is wrong. I used to call them the "Grammar Nazis". When I first started teaching, they were the older women in the English department that thought that the survival of mankind hinged on correct comma placement. (by the way, I think my first sentence might be a little dicey as far as commas go) And they would spend like 20 minutes of a 45 minute class beating kids over the head with a grammar club. My philosophy was, and still is, if you haven't got it by high school, there's nothing I can do that's going to cause the clouds to part and send divine grammar knowledge directly to your noggin. So while I'm better than most at grammar, I'm not great, and I don't care. I also don't care if you're not that great.(and mankind seems to be surviving)

 What does drive me a little nuts, is people using words incorrectly. (thus the title of this entry) You see "Yay", "Yea", and "Yeah", used interchangeably all over the place. AND IT'S MAKING ME CRAZY! Okay, maybe I was already crazy, but that's not my point! (try to stay on task, people)

The most common one is "Yea" for "Yeah". Like adding that "H" at the end was just a little too much to do. "I wanted to use the right word, but I just got so tired..." C'mon! Take some pride in your vocabulary! But now I'm getting a little tired of this semi-educational rant. So let's just lay out the definitions::

Yay - Your team just scored!
Yea - Your bill just passed!
Yeah - You're using slang again, please say "yes" instead, or the survival of mankind could be in jeopardy!