Singular Sensation

My boss asked me to proof a document for her before we sent it out to be printed. I found a sentence reading, "Clothing with logos or advertisements are not allowed." I edited it to read, "Clothing with logos or advertisements is not allowed," because the word "clothing" is singular and, as the "be" verb is referring back to the subject of the sentence, "clothing," it should be the singular verb: "is." She claims that the word "clothing" is plural because it refers to multiple things, therefore the "be" verb should be plural: "are."

She thinks she's right and I'm certain that I am. I asked my sister, Amy, the grammarian, and she agreed that the word is singular but it sounds awkward to use the singular form of the verb, therefore it is correct to use the plural form even if it does not hold to the grammatical standard. I refute that it can be correct if it is not within the guidelines of correct grammar (although it does meet the requirements of "accepted grammar": phrasing or grammar which is generally accepted, though incorrect).

I agree that in everyday conversation, "are" would be accepted. However, this is in a published document for a department of a University.

I've decided to put the question up to you, my dear blogging friends. Which do you think is correct?

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Apostle Song

LDS Apostle song

Pablo's Birthday

I spent Friday night celebrating my friend Pablo's birthday. Pablo is originally from Russia and came to Utah several years ago for treatment. (He has cerebral palsy.) We had so much fun! His mother, Galina, made dishes and dishes and dishes of Russian food. Most of it was excellent. A few things were a tad unappealing to me. I didn't know how much dill they use in Russian cuisine!


Pablo loves opera music and during dinner they had a Russian violinist, a (South American?) opera singer, and another violinist who played, get this, an electric violin. I had never heard an electric violin before. (I actually didn't even know electric violins existed.) The music was beautiful and it was fun to see how excited Pablo was.


We had such a great time. I wish all of you could know Pablo. He is amazing!!

Kim Logic

Every day at work I get the production record from one of our suppliers delivered to my desk. And every day I take that record, walk on over to the copier and make a copy. For back-up. It's smart to back up all your records, right? So then I take the copy of the record and the original and paper clip them together and place them in a folder on my desk.

That's right folks. I store the back-up copy in the same folder as the original. And, what's more, I actually clip them together to keep my records neat and tidy.

Why? I have no idea. But I do it every single day. It doesn't make much sense to me either.

Some Movies I Saw

Made of Honor made me think that their is no honor amongst filmmakers because that was a truely awful movie. Classified as a romantic comedy, it was not really that funny or romantic. It was crude and predictable. Thumbs down.






Baby Mama was extremely funny. I actually experienced that gasping-type of laughing. That shaking-the-chair laughing. That I-should-not-have-had-that-second-Diet-Coke laughing. This one was a little predictable as well but had such a delightful cast and silly dialogue (think SNL) that made up for it. I loved, loved Steve Martin's character. Thumbs up.



Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull should have been called Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Lame Script and Weird Plotline. I was not a fan but that may be because I haven't seen the original IJ movies. I was really put off by the weird ending. I do love Shia LaBeouf but I didn't really love his character's development in the movie. It would have been a fun movie to take kids to see if it hadn't been so entrenched in bad language. Thumbs sideways.

Two-Wheelin'

So I'm thinking about buying a bicycle. I don't really know anything about bikes or about the buying of such. I've been doing a little research and am just getting further confused. Cruiser or comfort or road or mountain? Hybrid? 7-speed, 10-speed or 21-speed?

It's all very overwhelming.

Good Grief Bone.

My boss informed me today that she is resigning her position. I am so sad. She is just the greatest and has done so much for our program. Plus, she totally makes me laugh all day long. Anyway, I'm totally bummed. Let's hope my new boss is as cool as this one.

As Michael Scott said, "It feels like somebody took my heart and dropped it into a bucket of boiling tears... and at the same time, somebody else is hitting my soul in the crotch with a frozen sledgehammer... and then a third guy walks in and starts punching me in the grief bone... and I'm crying, and nobody can hear me, because I'm terribly, terribly... terribly alone."

Third Time's the Charm

My coworker is getting married this Saturday for the third time. This woman is, I am not kidding, deranged. She is hyper-emotional and a drama-queen to the max. She irritates me like you would not believe.

What I'm trying to figure out is how she got three guys to marry her when I have enough trouble just getting a date for the weekend. Granted, two of the three men she's married are employees of our Maintenance Department. Really.

My funny roommate said, "Tell her she can't go through the buffet line again when some of us haven't had firsts yet!"

Today I've been thinking that I should get her a card or something for the wedding but I just can't figure out what to write in it. Everything I come up with sounds insincere.

"Cindy, sorry you annoy the everliving heck out of me. Let's hope this marriage sticks."

or

"Cindy, congratulations on marrying that guy who fixes stuff around here. Here's hoping he bathes for the wedding."

Oh, that was negative. Now I feel slightly bad.

Note to self:

Do not munch on White Cheddar Cheez-Its while working on your laptop, no matter how delicious they are. They will crumble up and get stuck under your F9 key and then you will be really sorry. Just wait until you are several feet from the computer before opening the box. Got it?

What the heck?

Man, I'm so ticked. It's MAY, people. And it's SNOWING. A LOT. Uggh. I'm cold.

P.S. Work: turn on the heat. It's cold in here.