There are certain words that present problems for me.

Now, I’ve always been fairly good with words. I remember how to spell them fairly easily, and unless I have a brain cramp, I can usually get my meaning across in a manuscript or conversation.

But the spelling of certain words simply refuses to stick with me. And most of them are fairly simple ones! Doesn’t matter how often I use them or look them up. Either I spell them wrong, or I wind up looking them up ANYWAY because I’m not SURE. THEY DON’T STICK. It’s like I’ve got a glitch for those words—they simply won’t process.

Examples:

GUARANTEE~~(I always want to spell it GUARENTEE).
RACCOON~~(shouldn’t this be RACOON? or RATCOON, even though the coat is ever-so-stylish?)
GENTEEL~~(more than once, I’ve spelled it GENTILE–bless me, Father, for I have sinned…)
ABACUS~~(shouldn’t this be ABBACUS? like the singing group ABBA? and why is the plural “ABACUSES”? shouldn’t it be ABACI?)
NIECE~~(yes, I know the “I before E” rule–doesn’t matter, I want this word to be spelled “NEICE”).
INCOHERENT~~(seems INCOHERANT to me that this shouldn’t be spelled differently).

Got any pet-peeve words of your own, ones you consistently have trouble with?

Hope everyone had a warm, wonderful Thanksgiving!

This leftover turkey is posting at the Chica’s site today…

Gawd…is it me, or have things been seriously wack lately—everywhere?

Michael Richards, alias Kramer from Seinfeld, spewed racial slurs at an audience at the Laugh Factory, including a reference to a lynching. (you need to do some serious soul-searching, dude…)

I’ve actually witnessed people willing to injure and maim each other, just to get a video game.

O.J.’s book will not be released, nor will his special be aired on Fox. (I’m glad, if only for the sake of his children…)

And the strangest of all (to me)…

Remember Cory Lidle, the unfortunate Yankee whose plane struck the building in Manhatten? Did you know he’d invited a friend to join him, and that friend had backed out of the free ride at the last moment, narrowly avoiding death?

Did you know that friend died last week……………..in a small plane crash?

Somewhere, in a very special Zone in Heaven, a small dark man with a tight little smile and a cigarette in hand is smiling and nodding with satisfaction…

I’m AFRAID I’m at the CHICA’S today.

In response to Jaq’s Open Tag…
1. Grab the nearest book. If you are currently reading something, that’ll be fine too.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 4 sentences on your Blog along with these instructions.
5. Don’t you dare dig for that “cool” or “intellectual” book in your closet I know that is what you were thinking!

The book would be Sandra Brown’s “Hello Darkness”.
Here’s what I came up with:

“Not surprisingly, Brad Armstrong wasn’t at home when Toni returned from his dental office. She explained to the startled baby-sitter that she didn’t feel well and that she and Dr. Armstrong had canceled their plans for an evening out. She paid her for five hours.
Three times she had called Brad’s cell phone…”

(The book really is better than this, lol).

***** ***** *****

Every year, PEOPLE MAGAZINE chooses what they determine to be “The Sexiest Man Alive”.

It’s an absurd notion, of course. They don’t KNOW every man alive. And who’s to say the sexiest man would be someone in the public eye? And who’s to say he has to be good-looking, etc? I’ve seen guys walking down the street who were better looking than most movie stars. And some of the sexiest men I’ve known were NOT necessarily good-looking. It’s also sexist, occasionally racist, and downright silly.

However…that being said…
I never mind an opportunity to appreciate the droolworthy talents of Mr. George Clooney.

Ebeneezer Scrooge

Dick Cheney