God Damn I

Many years ago, I knew an old man (probably not as old as I am now) that would swear ‘God damn I” every time he screwed up something.

I always thought that sounded strange, buy at that time in my life I wasn’t particularly concerned about anything that didn’t bring pleasure to me – or is it I…

Shakespeare’s Ophelia cried ‘Woe is me,” but can we really set our grammar on Shakespeare’s prows?   Should it have been Woe is I or Woe am I?  

Anyway, I kind of like the sound of God damn I, so that has been my go-to for years.

There are rules of grammar that make sense, but rules are meant to be broken.  To me there are three strands of language: one is to transmit information or relate a story, one is to express emotion and the other is art.   

God damn I expresses emotion, so who is to say it I am not correct?

I am Me, or am I?

the Ol’Buzzard

BOOKS ON WRITING

You can forget Harbrace College Handbook or Strunk and White Elements of Style as your definitive writing reference guides.  The best book I have run across, and the book I most often use when writing or grammar questions arise is the Writer Source 2000.   This is a junior high school guide to writing, thinking and learning; and the most understandable, convenient and definitive book on writing in my library.   It is available used through Amazon for as little as four dollars.  

If I only had one writing guide, this would be my pick.

the Ol’Buzzard

WOE IS I

There are many rules of writing and grammar that i think are bullshit.   One of them that constantly bugs me is capitalizing the letter I when referring to myself.    This seems to me conceited and self-absorbed and feels like i am trying to bring attention to myself – and it means i have to hold down the shift key in the middle of a sentence.

  

It is all right to begin a sentence with a capital, even if it is an I, as that denotes a new thought, just as a period or other punctuation denotes a completion of that thought.

Writing, like speaking, should be personalized to the individual.   We are not clones.  We don’t speak the same, we don’t think the same; so why should we write the same?  We write to transmit what we are thinking to someone else, and as long as it serves that function it is good writing.  

 God damn i - Why do i still feel i need to capitalize my name or avatar. 

the Ol'Buzzard