Revenge of the Quotidian.

Holy shit, serendipity rules! Sometimes I wonder if there actually is a guiding force in the universe, but I'm always proven to be an idiot for having doubts. For instance, this morning The Life Vicarious and I had a more or less civilized discussion about quotation marks in blogs (which I maintain are no more or less correct than italics as long as the choice is consistent throughout the text), which made me think of Jessica's and my favorite billboard on 41 when I still lived with her on 35th street next door to the firehouse playground/crack dealership. It was a pro-recycling ad by the city insisting that 'Together we "can" keep Sarasota beautiful.' (The Trash Dude pictured at right is the campaign's mascot, and may or may not want you to talk to him). Clearly this was the result of some junior copywriter's murky comprehension of the mechanics of punning, but we couldn't help but read it sarcastically. Then tonight I discover there's an entire blog devoted to this sort of thing! Like Engrish, Spoonerisms, and Yogi Berraisms (not to mention the entire sub-genre of humor that's sprouted up around George W. Bush's public speaking career), Unnecessary Quotes might only be funny to grammar dorks. All I can say is that I was laughing so hard my roommate had to come see if I was all right, and yeah, I said I was "fine," but I'm pretty sure I was being sincere.