Cats and Compound Adjectives

I can't wait any longer. I must talk about my cats.

In this post, I'll focus on the cat that actually lives me, Lucy, aka Luce Ma Goose, aka Goose... (Can you tell nicknames are a tradition in my family?)

I mean. Just look at that face.

Cat people have a reputation for being a little crazy. I think everyone is a little crazy in his or her own unique way, so being called a "crazy cat lady" are indeed words that do not hurt me. It's not like I have dozens of cats living with me. Although I must admit that owning a mansion with a special room for my cats (maybe foster cats, à la Beth Stern?) may or may not be a (not-so-) secret goal of mine.

Cats themselves have a reputation for being stand-offish, unfriendly, too independent, only pretending to love humans because they want food, etc. I'm sure this is true about some cats. (And some dogs, too, don't you think?) It's true that Lucy is not a big cuddler, except on the one or two nights a week when she decides to sleep with me in my bed. But she does greet me at the door when I come home and promptly rolls over on her back so I can give her a belly rub. She follows me around when I'm getting ready, sitting on the counter fascinated by the movements of my electric toothbrush and leaning in for a face rub/kiss (as long as my own face is dry). She waits by her scratching cave and her toys until I'm ready to play with her, ignoring her food until after we've spent some quality time together.

That's kitty love.

You might say a cat that finds contentment in a cardboard box is down to earth. Or would that be down-to-earth?

Grammar lesson: "Down-to-earth" is a compound adjective; that is, it's an adjective made up of two or more words joined together. Compound adjectives are usually hyphenated.

Lucy is a down-to-earth kitty.

But when following a noun, as in "Lucy is down to earth," compound adjectives usually do not retain the hyphen. 

Guess what? I almost always have to look this up when I'm editing. Today I had the "down to earth" example (although, disappointingly, not referring to a cat) and spent a good five minutes or so scouring the first couple of pages of my Google results trying to find a cut-and-dry answer to the specific use of "down to earth." Even the Associated Press was conflicted; they had no entry on this specific phrase, but it appeared twice in answers to other questions, once with hyphens and once without (and yes, both times it was following the noun).

The sentence "Lucy is down to earth" looks weird to me. I know it's supposedly right, and there are plenty of times when the rule to remove the hyphens when following a noun does make perfect sense, so I guess I should just go with it, right? But these conversations are what make grammar fun.

Today at work, several of us had an off-topic conversation about the generation coming of age right now. We touched on the fact that several schools no longer teach cursive writing and that too many students are entering college with barely a clue on how to write a coherent sentence. Technology, while great in many ways, is also making us dumber. I fear this generation will not care about writing and speaking correctly, let alone compound adjectives and hyphens. But writing and speaking correctly and clearly is at the heart of good, honest communication, which I truly believe is the key to happiness.

Along with cats, of course.

Introduction: Coffee, Tea, and Me

I'm not a big coffee drinker.

Oh, I like coffee. Not black coffee. Not strong coffee. But something that resembles coffee. With lots of creamer and sugar. Perhaps flavored or with whipped cream on top.

This blog isn't going to be about coffee. But coffee led to this blog's creation. Before now, I had given some thought to creating a blog, but I had decided it wasn't really for me. Partly because I have mixed feelings about blogs (especially the monetization of them), and partly because I'm a pretty private person who is protective of my work—particularly my written work.

But I decided this week to make coffee (the first time I'd ever done it on my own—and yes, these are the words of a 27-year-old) and bring it to work. Many mornings I need a little boost, but I just power through because 1. The coffee at work is disgusting and 2. Remember all that cream and sugar I mentioned? Believe me, my body gets enough calories already. I don't need to add even more to my daily quota.

However, this week was a busy one, demanding a little extra dedication and brainpower, and by Tuesday morning I was still dragging. (I strongly believe Tuesdays are even worse than Mondays.) So I made coffee Wednesday morning. 

Sometimes I get in these moods where I become extremely motivated to do things. Organize my closet! Plant perennials in my parents' backyard! Get up early to exercise! (Ha.) Of course, these grand ideas always strike in the middle of the work day or after I've gone to bed, both times when I conveniently can't follow through on my plans. So I usually make a list (just in my head or actually on paper), which is enough to satisfy my surge of inspiration.

Mid-morning on Wednesday, inspiration hit me. Not only was I flying through my work, but my mind was also whirling with the thought of starting a blog. I had the perfect name for it already. But what would I write about? Who would read it? Would I want anyone reading it?

Today, Thursday, I had more coffee. And I found myself Googling free blogging platforms to use. And here we are.

I call myself a writer. At work I write, edit, and proofread. I explore plotlines and write dialogue in my head—and sometimes on paper (or a Word document), too. I love the creative aspects of writing, and I love the technical stuff. For example, my favorite punctuation mark is the em dash.

Em Dash Amy. Get it? Can you count how many times I've used my beloved em dash already?

My plan for this blog is just to write. I'm not looking to fill a niche, and I'm not looking to market myself. This is going to be about me and my passions, including but not limited to cats, gardening, food, decorating, fashion, music, Jesus, and grammar.

Which leads us to tea.

I'm discovering this week that a disturbingly high amount of people think "iced tea" is actually "ice tea." Just how a creative writing classmate in college thought it was "mash potatoes," not "mashed."

It's ICED TEA, everyone. ICED. I drink it just about every day—much more often than coffee. So trust me that I know how to spell it.