Some of you will recall that the Blushing Bride and I found similar gifts for our Copper Anniversary. We don't think that will happen again, but I thought I'd share with you our Brass gifts for year eight.

I stumbled upon this possibility and was able to keep it secret from her until this morning.

I must say that the Blushing Bride did well in looking for something that said "I love you" in brass. We have collected candlesticks since we wed eight years ago. She found this candle holder and a nifty snuffer to go with.

I also made some snide remark about it being our brass anniversary, and so did she get me a brass door knocker? At the bottom of the gift bag I found this (she bought it before the remark, I must say). Now I just have to find the perfect place for it.

Ya'll have a good one, and a happy thanksgiving to boot.

It was eight years ago that the Blushing Bride became my Blushing Bride by saying, "I will" to me in front of both our dads and a small gathering of friends and family.

Happy Anniversary, Sweetie.

Special message just for you -- Olive, Olive!

Everyone seems to be playing the "grab a book" meme. Bill Crider joined in the version that includes "the bookworm award" a couple of days ago! My friend Kacy from Billy Graham's Electric Rodeo popped one up on her Facebook page. So I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon. The meme says to pick up a book--any one near at hand will do (don't go looking for that intellectual tome to make you look smarter than the average bear), find page 56, and post the fifth full sentence. There are variations on a theme here.

Since I just finished one read (look for a review of Sinner over at Book 'em Benj-O soon), I had to stand up to get a new book. What I found was Ed McBain's Killer's Choice. Here's the obligatory sentence:

"That car'd been repainted."

As memes go, your suppose to tag friends. Since I'm just playing around, anyone who wants to play the game can do so in the comment section here, or pick up the thread on your own blog.

Have fun.

Some of you will not understand why the title displays today's "Word Police" entry. But perhaps by the end of your reading you to will be able to distinguish more nuances of the English language.

In our current example the writer has chosen to use a word not related to the present tense word to indicate past tense. Let me help you out --

Lead (pronounced with the long 'e' sound: ee) is a verb in its present tense, suggesting that the leading is in process (or should be in process) "Can he lead us to victory?"

Lead (pronounced with the short 'e' sound: eh) is a soft, heavy metal (symbol: Pb; atomic number: 82--don't ask me, go check your periodic table!). It shouldn't be confused with soft rock or heavy metal, though. This word can also be used to great advantage in the colloquial expression "Get the lead out!"

The offense occurs so often when people use our second example to denote the past tense of our first. The past tense, instead, should simply drop the 'a' and find its spelling as led (pronounced like our second example today). Thus, our title would rightly read "He led them to victory!" indicating a fixed past action of leading.

Have a nice day.

I just heard that Michael Crichton lost a battle with cancer yesterday. Crichton gave us works like Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, Next, and Prey.

I cannot say that I always enjoyed everything of Crichton's that I read, but he was an excellent writer nonetheless. Just last night the Blushing Bride and I enjoyed the adaptation of Timeline while waiting on election results to come in.

Another one gone. May he rest in peace.