Bob,

I have been known to opine on the subject of literature from time to time... heh. Yeah, I'm starting my dissertation (slowly. yikes. Somewhere there is a very angry advisor...).

It's funny you mention the grammar, spelling, etc., because I actually specialize in Old/Middle English; which means much of what I read preceded the notion of writing style, punctuation or spelling. So I see people spell and write poorly on the internet (or elsewhere - I had a student submit an essay for a grade in which he used the capital letter "U" for "you" throughout the essay. Ouch.), and then argue that "Hey, it's OK if I don't spell correctly - everyone knows what I mean!"

But of course, that's where English started, with everyone spelling everything any way they wanted to. What really kills me is when the same type who make the claim that spelling is irrelevant complain about reading Chaucer - "all the words are funny!" "Yeah," I'm thinking, "from the guy who thinks spelling is for chumps." The only reason everyone knows what you mean when you spell "lose" l-o-o-s-e is because there is a system in place to begin with; we know it's an error because we KNOW THE RULES. Why some think that's carte blanche to be illiterate is beyond me. Or in the words of Boopsie from "Doonsbury" while making a protest placard "Maybe I should get a dictionary - it'll have more impact if it's spelled right!" Indeed.

Rant aside, you, Sven's Maintainer,Jorrell, Farmboy, Strong-Pimp-Hand,Dave_242, illbird68, George and a bunch of other guys do a real service in helping so many other with your experience and interest in sharing.

Thanks again,

Best,

Lanval