Why it's called "Is This Thing On". (BTW - That darn period gets me every time. You know the one I'm talking about -- the one sitting outside the quotation mark at the end of my first sentence. Does the period belong inside the quotation marks, outside? AHHH! Of course I could stop and look it up, but as a person who holds a BA in English, I should know where it goes and I therefore refuse to look it up. I had a professor last semester that I'm sure thought I had some type of learning disability because even though she continued to take off points every time I made that particular error, I kept making it. Oh well, it's my blog and I say it goes outside the quotation marks!) Now, as I was saying. My column is called "Is This Thing On" as an inside joke to my children. When they were small, one of their favorite games was me grabbing their little foot, putting it up to my ear, tapping it and saying over and over "Is this thing on? Hello? Is this thing on?" (Okay, that time I put the question mark inside the quotation mark. I’m beginning to rethink my original choice.) Anyway, my kids thought it was the most hilarious bit on earth and it was one of the best ways to get them to laugh. Of course as they got older the game wasn't as fun once their feet became significantly larger than my ear. It also wasn't much fun when they began to be not as fresh-smelling as they once were -- their feet, not my ears! So eventually, as all good bits are, it was retired.

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Some years ago, I had a column in a local newspaper and it was called "Sams Says". Until today I never thought about the connection to that title and the term "Simon Says". I simply meant it as Gia Sams says...blah blah blah. "Simon Says" implies a command. "Simon Says" implies a type of power and I assure you, I had no power then and I have little (if any) now - Just ask my children. However, writing my column was one of the most enjoyable times of my life. I loved the idea of large numbers of people reading (and often commenting on) my words. Some of the columns were reporting of local events but more often than not, it was just general musings. So without any hope of readership, I have decided to continue committing my musing to paper - where they can live on into infinity. Let's hope they're worthy of longevity.