Do you know what day September 24th is?

[Jennie Ann]

Do you think an ellipsis is when the moon moves in front of the sun?

Come celebrate the lowly comma, correctly used quotes, and other proper uses of periods, semicolons, and the ever-mysterious ellipsis.

September 24th is National Punctuation Day, and here is a great link where you can read all about it: National Puncutation Day

NPD is celebrated in schools and businesses throughout the world with activities, games, programs, and contests. It has inspired people to pay attention not only to their p’s and q’s, but also their commas, semicolons, and ellipses. NPD reminds us of the importance of proper punctuation for communicating clearly at home, school, or at work.

NPD has received worldwide media attention since former newspaperman Jeff Rubin founded the holiday in 2004, with newspaper coverage from Manila to London and from Seoul to Seattle, in addition to broad radio and TV coverage in the United States—including a short segment on Regis and Kelly in 2008.

NPD is recognized by Chase’s Calendar of Events and listed in its sister publication, The Teacher’s Calendar, two directories published by McGraw-Hill.

Try this excellent winning recipe of the Punctuation Meat Loaf:

2 pounds of ground chuck
1 cup water
1 or 2 eggs
1 box of Stove Top dressing: any flavor
Topping: 1/2 cup ketchup and 1/2 cup
brown sugar.

Take an ice cream scoop and scoop the ground beef mixture into punctuation mark-shaped tins. Mix 1/2 cup ketchup together with 1/2 cup brown sugar for topping. Top each filled tin with the topping mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour. A fist-size period makes one serving.

And here is Norma Martinez-Rubin a/k/a "Mrs. Punctuation," proudly showing off a fully cooked Punctuation Meat Loaf.

[Mary Jo Cochran]

I had a substitute teaching job one day last week. It was band, so the kids watched Ratouille (sic). I had to play that video five times. Needless to say I thought about food the whole day. I couldn't wait for the day to end. As soon as I was out of there I went for a bar-b-que pork sandwich and fries (not as Sonny's either).

[Janet]

Jennie,

That actually sounds good. I never thought of using Stove Top stuffing instead of bread crumbs.

[Jennie Ann]

Janet, I was thinking the same thing. In fact, next meatloaf I make, I am going to use Stove Top stuffing.

I have used oatmeal, bread crumbs, and even mushroom soup as a meatloaf ingredient.

I love meatloaf. In fact, it's always better the second day. ;-)

[Jennie Ann]

Shameful bump to the top. Today's the day.

HAPPY NATIONAL PUNCTUATION DAY TO ALL!

Here's a cute video just for looking!