Let the countdown begin.

Since I started this little experiment, I've published 192 entries in my journal. That feels like kind of a lot. In honor of this impending milestone (which at times I must admit feels very much like a millstone), I will begin a schmaltzy countdown to the big 200 mark.

Oh, wait. This would be entry 193. So that means I have...seven more to go. Or is it actually six? Is this one of those "inclusive/exclusive" things? Whatever. I'm starting a countdown to 200. Let's keep it simple, shall we?

A friend recently asked me what I have against math. I answered, quite confidently, that I love math. Love it! But math, it seems, hates me. I am also quite confident that this is not my fault. Certainly grammar hates specific people, too. But nobody is ever belittled or made to feel "less than" for not knowing what a split infinitive is or when to use/not use a serial comma. (FYI, I split an infinitive in that last sentence. Can you identify it?)

Now here's the cool thing about grammar versus math. We literary types who have a firm grasp of the rules can occasionally bend them in pursuit of "artistic license." When I split the second instance of "to use" up there by inserting "not" in the middle, I broke a rule, but my message was still communicated. I took some license.

Math, on the other hand, is not so forgiving. I can't shove a zero in the denominator of a fraction and say, "Close enough; it gets the message across."

And now some engineer will happily demonstrate that this is, in fact, possible. But, oh, here's the other thing: I don't care. Ha ha ha ha ha!