It's the Basics.

     Seriously. I have come across two stories - TWO! Count 'em - stories in a row on my writing site Inkpop that did not use quotation marks for their conversations, or apostrophes in their contractions. Those are, quite possibly, the two most basic rules in the art of writing (and, I'm pretty sure I'm wrong, but, for the purposes of this post, I'm not.).

These are quotation marks.

     Now, I will readily admit that I am, in no way, the foremost knowledgeable person on the subject of grammar. I'm awful with grammar. I don't even like to use it all that much, unless I'm in one of my moods. But, seriously. This is what I might come across:

             Billy walked across the street to the playground, where his friend Sam was playing on the 

       swing. Hey, he said. How long have you been here?

             Oh, Sam replied, not too long. Im only here because I was bored. 

     Okay, so, the writing wasn't as atrocious as that little conversation was, not in the least. But, do you see what happened? Billy and Sam looked like they were telepathically conversing! They were missing quotation marks, and little Sam here has clearly never learned how to contract! "I'm" looks no different than "Im." And "Im" isn't even a word, as far as I, or google chrome, can tell. 

     I mean, this is seriously stressing me out. I'm pretty sure I knew about quotation marks before I knew about paragraphs (clearly). I knew that quotation marks indicated someone speaking pretty much as soon as I could read...I guess I assumed everyone else could, too. 

     Alright then, recap: Quotation marks indicate when someone is speaking. "Hey," he said. "How long have you been here?"

     Apostrophes are used for (but not limited to) contractions. "I'm only here because I was bored."

     See?

     

     That's how it's done. Don't you forget it.

I Thought, the Trinity?

I was quite excited to see that he had finally posted a new album. And by he, I mean, TJ Hester. But I was kind.of disappointed to note that it was a Single. I mean, that's what it said - "Tradition - Single." Bummer, right? That meant that only the song "Tradition" would be there, and not the other two songs. Until I checked it out on iTunes.

Tradition -Single

And, lo and behold! There were three songs, not just one! I was shocked and amazed, overcome by the glory of it all. But then, I was wondering, why did it say single? Why not EP like his other album, "The Wild"?

Perhaps, I wondered, it was some kind of Trinity reference (I sincerely doubt this, it is simply what first entered my thoughts when I saw that there were three songs in a single.). You know, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Makes sense, yes?

God is three persons, this Single is three songs. That sounded very grammatically incorrect. Unless I'm making things up in my head.

Anyways, then I got to thinking, "Well, if this single is like the Trinity, Who do each songs represent?"

I decided that Tradition represents God, Deep River represents the Holy Spirit, and 20 Years represents Jesus. I have absolutely no grounding for this. Just so you know.

The Wild - EP (go...go get it. now.)

It's a great album, though. Go get it. And, while you're at it, go get TJ's first EP, The Wild. Here, I'll even let you preview it: http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/tj-hester/id348068575 .

I've even shown you the album covers.

And, should you  buy them, you're quite welcome.