5 Questions with Dave Barry

Dave Barry is a humor columnist. His most recent book is Dave Barry's History of the Millennium (So Far). He also plays in a rock band called the Rock Bottom Remainders; other members include Stephen King, Amy Tan, Ridley Pearson, and Mitch Albom. Really.

Q: What is your preferred environment for writing?

A: My preferred writing environment is Tahiti. I've never been there, but I just know I would prefer it.

Q: What punctuation mark are you fondest of?

A: I am most fond of the comma, because when you see it on a check, it means there are more numbers coming.

Q: What punctuation, spelling, grammar, style, or usage error annoys you the most?

A: I'm annoyed by people—and there are a LOT of them—who can't distinguish between "its" and "it's." For some reason these people irritate me more than people who put everything in quotation marks, which is just as stupid, yet somehow amusing.

Q: If you weren't in your current line of work, what would you be doing instead?

A: If I were not a writer, I would be a highly paid underwear model.

Q: What drove you to write?

A: I write for the same reason Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote: to score with the ladies.

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Comments

[mossum]

Typo: "...people who put everything in quotation makes..."

[Tim Stewart]

Change "question makes" to "question marks"? Maybe Dave did it originally, but it might not hurt to silently help him out . . . ;-)

--Tim

[Editrix]

Dear Tim, mossum, and Nancy (who sent me an e-mail),

Ah, yes. Good ol' "makes." I'm afraid it was I, and not Mr. Barry, who misspelled "marks," which only goes to show why it's a bad idea to type a blog entry as quickly as possible when you are also contemplating (1) where your suitcase is, (2) where your passport is, (3) what you'll do if you can't find your passport anywhere, (4) how much money you should bring, and (5) how the weak dollar is making your trip to England even more expensive than usual.

Thanks to everyone for correcting me. You will all be entered into this month's mug drawing.

Sincerely,
-Ed.

P.S.: I hope Dave Barry didn't see that.