By Amy Hammond Hagberg My Grandpa Art, God rest his soul, was a proud and sturdy Norwegian – a farmer from the plains of North Dakota.  He was the kind of grandpa who told silly jokes, gave me a crisp $5 bill every time he saw me, taught me how to play cards and bounced me on his knee for hours on end singing old family favorites. Once I was old enough to know better, I thought it was strange that this stoic Norseman sang a song called “I’m a Swede from North Dakota,” but I guess Art embraced diversity long before it was trendy. Grandpa Art used to sing […]

Dear Friends: I need your advice about my blog. I am a pretty multi-faceted writer and I’ve blogged about all kinds of things over the years. Most days there is so much swirling around in my brain I can’t decide on a topic. I need to know what YOU want me to write about. When you have a minute, check out my blog. You’ll see categories posted on the right side. There’s a little bit of everything there: storytelling, writing, vocabulary, trivia, grammar, celebrity interviews, relationship advice, wellness, faith, and all kinds of completely random thoughts. PLEASE help me focus! What do you like? If you check out my blog […]

Sorry it has taken me so long to post the answer to last Friday’s trivia question. My computer was having some attitude! TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE DAY — FOOD & DRINK QUESTION: What flavor is Grand Marnier liqueur? ANSWER: Orange Here’s a great recipe that utilizes this delicious liqueur. If you don’t have any on hand or prefer not to use alcohol, feel free to substitute orange juice. GRAND MARNIER FRENCH TOAST 4 large eggs 3/4 cup half & half 1/4 Grand Marnier or orange juice concentrate (thawed) 2 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon grated orange peel 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 8 slices French bread, sliced 3/4″ wide 4 tablespoons butter Powdered sugar […]

The verb “break” is a tough one for some people. Of course, there is the obvious confusion between “brake,” meaning to stop or slow something (as with a car), and “break,” which means to split into pieces or smash. Just to confuse you a little more, there is also the noun version of “break,” which is a bodiless carriage frame used for breaking in horses. But I digress. The biggest problem with this verb comes when we switch to the present perfect tense “broken.” Have you ever heard someone say, “The car is broke” or worse yet, “The car done broke”? When a helping verb like “is” is used in […]

I know being the head of a country is a big deal, but that doesn’t mean a president always deserves a capital letter. This grammatical rule trips up many of us. A formal title is only capitalized if it is used in direct connection to that person’s name. “The president of our country is Barack Obama.” “The head of our country is President Barack Obama.” Do you see the difference? Think about it this way – would you capitalize the word “doctor” in the middle of a sentence if his or her name didn’t follow? That would just look goofy. Stay tuned for more gems! Amy amyhagberg.com

I’m cursed. I have trouble reading books or listening to speakers because I feel the need to dissect their grammar and usage. What a nerd I have turned out to be. Here’s an example. Last Sunday I had trouble focusing on the sermon because the pastor had such bad grammar. One of his most noticible grammatical sins was his misuse of the word “staff.” He said something like this: “The staff are going on a retreat next weekend.” Sound perfectly okay? Well, here’s the rub. The word “staff” is actually singular (it is one thing), which means it should be treated this way: “The staff IS going on a retreat […]