Parade and punctuation.
Post-parade Oxford Street had just deteriorated into the inevitable chaotic pedestrian thoroughfare; the once-orderly barricades now lie haphazardly fragmented across the road. I had just met a guy and had just gotten into a brief argument about apostrophes. About an hour later I was offloading the contents of my stomach at JPB’s house, I think it was about midnight but who can be sure?
I don’t know how the topic of apostrophes came up, though I’m pretty sure I brought it up. Anyway, two against one and it was no longer Chris’s [café] but just Chris’. I had mentioned I was reading Lynne Truss’s, sorry, Lynne Truss’ (yeah, right!) book Eats, Shoots & Leaves (funny book, by the way) and apparently I should know better. Well good on me, I do! Lynne backs me up, as well as the Apostrophe Protection Society, Fowler’s Modern English Usage, the editors of the Sydney Morning Herald… Truss does suggest that people have gotten into very heated discussions about the placement of the little mark but to have one on the street after the Mardi Gras parade?
No matter. JPB and I watched the parade from the fifteenth floor, looking down over the street. To see it from that height made me feel excited about the whole thing, after being quite unenthusiastic about it all. It was amazing to see the street so crowded with people. Pity it was too far away to make out the floats in any details but it didn’t matter: I had my main guy with me and we were drinking lovely wine having just eaten a lovely dinner. I didn’t bring my new camera, knowing that I was going to get a bit messy; I didn’t want to risk it so I grabbed the host’s camera and took pictures for him. Must get copies of those pictures!
