"I have something to tell you."

Reader-submitted question: I voted for you in the blog contest. Really, I did. I think your post is the best one. Really, I do. But now I am scared of you. Are you judging ME like that? I feel like I can never show you anything I write! Should I have used that exclamation mark? Wait, is it exclamation "mark" or exclamation "point"? Oh, man. Did I misspell "judging"? It looks like it might be wrong. And should the question mark go inside the quotation marks? Seriously, you are my FAVOURITE blogger.

First, thank you for voting. Everyone else: If you haven't been there yet, please go and vote. I am up for Best Post in the second round of voting. If you voted in the first round, you need to vote again. (Exception: Please do not cheat. If you go over there and get a screen that says you've already voted, please don't try to vote again.) I really do need your help. There are three other fabulous NWT writers in the running for Best Post and Best Blog, so even if you don't want to vote for me, please go over and check them out. The contest ends on Friday night.

Now, on to your question: I scared you?

Really?

Well, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you personally. I will admit that on the day I wrote that particular post, I almost had a nervous breakdown from the stress of reading Name of Paper Withheld's editorial. But I think you can understand why: I read a lot of lousy writing, but that was one of the worst things I've ever seen on the editorial page.

I hold professional writers to a higher standard. Regular readers know that I expect writers to be able to write, and I expect journalists to do journalism. Within those general guidelines, I am pretty liberal.

I am not a grammar terrorist: I do not target civilians for political gain. So no, you don't have to be worried. I am judging you, but not with the same level of venom. We can still be friends.