Dot my Tees and Cross my Eyes

I have found that I am attracted to good punctuation.

This is weird, considering it's, well, particular.

I am in contact with a writer (on one of the internet dating situations) at the moment, and I find his good punctuation attractive.

I had noted in my JDate profile years ago that I was looking for someone who "knew the proper use of the semi-colon."

An adviser heard that and said, "Well, there was a man in a small village in India who knew that when the fish swam in shallow water, the Tsunami [of 2004] was coming and he got his entire village to the top of the mountain and every one of them survived. I bet he doesn't know the proper usage of a semi-colon."

And I heard what she said. And since then I have been trying to challenge my own notions of what "intelligence" is: that it can present itself different ways and sizes and shapes. Which, of course, it can.

But these emails from this writer have sort of gotten to me, and I'm revisiting why I like it. Perhaps it's because it shows attention to detail, a particular sort of gesture that says "I am specific!" Perhaps it's because it's a sign of intelligence, a sign of being well-bred, a sign that someone can, yes, I'm going to say it, provide for me in the sense that He will be a source of intelligence and wisdom (to complement my own, of course.)

I have revisited the notion that good punctuation is not a sufficient condition for attraction, but (as my father would say) a necessary one.

And I don't live in a small village. So screw that.