A friend (I guess you could call him that) pointed out to me today that, in an answer to a student taking a retreat class with me at the Maui Writers Conference, I had made errors of spelling, grammar and usage and called the popular ... er, nutritional product Milk of Magnesia by the wrong name, Milk of Magnesium!

He was ever so right...

Time to make excuses.

I write in a hurry. As my friend Brian once said, "That's what copy editors are for."

That was a bum excuse when Brian made it. I take pride in thinking that grammar and spelling are important.

It's a big misplaced (the pride) right now.

The real reason is that when I make mistakes, I don't see them.

I do things in a hurry, true. But I also have a learning disability that not only causes my handwriting to be illegible (fortunately, I rarely have to hand-write) but makes me prey to common errors and uncommon errors. For example, if I were to write, "You are my beloved pal..." what I really would write/type is this: "You are my be lovedpal." I would fix it later on, if I had time, of course.

I should always have time.

But when answering more than eighty or ninety e-mails a day -- and I try to answer all of them with care and not simply with some jolly and meaningless salutation -- I find it challenging to edit.

It's never a mistake to take time to edit.

One thing I try to teach students is that every word they write is their own. Just as they wouldn't make wedding rings that didn't fit, they shouldn't write sentences that don't scan. Those things can't be taken back.

And it's a lesson I need to learn myself. By making mistakes in my answer to a student, I showed that student that what I would demand of her, I would not demand of myself. At least, that is what it seemed I was showing her. The fact is, I couldn't see what was wrong because I've never looked at a Milk of Magnesia label (I really DID think it was called Milk of Magnesium) and because I didn't scan my answer for corrections before I posted it.

That's embarrassing.

The pal and regular e-correspondent of mine who raised the issue was joking around; but he put a burr under my saddle.

I consider myself served.

And I know that was passive voice.

yours,

Jackie M.