Birthdays: X.J. Kennedy (1929), Robert Stone (1937), Arthur Yorinks (1953), Mart Crowley (1935), Lucius Shepard (1943), Denise Mina (1966), Jules Michelet (1798), Sharon Draper (1948)

Tip: Watch out for sentences starting with gerunds (ing words) as they can lead to impossible physical actions: Setting her coffee on the car roof, she got into the car. (She can’t set the drink on the car at the same time she’s getting into it, as this implies. She can get into the car “after” setting her coffee there.)

Thought for the day: “To succeed…you need to find something to hold onto, something to motivate you, something to inspire you.” – Tony Dorsett

Jumpstart: Fear? Confusion? Disgust? All those things went through my mind when I woke up and found…