Unlike many people I know who participate in online discussion forums, I really don't have an "online persona". The way I conduct myself online is, for better or worse, exactly like I act in real life. Anyone attending the GDC with me can certainly attest to that.

And this does extend to my speech mannerisms, along with overuse of appositives, deathly fear of ending sentences with prepositions, and use of obsolete phrases like "my ownself", probably inspired by too many readings of Mark Twain, Robert Ingersoll, and Lil' Abner.

What this is leading up to (up to which this is leading) is that I'm apparently rubbing off on my daughter, who'll be four next month. On our way home from school yesterday, I asked her how her day went.

Her reply was "Oh, we had snacks and played and such".

It sounds even better when spoken with the thick Texas drawl that she's developing. By the time she's 18, she's going to sound like the female Hal Holbrook :)