Last night, I attended a reading at the Boulder Book Store that I heard about on Twitter via their well-run @BoulderBooks account.

Mignon Fogarty, the creator and host of the Grammar Girl podcast, was promoting her second book, "The Grammar Devotional," with a book tour. Given my huge crush on both Fogarty and grammar, I was powerless to resist her visit to Boulder.

She talked about all the usual stuff - how she got started, writing and grammar, her future projects - but she truly came alive during Q&A. She fielded specific questions about grammar, as well as some behind-the-scenes stuff. Throughout, Mignon was a witty wonder and very obliging - even when my dumb self asked for a photo:

I asked her about the impact of social media on the quality of writing and grammar, since more people are writing (whether on Facebook, Twitter, blogs), but not everyone is pausing to proofread.

She replied with a thoughtful answer about how over time, such writing can make teens stronger writers, but with adults can be a mixed bag, given the less-is-more ethos behind the more dominant social platforms. While it's good to see so many people generating written content and sharing it with others, she is horrified to hear that LOL and emoticons are creeping into school essays.

I picked up her new book (which she gracefully signed) and highly recommend you do the same. Good grammar is better than good gravy.

Oh, and I finally met Michael Fraietta from one of my favorite local companies, Filtrbox. There were loads of people at the event - I'm kicking myself for not having met more fellow grammar goons.

As I've been trying to go out a bit less to save money, I've begun reading again. I used to read loads of books, but adulthood obliterated that habit with its obligations and responsibilities. Happily, I have been able to carve out a few hours each week for books.

I am presently reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. It was written in 1999 and as much as I loathe using the expression, it's a coming-of-age book. I usually avoid these, as I found my early teenage years awkward enough without having to relive them in print.

However, Perks is pretty good. The narrator, Charlie, strikes me as autistic or maybe way too cerebral. At times, it's hard to identify with him because he tends to dissect meaningful events in his life, whereas when I went through similar situations I retained very little details about them.

Or it could be that I have the memory of a goldfish. I've been accused of such in the past.

I'm not done with the book yet, but I'm amused by some of the early '90s references I've found. (The book takes place between 1991 and 1992.) Kurt Cobain is mentioned. I haven't thought about him in a long time. I will be moving some Nirvana onto my iPhone shortly. Probably all of In Utero.