Most often I blog about real estate. But because the world of real estate is all over the place, with people waffling over whether to refinance, buy now, wait for a lower bottom and buy later, etc., now seems like a good time for me to invest in a blog topic other than real estate. Take, for example, good grammar. Another great reason to write about this right now is that one of my bosses specifically asked me to bring my "Grammar for Sanity" e-mail campaign to the Depth In PR blog.

"Grammar for Sanity" is my attempt to hold myself and others in our agency accountable for solid grammar practices in the spoken and written word. People so often employ bad grammar that what is wrong sounds right and what's right sounds wrong. This makes me both sad and crazy, and that's why I write "Grammar for Sanity."  (I know some may think, by consequence, that I must be sad and crazy. Ah, well… that's O.K.) Without further due, I invite you to buckle your seat belt, zip your lips and open your eyes and ears to what you should be saying and hearing.

Grammar for Sanity Lesson 1: Compounding Perfection
Inspired unknowingly by Barry Tarshis, author of "Grammar for Smart People," and the native English speakers who unknowingly abuse our language every day.

Compound Mistakes: A question of "you and I" vs. "you and me"
A compound construction is one in which two or more words share the same role. When a pronoun (him, her, she, he, I, me, it) is a mid-sentence or end-of-sentence element, folks tend to use the wrong form, especially when the choice is between "I" and "me." A good way to determine the correct form is to see how the sentence would sound if the elements were by themselves or in a different order.

Incorrect:Let's keep the plan to have Matt Damon jump out of Dana's 33rd birthday cake between you and I / I and you. CORRECT: Let's keep the plan … between you and me / me and you (us).

Incorrect: Beth and I were hoping that you would join her and I / she and I in freshening up our lobby photo gallery with a vacation theme. CORRECT: Beth and I were hoping…that you would join her and me (us) in … (Separated, Beth was hoping you would join her, I was hoping you'd join me…)

Incorrect: It was generous of Michelle to offer the staff and myself / the staff and I the occasion to work summer hours. CORRECT: It was generous of Michelle to offer the staff and me the occasion to… (…of Michelle to offer me…)

Facebook relevance:I see a lot of people showcasing pictures of themselves and a friend or two on Facebook, and a caption often reads something like "Tarzan, Jane and I" or "Tarzan, Jane and myself." It should be "Tarzan, Jane and me," just as you would label the picture "me" as a standalone. You would never say, "This is a picture of myself / I." Rather, you would say, "This is a picture of me."

Stay sane! Rock good grammar!