In the old days when people studied traditional grammar, we could simply say: "The first person singular pronoun is" I "when it comes to a subject and" me "when an object," but now few people know what that means. Let's see if we can apply some common sense. The misuse of "I" and "myself" for "me" is caused by nervousness about "me." Educated people know that "Jim and I are go to the slop the pigs," is not elegant speech, "not correct." Should be "Jim and I, because if I were slopping the hogs alone I would never say "I am doing...." If you refer to yourself first, the same rule applies: It is "Me and Jim are going" but "me and Jim go."


So far so good. But the idea that there is something wrong with the word "that" makes people and keep correcting, which is perfectly appropriate. People will say "The document had to be signed by both Susan and I" when the correct phrase is: "The document was to be signed by both Susan and me."


All this confusion can be easily avoided if you just remove the second game of the sentences where you feel tempted to use "I" as an object or feel nervous about "me." I would not say: "The IRS sent the refund check to I," you should not say "The IRS sent the check to my wife and I" either.


Seeking to avoid even more difficult for the humble self, many people will substitute "myself" as in "the suspect hurled insults Officer O'Leary and myself." Conservatives often oppose this use of "I" when "me" or "I" would do. It is usually appropriate to use "I" when used "I" earlier in the same sentence: "I am particularly fond of goat cheese myself." "I kept half the loot for myself." "Myself" is also good in terms such as "young people like me" or "a picture of my boyfriend and me." In informal English, from a sentence with "I" to express an opinion is widely accepted: "Myself, I can not stand dry parmesan cheese." In all these cases are emphasizing their own role in the decision and "myself" help to do that.


In a related point, those who continue to announce "It is I" have traditional grammatical correctness on their side, but they are vastly outnumbered by those who proudly boast "I!" Not much you can do about it now. Similarly, if a caller asks for Susan and Susan answers "This is it," her somewhat antiquated correctness is likely to startle the question in the confusion.

I've been doing nothing in particular I've been figuring out what I was gonna do now somehow the time has gone by and I didn't do the things that I wanted to looking back it seems like I should have known walking down and up and down the avenue wasn't such a smart way to go but it's all I knew how to do and you're gonna say isn't it okay cause you kept on trying and I'm gonna lie and explain how I've been a value giant or I don't care like Pierre waiting for the lion to eat me up while I think about my stupid life. I've been told I spend too much time alone and asked why I never take this jacket off I'm either caught in the headlights or running around like a chicken with its head cut off I recall I once heard a story it might be apocryphal but anyway there's this guy who got so bored that he chopped off his own head well I won't do that but it seems like at some point something should happen there's got to be some sort of redemption or at least some French in Action but there's nothing yet and I can't get no disaffection not even that so let me tell you about my stupid life. Whoa. My stupid life.

What does it mean to be indispensable?

For most of my life I've asked myself that question. Maybe not in those words exactly. But I've always had this feeling that there was some purpose to my life uniquely destined for me and me alone.

I can remember as a young man in my early twenties sitting under a tree, my back propped against the trunk, gazing out at a forest. I was in Woodstock, New York, during what some call the "Woodstock years." Days of pondering life and destiny. Of feeling free and unfettered. Of infinite possibilities.

I was young, single and without children. Money was inconsequential. Either it was easy to acquire or it didn't matter much.

I wasn't a religious person then. Not in any formal way, anyway. But, I was a spiritual being. Even in childhood I was a closet believer in a secular household. But still, compared to now, I can't say that I was religious, though I was definitely interested in communing with a universe that transcended my puny little self.

And in that moment, the creature of G-d's creation that offered itself for my contemplation was this tree under which I was sitting, the one whose trunk now supported my back. So, I sat there thinking about this tree and I began to envy it. I envied its lack of confusion. I envied it for not having an identity crisis.

This tree seemed to know exactly what it was about. And its purpose seemed not only clear, but also beneficial to the world around it, including me, the one whose back was being supported by its trunk, whose head was being shaded by its leaves, and whose body was enjoying the cool black earth and green grass that had been sheltered from the blistering sun by its leafy canopy.

And so I did what any young man in my position would do: I began a conversation with G-d. I was not a stranger to these conversations. I didn't have them on a daily basis like I do now, but I had them regularly and they were always quite moving and profound.