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From Rocks to Diamonds

November 26, 2014 By Mindy Kroll 7 Comments

At Plante Moran, we have a tradition where departing staff members write “green memos” to say goodbye, thank those who made an impact on them, and disclose what they’re doing next. Recently, a staff member with whom I worked closely left the firm, and she mentioned me in her memo: “Mindy Kroll — you are this firm’s secret weapon….I’ve said it a million times, I love your brain! I hand you a bag of rocks, and you turn them into diamonds.”

Nice, right? It actually made me tear up a bit. I’m a pretty humble person, and I’m not great at accepting compliments. But I do agree with the rocks into diamonds part. I sometimes refer to myself as “Mindystiltskin,” for I have the ability to convert lines of messy, questionable prose into a well-organized, understandable and—on a good day—engaging piece of writing. Something akin to gold.

So when I decided, recently, that I’d like to have my own blog, developing one around writing and grammar seemed a good fit. I had other ideas; I thought Steve and I could have our own music blog, or my friend, Lisa, and I could write about our struggles with technology or love of the 1980s. But this makes the most sense.

When I told my colleague, Dan, that I was considering this blog, his response was typically pragmatic: “You should have a blog. I should, too. It’s good for our resumes.” The next day—without any prompting from me—he designed this site for me.* (You didn’t think I did this myself, did you? Like I said earlier…technology struggles. So many technology struggles.)

This doesn’t mean I won’t occasionally write about other things. As the author of this blog, I reserve the right to write about whatever I want. I hope you enjoy it.

Word of the week: whorl

Song of the week: “Diamonds and Pearls,” by Prince

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: editing, Grammar, Kroll, Mindy, Mindy Kroll, punctuation, spelling, writing

Comments

  1. tinesdan says

    November 17, 2014 at 1:03 pm

    I am happy to help you create a way for your diamonds to shine… enjoy!

    Reply
  2. Crystal says

    November 26, 2014 at 2:13 pm

    I love it. I have a new topic for you besides the spaces. You should write about the proper way to use an S on Christmas cards. 😉

    Reply
  3. Vince Selasky says

    November 26, 2014 at 2:18 pm

    love being able to turn to Mindystiltskin when my lack of
    grammatical prowess makes my head begin to whorl.
    (see what i did there 🙂 )

    Reply
  4. Alexandra says

    November 26, 2014 at 2:25 pm

    All I can say to this is Happy Holiday’s!

    Reply
  5. Debbi says

    November 27, 2014 at 3:28 am

    You are so very special – thank you for sharing your “magic”!

    Reply
  6. Linda Harnish says

    November 27, 2014 at 6:53 pm

    I’m looking forward to reading your blog posts, as I also consider myself something of a grammar guardian. My husband, Mike, worked at PM several years ago when we lived in Michigan. We’re out in Washington state now, but still keep in touch with Raj Patel. Say hello to him for us. Regards and best wishes on your blog.

    Linda Harnish

    Reply
    • Mindy Kroll says

      November 28, 2014 at 1:54 am

      Hi Linda,

      I’ve worked at Plante Moran since 2000, so I remember Mike. We didn’t work together often–probably only a couple of times during the time he was there–but I’m fairly certain we worked on a Universal Advisor article back in the day. Thanks for leaving the comment and for checking out my blog!

      Mindy

      Reply

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