“The Em Dash: Friend or Foe?” That’s the title of a blog post by the wonderfully named writer Elizabeth Ditty. She’s doing NaNoWriMo and has some opinions on “that dastardly punctuation mark,” which she also calls “the troublesome turncoat of the punctuation world.” While we cannot agree that our favorite dash is dastardly, we do love rereading the rules (the AP variety, in this case), which provide comfort even in the most turbulent times. And, after all, she adds, “So, as you can see, there really are plenty of instances where the em dash acts as a true friend.” Feeling dashed? Don’t–just read her post. –E.G.