One of my favorite columnists, Leonard Pitts, Jr., recently wrote a commentary titled "I (heart) introverts" in which he reviewed Susan Cain's New York Times bestseller Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. I immediately bought the book and found myself on almost every page.

For most of my life, I've urged myself to be more extroverted, but the opposite has happened: I see more evidence of introversion every year. (Those who know me from my classroom training may be scratching your heads because you've seen me be super-extroverted in the classroom. That puzzles me, too.)

Classic definitions suggest that extroverts are drawn to the external life of people and activities; they recharge by socializing. By contrast, introverts are drawn to the inner world of thought and feeling and recharge by being alone. 

To learn more about introverts and extroverts, click here.  

One of my wonderful readers asked, "Can you explain why my boss corrects the word 'myself' in the following sentence?"

"Please send your questions to Joe or myself."

I am delighted to explain this common error! There are several similar words that end in "self" or "selves": myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves. These words act as reflexives; they reflect on another noun or pronoun in the sentence. By definition, then, a reflexive MUST refer to another noun or pronoun.

To learn everything you need to learn about reflexives, click here. 

All 36 respondents were correct!

Special praise for Carol Etges of MWH Global, who elegantly fixed the offending sentence this way: "Collaborate with the State to administer and coordinate care and services, develop policy and procedures, and provide oversight." Good work, Carol!