Punctuation: it drives us crazy, but it saves lives (let’s not eat Grandma, please!). In honour of this much-maligned but most necessary aspect of good writing, celebrate National Punctuation Day this September 24. Whether you want to go all-out with your festivities or just take the time to brush up on your skills, this week’s links will get the party started:

Plan It Right
From the Official Punctuation Day Meatloaf (really!) to thoughts on integrating NPD into your classroom, the official National Punctuation Day website is a good springboard for learning about and celebrating the lowly comma, period, and exclamation point.

What?s In A Name?
Ke$ha may have dropped the $ from her name, but there are some people and places who wear their unique symbols with pride. Check out these people, places, and groups that integrated punctuation marks into their names?you might be surprised to notice an officially recognized Canadian town, which also happens to be the world’s only town with two exclamation points in its name.

Weird Squiggles
Think you know your punctuation inside-out? This mental_floss article will introduce you to a set of real and fascinating?and sadly mostly obsolete?punctuation marks. I’d love to start using the Snark Mark on online discussion boards…

Back to Basics
NPD isn’t all fun and games; It’s also a great opportunity for a refresher on the proper use of punctuation marks. The Purdue OWL site has a good overview.