How to Settle a Grammar Dispute

A series of short and simple sentences with the same basic structure will quickly becomes repetitive and boring. 

Example:
Spot was Jim's dog. Jim threw Spot the tennis ball. Spot caught the ball. Then Spot barked at Tom. Tom called to Jim. He wanted to cook the dog.

"I'm drunk and I don't care."
"I've been a drunken bastard since I was a child, and I don't care."

The rule, IIRC, is that you need a comma before a conjunction if the complete thoughts on either side are adequately long. There's wiggle room.

Where there is no wiggle room, is when Taylor is involved. He's too drunk to wiggle.

Excellent Semicolon Use

A transitional phrase will usually start a new sentence, but if you would like a smoother transition than that afforded by a full stop / period, you can use a semicolon before a transitional phrase to merge the new sentence with the previous one.Semicolons are tricky little bastards. They're like mint; sometimes they come up in sweet dishes, sometimes they come up in savory dishes. There are really only a few simple rules to follow, so pay attention here:


A semicolon may be used between independent clauses joined by a connector, such as and, but, or, nor, etc., when one or more commas appear in the first clause.
Example: When I finish here, and I will soon, I'll be glad to help you; and that is a promise I will keep.

Use a semicolon before such words and terms as namely, however, therefore, that is, i.e., for example, e.g., for instance, etc., when they introduce a complete sentence. It is also preferable to use a comma after these words and terms.
Example: The defensive tilt in their portfolio; however, should have less drawdown than the sector ETFs and this might mitigate a portion of this drawback.

The moral of the story? Don't believe everything you read on the internet Taylor.