"It's me" <itsme at yahoo.com> wrote in message news:EO6Ad.3296> > I need to look up and see what: > > if not isinstance(arg2, basestring): > > does. > Okay, I got the idea there. Now, what if arg2 is not a string but either a number or a bunch of numbers? Using your method, can I say something to the effect of "if arg2 is *not* an instance of a simple number"?