code: def flatten_list_of_strings(args)
        args.collect do |b|
          if b.is_a?(String)
            # string, split on commas and turn into array
            b.split(",").collect { |s| s.strip }
          else
            # presumably an array
            b
          end
        end.flatten
      end
docs: take a variable list of strings and possibly arrays and turn
   them into a single flat array of strings