by Sue Horner | Nov 3, 2008 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
I have author/historian/actor/broadcaster Studs Terkel to thank for a shining moment of glory. Studs (real name Louis) died on Friday at the age of 96. During a game of Trivial Pursuit, my opponent practically rubbed his hands with glee at the question he was going to...
by Sue Horner | Oct 30, 2008 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Do you read the fine print? I read everything, and I love that some creative types reward people like me. For example: Andy Wibbels offers to send his blog posts by e-mail, and when he does, it has this note at the bottom: “All Rights Reserved. Please forward to...
by Sue Horner | Oct 28, 2008 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
I’ve written before about the delightful column in The Atlantic where Barbara Wallraff posts reader requests (and ideas) for words that don’t exist but should. I didn’t realize that she also has a book called Word Fugitives until my husband, knowing...
by Sue Horner | Oct 26, 2008 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
It’s funny how blogging is the first casualty when I’m up to my eyeballs in work. In the meantime, here are a few of the many mindless diversions on the web: “Insanely interesting facts” from the Mental Floss “amazing fact...
by Sue Horner | Oct 20, 2008 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Astrologers who find new stars get their discoveries named after them; so do researchers identifying new diseases. Did you know that there is at least one writer who has been similarly recognized, although for a practice rather than a discovery? I had never heard the...
by Sue Horner | Oct 16, 2008 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Yesterday was Blog Action Day, where more than 9,000 bloggers had signed up to “raise awareness, initiate action and shake the web” by discussing poverty. High housing costs often mean a decision between paying the rent and eating properly. In my...
by Sue Horner | Oct 15, 2008 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
I’m mad at Stephen Harper. Yes, Canada’s newly re-elected Prime Minister is still in the saddle after a useless election that he called, thinking he could turn a minority government into a majority. Although he did gain 16 more seats, he was 12 shy of the...
by Sue Horner | Oct 14, 2008 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Here’s a secret about a lot of writers, or maybe just humans. We have fragile egos. We crave positive feedback, and when we don’t get much (or any), we’re often struck by a feeling of “I’m not as good as [fill in name of admired author...
by Sue Horner | Oct 9, 2008 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
This spring, I posted about the Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year. I recently found out that The Bookseller has crowned the Diagram of Diagrams, bestowing the title of Oddest Book Title among all the winners of the past 30 years. You may be surprised to...
by Sue Horner | Oct 7, 2008 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
An appealing recent entry from WordSpy (a web site devoted to “lexpionage,” the sleuthing of new words and phrases) is “stay-at-work mom.” The term refers to a mother who returns to work soon after giving birth. I think it equally applies to...
