Top 10 posts in the Red Jacket Diaries in 2022
The flurry of end-of-year lists started even before last week. So as 2022 comes to an end (finally!), here’s my last post of the year: The 10 most-viewed posts on my blog in 2022. 1. Like many (you?), I was swept up in the early days of the word craze that is Wordle....
4 Christmas ‘life is short’ flashbacks (Wordnerdery)
In December 2016, Facebook memories showed me a photo of my black Lab, Jake, staring at my son’s Christmas stocking. That photo was taken during what turned out to be Jake’s last Christmas. With the famous clarity of hindsight, I thought, and wrote about,...
Dreaming about long-term travel? So is my client
This year, I had the privilege of writing for the 80,000+ mostly retired members of RTOERO and their magazine, Renaissance. RTOERO has its roots in the Ontario Teachers’ Federation although not all members are teachers. They work in or are retired from the...
A Christmas tale reveals life is short (from the vault)
This last month of the year, many of us are getting ready for family gatherings. Some have lost or are estranged from loved ones. Some just don’t have the heart after the past few years. Maybe it all reminds you, as it does me, that life is short. That reminder...
All about Christmas trees for National Christmas Tree Day
Tomorrow is the first Saturday in December, and that’s National Christmas Tree Day. It’s a perfect day to find out facts about, well, Christmas trees. I’m taking you back to the blog vault for “Fun things to know about Christmas trees.” The post shares an...
4 steps to simplify contract language (Wordnerdery)
In the old days, a handshake was your contract. Today, the hands involved belong to lawyers, and they are all over the simplest of contracts. Unfortunately, as Ohio Judge Mark P. Painter says, “Most legal writing is atrocious.” Forget short, crisp sentences. One...
Email tips you might have missed in my November link roundup
Hello friend, it’s time for another roundup of links you might have missed from posts I’ve shared on social media. This time, our focus is email and our sponsor is Elon Musk. Well, he doesn’t know it. But Twitter’s new overlord inspired me to share a collection...
Fun gifts for writers and readers, 2022 edition
All the Halloween decorations are stashed for the season. American Thanksgiving is on the doorstep. Warm weather on the weekend had neighbours putting up their Christmas lights. Someone I know (not naming names) had a Christmas tree up on November 3. So, it’s time for...