Week 1 down; 2 to go
Aren’t peacocks handsome birds? Well, the males anyway. I love the brilliant blues and greens of their feathers. And there are plenty of these creatures strutting around the grounds of Royal Roads University. Week two of my three-week residency starts tomorrow,...
Hello from RRU
I’m hurrying towards the school, brand new schoolbag over my shoulder; it’s full of freshly sharpened pencils and crisp sheets of blank paper. My heart is pounding. I can hear the bell signalling the start; I’m going to be late. That’s how my first day of kindergarten...
Blogging slowdown ahead
You may recognize this road sign, which I have borrowed from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation’s helpful guide to common and not-so-common road signs. It means there’s a bump or uneven pavement on the road ahead. The yellow “caution”...Truly awful writing 2
Writers spend much of our time agonizing over this word or that word, grammar and punctuation, all in an attempt to turn out a beautiful piece of work. But there’s a special category of writers who use their talents for a different, you might say evil, reason:...Fun words v. 2
Here are some of the interesting and funny words I’ve run across recently. Most are from Buzzwhack and urbandictionary.com: Academic junk food: College courses with no value other than being an easy way to get an A. Anticipointment: The feeling you get when a...
105 words guarantees confusion (a Before & After)
Ontario and British Columbia are getting a new Harmonized Sales Tax, or HST, on July 1. The HST replaces the Goods & Services Tax that I now charge, so this will affect me. So I signed up about a month ago to receive technical bulletins from the government that...
Communication by garden – the Toronto Music Garden
IABC/Toronto recently treated volunteers to a lovely appreciation event, a buffet dinner aboard the Jubilee Queen, a replica of a Mississippi paddlewheel boat. The weather had been iffy all day, but the sun came out as we lined up to board. Having arrived early, my...
Going green? Get the guide
In all the excitement of the IABC 2010 World Conference last week, I forgot to point out the excellent Green Guide put together by IABC/Toronto’s Corporate Social Responsibility committee. The guide is designed to provide “best practices, communications planning...