It’s cheating to set the bar low
Have you noticed that companies seem to be deliberately managing our expectations downwards? I’ve run across this a couple of times lately : When I traded in loyalty points for lift tickets for a recent ski trip, the web site said it would take about two weeks...
Happy birthday, Barbie
Happy birthday to Barbie, who turned 50 today. Talk about a toy with legs! Whether 50 is the new 40 or 50 is the new 30, she sure looks good. And she’s got all kinds of “dream” things — dream bedroom, dream dining room, dream kitchen, dream...Words matter
“There are huge problems in this world, and then there are problems that can be solved by everyday people with red pens and a little moxie.” So says the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, which has proclaimed today National Grammar Day. Not...More engaging phrases
For your reading pleasure, more examples of clever writers getting a specific point across: “Guys like Bruce were as common as white socks sold in six packs at the Wal-Mart.” – Jennifer Weiner in Good in Bed “Abiding by the rules worked until...Test your Scrabble power
Here’s a new way to waste time practice your Scrabble(R) skills: Scrabble Zone, found at Merriam-Webster Online. You don’t actually connect the words the way you do on a Scrabble board, just make a word as fast as possible with the tiles given. Premium...Survivor: Offline
Could you do without your computer and your online life for a week? It’s an experiment I conducted last week, after dropping off my laptop for repairs and going skiing at Mont Tremblant, Quebec. My main clients knew I was away and all my projects were up to...Die, buzzwords, die
This week, a Toronto newspaper ran a story with a headline containing a buzzword that is one of my most detested — “win-win” — so it’s obvious the battle against meaningless phrases must continue. On our side, we have sites that make fun...Comforts of home, office version
Today is Doing Business in Your Bathrobe Day, the 7th annual celebration of the freedom of home business ownership. Today’s the day to make the bathrobe your power suit, or so says Kristie Tamsevicius, whose blog offers “mom-geared work-at-home...