The Red Jacket Diaries blog

Sue Horner is a freelance writer in Oakville, Ontario, who blogs about writing, newsletters, communications and running an independent business in The Red Jacket Diaries blog.

Freelancer follies

While Jake and I were out walking the other day, a bird crapped on my head.  I’ve heard it’s good luck and maybe that’s true. In my mail that day was payment of an invoice that had been outstanding for months. In my e-mail, promise of more money....

Message in a bottle

Hello, all you lurkers! Over the past couple of weeks, I was pleasantly surprised to find out about several people who are following my blog. Even if you aren’t necessarily saying anything, it’s nice to know you’re out there. When my friend Gloria...

Random misspellings

From the “glad I didn’t write that” files, some errors spotted recently in prominent places: …aged to a  natural petina (patina) …receive a complementary gift with test drive (complimentary) …being completely wreckless with your future...

Get control of your e-mail

A smart reminder from Jakob Nielsen in his most recent Alertbox: “…the best way to boost your productivity is to switch off IM, Twitter and the like and refrain from checking your email more than once per hour. Even the shortest interruption costs you...

Where were the other voters?

Of course the world is buzzing today with the good news that Barack Obama will be the new president of the United States. I’m hopeful it will mean good things for the neighbours, too. What strikes me about this election (besides how painfully long it dragged on)...

Thanks, Studs

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...

Read the fine print & laugh

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...