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...Reaching for a word II
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...
Your name in a book means you’ve been ’tuckerized’ (it’s a good thing)
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...
Start your glory file to stop imposter syndrome
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...
More prize-winning odd titles in an odd contest
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...
Blogging’s not dead yet; join the party!
As I wrote this, Mitch Joel was saying there’s never been a better time to start your own blog. Technorati said in its State of the Blogosphere/2008 report that “blogging is not dead” and “blogs are here to stay.” The report also notes...