Live the life you want to live
Yesterday marked the birthday of Queen Victoria, who reigned when Canada was born. It’s a classic Canadian holiday, dubbed “May two-four” in a nod to both the date (the Monday closest to May 24) and the ceremonial purchasing and consuming of at least...
Few takers for cheap brain surgeons, and other pricing factors
(Updated October 2016) Freelancers sometimes run into clients who question quoted rates and ask for less. Should you give in? Most seasoned professionals will agree that you shouldn’t let yourself be “had” on price. State what you are worth, making...Rare sighting: good ads
With golf season upon us, Golf Town has been busily advertising. I have to say, these ads are good. In one, you see a mom at the wheel of her mini-van, counselling her unseen charges to “stay together” and “don’t cry when we have to...More on moms
The Friday edition of the Toronto Star led into Mother’s Day with several essays about moms. One by Toronto writer Elyse Friedman was particularly funny; it captures the desire to do right by your child and the guilt and fear that you might not be doing so by...Dog with a rap sheet update
You may be wondering how Jake, the dog known to police, is doing these days. I’m happy to say he is not looking mournfully out from behind bars. After our call from the Humane Society officer, I did indeed take steps that will weigh in his favour should someone...Writing for readability
I’ve been playing with the grammar function in Word after a reminder from the Publication Coach, Daphne Gray-Grant. By paying attention to things like words per sentence (aim for an average of 14 or less), passive sentences (no more than 10%) and Flesch-Kincaid...
Remembering Joan
Easter was early that year; March 26. I was awake but still in bed when the doorbell rang. It must have been something like 7 a.m., so my parents and I knew something was wrong; we arrived at the door at the same time, throwing on robes. There was a police officer...Guess I am not incented by this jargon
While proofreading a client’s newsletter, I flagged this: A person quoted in an article about the switch of IT support to a call centre in India calls the staff “a well-trained, highly incented and duly rewarded group of employees.” UGH! I understand...