Category: Words

COLLECTIVE NOUNS

FIBBING FRIDAY - July 8, 2022 I actually have a few books about these dating back to my college days when many of you hadn't yet been born. Some of these "real" ones are centuries old, but many are new, made up because people find them fun. If you like wordplay, these are just fun. … Continue reading COLLECTIVE NOUNS

INTUITION VERSUS PLANNING

Blogging Insights # 43 —A Writer's Intuition “Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way.” — Ray Bradbury I hate to always be the one who says "both" to yes/no questions, but writing isn't an "either/or" process. It's never "yes" or "no." Intuition gets you started and maybe gives you the … Continue reading INTUITION VERSUS PLANNING

The 12-Foot Teepee … How I Didn’t Set the Publishing World On Fire

Every once in a while, much to my surprise, Amazon informs me that someone bought one of my books. It happened during 2012 and just happened again ... wow! Any personal friends who were going to buy or read my book have long since done so. Therefore, whoever bought it is not someone I guilted into … Continue reading The 12-Foot Teepee … How I Didn’t Set the Publishing World On Fire

ARRRGGGAHHHAGAGA!!

“A writer never has a vacation. For a writer life consists of either writing or thinking about writing." - Eugene Ionesco ??? More to the point, does THIS dying writer need a permanent vacation from LIFE. "YAYs please assemble to the left; "Nays" (do we have any "Nays"??) sojourn rightward flank. I'm suffering some minor … Continue reading ARRRGGGAHHHAGAGA!!

MY FIRST FIBBING FRIDAY

Fibbing Friday 11th July I can never think of anything funny to say, but this week, I liked the words so I figured I'd give it a try. Here we go! I feel I should mention that sometimes, the actual meaning of the word is funnier than anything we can make up! Lunkhead "Lunk" means stupid … Continue reading MY FIRST FIBBING FRIDAY

WOULD IT KILL THEM TO INCLUDE A MANUAL?

My sentiments exactly! How about simple instructions? Like "We just updated. Please clean out your cookies and reboot." How hard would that be? It might not really solve the problem, but it is unlikely to make things worse. Frankly, I don't think their software can get much worse. It is dysfunctional more often than not … Continue reading WOULD IT KILL THEM TO INCLUDE A MANUAL?

BALLS, NERVE, AND חוצפה

"You're one tough broad," my friend told me. I recognized this as a compliment. Maybe you have to come from New York or New Jersey to "get it," but I got it. "Tough" includes brave, determined, and hard to kill. A survivor with חוצפה  (chutzpah). I've heard "moxie" used in old British and American movies, … Continue reading BALLS, NERVE, AND חוצפה

THE CRITICAL ART OF HEADLINEs

80% of readers will only read the headline. Make it worthwhile. “On the average five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.” — David Ogilvy I can't argue with this. It's true. If you can … Continue reading THE CRITICAL ART OF HEADLINEs

WOULD IT KILL THEM TO INCLUDE A MANUAL?

My sentiments exactly!

KINDNESS TO KIDNEYS

Autocorrect had decided the writer couldn't possibly mean "exacerbated" and must have meant "exasperated." I had a sudden weird mental image of his kidneys throwing up their hands or whatever kidneys throw into the air and saying, "That's it. I've had it. I'm outta here."