You have no idea how much of a struggle it’s been not to start this post with the word ‘So’. For that is our subject today, dear reader. More particularly, the increasingly pervasive practice of begiinning sentences with this poor, innocent syllable. To borrow another common modern usage: WTF? This has been going on for years now,…
All shopped out? Thought so. Even the most prosaic shopping expedition – to your local food supermarket, for example – can be a highly stressful experience. The problem of course, is the other shoppers. Obviously, the problem is worse during the holiday season as there are more of them about and they’re buying more stuff, but in truth your fellow shoppers…
The latest of ‘365 Days of Writing Prompts’ invites us to “write a post in the style of (or simply inspired by) a favourite author”. However, rather than lay ourselves open to charges of plagiarism (and, even worse, doubtless poorly-executed plagiarism at that) we decided instead on a departure from the normal diet of self-obsessed twaddle. So today for the first…
What is it with ‘selfies’? Why do so many people feel the need to remind themselves constantly of what they look like? Personally, that couple of minutes twice a day looking in the bathroom mirror while brushing my teeth is more than sufficient for me to keep the old memory banks topped up, self-image wise. I’m pretty sure I’d…
‘Is there junk in your life?’ asks the latest of ‘365 Days of Writing Prompts.’ Well of course there is. ‘Junk’- in all its burgeoning variety of forms – is an inescapable adjunct to modern life. Some – maybe even most – junk doesn’t start out that way: it’s simply stuff that gets overtaken by events, or…
This one’s just too good to miss…(cracks knuckles; hunches over keyboard; ticks tags for ‘rants’ and ‘grumpy old man’). “(YAWN): What bores you?” Firstly, let’s be clear about what we actually mean by ‘boredom’. My first stab at finding a dictionary definition came up with the rather uninsightful ‘tedium’. I think you’ll find that’s a…
“Flip flop. Think of a topic or issue about which you’ve switched your opinion. Why the change? Nobody likes to admit they’re wrong and frankly it’s a little embarrassing to tell everyone (ha!) about how I couldn’t see the point of an iPad at all when they first came out. If you tried to take…
“I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.” The filling protocol of petrol stations in Belgium defies both belief and logic. For the benefit of my North American reader, I should just explain that over here a petrol station is what you would call a gas station. Why you would…
“Tell us your story: Tell us about a journey – whether a physical trip you took, or an emotional one.” Oh, WordPress. You and your ‘365 Days of Writing Prompts’. You see, you had me up to ‘or’, but now you’re just going to get a rant. You have been warned. But first, a small confession.…
“Morphing. Language evolves. The meaning of a word can shift over time as we use it differently….” This latest of WordPress’ ‘365 Days of Writing Prompts’ goes on to invite me to give a common word a new meaning, explain it and use it in the title of the post. This is a temptation to…
the only deadhead in the hameau 