Writers Block
Two Weeks in France, Part One: Paris
29 May 2018
Paris is known as the “City of Light.” This is because Paris was a center of education/ideas and also because the city used gas lamps to brilliantly light the [...]
Read more Two Weeks in France, Part One: ParisSnappy Starts
14 May 2018
My father was a fiery preacher and a great speaker. His sermons kept even the sleepiest of parishioners at attention with his intermittent thunder. He used life [...]
Read more Snappy StartsPhrases That Have Outlived Their Original Meanings
16 Apr 2018
Every language has its special phrases that no longer make sense if you look at the exact meanings of the words. Together such words and phrases have unique [...]
Read more Phrases That Have Outlived Their Original MeaningsLet’s Get Picky: the Em Dash, the En Dash, and the Hyphen
2 Apr 2018
My teacher in ninth grade English, Mrs. Wood, was picky. The first written assignment I turned in to her was returned to me with a low grade because I had not used [...]
Read more Let’s Get Picky: the Em Dash, the En Dash, and the HyphenGreat Teachers Create Successful Leaders
12 Mar 2018
It’s a worthwhile endeavor to reach back in time and remember teachers who made a difference in our lives. What was it about them that made them so memorable? What [...]
Read more Great Teachers Create Successful LeadersFun with Words
26 Feb 2018
Famed comedian Groucho Marx in his 1933 film Duck Soup said, “I’ve got a good mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it” (attributed to writer Bert [...]
Read more Fun with WordsBook Series for a Cold Winter’s Night Read
12 Feb 2018
In the last few years, I have become taken by several book series. I keep checking for the release dates on new additions to each series and shamelessly buy the [...]
Read more Book Series for a Cold Winter’s Night ReadTune Your Tone
29 Jan 2018
“Good job.” These two words can be said in so many ways that completely change their meaning. Imagine someone saying them with enthusiasm so that they are a [...]
Read more Tune Your ToneThe Ever-Morphing English Language
15 Jan 2018
Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) was a philosopher, astronomer, bureaucrat, courtier, and diplomat, but he is best remembered today as the author of The Canterbury [...]
Read more The Ever-Morphing English LanguageWriting Concisely – Part Two
2 Jan 2018
“The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do,” (Thomas Jefferson). William Shakespeare, William Strunk, Mark Twain and [...]
Read more Writing Concisely – Part Two