Death Of Someone Who Could Write
The death of Lord Rees-Mogg was reported over Christmas and today the newspaper that he edited has a two page tribute to their former editor.
In a piece by Anne Spackman, the Comment Editor, which describes him as an editor, who knew the value of editing, there is this final paragraph.
When his wife rang just days later to say that William had been taken into hospital, she said he wasn’t afraid of dying. “It’s going to be so very interesting,” he had told her.
If we could all be as brave and dignified, when the time comes.
Did Leveson Use Wikipedia?
The Times today is saying that some passages of Lord Leveson’s report were copied from Wikipedia.
Surprise! Surprise!
Aren’t we all guilty of that. I know, I regularly point to the articles of others. But I try to give the source.
A Letter In The Guardian
A friend of mine has just had a letter published in the Guardian. It’s here on their letters page.
I’ve had several letters published in The Times and there’s one big difference between the two papers.
I have never been contacted by The Times before publication, but my friend was phoned the day before to possibly check they were who they are.
The only time, I’ve been phoned by The Times, was when they didn’t publish my letter. They asked me to review the days paper in a few hundred words and that was duly published the next day.
The Times On Jimmy Wales
The Times drops its serious front today with a third leader about the marriage of Wikipedia’s founder; Jimmy Wales, in the style of the on-line encyclopaedia.
C Gets Stuck To Me!
When we went to Cardiff, it appeared that I lost one of the return train tickets. In the end it turned up in the back pocket of my wallet, stuck in there by an old Post-It note. I was a small one and written on it was an 0208 phone number. The writing appeared familiar at the time and only now, am I sure that it was C’s. In any case it wasn’t like any other of the usual suspects, who might have given me a Post-It note with a phone number on.
So has that note been looking after me, these nearly five years since she died? Who cares? I’m still here! Even if there is a touch of the just-abouts to it.
The Answer To Life, The Universe and Everything is 72
Douglas Adams got it wrong according to this article on the BBC. As many know, he thought the answer was 42.
Social Networking is Good for Your Writing
A study has shown that children who use technology write better.
Children who blog, text or use social networking websites have better writing skills than those who do not, according to the National Literacy Trust.
I’ve always thought this and it’s nice to be proved right.
At school my English was atrocious and I just about scraped through my O-Level. I struggled along until I met a guy called Stephen Allender, who worked for a company called OTMA. In one course he straightened my writing out.
Looking back, I can see that what I lacked was rules, fluidity and practice. He told me to write in the first person, gave me a set of rules and this then enabled me to get the fluidity. I was also working for ICI and had to write lots of notes and letters, so that gave the practice.
Social networking, such as FaceBook, Bebo and MySpace, are the ideal places to get the practice you need. Often it is easy because you may be sending a message to someone you don’t know, so there is a low embarrassment factor.
Sadly no-one has been able to do anything for my handwriting.
The Anonymous Widower 