Today is the day of the EU Referendum. The UK electorate is voting on whether to remain in the EU or to leave. Yesterday evening the group stage of the 2016 European Football Championships (Euro 2016 for short) came to an end. We now know the 16 teams who will play in the knock-out rounds… Continue reading Euro 2016, the EU, and some mnemonics
In March I read Patti Smith’s “Just Kids”, her memoir mainly about her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe. When she first met him, on her arrival in New York City, she was looking for some friends who had moved on. He was lying on a bed, she told him of her plight and “he rose in… Continue reading Huaraches and Bobby Pins
Some of the training courses that I have attended over the years (which have resulted in vaguely work-related certification) place great emphasis on “The Unconscious Mind” and what it can and can’t do. The advice is that “The Unconscious Mind” is like a child that follows clear instructions and cannot process a negative. If you… Continue reading Not thinking of Blue Trees
Sometimes there are too many variables. When asked complicated speculative questions (which often begin, “What would you do if …?” or, worse, “What would you have done if …?”) my usual answer is, “Too many variables”. I like to keep things simple and think of circumstances where there are two variables, and each variable has… Continue reading Two variables, four outcomes and a practising non-believer
Earlier this month I wrote about apostrophes and noted that you can summarize all the rules about them on a single sheet of A4 (or Letter sized paper if you’re in the US). You can read whole books about grammar and spelling but everything you need to know about apostrophes can be summarized on one… Continue reading Everything you need on one sheet of A4
We all have strengths and weaknesses. We all have a strength for starting projects, or for finishing them, or for the bit in between (maintaining or managing projects). Similarly we all have a weakness in one of these three areas. You might be one of those very rare people who is equally good at all… Continue reading Starting and finishing, and the bit in between
Once again my 9 year old daughter’s homework has prompted me to think about language and learning, as in earlier pieces about Adverbs and Homophones. She has studied apostrophes before and it was part of her homework again last week. It’s a good example of something where the broad principles are straightforward, and can be… Continue reading Apostrophes
In the late 1990s I delivered several months’ worth of training sessions to civil servants, training sessions that combined computer use with tips about publishing and printing. The delegates were about to start using their computers in a way that would save time and money in a clearly quantifiable way. This doesn’t happen with every… Continue reading Hyphens, En Dashes and Em Dashes
Now, I know what you’re thinking. And I know what you’re going to say next. No I don’t, not really. I wouldn’t presume to know what you’re thinking, or what you’re going to say next. But some people do. They say “I know what you’re thinking” even when they have only a tiny chance of… Continue reading Mindreading: a trick
When I was young I spent thousands of hours playing football and hundreds of hours playing Scrabble. I enjoyed both pastimes and was, at the very least, competent at both of them, able to kick a ball, and able to find the odd 7-letter word. Looking back I realize that I received hardly any coaching… Continue reading Coaching: Football and Scrabble
The Compartments 