Credibility suffers when people use the wrong homophone

If I were Queen Elizabeth II, I would make my legacy a campaign reinforcing the importance of written communication skills, as “her” English is being mutilated daily. I’m not referring to the lack of eloquence, nor am I delving into dwindling vocabularies wrought with management-speak. Grammar is my focus today; specifically, my homophonia (or fear of the incorrect use of …

It only takes a couple of minutes to save a lot of lives

Recently, I was surprised at how few Ontarians had signed up to be organ donors. I guess I always thought that everyone subscribed to the concept that if you’re dead and don’t need the organs anymore, why not donate them? Perhaps the process is overly complicated? I went to www.beadonor.ca and clicked on the “register now” button to find out. …

Is it a deal? Saving money on spending or impulse purchases

You can’t open the paper lately without being told “Thou shalt Steal The Deal.” Full-page, colour ads with masked models smile back at us as they have supposedly saved money on restaurants, salons, golf, and more. Steal The Deal follows on the heels of other group buy sites, such as Groupon, Living Social, and WagJag. The premise is brilliant, even …

Relay for Life luminaries represent stories of those affected by cancer

My neighbour asked me last week if I’d be going to the Relay for Life. When I heard the music still going strong into the wee small hours on Friday night, I put on my walking shoes and went over to the John Rhodes Community Centre, awed by the number of people still there. For those who haven’t been to …

Post-university life isn’t that different from post-secondary life

I keep thinking about graduating students and how excited they are to get into the work world. Graduates should be rightly proud of their achievement, and I don’t want to sully that and take anything away from them and their moment; but I have to ask, should we burst their bubble now? They’re so happy that the school phase of …

Strike two on predicting the end of the world

If you’re reading this, it’s because you’ve got a copy of The Heavenly Times, or Harold Camping has again had a little trouble with his biblical decoding and mathematic calculations. Camping and his movement said that May 21, 2011 would be Judgment Day: the day when because of our sins, the Earth would be destroyed and Christian believers would be …

Haven’t you heard, not reading a column to the end causes bad luck

Friday the 13th is only two days away. Are you superstitious? Merriam-Webster.com says you are if you’re swayed by “a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation.” Perhaps because of the negative connotation of the definition, people seem to deny being superstitious. If you bring up …

Abracadabra: cherish life’s moments of enchantment

The holidays always remind me of the importance and power of magic. Oh to be happily enchanted like a child over the holidays. As the Easter Bunny hopped through our house, it left not only a bunch of hidden chocolate eggs, but it left smiles on my children’s faces. Some of that glow and wonder spread to all the adults …

Take the byte out of bullying and be glad our antics weren’t documented

With anti-bullying day recently behind us, I have to wonder if we’ve really achieved all that much in light of a story I heard recently. Here’s the story: a mother was called by her daughter’s teacher about an emergency with her daughter. Mom was panic-stricken, but the school told her not to worry as her daughter was not hurt. Mom …

Readers have learned a lot about this writer through 100 columns

Today is a milestone for me: this is my 100th column. The only reason I know that it’s my centennial column is that I started putting my columns into a scrapbook. I was motivated by the Mae West quote: “Keep a diary and one day it’ll keep you.” I hope that, in the future, my children may know me as …