Lifestyle Editing: Books I read in August 2011

Here are the books I read in August: – The Continuity Girl by Leah McLaren. I read this book before and I really enjoyed it. But when I read it this time, I was very disappointed. It wasn’t nearly as good as I remembered it. – Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding. Such a classic. …

Lifestyle Editing: Books I read in July 2011

Books that I both began and finished reading in July 2011: – Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. Ah Shopaholic! I’ve read these books dozens of times but hadn’t read them in a while. Still haven’t seen the movie, but it looks like crap, so I’m not planning on that (and that’s saying a …

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: creepy as hell

I read this book in less than a week. And for a week I kept asking myself the same question, over and over: Why do people love this book so much? I’ll do my best to refrain from using profanity on the blog, but this book is going to give me *@$%ing nightmares. The content …

In the Media: writing tips

One of the women I work with recently sent out a few articles, and now I’m completely hooked on Ragan.com. Here are some neat tips you might find useful for your own writing: – 5 ways to write an e-newsletter people will read – Keep yourself covered with these 8 proofreading tips – Who vs. …

Forms of Rhetoric: Handwriting Analysis

When I was younger, I received a book as a gift entitled The Handwriting Analyst’s Toolkit: character and personality revealed through graphology. This book is fantastic in that it has beautiful pictures and it examines just about every part of handwriting imaginable, deciphering your personality and mood at the time of writing based on how …

Lifestyle Editing: Books I read in June 2011

Books that I both began and finished reading in June 2011: – Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I started this book a couple months ago, but finally finished it – and a truly fantastic book it was. I loved it. There were tears in my eyes at the end when she describes holding the …

Analyzing Everyday Rhetoric: Hidden messages in logos

Being the nerd that I am, I get such a kick out of logos that contain hidden messages. Click here to read an article all about hidden messages in everyday logos! A couple of my favourites are the hidden kiss between the K and the I in the Hershey’s Kisses logo: …the arrow in the …

In the Media: What is a brand?

I apologize for being MIA! Poor rhetoric blog has been neglected for a week or two. It’s funny how fast things can get busy. Things still haven’t quieted down for me, but in the meantime I’d like to share a fantastic article about branding with all of you. The Executive Director at the Foundation that …

The Practical Guide: More than vs. Over

More than vs. over: when should we use each of them? I didn’t realize there was a difference in this until earlier this year when my editor explained it to me. Editorially, there are certain times when we should use each of these terms. The Canadian Press guide states: More than is followed by a …

Lifestyle Editing: Books I read in May 2011

Books books books! Happy sigh. Books that I both started and finished in May: – Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko. I read this in a record day and a half. Brilliant book! It’s all about the health benefits of drinking green smoothies, and why they’re an important addition to any diet, no matter what …

In the Media: Mama hugs baby kitten

This video has gone viral, so it’s likely that everyone reading this blog has already seen the video… but it is so freakin’ adorable that I wanted to post it here just in case you hadn’t seen it yet.   Hugs are really important. They’re a way to show someone how you feel about them …

Analyzing Everyday Rhetoric: The language of reduce, reuse, recycle

The boyfriend pointed out something the other day which really stuck with me. He observed that although the standard line is Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, of late the slogan seems to have evolved and dropped the first two parts. These days, you hear a lot about recycling. Manufacturers are coming out with new items which are “environmentally friendly.” …

Random Rare Word: Litotes

I was cruising through the dictionary when I came across this word. I like it! Hadn’t ever heard it before and wanted to share. Li-to-tes (noun) Ironic understatement, esp. the expressing of an affirmative by the negative of its contrary, e.g. no mean feat for some great accomplishment. [Late Latin from Greek litotes from litos …

Lifestyle Editing: making time to read books

2011 has been a great year so far for me in terms of the books I’ve been reading. As a kid, I’d gobble up books and read pretty much non-stop in my spare time. I got away from it a little bit with university and such, but I’ve really missed it. These days I work …

Analyzing Everyday Rhetoric: “Believing” in holistic medicine

Why is it that we never use the phrase “I believe/don’t believe in Western medicine/pharmaceuticals,” yet it’s the norm to talk about “believing” or “not believing” in holistic medicine/acupuncture/herbal remedies/Chinese medicine? Both are science. It seems odd that we as a society find it so difficult to reconcile that within ourselves.