Analyzing everyday rhetoric: disposition of a raw foodist

Something that I like to do, when I feel my motivation to eat healthy and lose weight waning, is to skip on over to YouTube and look up videos created by raw foodists. For some reason, raw foodists are one of the most cheerful, motivational, inspiring groups of people out there. I always feel better …

Lifestyle Editing: Building a Time Capsule

About 11 years ago, my family and I put together a time capsule, which we planned on opening on New Year’s Eve, 2009. However, due to the father dear and sistertraveller being out of the country, we had to postpone opening our time capsule until New Year’s Eve 2010. When we opened it, most of …

Lifestyle Editing: Skiing and Rhetoric

I’ve cross-country skied since around the time that I could walk. Every winter, my parents would pack my sister and I up and take us nearly every weekend to go skiing. It was fantastic. It’s been several years since I was last out on the trails, so it was with much excitement (and a little …

Forms of Rhetoric: entertainment vs. high art

After reading Postman, I figured I should probably read Huxley. And what an excellent author he is! From Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (page 194): You’ve got to choose between happiness and what people used to call high art. We’ve sacrificed the high art. We have the feelies and the scent organ instead. In Brave …

In the Media: Political Perspectives

George Lakoff is an interesting character. As an expert in cognitive linguistics with strong political views, his work makes for a fascinating read. I’ve been reading his book Don’t think of an elephant! Know your values and frame the debate: the essential guide for progressives and he certainly makes his readers re-think the rhetorical strategies …

Forms of Rhetoric: What are we really learning?

Neil Postman makes me swoon. His book, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business may have been first published in 1985, but it is absolutely still relevant today. I share with you a paragraph from his last chapter, entitled “The Huxleyan Warning”, in which he discusses the dangers of television: …

In the Media: Book Review of “Restitution” by Kathy Kacer

“Restitution” is the true story of a Jewish Czechoslovakian family immigrating to Canada during the Holocaust and their determination to reclaim four paintings. If you’re in the least bit interested in history, art, legacy, and the struggle to maintain the self within times of political strife, you will be able to take much away from reading this book.

The Practical Guide: Freelancing (Part Five)

As a freelancer, most of your work is likely going to be conducted from home. This means that you don’t have a boss looking over your shoulder or a clock on the wall that tells you how many hours you’re supposed to work for and when you’re allowed to take breaks. You have to be both your own boss and your own employee. Follow these tips to keep you on track and organized.

The Practical Guide: Freelancing (Part Four)

Check out our previous sessions of this Freelancing mini-series: Part One: Gaining Experience Part Two: Building and Preparing Your Business Part Three: Finding Work Part Four: Freelancing Fees When you first become a freelancer (whether it’s in writing and editing or something else entirely), one of the trickiest parts to figure out is what to …

The Practical Guide: Freelancing (Part Three)

Check out our previous sessions in this Freelancing mini-series: Part One: Gaining Experience Part Two: Building and Preparing Your Business Finding Work You have the experience, you’ve prepared yourself to have a real from-home business going, and now it’s time to get work! As we discussed in Part Two, it is important to have business …

The Practical Guide: Freelancing (Part Two)

Check out the previous session in this Freelancing mini-series, Part One: Gaining Experience. Building and Preparing Your Business Gaining freelancing experience is likely to take months and years – it’s a slow process, but it’s a work in progress. The more experience you get, the better the quality of your work (hopefully), and the faster …