Rodent Regatta

Ever since the French (persistent delusions of relevance) showed what they’re made of, I have suspended use of Rhodia pads. I miss them, but not as much as I enjoy doing a tiny thing to snub the French.

Today, I bought my first Moleskine (mol-a-skeen’-a) notebook. The recommendation was the Real Live Preacher’s. I think I’m going to like it. If it was good enough for Hemingway, it’s great for me. It’s also Italian – not French!

Google until you find a source for them, but here are some options for you:

• Davis Kidd
• Moleskineus.com
• Kikkerland.com
• Barnes & Noble
• Vickerey.com
• The Dailer Planner

If you’ve got other favorite tools for actually writing – not merely typing – post a comment and let us know what you use. We’re particularly interested in the preferences of engineers, architects, designers and scientists. What’s your favorite notebook or sketchbook?

The Plain English Campaign cites the top four overworked cliches and phrases. They are:

1. At the end of the day
2. At this moment in time
3. Use of ”like” (as if it were a form of punctuation)
4. With all due respect

Overworked phrases also making the list include:

• 24/7
• absolutely
• address the issue
• around (in place of ”about”)
• awesome
• ballpark figure
• basically
• basis (”on a weekly basis” in place of ”weekly” and so on)
• bear with me
• between a rock and a hard place
• blue sky (thinking)
• boggles the mind
• bottom line
• crack troops
• diamond geezer
• epicentre (used incorrectly)
• glass half full (or half empty)
• going forward
• I hear what you’re saying..
• in terms of…
• it’s not rocket science
• literally
• move the goal-posts
• ongoing
• prioritise
• pushing the envelope
• singing from the same hymn sheet
• the fact of the matter is
• thinking outside the box
• to be honest/to be honest with you/to be perfectly honest
• touch base
• up to (in place of ”about”)
• value-added (in general use)

Last year: If You’ve Thought About a Weblog

A long weekend at Mississippi State was filled with activity. Daughter number two will finish there in May. We had a great time all weekend long. There were Barn Parties, baseball games, football games, meals together and lots of campus activities.

The weekend has been followed by lots of new opportunities and a new focus. It may take the better part of a couple of weeks before I write about it here. Stay tuned.

I haven’t launched my RSS feed reader in better than 24 hours. I’m in a hotel that wants $9.95 per 24-hour period for wireless Internet access. Frustrating. The massive wi-fi cloud over this country can’t form quickly enough for my taste. It would currently take about eight different accounts to get the kind of wi-fi coverage I really want.