whatever
Let the not-very-difficult boycott of Hobby Lobby begin!
December 28, 2012 - 9:45am | Melvix
I'm fairly certain that Hobby Lobby should not dictate the details of its employees' health care for religious reasons. But I am convinced that I should not buy any more art supplies at Hobby Lobby.
The talent myth: How to maximise your creative potential
August 26, 2012 - 9:26am | MelvixHard work always beats talent. Of course, talent always helps.
The tips outlined in the article:
- Focus on who you want to become
- Steal without apology
- Be willing to be stupid
- Choose spartan over luxurious
- Figure out if it's a hard skill or a soft skill
- Honor the hard skills
- Don't fall for the prodigy myth
- Pick a good mentor
Top 100 words and phrases to avoid
June 15, 2011 - 8:16am | Melvix1. It’s the economy, stupid.
2. A week is a long time in politics. Or variants thereof, such as, “If a week is a long time in politics then a month seems an eternity.”
3. What part of x don’t you understand? Although this one seems to have nearly died out already.
4. Way beyond, or way more.
5. Any time soon.
6. “Events, dear boy, events.” (Except as the name of an excellent political blog, currently in abeyance.)
7. Learning curve.
8. Raising awareness.
9. Celebrating diversity.
10. In any way, shape or form.
11. Inclusive.
12. Community, especially a vibrant one.
13. Hearts and minds.
14. Celebrity.
15. Makeover.
16. Lifestyle.
17. Going forward.
18. A forward policy.
19. A big ask.
20. At this moment in time.
21. Not fit for purpose.
22. Hard-working families.
23. Apologies for lack of postings.
24. Black hole (in a financial context).
25. The elephant in the room.
26. Perfect storm.
27. Seal the deal.
28. A good election to lose.
29. Game-changer.
30. Beginning an article with “So”.
31. IMO, IMHO, LOL, ROFL and so on. I mean, whose opinion is it going to be? Genuinely witty abbreviations, however, are permitted, for example, QTWTAIN, YYSSW, IICRS (Questions to Which the Answer is No; Yeah, Yeah, Sure, Sure, Whatever; Iraq Inquiry Coverage Rebuttal Service).
32. Vibrant (when used to mean lots of non-English people).
33. Progressive.
34. Arguably, as in “arguably the most perfect village in the Siebenburgen” (Spectator, 24 July 2010).
35. Headlines beginning “Now”, as in “Now You Pay for Prison Parties.”
36. We will take no lessons on x from y.
37. Beginning a report with “They came”.
38. Iconic.
39. “Action” as a verb.
40. Parameter.
41. The level of.
42. A sense of.
43. A series of.
44. The introduction of.
45. A package of. Especially measures.
46. A basket of.
47. A raft of.
48. A range of.
49. The prospect of.
50. (All) the hallmarks of.
51. “Leverage” as a verb.
52. U-turn as a verb.
53. Dislocate as a noun. Or disconnect.
54. Toilet, storyline or any other unsuitable noun as a verb.
55. Exponential or exponentially used to mean big or a lot.
56. Incredible or incredibly as intensifiers.
57. On a daily basis.
58. It’s in his/her/their DNA.
59. Let’s be clear.
60. At the end of the day.
61. Organic, to refer to anything unrelated to farming or to the chemical science that deals with carbon-based compounds.
62. “The truth is…” before the peddling of an opinion.
63. End of.
64. Any journey not describing travel from A to B.
65. A no-brainer.
66. Pot, kettle.
67. What’s not to like?
68. Max out (in relation to credit cards only).
69. He/she gets it. They get it. He/she/it just doesn’t get it.
70. “All the evidence tells us” to mean “I’ve read something about this somewhere that confirms my prejudices”.
71. Fairly unique.
72. Paradigm shift. Or anything to do with a paradigm.
73. Quantum leap, except to mean a very small change of fixed magnitude.
74. Step change.
75. Sea change.
76. Real people and the real world. In real time.
77. Coffee, the waking up and smelling thereof.
78. Ongoing.
79. Project, except in the construction industry.
80. “No longer.” (Following a loving description of The Way We Were.)
81. Agenda, except to describe a list of things to be discussed in a meeting.
82. Out of the box (especially thinking).
83. Kick the can down the road.
84. Psychodrama. (To describe any tense political relationship.)
85. Radar, to be on someone’s, or to be under the.
86. Name and shame.
87. Does what it says on the tin.
88. Stakeholder.
89. Deliverables.
90. Key (adjective). Especially keynote speech.
91. Enough already.
92. Who knew?
93. Epic fail.
94. See what I/he/she did there?
95. Not so much.
96. Beleaguered, except of a city, town or fort with turrets.
97. Rolling out, except carpet, wallpaper or logs.
98. Forward planning (until invention of time machine allowing other kinds).
99. “And yet, and yet …”
100. The suffix -gate added to any news theme supposedly embarrassing to a government.
The Ransomizer
February 5, 2011 - 10:00am | Melvix
How many nights have you sat in bed, sleepless, plagued by wonderings of why no one has ever built a CSS-based ransom note generator? One? A hundred? Countless?
I fall into the "countless" category. So, gosh darn it, I decided to do something about it.
Here it is. The Ransomizer. With which you can create ransom notes that might look like this:
The chicken we stole from your yard was mighty tasty.
Or maybe like this:
You should turn off your webcam more often.
Possibilities: endless!
Stuff I Don't Care About
May 12, 2010 - 6:58pm | Melvix
Die Antwoord
iPad
Tiger Woods
Survivor
Sarah Palin
Disneyland
Twitter
Michael Jackson
Lindsay Lohan
Harder to come up with this list than you would think. It's like not imagining an elephant.
A 7 Step No-Waffle Plan for Real World Success
May 1, 2010 - 7:39am | Melvix
Not the usual kind of thing we post here, but I've had this in my bookmarks for over a year and every time I go back to it I think it seems like solid advice.
A Collection a Day, 2010
April 18, 2010 - 4:38pm | Cristy
As a person with too many things and too many collections, I am intrigued by Lisa Congdon's blog, A Collection a Day, 2010. Some things I covet while others do nothing for me. But isn't that really the crux of the collection? What matters is what the collection evokes or conjures for you, not its monetary value or relevance to anyone else. I picked something related to sewing but I promise there is something for everyone!
March Madness
March 18, 2010 - 8:34am | Melvix
My friend Eddie convinced me last night to participate in the March Madness thing. Here's my bracket. Eddie says that you've got to be a goddamn fool not to pick UNM to win.
Banned words for 2010
January 5, 2010 - 11:01am | MelvixA list of words and phrases that you should stop using, in print and speech. From Lake Superior State University.
My favorites:
- App (should be killed)
- Bromance (as deplorable as "man-date")
- In these economic times (enough said)
