#HashtagHyphen Hashtags – once just the name of a symbol – now define social media phrases fronted by the # mark. Hashtags are the strategic tools of social media users who use them to create catchy, innovative and trendsetting phrases. Hashtags link to one another within online social space. They’re a trademark of the digital… Continue reading Are You Tired of Dashing About?
Words
Clueless Girl in a Barbie Whirlwind
This post contains spoilers, ye ken. Skip to TL;DR Pink to Make the Boys Shrink I’m so pleased that I watched the Barbie movie, albeit six months after its UK release. ‘Sí, se puede‘ made me chuckle and Issa is a Rae of sunshine. In fact, my weekend plans will now be rejigged to involve… Continue reading Clueless Girl in a Barbie Whirlwind
Sunderland Is More Than Weary
And It’s Nothing Less Than the Mackems Deserve Sunderland is trendingy again! This long-neglected city by the sea, battered by severe economic storms, remained on the peripheries of decision making for decades. I have a suspicion that secret Sunderland investor Bruce Springsteen and honorary northerner Ken Loach (whose film The Old Oak is now on… Continue reading Sunderland Is More Than Weary
Hit the Road, Hack
Life Hacks are Old Hat. Is that all right, Jack? Skip to TL;DR The concept of ‘life hacks’ turns everything into a matter of efficiency, and that kind of hacks me off. It perpetuates the notion that we aren’t doing things well enough, that we aren’t living life properly (whatever that means), or that we… Continue reading Hit the Road, Hack
Think ‘You’ Is Rude? Explain ‘Yourself’!
A Story of Self-Acceptance Skip to TL;DR Like all good viewers, I was outraged by The Traitors. I withstood the brutal tactics and predicted most of the sucker punches. But one moment of weakness changed everything. I was blindsided… by the one and only yourself. I tried to enjoy the show without engaging in pettifoggery.… Continue reading Think ‘You’ Is Rude? Explain ‘Yourself’!
Abstractly Fluent
I have so many thoughts about the topic of fluency that I often struggle to verbalise them coherently. Here is a poem I wrote to express some ideas. The background is a photo of an abstract artwork I created last year while I was working on my Italian.
Word Game Stet of Mind
I would revel in shouting “stet!”1 in response to attempts to add an apostrophe to my possessive “its” but I’ve been told that it would be inappropriate. The social etiquette of correction lacks clarity. We all know a hyperliterate boffin who casually employs mixed metaphors and drops the dreaded “should of [+ past participle]” in… Continue reading Word Game Stet of Mind
Meta-averse
Our ostensibly insatiable desire for likes/shares/follows contrasted with our progressively more insular goblin mode default state is baffling yet banal. This once potentially incongruous juxtaposition pulled from a dystopian sijo is now a perfectly-functioning, self-fulfilling prophecy. The asocial socialite movement is booming. The relentless pull of social media is real. I suspect that we don’t… Continue reading Meta-averse