writing
-
Bad advice: Consistency is the most important thing
Welcome to Bad Advice, a series I’m writing that I wanted to call Bullshit Wisdom but chickened out because of Teh Algorithms. Sometimes advice is just bad. Sometimes advice is good but it strikes at our insecurities so we react against it. And sometimes it’s both. With all of these posts, I understand that people’s Continue reading
-
I mean, what isn’t…
What are your favorite types of foods? Yesterday exercise, today diet, what gives, Daily Prompt? That said, I find this question interesting because of the “types of”. I think without it many of us would be inclined to go “eh, chocolate? Pizza? Chips?” But “types of” suggests a connection and thinking about the foods I Continue reading
-
Walking – daily. Running?
This is the 10th anniversary of me finishing Couch to 5k! I kept it up for about 6 months after that. I haven’t run in ages but it’s always reassuring to remember I did this. I recommend doing Couch to 5k if you are, like me, someone who doesn’t think of yourself as sporty or Continue reading
-
Bad Advice – “Use generative AI to write your blogposts” is all filla and no killa
There’s a scene in so many movies, often Christmas themed, where some well-off but emotionally starved child longs for their parent – probably the dad, because Stereotypes – to finally come through with some gift, gesture or word that finally proves that they care. And the parent seems to be finally about to do it Continue reading
-
Bad advice: “You should have” is only good for time travellers
Imagine you’re doing something difficult, perhaps for the first time. Maybe you’ve made a new recipe. Maybe you’ve given a speech, run a training session, had a job interview or even flown a plane. And your family member, mentor, supervisor, manager, teacher, podiatrist or parole officer turns to you and says… Continue reading
-
Lucy Skylark Entry 22, 4th July.
Bea asked us if we’d been to the ice cream parlour, Dessert Island. Suniya blushed then, and I felt embarrassed too. I told her about the chef seeming to have a glamour, and no reflection. She looked intrigued. “That’s certainly interesting, but I don’t know that I feel happy with you assuming there’s something wrong.” Continue reading
-
Olive Framley Entry 20, 3rd July.
Dear Talia, It’s been a trying couple of weeks. Daddy is furious about the whole Magical Reporter debacle and the fact that people are now asking him what he thinks he’s doing, sending his well-educated daughter to mess around with potions and spells, and I’ve had journalists and paparazzi following me all over the place.… Continue reading
-
Bad Advice: If you’re lonely…
I was walking back from town, alone, to my bedsit flat. It was cold, crisp, and dry, as that city so often was, and my room was probably cold. I heard someone say my name, with that sort of surprised delight when you see someone who you didn’t expect to see, but are pleased to… Continue reading
-
Bad advice: Fake it till you make it
I know that some will find fake it till you make it genuinely inspiring. There are positives to the phrase, as a piece of advice… It acknowledges that we don’t always feel confident when we start It assures us that we will grow in confidence the more we try It gives us the hope of… Continue reading
-
A Day In The Life of A Teenage Witch
Skylark and Framley’s powers are alarming, if also impressive – I witnessed a rainstorm, dramatic plant growth and a slightly fumbled but no less remarkable piece of spell-casting by Olive Framley. Continue reading
Helen Speaks 