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South African English (SAE)
South African English is probably the most complicated variant of English anywhere because it has always existed in a complex multilingual and multi-cultural environment. English is one of eleven...
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Oh the memories
Endless nappies/diapers. The fear of a rainy week. Soaking them. Being afraid of poking baby with the pin.
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Football or soccer?
On Thursday, to commemorate the start of the 2018 Football World Cup, Sweden’s Aftonbladet newspaper dropped 4373 footballs over a central Stockholm square, to commemorate (!) that it has been 4373...
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Look at all the features on this 1956 Frigidaire refrigerator!
I really like the pull-out shelves and the butter holder! The vegetable container and ice cube thingamajig were also really nice.
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Kerning and Keming
In typography, kerning (less commonly mortising) is the process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a proportional font, usually to achieve a visually pleasing result (Wikipedia)....
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Periods
Did you know that there is a Museum of Menstruation? It is run by a man and is actually really interesting – for example, women now have about 400 periods in their lifetimes. Our female ancestors had...
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Odin pendant
I love ancient Celtic and Nordic symbols – particularly jewellery featuring the intricate knot-work of both Celtic and Nordic culture. Unfortunately though, mass-marketing to tourists and the rise of...
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The story behind ‘Chicama, the only legally protected wave in the world’
I have seen the image above shared by so many people on social media. It seemed too good to be true, so I did some research into it, and found these two images, both created in Photoshop by Ashley...
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Different types of earlobes
My earlobes are like the ones on the right. Attached, and very small. Having tiny earlobs makes it a huge challenge if you wish to wear earrings. You cannot wear clip-ons because there is nothing to...
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Cultural ideas of beauty
Mursi women of Ethiopia have lower (and sometimes upper) lip plates – dhebi a tugoin – inserted by their mothers (or other women from the tribe) at the age of about 15. Theories abound as to why –...
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Duvet days
My Swedish students always find the idea of ‘duvet days’ fascinating. Days where you can call out of work without taking a sick or holiday day. From Wikipedia:
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Whatabouts
Whataboutism really annoys me I often experience it when people find out I support a cat shelter: what about homeless children? what about starvation in Africa? what about wars? and that I have rescue...
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Rob Gonsalves
This talented and prolific Canadian painter uses acrylic on canvas. See more of his work here. I can lose myself in his art for ages. I actually prefer him to the Dalí I was so passionate about,...
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Superstitions
I have always found it interesting that so many superstitions seem to be the same or similar across countries walking under ladders brings bad luck breaking a mirror gives you seven (why seven I...
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Do nerds still exist?
Decades ago, there was a typical ‘nerd’ stereotype. Nerds appeared in movies, on television, in books. They generally dressed in an old-fashioned way (bow ties, high-waisted slacks) wore glasses liked...
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Life before cellphones
…or was it really? I am not sure but people must still do some of these things, surely? I can remember on our school holidays we would disappear to the beach after breakfast. If we had sandwiches with...
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Constant messages to overconsume are doing my head in
Today I was in the centre of the city, making my way between meetings, when I saw H&M’s display windows. What a discreet oasis of calm in an explosion of tinsel, snowmen, gift sets, advent...
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