October Wallpaper

Need some flashy new wallpaper for your laptop or desktop? Smashing Magazine publishes monthly offerings that combine good looking pictures with a calendar. The October edition is available now. Don’t miss the Halloween selections.

Governor Palin, please visit a Toastmasters club

I’ve long thought that one of the really useful purposes of the Grammarian’s role is that it reminds us that sloppy speech is a sign of sloppy thinking. Here’s Hendrik Hertzberg using Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric to make the same case in reverse in The New Yorker:

This seems to be a case of incoherence of thought leading to incoherence of syntax. Pronouns wander in search of antecedents like Arctic explorers in a blinding snowstorm. Homophones confuse the transcriber.

Check your politics at the door, and follow the link for all of Hertzberg’s analysis.

Count Your Blessings, not Sheep

Lifehacker strikes again with this common sense advice:

If you’re finding it hard to fall asleep once your head’s on the pillow, even after reducing pre-sleep screen time, the Dumb Little Man blog has a few suggestions. Along with meditation, eating right, and novel reading, freelancer Monkia Mundell suggests a bit of writing:
Some people prefer to write into a diary, while others use a normal notepad. Whatever works for you is perfectly fine. Others yet use a gratitude journal. I love this, because it helps me to focus on the positive things in my life, rather than the negatives.

It’s certainly true that trying to sleep while thinking of everything that’s gone wrong, or possibly going wrong tomorrow, is much harder than forcing yourself to lighten up a bit. What’s your favorite pre-sleep ritual that sets your mind to rest?

You can read the original at the Dumb Little Man blog, which actually makes five suggestions to help you fall asleep.

And sleeping has been tring up in the news, too. The New York Times reports:

Most people, Dr. Ellenbogen says, think of the sleeping brain as similar to a computer that has “gone to sleep” — it does nothing productive. Wrong. Sleep enhances performance, learning and memory. Most unappreciated of all, sleep improves creative ability to generate aha! moments and to uncover novel connections among seemingly unrelated ideas.

Fall Contest Results

The Judges have spoken, and Brinker Toastmasters has a new Table Topics and Humorous Speech champion. Joann Heck carried the day in both of the (fiercely contested) competitions. The next time you see her, be sure to ask how the squirrels are doing.

Joann will take her speech to the Area Contest on October 11 during our regular meeting time at Vienna Presbyerian church. It’s an event you’ll want to be sure to attend (and if you’d like take part in a helper role, why not send an email to contest coordinator Viki Kinsman).

Do You Have a Business Card?

Lifehacker has an interesting post on the social uses of business card. Here’s are their ideas about situations in which you could use a card:

Class reunions. You’re going to run into a ton of people with which you want to exchange information. Instead of constantly busting out the pen and paper, just hand them your card.
Networking between jobs. You’re not currently employed, so you don’t have a business card. Or if you do, it has your old employer’s info on it. While you’re looking for work, have a calling card ready to present to potential contacts and leads.
Parties. If you’re planning an informal party or get together, write down your address and the time of the party on the back. When you run into people you’d like to see there, give them one of your cards and invite them over. Sometimes calling cards also come with small envelopes, sized to fit your card. You can therefore always use your calling cards as traditional invitations sent through the mail. Also, if your calling card comes with an envelope, you can use them as gift cards.
The classroom. It’s often hard to make the leap from being “in-class” friends to “outside of class” friends. Give someone you enjoy chatting with in class your calling card. They’ll probably start posting on your Facebook page and your friendship will take off from there. Or use the card to set up a study group.

If you’re not carrying a card, maybe you should read the whole post.