The answer, of course, is very hard work. About 10,000 hours of it, to be more precise. They say that genius is 1 per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration. Now scientists claim they know just how much sweat and toil this actually is. It takes someone 10,000 hours of practice to reach the… Continue reading What it takes to be a genius
Tag: Books
English as she is writted
[Sigh] I speak English fairly well, with the odd profanity thrown in here or there when things get a bit much. I grew up in a home where we were expected to speak properly, corrected if we didn’t, and punished if we ignored the correction. By the time I got to University, no errors in… Continue reading English as she is writted
Wordsmiths rejoice!
Those of us who enjoy reading and vocabulary will rejoice at a new book: “Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages” by Ammon Shea. The author has trudged his way through the massive Oxford English Dictionary, covering over half a million words and more than two and a half million quotations in no… Continue reading Wordsmiths rejoice!
It’s Guinness time again!
No, not the drink – the annual Guinness Book of World Records. To launch the new edition, in London, the woman with the longest legs in the world met up with the world’s shortest man. At just 29.37in tall, He Ping Ping’s little head barely reaches Svetlana Pankrtova’s knees. But then, her legs do go… Continue reading It’s Guinness time again!
The Diagram of Diagrams
Back in March I blogged about the the winner of the 2007 Diagram Prize. This is awarded annually to the book with the strangest title. Books must be real, and genuinely published (not self- or vanity-published). There have been some weird and wonderful entries over the years. It seems that The Bookseller in England decided… Continue reading The Diagram of Diagrams
I’ve been tagged
Don has tagged me for the latest blog fad meme. OK. Here goes. The rules are: 1. Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No cheating!2. Find page 123.3. Find the first five sentences.4. Post the next three sentences.5. Tag five people. My three sentences: True, German propaganda had built them up… Continue reading I’ve been tagged