A Little Joy For Today Blog

FREE - Soup Pouch Trio Leslie (aka The Soup Lady) is so sure you are going to love her delicious Soups - she’ll actually send you three FREE Pouches! That’s soup for 12 Hungry People! She only asks that you pay only the s/h. You need to check this out!

I came across this video and I thought “what a great concept.” Thanks to the innovator: Mr. Jock Brandis for the peanut sheller for African use.

It has already greatly improved the nutrition of African children and reduced the labor of women. The children will not suffer from hunger anymore because of this great innovation. My hope is that it spreads all over the countries where hunger is a huge problem.

I just love to read about “feel good stories” like this one.

Marie

Follow the easy instructions from the famous Jermaine Griggs and in no time you’ll be sounding like you’ve been playing for years.

Marie

New Game In Town

I just discovered this new website and I am already addicted to it. Play and feed hungry people

It’s called Free Rice. It’s a vocabulary game. For each right answer that you give, you get to give 10 grains of rice for the hungry of the world.

I just gave 5000 grains this morning and learned tons of new words.

It’s fun, it’s addictive, why don’t you try it out for yourself?

Marie

A Few Wise Words On Education

Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither freedom nor justice can be permanently maintained.
- James A. Garfield-

To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.
-Benjamin Disraeli-

Wear your learning like your watch, in a private pocket; and do not pull it out, and strike it, merely to show that you have one.
– Lord Chesterfield-

Nations have recently been led to borrow billions for war; no nation has ever borrowed largely for education. Probably, no nation is rich enough to pay for both war and civilization. We must make our choice; we cannot have both.
-Abraham Flexner-

Let’s have a World Punctuation Day!

By ERIC SHACKLE, in Sydney, Australia

Nine out of 10 emails seem to contain at least one typographical error, better known as a typo. Never before have so many words been mangled. Is it caused by carelessness, keyboard clumsiness, or just plain ignorance?

The U.S. celebrated its fourth annual National Punctuation Day on September 24. Let’s make it a worldwide affair, when we name and shame offenders, and return faulty emails to their senders, with mistakes highlighted in red.

National Punctuation Day is the brainchild of Jeff Rubin, a former Californian newspaperman, now a writer and newsletter designer. Three years ago, irked by “the heedless punctuation that infests American life” (make that Australian too) he kicked off the first National Punctuation Day, “a celebration of the lowly comma, correctly used quotes and other proper uses of periods [Brits and Aussies call them full stops], semicolons and the ever-mysterious ellipsis.”

Teachers, writers and other word lovers greeted the idea with enthusiasm. National Punctuation Day is gaining more supporters every year.

Americans aren’t the only ones who worry about faulty punctuation. It’s far too common in many other countries. In Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald’s Column 8 for many years fought a losing battle against the misuse of apostrophes, through a nitpicking imaginary character called Apostrophe Man.

Britain has a flesh-and-blood Apostrophe Man, a former journalist, John Richards. As chairman of the Apostrophe Protection Society, he could be invited to join America and Australia in a World Punctuation Day.

He founded the APS in 2001 “with the specific aim of preserving the correct use of this currently much abused punctuation mark in all forms of text written in the English language.”

He used to send a formal letter to numerous apostrophe offenders in his hometown (Boston, Lincolnshire).

“Dear Sir or Madam,” he wrote. “Because there seems to be some doubt about the use of the apostrophe, we are taking the liberty of drawing your attention to an incorrect use. . . We would like to emphasise that we do not intend any criticism, but are just reminding you of correct usage should you wish to put right the mistake.”

Following media publicity, he received more than 500 letters of support. Derek Snoxall, of West Sussex, wrote: “I applaud the foundation of the Apostrophe Protection Society. This is long overdue and tush to those who say otherwise. I suggest that the misuse of commas be attended to at the same time. On a recent visit to Australia I read in a pub lavatory a notice asking people to refrain from putting, amongst other things, ‘babies, nappies down the toilet’.”

I asked John Richards what he thought of the suggested World Punctuation Day. He replied, “I think it’s a great idea, but the organisation would be enormous. If anyone does tackle it I would certainly support him or her.”

Back in the US, Jeff Rubin suggested celebrating National Punctuation Day by reading a newspaper and circling punctuation blues with a red pen. (A blue is a colorful Oz slang word for an error, a fight, or a nickname for a redhead). He also urged Americans to note store signs with wrongly punctuated words and inform the owners of any mistakes.

Well, how about us doing likewise?

Jennifer Robinson, a blogger in San Jose, California, emailed us after we published a story titled “The printer’s devil: Typo is his name” in July.

“Your story about Typos is fun,” she wrote. “I kind of want one of those [Wicked] bibles… I was actually just talking to someone last night about how if I find a blog that’s full of typos or mis-spellings, I take the content less seriously. I’m afraid that I have no control over National vs. World Punctuation Day, but I’m pretty sure you could declare it yourself, and no one would argue with you.”.

OK, Jen. Thanks for the suggestion. (Drum roll and flourish of trumpets).

World’s First Multi-National e-Book declares that September 24 will become a WORLD PUNCTUATION DAY next year.

Links
Punctuation game
National Punctuation Day
A Punctuation Celebration
Apostrophe Protection Society
Jennifer Robinson’s blog
The “blog” of “unnecessary” quotation marks
Here, There, Everywhere (Kuwait)
——————————————————————————————-Written by Eric Shackle
——————————————————————————————-

The printer’s devil: Typo is his mane
Courtesy Charles Jones
WritersServices.com

By ERIC SHACKLE, in Sydney, Australia

Old-time printers used to recite or sing this heartfelt rhyme:

The typographical error is a slippery thing and sly
You can hunt til you are dizzy, but it somehow will get by.
Til the forms are off the presses, it is strange how still it keeps.
It shrinks down in a corner and it never stirs or peeps.
That typographical error, too small for human eyes.
Til the ink is on the paper, when it grows to mountain size.
The boss, he stares with horror, then he grabs his hair and groans.
The copyreader drops his head upon his hands and moans.
The remainder of the issue may be clean as clean can be,
But the typographical error is the only thing you see.

That was back in the days when a printer had to set every word by hand, carefully picking out each metal letter one at a time from a box of two cases (hence the terms upper and lower case). “There was a convenient belief among printers that there was a special devil in every print-shop,” says Chas. Jones, of Britain’s WritersServices.com.

“At night, or when the printer was not watching, this pesky demon would iuvert letters, mizspell a word or perhaps remove an entire or even a complete line… Mistakes were inevitable, and the printer’s devil took the blame.”

Chas. kindly gave us permission to copy the image of the Printer’s Devil displayed at the top of this page. “It’s perched outside a shop in Stonegate, Yorkshire, England” he said. “I think I censored the original! It marks the place where Tristram Shandy was first published.”

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman was a novel written by Laurence Sterne in 1759. Wikipedia says “its bawdy humour was popular with London society, and it has come to be seen as one of the greatest comic novels in English, as well as a forerunner for many modern narrative devices.”

Probably the first and one of the worst typographical errors occurred in 1631, when printers of what is now known as the “wicked” bible were fined 300 pounds sterling. In printing the Ten Commandments, they had omitted the vital word “not” so that the verse read “Thou shalt commit adultery.” A thousand copies were ordered to be destroyed, but a few survived. Today they’re worth thousands of dollars to collectors.

Thanks to the computer, typographical errors (now called typos) are much more frequent these days. It’s rare to find a web page without them. Most blogs are full of them, because of bad spelling, ignorance, or carelessness. But it’s easier to blame Typo, the printer’s devil, gremlins, leprechauns, or even those pesky Norwegian trolls.

In the old days, a printer’s devil was the name given to the newest apprentice in a print shop, the unfortunate lad who had do all the odd jobs, ending the day with ink all over his hands, face and clothes. No wonder he would have scattered a lot of those typos in revenge!

Links
Writers Services
Tristram Shandy
The “wicked” bible

This story was first published by OhmyNewsInternational (before the printer’s devil changed the headline), and by the UK daily literary e-zine Open Writing.

Written by Eric Shackle

INTERVIEW WITH CATHERINE RYAN HYDE
I was very privileged to have an exclusive interview with Catherine Ryan Hyde,famous author of several books including “Pay It Forward”

Good Morning Catherine, It’s so nice to finally be able to talk to you one on one.
Thank you so much for letting me have some of your precious time.
Marie: Catherine, you are known all over the world now, what is the impact in your daily live?
Catherine : In some ways, I strive to keep my life much the same as it was
before all this happened. I live in the same house and enjoy the company of
the same friends.
For almost three years I traveled extensively to promote
and support the idea. I’ve had to cut down now, because I need to turn my
attention to future books.
The biggest difference in my day right now is
that I correspond with people from all over the world. I have “penpals” in
places I’ve never been and will probably never get to see. And the stories
they tell me are heartening.
Marie: Our readers love to hear positive stories.And your book “Pay It Forward” has excited so many people,what is your message to them concerning doing good for others without asking anything in return?
Catherine: One is to think in terms of small-to-medium world change.
Sometimes people set out to change the world in such huge ways that they
become discouraged, and go back to doing nothing at all.
I like to tell people that if you add three acts of kindness to the world today, you will
have changed the world by three acts of kindness, no matter whether your
recipients Pay It Forward or not.
It’s also a good idea to let go of the
results of your actions. Don’t worry too much about whether someone will
Pay It Forward or not. You did your part, and that’s enough for now.
Marie: The “Pay It Forward” Movement and the “Pay It Forward”Foundation wer started by you a few years ago, what is the biggest thrill that has come from those two sites?
Catherine: Probably the fact that more people visit the sites all the time.
Initially I assumed that the publicity from the book and the movie was
driving people’s interest.
I thought it would die down over time. But it
seems to be even stronger now, which suggests to me that it has planted
roots and is driving itself. That’s very exciting.
Marie: In the area where you live have you seen improvement due to your book or the movie?
Catherine: It’s such an international movement. I’m not sure I see it
happening any more where I live.
But we did have a wonderful incident after 911. A couple was stranded here in my little tourist town, and a shop owner loaned them her car to drive home to Texas. I think they were surprised to hear that the woman who wrote Pay It Forward lived in that little town. But things like that happen all over, so I can’t really take credit.
Marie: Has your confidence in humanity grown since the publishing of Pay It Forward and the movie that followed?
Catherine: I always had confidence in humanity. I think now I have a
better opinion of grown ups. When I first wrote the book, I made Trevor 12
because I thought only a kid could pull this off. But grownups have come
through and proved me wrong in a delightful way.
Marie: This morning I was waiting at the hospital oncology department and saw so many people volunteering with cancer patients that it did make me feel better. It did improve my perception of people.
There are a lot more good people on this earth than bad ones. The problem is that good people don’t sell papers that well, that’s why I started a new website where the world can read about good deeds that people do and send their stories too. In a way, I guess I was inspired by your own “Pay It Forward Movement” website.
Marie: Can people other than students apply for your reward at “Pay It Forward” foundation? For example, there are a lot of “Over 50″ who would love to participate in the movement.They are the ones who have more time on their hands and if encouraged a little could do marvelous things.
Catherine: The Pay It Forward Movement site was created to gather the
stories from adults and other non-students, and to reward their efforts with
recognition. We don’t give grants to individuals, however. The way the
Foundation is established, all of our grants must be to schools. But we
encourage far more projects than we fund. And, indeed, many great projects
require no money at all.
Marie: How can our readers find your sites?
Catherine: You know, I really never plan the movement. I never have. The
movement itself I something I lit a match to, but now it goes on quite by
itself. I observe, I support, but I never really know where it will go
next. I find that exciting.
And people can always see what’s new by
visiting us at
www.payitforwardfoundation.org and
www.payitforwardmovement.org .
We try to update the sites fairly regularly.
Marie: Are you working on a new book related to the pay it forward concept?
Catherine: I’m working on several novels for young adults (more a high school age
audience) but none are related to the Pay It Forward concept. That’s a book
you write only once, I believe. I love what it started, but as a writer
it’s time for me to move on to other things.
Marie: Catherine, it was a pleasure to talk to you today.Thank you so much
and I wish you the best with your “Pay It Forward” Foundation.

The Difference between Rich/Poor People?

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”

It was great, Dad.”

Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked.

Oh yeah,” said the son.

So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father. The son answered: “I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”

The boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, “Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are.”Isn’t perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying aboutwhat we don’t have.

Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends!

Pass this on to friends and help them refresh their perspective and appreciation.

Life is too short and friends are too few.

Unknown Author