Charles Dickens and the lost art of letter writing

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At 1:19 in the video above, the wonderful Lorelai Gilmore says,  “When I picture letter writing I picture Charles Dickens…”

Ever since this episode I’ve thought “I bet Charles Dickens wrote amazing letters.”

It seems I was right as this blog post from Letters of Note proves

The letter to the six year old fan of Nicholas Nickelby is wonderful – beautifully written and displays such a fondness and respect for the recipient. What I particularly love is how we witness Dickens clearly encouraging the young chap’s creativity. I wonder how he responded to the letter and if he was inspired to write his own stories as a result.

If you’re interested in letter writing, enjoy history or are just a bit nosey, I’d recommend subscribing to Letters of Note as there are lots of wonderful letters reproduced on it. This letter is written by from the novelist E.B White (Charlotte’s Web) who was getting hassle from the authorities about a dog licence. It’s sarcastic and brilliant. My favourite part:

“You asked about Minnie’s name, sex, breed, and phone number. She doesn’t answer the phone. She is a dachshund and can’t reach it, but she wouldn’t answer it even if she could, as she has no interest in outside calls.”

So… have we lost the art of letter writing? I used to write a lot of letters back in the day.  Moving across the country at the age of 14 and in the early days of the internet, it was the best way of keeping in touch with my best friend. I still have a box of letters from the teenage years.

Although I’d never share their contents with anyone (but me and the letter writers) they are a wonderful testament to a time when writing a letter was the best way to share your life with the people you held dear. As replies to my own missives, these letters also shed some light on my own (mainly silly) teenage preoccupations.

If you’d like to rekindle the lost art of letter writing, I’ve heard good things about this group

Happy writing

Tags: dickens, gilmore girls, letter writing, nostalgia, teenagers

Modelling the future: do we give girls the role models they deserve?

When I grow up I want to be…

Did you have a role model? Perhaps more than one? Who was it and did they really influence your attitude, life choices and behaviour?

There’s a very interesting blog post over at the Sophia Network which argues that we should introduce young women to a wider range of role models – foreign correspondents and adventure-seeking TV presenters – as well as pop stars selling beauty products and toy dolls.

I think there is a lot of wisdom in choosing our role models wisely. Here are three of my childhood role models …

Gwen Stefani

All the girls at school wanted to be Spice Girls.  I wanted to be Gwen Stefani. Yes, I know she’s got that dainty blonde Marilyn thing going on.

But, she’s also…

Feisty, charismatic, unique. Has been the lead singer of a post-punk ska/rock band since the late 80s. A decent songwriter (unafraid to be incredibly vulnerable and honest about vanity, jealousy and sexism).  Wife, mother, fashion designer. Also, not a bad singer given half a chance.

Kate Adie

At home, Dad was in charge of the remote control. This meant we watched a lot of news programmes.  In the 80s, if you saw a young woman on the news she was usually pointing at a map and smiling.

Kate Adie stood out for me. There she was, in a distant land, standing resolute with her eyes fixed on the nation, reporting what was really happening. So brave, confident, assured.  She inspired me to want to be a journalist. Although it didn’t work out for me, I’m sure she provided inspiration to others.

Mum

Don’t think I can adequately put into words the depth of admiration, respect and heartfelt gratitude I have for my mother.

She encouraged me to read – and write – at an early age.  She took me on endless trips (I mean endless) to the library, to clubs, to music lessons, rehearsals and tours.

When exams beckoned, she told me that all I needed to do was to give it my best shot. If I did that, she would be proud of me. It was the effort, not the result, that she valued.

She listens, encourages and prays for me every day. I can’t ask for anything more.

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Positive role models are all around us. Let’s value – and talk about – the role models that matter. The ones that lift the eyes of our young women past surface beauty and onto far more valuable things.

If you’re reading this, nodding with agreement, please take a moment to consider your models. Perhaps you could share stories about them…

Tags: feminism, gwen stefani, kate adie, mentoring, mothers, role models

When storytellers gather, sagas are born…

“There was this one time when…”

Most of us have got a decent story up our sleeves. I’ve discovered Cowbird, a community where storytellers gather to tell one, many or several angles of a story.

These are gathered together and can become sagas. Looks very interesting…

Mashable have written an article which describes Cowbird as  ‘an online library of human experience’ – wow.

They’re looking for storytellers to join them and it’s invite only at the moment.

Will be interesting to see if Cowbird’s own story has wings, as the community develops…

Tags: communication, community, storytelling

Crafty christmas made easy

There’s an artist inside all of us. In some cases, desperately struggling to escape.

If you fancy making Christmas a bit more fun this year, why not try your hand at a bit of craft?

Mashable have collected eight interesting Christmas craft video how tos…

**You can watch them all here **

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I’m working on a triple-whammy of Christmas crafts this year; using spare fabric to make coasters, knocking up some bunting and making paper chains out of Roses wrappers…

Crafty, eh?

Have you succumbed to the craft bug? Do tell…

Changing focus: things that begin with C

It’s been a bit quiet here. Sorry. Behind the scenes, I’ve been
thinking about blogging. Would I continue to blog? If so, what would I
talk about?

I’m now working in community management which means that although I’m
still passionate about social media and the latest communication
trends, I’ve shifted my professional focus.

Before, I was managing several channels of communication, developing campaigns and copywriting. Now, I’m learning about growing, maintaining, moderating and managing one large, thriving support community.

Popping over to Google+ (which is yet to come into its own IMO), I
spotted my profile bio: community manager, cakelover, christian. Then
I remembered a passionate conversation with a close friend where we
spoke about how important it is to critique and engage with the
cultures around us.

Then I realised, the things I’m passionate about seem to begin with C:

• Community
• Culture
• Christianity
• Communication
• Cupcakes

So, that’s what I’m going to blog about from now on. Over the coming
weeks you’ll notice the categories and blogroll will change to reflect
this.

As always, please feel free to comment or tweet with your thoughts and
feedback.

Serena

PS the aforementioned rule also means I get to talk about Christmas.
Wonder if I should apologise in advance…

Tags: about the blog, communication, community, culture, cupcakes

Round the campfire, telling stories

Sitting round the campfire, telling stories is the true nature of community according to Patrick O’Keefe. He argues that community is the cornerstone of our civilization.

Patrick, known as @iFroggy on twitter, has written a book called ‘Managing Online Forums’ which has an overwhelming amount of positive feedback online and is described as “a true experience on how to build a real, lasting community.” High Praise!

I have a shiny new copy on my desk. Thoughts so far:

You know you’re reading a great book when you nod knowingly at the epigraph.

Then you flick to the contents and start a checklist of which sections you’ll be reading and rereading over the coming weeks.

At least one of the content headings makes you laugh out loud. Then you flick straight there to read the advice.

Already, I can tell I’ll be dipping in and out of this book for some time.

Thanks Patrick

Tags: book review, community management, forums, ifroggy, managing online forums, patrick o keefe, social media

Ten ways to spend your day…

Nice trip to the beach? Leisurely hours in a spa? A full retail onslaught at Bluewater?

WaterAid has revealed some startling comparisons between the time the UK population spends on things like watching football, planning a wedding, and surfing social networking sites, and the time people in the world’s poorest countries spend fetching water.

The comparisons have been drawn to mark UN World Water Day (this week) – an international day to celebrate and focus international attention on fresh water. Across Africa, the average amount of time spent fetching water is three hours a day, resulting in the loss of 40 billion working hours every year.

The revealing comparisons include:

On track: The average daily commute in the UK takes 47 minutes and 48 seconds (TUC). It might feel like 47 minutes too many, but it’s still less than a third of the time it takes to collect water in many developing countries.

Let’s get social: In the UK, people spend an average of five hours 48 minutes on social networking sites per week (comScore). In Africa, that’s two trips to collect water. What would you rather be doing?

Break a sweat: The average adult exercises just 50 minutes a week (WeightWatchers) – less than a third of one trip to collect 20kg of water.

I say! The average man will spend five hours a week staring at women (Kodak Lens Vision Centres). In one week, the average woman in a developing country would have spent 21 hours collecting water.

Check out the full list on the WaterAid website and pass it on, it’s really staggering stuff.

Today’s the day… to Get Lippy!

What day is it today?

It’s International Women’s Day – people across the planet are celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women; past, present and future.

Today, many women in the world will be subjected to untold suffering, injustice and pain.

If we aren’t equal everywhere, we aren’t equal anywhere.

Action Aid’s Get Lippy campaign has sought to raise awareness of women across the globe who experience horrific abuse and poverty.

So watch their shocking, heartbreaking and inspiring stories from women fighting injustice around the world, then GET LIPPY for International Women’s Day

Famous lips get in on the action

Then watch these lovely celebrities getting a bit lippy too:

Your turn to Get Lippy

Send a message of support to women who are suffering by visiting ActionAid’s website <here>

Tags: action aid, annie mac, equality, get lippy, human rights, international women's day, joanna lumley, kathy burke, miranda richardson, sophie ellis bextor

Social networking: past, present and future

These three articles are really interesting and useful

http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/03/social-networking-past

http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/04/social-networking-present

http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/05/social-networking-future

Also, if you have time, check out Rory Cellan Jones’s excellent podcasts on the Secret History of Social Networking – it all started in a record store in Berkeley…

PS If you spot any other interesting summaries, please comment below

Tags: facebook, history of social media, rory cellan jones, social media, summaries, techcrunch, twitter. sxsw

I’m going to get lippy…

This is Nazziwa.

photo credit: Jenny Matthews/Action Aid

She’s 19 and she hopes to become a doctor. In November she was mutilated by her husband, who attacked her and cut off her hands in front of her mother and her baby daughter.

Her father  (whose quick thinking saved Nazziwa’s life) said the police would only act if they received money from the family.

He was only taken into custody earlier this month after development agency ActionAid gave the local police force money to pay for the petrol to go to the area and arrest him. ActionAid also supported Nazziwa in bringing the case against her husband.

Activists say that the police have no budget to tackle domestic violence cases, which are widespread in Uganda. According to a 2006 government survey 68 per cent of Ugandan women had suffered physical violence within the home within the previous twelve months.

You can see Nazziwa’s story here:

Get Lippy!

Please join me as I Get Lippy for Action Aid. You can find out more at the website here or on twitter by following the #getlippy hashtag

Tags: #getlippy, action aid, international women's day, mutiliation, women's rights