May 2009 Archives

How easy is this blog to read? Apparently, yesterday's blog post A lick of paint is comfortable reading for 13 year old students - or grade 7. The prevous post, Don't blame marketing for a sexist society, is seemingly much harder for some readers, requiring a year 12 or college level education to decipher.

How do I know this? A little-known tool hidden within Microsoft Word that assesses readability according to the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test (Wikipedia).

The older I've become, the more resigned I am to the uncomfortable truth that I - apparently - have terrible taste in some things. I'm not allowed to pick sofa covers. My daughter insists on going with me when I buy jeans. My favourite old bits of furniture are now with the Salvos. Don't misunderstand - I know how to turn on the style when I need to. I have a good line in suits and no one questions my taste in silk ties and well-cut shirts. But there are certain things that, although I can't see what the problem is, others screw up their faces and start pitying me.

I am completely incapable of watching a movie like a normal person. Years of learning structure and writing scripts in the hope of becoming the next William Goldman have distorted my brain into an analytical, critical mess, completely unable to switch off the deconstruction of even the most banal flick.

Last weekend, Shelley and I disappeared up to the Hunter Valley, using a getaway voucher my friends at Netregistry and Nett Magazine gave us for our wedding. Never have we both needed a weekend away more. Added to the obvious relaxation in being in the countryside surrounded by donkeys, cows and not much else, the lack of a wi-fi or a mobile phone signal meant that I couldn't breach the 'no work' rule even to check email or chat to friends.