You daft boy

You daft boy. I think this was my dad's favourite rebuke, certainly his mildest. He would also use "Yer daft 'ap'orth". I find myself using the former more and more with my own boys. To call someone daft is usually a mild complaint. Like the word silly its etymology suggests a movement from a positive to a negative meaning. Silly once meant holy and daft once meant meek. It is not difficult to see how such shifts take place.

10 Rules on how to read a book

1. Remove distractions as far as you can (windows, food, the phones, etc)

2. Maintain silence as best you can (find a library if you need to)

3. Make sure there is enough light (use glasses if necessary)

4. Get the book flat and the right distance from your eyes

5. Sit comfortably, making sure you are warm but not too warm

6. Give yourself a target (number of pages, a chapter or a set period of time)

7. Aim to get from the end of one line to the start of the next with minimum eye movement (when reading on a kindle choose the narrowest setting for text)

8. Concentrate

9. Underline or make notes

10. Take a breather after a set time

Starting again

It's always difficult to begin again,
To get up once more after falling is a pain.
What good is progress when you lose all that gain?
Success if blown will adversely drain the brain.

(Written after losing a lot of weight and then putting a lot of it back on again over Christmas but it has wider applications)

Collection or Offering?

I generally prefer to say collection rather than offering, though both are biblical terms. My deacon and treasurer Mike de Jong says that the offering is what the people give and the collection is what the officers collect.