Adrian Essex's Blog Posts Tagged 'hornsey' (6)

A few weeks ago I had a bit of a go at carelessness in writing, and at the deliberate misuse of words to create the illusion of something that actually was not true.

Today its a similar set of themes, but relates to the misuse of language in a way that prevents us thinking accurately. All of these have cropped up repeatedly in recent days. 

I was pleased to note that Haringey has put up CPZ signs …

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It's a very long time since I read 1984, Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451, so my recollection of them is hazy and there's a good chance that my view of them has merged into one. It was so long ago that I was young and impressionable and possibly even idealistic, so perhaps their effect on me was greater than it need have been. But the picture I carry with me, and fear, is of a dark, unsatisfactory world of oppression and sterility created by state interference in the lives of its citizens.…

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I am a grumpy old man, I have been for some time. Quite possibly I was a grumpy young man. Come to think of it, most babies are a bit grumpy from time to time. Maybe its been a lifelong thing with me. One of the things that makes me grumpiest is the way our language is sinking into decline from carelessness and ignorance.

Obviously, the growth of entirely content free conversation is a huge worry "I was like, you know, "Oh my god", and she was like, "Whatever", and I was like "SHUT…

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Just to recap. I had come into possession, via ebay, of an iphone which had been reported stolen after I bought it. The insurance company (LSG on behalf of Vodafone) had blacklisted the IMEI number (a unique identifier for the phone) with CEIR (see here for a  narrative on what this means) and I was trying to get this blacklist lifted so that I could use the phone.

Vodafone was my…

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I saw this image on Sunday in the Telegraph and how could it not remind me of the Just So stories I read as a child. The Elephant's Child was one of my favourites and this photo is really very like the one I remember from the book. From memory I think the Elephant's Chils suffered from (had the benefit of ) 'Satiable Curtiosity and the nose legthening took place on the banks of the great grey green greasy Limpopo river all set about with fever… Continue

Andrew Marr recently characterised bloggers as all those things listed in the title.

Obviously he is wrong - all generalisations must be to some extent. I, for example, am neither single nor young, rather, I'm a grumpy old man.

I am writing this blog, and I reply to online discussion forums, at least in part, because I like the thought that my writing is being published, its good for my ego, even though no-one may ever read it. Here on my blog I can combine authorship with editorial… Continue