Joanne Mason
@jmasoneditor.bsky.social
Freelance Copy Editor & Proofreader | Consumer Health & Patient Education | New Englander | Genealogy Dabbler | Fan of Alternative Oldies
I love the camaraderie of neighbors helping neighbors clear snow and dig each other's cars out after a snowstorm.
January 26, 2026 at 3:05 PM
I love the camaraderie of neighbors helping neighbors clear snow and dig each other's cars out after a snowstorm.
Was anyone else spooked as a kid by the 1975 song "Wildfire" by Michael Martin Murphey? I still am. I heard it last night, and that hoot owl outside the window gets me every single time. youtu.be/l2ZrHyMfkO8?...
Wildfire
YouTube video by Michael Martin Murphey - Topic
youtu.be
January 5, 2026 at 2:15 PM
Was anyone else spooked as a kid by the 1975 song "Wildfire" by Michael Martin Murphey? I still am. I heard it last night, and that hoot owl outside the window gets me every single time. youtu.be/l2ZrHyMfkO8?...
Reposted by Joanne Mason
Here are six things you think are AP style rules that actually aren't: www.poynter.org/reporting-ed...
6 things you think are AP style rules that aren’t actually AP style rules - Poynter
Seriously, what’s up with all the brackets?
www.poynter.org
January 5, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Here are six things you think are AP style rules that actually aren't: www.poynter.org/reporting-ed...
I just learned that 2026 is the National Year of Reading in the UK! Now that is an initiative this American will happily join. 😊📚📰
These are the books that have been surrounding my reading chair for the past few weeks. What's in your to-read pile?
These are the books that have been surrounding my reading chair for the past few weeks. What's in your to-read pile?
January 1, 2026 at 3:48 PM
I just learned that 2026 is the National Year of Reading in the UK! Now that is an initiative this American will happily join. 😊📚📰
These are the books that have been surrounding my reading chair for the past few weeks. What's in your to-read pile?
These are the books that have been surrounding my reading chair for the past few weeks. What's in your to-read pile?
I'd like to improve my alt text in 2026. This decision tree will certainly help. #accessibility
For beginners, it can be difficult to know what to put in alt text, as well as when alt text is needed and when it isn't. This decision tree from W3C helps you determine what to do, based on specific situations.
www.w3.org/WAI/tutorial...
www.w3.org/WAI/tutorial...
An alt Decision Tree
Accessibility resources free online from the international standards organization: W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).
www.w3.org
January 1, 2026 at 3:28 PM
I'd like to improve my alt text in 2026. This decision tree will certainly help. #accessibility
I'm so sad to hear this. Her book Twenties Girl was a favorite of mine.
PEN America mourns the passing of bestselling author Madeleine Wickham, better known by her pen name, Sophie Kinsella. She told the Boston Herald in 2004, "My first aim is to make people laugh." Across 30+ books translated into over 40 languages, she most certainly did. www.npr.org/2025/12/10/n...
Author Sophie Kinsella, who penned the 'Shopaholic' books, has died at 55
The author, whose real name was Madeleine Sophie Wickham, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer in late 2022.
www.npr.org
December 10, 2025 at 11:29 PM
I'm so sad to hear this. Her book Twenties Girl was a favorite of mine.
It saddens me that a font is dismissed as "woke" because it can make text easier to read on screens.
Everything is going so well in the world that Rubio has time to wage war on a typeface.
He’s bravely saving us from the “woke” Calibri font, the one chosen because it’s more accessible for readers.
Thanks for making the world a safer place for all of us, Marco. 🙄✍️
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...
He’s bravely saving us from the “woke” Calibri font, the one chosen because it’s more accessible for readers.
Thanks for making the world a safer place for all of us, Marco. 🙄✍️
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...
At State Dept., a Typeface Falls Victim in the War Against Woke
www.nytimes.com
December 10, 2025 at 2:57 PM
It saddens me that a font is dismissed as "woke" because it can make text easier to read on screens.
My parents were saving for a house their first Christmas as newlyweds, so they made their own ornaments using construction paper and stickers. I thought these were long gone, but I discovered one in a Christmas decoration "box of yore." It was a happy surprise. #FamilyHistory
December 1, 2025 at 2:39 AM
My parents were saving for a house their first Christmas as newlyweds, so they made their own ornaments using construction paper and stickers. I thought these were long gone, but I discovered one in a Christmas decoration "box of yore." It was a happy surprise. #FamilyHistory
Reposted by Joanne Mason
Oxford University Press has chosen “rage bait” as its 2025 Word of the Year. The open-compound word, which beat out “biohack” and “aura farming,” goes back at least to 2002. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/a...
December 1, 2025 at 2:09 AM
This afternoon as I searched for mozzarella pearls, my local supermarket was playing the Violent Femmes. This made me quite happy.
November 25, 2025 at 5:46 PM
This afternoon as I searched for mozzarella pearls, my local supermarket was playing the Violent Femmes. This made me quite happy.
I'm impressed with the level of vocab Oscar included in his "A, You're Adorable" rebuttal in 1970. www.youtube.com/watch?v=id-Z...
Sesame Street: Oscar’s “A, You’re Adorable” (1970)
YouTube video by Treble Gnocchi
www.youtube.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:36 PM
I'm impressed with the level of vocab Oscar included in his "A, You're Adorable" rebuttal in 1970. www.youtube.com/watch?v=id-Z...
Reposted by Joanne Mason
American Academy of PediatricsAmerican Academy of Pediatrics
The AAP and more than 40 organizations representing autistic individuals, their families, medical professionals and public health workers, are alarmed that the CDC is promoting the outdated, disproven idea that vaccines cause autism.
The AAP and more than 40 organizations representing autistic individuals, their families, medical professionals and public health workers, are alarmed that the CDC is promoting the outdated, disproven idea that vaccines cause autism.
Statement from Leading Medical, Health and Patient Advocacy Groups on CDC Autism Website Changes
bit.ly
November 21, 2025 at 7:50 PM
American Academy of PediatricsAmerican Academy of Pediatrics
The AAP and more than 40 organizations representing autistic individuals, their families, medical professionals and public health workers, are alarmed that the CDC is promoting the outdated, disproven idea that vaccines cause autism.
The AAP and more than 40 organizations representing autistic individuals, their families, medical professionals and public health workers, are alarmed that the CDC is promoting the outdated, disproven idea that vaccines cause autism.
My minimal-social-media day included cooking down a half peck of apples to make applesauce. It felt so quaint. 🍎🍏🍎🍏
November 10, 2025 at 1:18 AM
My minimal-social-media day included cooking down a half peck of apples to make applesauce. It felt so quaint. 🍎🍏🍎🍏
I don't actually wish it was Christmas today, but I've had SNL's "I Wish It Was Christmas Today" song stuck in my head for the past 24 hours. youtu.be/jDdSQlCbJ90?...
A Song From SNL: I Wish It Was Christmas Today - SNL
YouTube video by Saturday Night Live
youtu.be
November 8, 2025 at 3:12 PM
I don't actually wish it was Christmas today, but I've had SNL's "I Wish It Was Christmas Today" song stuck in my head for the past 24 hours. youtu.be/jDdSQlCbJ90?...
Reposted by Joanne Mason
About a decade ago my friend Leanne Brown made this cookbook for folks on SNAP benefits, so if you know anyone who could use it, the PDF is free: leannebrown.com/good-and-che...
Good and Cheap
All About Good and Cheap
Good and Cheap is a cookbook for people with very tight budgets, particularly those on SNAP/Food Stamps benefits. The PDF is free (ahora en Español!) when you sign up for my...
leannebrown.com
October 24, 2025 at 4:20 PM
About a decade ago my friend Leanne Brown made this cookbook for folks on SNAP benefits, so if you know anyone who could use it, the PDF is free: leannebrown.com/good-and-che...
Reposted by Joanne Mason
Today marks the start of #NationalFamilyCaregiversMonth — a time to honor the incredible strength, compassion and commitment of those caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s and other dementia. 💜
Share a tribute to a caregiver in your life at alz.org/honor. #ENDALZ
Share a tribute to a caregiver in your life at alz.org/honor. #ENDALZ
November 1, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Today marks the start of #NationalFamilyCaregiversMonth — a time to honor the incredible strength, compassion and commitment of those caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s and other dementia. 💜
Share a tribute to a caregiver in your life at alz.org/honor. #ENDALZ
Share a tribute to a caregiver in your life at alz.org/honor. #ENDALZ
Growing up, my friends and I called out "trick or treat" when we rang doorbells on Halloween. But in Charlie Brown's neighborhood, it was often "tricks or treats" — plural. It's a linguistic mystery I've been thinking about since childhood.
If you celebrate Halloween, what do you hear?
If you celebrate Halloween, what do you hear?
Trick or Treat? Or Tricks or Treats?
What do trick-or-treaters say when they ring your doorbell? "Trick or treat"? Or "tricks or treats"?
www.joannemason.com
October 31, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Growing up, my friends and I called out "trick or treat" when we rang doorbells on Halloween. But in Charlie Brown's neighborhood, it was often "tricks or treats" — plural. It's a linguistic mystery I've been thinking about since childhood.
If you celebrate Halloween, what do you hear?
If you celebrate Halloween, what do you hear?
Reposted by Joanne Mason
It's NCTE’s National Day on Writing! Each October 20, we consider the myriad forms writing can take and why we choose to write.
Visit https://ncte.org/national-day-writing/ for writing resources for you and your students—and tell us why and how you write, using #WhyIWrite on social media!
Visit https://ncte.org/national-day-writing/ for writing resources for you and your students—and tell us why and how you write, using #WhyIWrite on social media!
October 20, 2025 at 12:25 PM
It's NCTE’s National Day on Writing! Each October 20, we consider the myriad forms writing can take and why we choose to write.
Visit https://ncte.org/national-day-writing/ for writing resources for you and your students—and tell us why and how you write, using #WhyIWrite on social media!
Visit https://ncte.org/national-day-writing/ for writing resources for you and your students—and tell us why and how you write, using #WhyIWrite on social media!
Today is #DictionaryDay, so I celebrate by sharing my treasured Webster's New International from 1925, when "television" wasn't an entry yet and telephones looked strikingly different. I'm told my grandmother worked for @merriam-webster.com in Springfield, MA the '20s. Not sure what she did there.
October 16, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Today is #DictionaryDay, so I celebrate by sharing my treasured Webster's New International from 1925, when "television" wasn't an entry yet and telephones looked strikingly different. I'm told my grandmother worked for @merriam-webster.com in Springfield, MA the '20s. Not sure what she did there.
Listening to "All Together Now" on the Yellow Submarine album reminded me of a common mix-up:
✅ “Altogether” means “entirely” or "overall."
✅“All together” means “as a group.”
What other grammatical mix-ups do you encounter?
And what’s your favorite Beatles song?
#Grammar #Beatles
✅ “Altogether” means “entirely” or "overall."
✅“All together” means “as a group.”
What other grammatical mix-ups do you encounter?
And what’s your favorite Beatles song?
#Grammar #Beatles
October 16, 2025 at 2:22 PM