Joanne Mason
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jmasonwriter.bsky.social
Joanne Mason
@jmasonwriter.bsky.social
Writer & Editor | Health Communications & Patient Education | New Englander | Genealogy Dabbler | Fan of Alternative Oldies
This was today's item in my #Beatles advent calendar. "I am half of the eggman with webbed feet"?
December 12, 2025 at 5:07 PM
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
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...
At State Dept., a Typeface Falls Victim in the War Against Woke
www.nytimes.com
December 10, 2025 at 2:57 PM
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
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
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
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.
Statement from Leading Medical, Health and Patient Advocacy Groups on CDC Autism Website Changes
bit.ly
November 21, 2025 at 7:50 PM
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
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
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
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
November 1, 2025 at 12:12 PM
I took a Halloween morning #stetwalk with an old friend before the clouds rolled back in over western Massachusetts.
October 31, 2025 at 4:20 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?
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
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!
October 20, 2025 at 12:25 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.
October 16, 2025 at 3:02 PM
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
October 16, 2025 at 2:22 PM
It’s been a long while since I made delicata squash. Love these fall recipes.
October 15, 2025 at 9:42 PM
I think the mix of languages here is beautiful.

Did you know that Spanish was spoken on U.S. territory before English was? And indigenous languages, like Wampanoag, Cherokee, and Navajo, were spoken here even before Spanish.
Bad Bunny’s got them hopping mad!
October 5, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Reposted by Joanne Mason
🎶 Happy release day to Taylor Swift, whose words from last year in reference to the proliferation of AI-generated content couldn't feel more urgent now!

✨ Whether you're listening to a track, reading an article or scrolling your feed, make sure the content is legit & not some AI slop.
October 3, 2025 at 1:32 PM
A little fall color to close out September. #StetWalk
September 30, 2025 at 9:55 PM
#LinkedIn users, are you noticing a change in the feed view settings? Before, I could sort the feed so I could see posts as they occur. Now I don't see that setting at all, and instead, I'm seeing posts from days and even weeks ago. I'd much prefer to see the latest posts first. Any tips?
September 28, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Reposted by Joanne Mason
Linguistics.
September 24, 2025 at 6:03 PM