I was ambling through my site statistics, which I keep a vague eye on, and thought I’d share with you some of the things people are searching for before they end up at ThePickards… +absinthe pissing +blood — I rather feel that someone who has been drinking so much absinthe that they are now pissing [...]

I recently noticed that I had posted my 1,000th tweet on twitter, since I started on January 22nd. That is 1,000 tweets in 92 days, or an average of just under 11 tweets per day. And when I remarked that I had posted my 1,000th tweet, @scrumph remarked that he had reached the similar milestone [...]

I asked my elder son, BTP, what he wanted to be when he grew up, at about the time he was starting school last year (aged nearly 5). “An actor or an astronaut.” This hasn’t changed much in the six months or so since. I’ve explained to him that it is certainly possible for him [...]

Well, I’ve been here before and showed the various site designs for ThePickards back in February 2007. However, as that was more than two years ago, and I’ve launched a new design since, I think I’m allowed to be self-indulgent once again. So, to begin, ThePickards has existed as a domain since around March 2005, [...]

The way in which we use language is important. It not only enables us to communicate ideas, and determines how effectively those ideas are communicated, but it also allows people to judge us. Now I am a firm believer in that the most important thing is whether or not you communicate your message effectively, but [...]

Now this was an interesting experience for me. If you boggle your eyes about in a way that sometimes makes other people complain that it makes their eyes hurt watching it, you start to wonder what it actually looks like. For obvious reasons when deliberately going cross-eyed and the more tricky making your eyes both [...]

If you want me, I’ll be here, attending this from about … um … now. Obviously this is last year’s logo, but I will of course be picking up a new souvenir glass. Anyone wishing to come along, particularly if they would also like to buy me a drink (well, it is my birthday soon), [...]

Some of the more observant of you who actually visit this site (as opposed to say, those of you reading via a feed reader) may have noticed that I have changed the look of the site. That’s not to dismiss Mike Cherim’s Seabeast theme in any way, shape or form. It’s a lovely theme and [...]

Even when your child is barely five, in his very first year of schooling, parents evening is still a big thing. You want to make sure your child is settling in well at school, that he or she is making friends, is learning effectively, is not being a disruptive influence and generally is getting what [...]

I don’t tend to do ‘notes’ on Facebook, on the basis that it’s hard enough to find something to post about here every day and spending the time doing that, without ending up doing the same on Facebook as well. However, I was tagged in a Facebook meme and so feel kinda obliged to give [...]