Ever had two cool things to do, but only enough time for one? Sometimes you can break the time in half, and sometimes you have to choose. And so … after a ton of fun, splendid company, interesting clients and nifty projects for print and video, I’m heading back into journalism. Thank you to everyone who trusted me to create or polish their words, who taught me about their industry, and who made it fun to come in each day to play with language and ideas. ...

We wish you fun, we wish you treats. We wish you things that bring you peace. Merry Christmas from all the Odvodians! We’ll be revelling, rejoicing and relaxing after the end of the business day on December 21, and back to produce for you on January 7. Need a last-minute gift idea? We’ve got you covered — open one of our Odvoliday gifts here. ...

The other day, after the third or fourth snowfall of the season, a passé idea for a meme started popping into in-boxes across my city. It griped about the weather, took shots at our transit system, our architecture and our workforce. It wasn’t that witty, or even all that biting. It made me sigh, though. Given any 10-second window, I can recite 20 great things about Edmonton. ...

Scrolling through Twitter this morning, I found HubSpot’s blog for a list of 30 amazing marketing tools and tips. The one that jumped out was www.factbrowser.com — a complete time-sink for a factoid geek like me, but something that could support a whole lot of persuasive arguments. I mean, who knew that one third of all grandparents have a Facebook account, or that in Europe, 67 per cent of Internet users listen to the radio online? ...

Imagine seeing your redonkulous spelling mistake plastered on banners seven-feet high at a flagship store in a major city, repeated in hundreds of other places during a countrywide advertising campaign, and then lampooned mercilessly on Twitter. Naturally, your gaffe threatens to mock you online, forever, too. That’s what happened with a 2011 Boxing Day ad campaign by Australian department store Meyers, which reminded customers that, “Early bird get’s the right size.” Embarrassing photo evidence here: http://www.news.com.au/business/myer-ridiculed-over-grammar-gaffe/story-e6frfm1i-1226236132565 An act of awful apostrophe is humiliating. ...