Worse? The Photos Are Fake. Some people make the Mad Hatter look sane — Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson was a math teacher at Oxford and a deacon of the Anglican Church. But you probably know him as Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland. Dodgson had enrolled in Oxford at 18. He ended up living there his entire adult life. First as a…

They’re not the usual lame quotes, they made me think. With photos you may not have seen. — Oscar Wilde committed no crime, yet he did two years hard labor in prison. Locked in a small room, sleeping on a bed of wooden planks. For a time, he was handcuffed in public at Reading Gaol. People would recognize the fallen star. Mock him. Spit on him. …

A bizarre experiment. If you play along, tag me. — You don’t know Rick Lewis. Hell, I don’t know Rick Lewis. He just appeared on my homepage today with this title… “Overcome Your Fears & Write Freely With This Simple Writing Prompt” So I clicked it, of course. Because writing is my forever love. …

You keep saying that thing. It doesn’t mean what you think. — Years ago, I went to an AA meeting with a dear friend whose husband was an alcoholic. I had no idea what to expect except the “higher power” thing. So we’re sitting there with Starbucks and the “sharing” part begins. Some guy stands up and spills his guts. Tells a…

Handling trolls, bullies, and mean people online. — This book is not for the faint of heart or the easily offended. Mind you, neither is the internet these days. You’ll meet people there, and here, that you scarcely believe live in the same world as you. That’s how Paula Todd starts this book. With vivid reportage, Paula Todd…

A (true) cautionary tale and 5 tips to get more followers for new and struggling writers. — I ran across a man wailing on Facebook. He’d joined a “get 100 followers on Medium” group. The plan was, people who joined the group would link to their Medium profile page. Then they’d click and follow each other so everyone got their 100 followers. You scratch my back and…

One thing makes Anne Boleyn different. Can you guess? — I swear, Ann Boleyn must be rolling over in her grave. People are comparing her to modern day royals. Again. First, it was in the movie Spencer, where Anne Boleyn was haunting Princess Diana because the two are “so similar” — apparently. Both Diana and Anne had strained marriages. Both…

“Who are Louis and Lola?” the newspaper screamed — Louis Hoffman and a fellow passenger burst into Hoffman’s cabin to wake his children. Curly haired little moppets, the oldest was two months shy of turning four. The little one had just turned two. It was April, 1912, and Hoffman and his boys were second-class passengers on the Titanic. Quickly…

Bet you didn’t know some of these ever existed. — When Kate Moss said “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” the internet lost its collective mind. B*tch, ever had a donut? Wtf is wrong with you? She’s been apologizing for 13 years. People still mention it. I’m sorry, she says. I’m sorry. I was wrong. She’s still saying sorry…