Iguanas, Chameleons and Crayfish

When I asked my kung fu instructor what I should write about next, these were the suggestions put forward. I’m not entirely sure what that says about my kung fu instructor or my classmates in general. I was trying to avoid a rant, which is why it’s been a while since I last posted, but no matter. Iguanas, chameleons and crayfish aside, there have been some strange goings on in the UK of late. By some odd *ahem* “coincidence”, a lot of those things have happened since the general election last March, when 24% of the country (yes, that’s ONLY 24%…) were – I hesitate to cast aspersions on people I don’t know, but I’m going to, anyway – 24% of the country were dumb enough to vote Conservative.

What does it mean to be a bookworm?

I’ve always been a reader. My parents having made damn sure I could read beyond my age range before I went to school, I have subsequently always had my nose deeply embedded in a book. Wherever I go, I take one with me. And recently, there have been a few bookish events that have resulted in me bringing more books away with me, either paid for or complementary copies.

What’s our excuse for so many illiterate school leavers?

I’ve been saying this for ages. That too many kids leaving school in the last few years do not have a sufficient level of literacy. But I’ve been digging a bit and the news, when you look for it, is shocking, if not entirely surprising. A study by the University of Sheffield has shown that almost a fifth of teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 have a reading age at or even below that expected of an eleven-year-old.