You can't fax a handshake

I like this expression, which is taken from a New York Times piece about Obama's recent meeting with Wall Street bankers.
On the news this week is disruption in the postal service. On a Radio 5 phone-in, I heard the anchor referring frequently to 'posties' instead of 'postmen' or 'postwomen'. I find 'postie' - a term which appears to have taken root - strangely unpleasant. I also dislike the expression 'toastie', which is used (in Liverpool anyway) for a toasted sandwich.
I shall have to mull this over at the weekend, when I'm making the mostie of my Sunday roastie.

The Poet's Perspective

I've got a poem in The Poet's Perspective, a new book compiled and edited by Gladys Mary Coles. The book matches paintings in Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery to poems by a range of invited poets. My own contribution responds to a portrait of Edward Lear by Holman Hunt. The Walker has a particularly large holding of work by the pre-Raphaelites and these are duly reflected in the anthology. It's out from Headland Press.