We all have our heroes. Mine is Brooke Miller of Anaheim, California, who holds the patent on that underappreciated wonder of technology and social cohesion which we colloquially refer to as “the pooper-scooper” i.e. a device for picking up animal feces (particularly urban dogs, pampered creatures that they […]
Why do holidays no longer feel like holidays? Modern technological innovations have brought us pagers, cellphones, laptop computers, Skype and all manner of electronic leashes to our work. Communication is fast, and the pace of work has ramped up to match it. How many times have you sent […]
“Without Contraries is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human existence” William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell I love that quote-Talk about opposites attract! William Blake was one of my mom’s favorite poets. It was the first book […]
Speaking of not being impressed (ahem, Mckayla the gymnast), can I get an Amen if you like getting feedback? Wow, the room got really quiet there for a second. Undoubtedly, there are people who like giving feedback–managers, supervisors, and the various people who direct others surely love doling […]
I have never watched the TV show “Mad Men” but my understanding is that there are certain parts of the ‘50s that are glamorized. One in particular that fascinates me is the three-martini lunch. You know , those old school lunches that were leisurely, overly indulgent and […]
In the words of Sir Adam Thomson, founder of British Caledonian Airlines, “A recession is when you have to tighten your belt; depression is when you have no belt to tighten. When you’ve lost your trousers—you’re in the airline business”. Anybody who travels for work can vouch for […]
I like money, by which I mean I would rather have it than not have it. Most people are like me. We’re not looking to get rich, just make an honest living. Not that I would turn down being rich. When negotiating a salary for a job, […]
Those of you that have been paying attention have realized that I draw many of my metaphors, examples, and philosophies from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was my guilty pleasure for a number of years, and I’m fairly certain that its humor-tinged angst is the proper perspective on […]
To quote the Beatles, “they say there’s gonna be a revolution”, when it comes to social media and HIV. Or maybe it’s already happened. Wikileaks, the Arab Spring (turning out to not be so Spring-like), and the various Occupy movements certainly demonstrate that social media, in which we […]
It’s not a coincidence that “meaningless” is synonymous with “academic”. Since the collapse of the academic job market in the 1970’s, universities have been cranking out doctoral students across a wide range of fields. And as the graduate student population sells, the relevancy of academic research shrinks. Smaller […]