Teacher/Me: Your audience has to care about your topic. Look at them, ask them do they want to hear you speak about why the Cavaliers beat the Warriors. Student: But I’ve got facts and points in the game I can describe that show the Cavaliers are a superior team. Teacher/Me: Look at the 15 people in…
Ugh, I hate trying to put in codes for gated communities. It’s stressful, I feel like people are watching me as I fumble to lower my window, read the instructions and fumble with my phone to read the code. As I’m doing my routine, a residence pulls up to the gate and it opens. I…
I heard a pedestrian shout, “Hey, what are you doing?” I was so focused on listening to my driving directions after paying the parking lot attendant and fumbling for the button to raise my window I did not see the guy on the sidewalk I was about to hit. I yelled back, “Oh no, I’m…
I got nothing for my blog post this week. I drafted three different topics and nothing is fully thought out. With that, I realized, there are times to remain silent. We’ve all experienced at work or in everyday life when someone is talking and you realize, they have no idea what they are talking about. Worse…
Teen Kills Younger Brother Because He Thought He Deleted His Pokémon. This is a hoax. The phenomenon of Pokémon Go this week has unleashed a multitude of stories, many with no foundation in reality. Recent examples of non-factual facts are a hoax and a meme. Posting a legal notice on your Facebook wall will protect…
“Those shootings had nothing to do with racial profiling me were justified .” “Yes, but you know how they always get upset. “ “There is no more racism, Black Lives Matter is bull. That was part of a conversation I heard in Starbucks early Friday morning spoken so loudly, I could not help but think, are…
Don’t fear failure. Fear being in the exact same place next year as you are today. My plans for this fourth of July? I plan to stare at the sky and daydream. I’ll think about how I have been spending my time; what I have done and what I want to do next. Then comes…
If one more person tells me drinking hot drinks will give me esophageal cancer, according to the latest study, well, I’ll probably nod and smile politely like I have been doing all week. I order my drinks extra hot – 180 degrees BECAUSE, when the chai syrup is added the temperature drops 20 degrees and…
Val: “I don’t know, is it ok to wear a little makeup to work out?” Me: “Of course, it is just putting our best selves forward.” Val: Yes, but is it being authentic or is it being fake? Am I being my natural self?” Me: “Oh please, my “natural self” has flatulence but that doesn’t…
“I’m different. Always have been. It took a while but I have accepted I am a magic not meant for everyone to understand, so they question. That’s ok. I will stay in my lane being all magical and stuff.” 1 I’ve got lots of different. One is this blog. My posts are about the adventures…
I got sick this week. I was on a business trip and early afternoon of day one, I started to feel unwell. Strange. I don’t get sick. I was a little dizzy and a little nauseous. I attributed it jet lag and dehydration, and drank water. Three hours later, still dizzy and nauseous. I am perplexed. I don’t…
Memorial Day – at times it seems we are trying to hard to forget what the day is really about. Which is rather ironic for a holiday that is all about memory. Memorial day is in honor of those who have died while serving in the country’s armed forces. Formerly known as decoration day, the…
“You should not have cut your hair, you need to wear a wig and bleach your teeth to look better.” Yup, someone told me that last week. I thought, I don’t care. But what does “I don’t care” really mean? Are some phrases used so automatically, feelings and express emotions go unexpressed? “I don’t care,”…
Reality TV illustrates a powerful sense of self and confidence. I watch American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance in amazement and puzzlement. Contestants who felt they had exceptional ability are yet stunned when turned away from the show. Did these people have no one to tell them of the disparity between their competency and the…
It is midnight and after a tense 15 minutes of driving a painfully slow 20 miles per hour on a long dark winding road, three heart pounding encounters with startled deer and a 3 point turn that turn into a8 points of panic, I’m, literally, on the road again. I was driving in the pitch…
This week was a media maelstrom of jaw dropping, pearl clutching moments. A hash-tagging frenzy of #LuciferInTheFLesh and #BeckyWithTheGoodHair followed former Congressman Boehner who spoke of his personal experience with Ted Cruz and Beyoncé Knowles Carter after the debut of her visual album, Lemonade respectively. Why was public reaction as if they were both talking…
I don’t have a particular Prince story, I have a Prince history. Prince released his first album when I was sophomore in college. We were both 19. Prince wrote, produced, did all the vocals and played all the instruments on that album whilst I bemoaned an early morning, 7:50 thermodynamics class. In engineering terms, my…
Most of us have seen “the face.” It’s that face that says a lot without saying a word. It turns out that face is universal and researchers from Ohio State have name it the not face.” “The face” as I call it, is an expression that indicates displeasure, disagreement, even you’re about to be in…
Board Member: I can’t do the interview in Russian. Me: “In your bio and on your profile, you list Russian as one of your languages.” Board Member: “Yes, but I didn’t mean it that way.” Me: “OK, thank you for your time.” I hung up the phone in disbelief. I run a worldwide certification board.…
“I was late for the online meeting because my laptop froze up when I hit my desk and my fingers were too cold to make the phone work.” Well, Friday was April Fool’s day, but this was not a joke. I had a 5:30 am online meeting. I set two alarms set to make sure I didn’t oversleep. I jumped up…
I perfectly planned my three-day weekend with twenty-four hour allocated to do yard work, house work, writing work and a kitchen faucet repair. I , being somewhat anal-retentive, also allocated a considerable chunk of free time to go see Batman versus Superman, Dawn of Justice. Well, I’m down to my last 8 hours and the…
Donald Trump supporters say they like him because he tells it like it is. Really? Is that a way to define leadership? Kids tell it like it is. To their parent’s chagrin, they blurt out, “there is a pirate,” at someone wearing an eyepatch or “look a cyborg,” when someone has a prosthetic limb. “Telling…
March is getting a little mad. This time is typically reserved for me to tune out the world and tune into a nonstop sports bonanza with the NCAA basketball playoffs. This March and my beloved “basketball zone,” is disrupted by Mad Hat syndrome. This is a situation where a practice is continued in spite of the…
Friend: “Well, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” Me: “Wrong, my job is to make that horse thirsty.” I was frustrated because I’d unsuccessfully pitched a strategy and plan to implement a solution. Despite everything presented to ensure success, articulated business value, detailed implementation schedule, risk contingency and risk mitigation plans,…
Apple versus the FBI, I wonder what my dad’s position would be? My dad was a cryptologist before he retired. This week, I had a “reach for the phone moment.” Before he died, I’d grab a cup of coffee, call my dad and we’d debate issues citing references, articles and philosophical thought. Our talks were…
Why are people confused at a 4 way stop? You yield to any vehicle that reaches the intersection before you do. How are people learning to drive? YouTube? If there is a pedestrian crossing, forget it. The stop becomes a game of four car roulette. Some drivers seem to think, the first car to move is the first…
My stomach is knotted, my teeth are clinched, my eyes are squinted and I am in deep concentration. A loud sound breaks the silence and I jump and scream. That’s a problem because I am only trying to upload a picture and the sound is the phone ringing. This is reminder to me of how…
It’s that time of year where New Year’s resolutions are starting to fade and become a distant memory. Why? The intentions were great. There is more to a resolution than those verb noun statements like “get fit,”, “save money”, “stop procrastination” or “be happy.” Between the before and after is the doing. The doing is…
There is a difference between a need to know and a want to know. Over 59 million people follow Kim Kardashian West on Instagram By comparison, Kim has more followers than the population of the largest US state, California is close to 40 million and many countries, like Argentina, Spain, Taiwan and Canada, Spain are…
“Do what you love and the money will follow?”
I don’t even know where to start. This phrase morphed as if it were a part of the game where one person gives a specific message to another and by the time it is repeated to a few people, the message has completely changed. The phrase is: Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Philosophically, the money will follow and you’ll never work a day in your life are two different concepts.
“Life is too short,” is an over used, misguided cliché of fill in the blank babble. At least from an analytical view. The average lifespan for American men is about 76 years and for American women it’s around 81 years. Not that short. You don’t know when you will die, you don’t know the day,…
It is that time of year; American Idol audition time. It’s hard to watch the heartbreaking stories of people who put everything, their hopes, their dream on the audition and don’t make it. I find myself in tears for some stranger as they walk back to the embrace of family and friends. Yes, I hear…
“I always say you have to be willing to get your heart broken. That’s just what f—ing happens when you try,” Ronda Rousey in her recent ESPN interview I’ve heard strong reactions to that quote and you probably have your own. As I think about 2016, I know there will be times when I’m in the depths…
Unfortunately once you finally decide to live for the moment, It’s because you’ve already missed the moment of a lifetime C.J. Thompson * Don’t miss the moment of a lifetime. Here’s to 2016. Cheers. *C.J. Thompson is one of my favorite poets. You can take a moment to see her work at https://www.facebook.com/CJ-Thompson-777858232327657/ and https://www.instagram.com/c.j.thompson/
Movies and TV have led us astray with respect to drowning. People who are actually drowning are not thrashing and crying for help. In reality, drowning is unnoticed by observers. The person cannot stay at the surface of the water long enough to cry for help. The head bobs on the surface of the water,…
New Years Resolutions? Really? Stop. Consider, if it’s a really good resolution, why wait until January 1st to start doing it? Any reason for waiting is probably the reason it needs to be a resolution in the first place. For example, weight loss. Waiting until the first of January because it’s hard to control eating? Is…
Look, I am not using self check out unless there is a discount; in that case, I might consider it. I work at home on a laptop all day. When I do go out, I’m not about to make that a solitary exercise of shop, scan and bag; unless it’s financially beneficial. I remember when…
I’ve got over 1,000 followers on Instagram. One of the most unexpected things of 2015 is this virtual group of strangers worldwide whose lives have randomly interconnected on purpose with mine. It a collection of people who share losses, struggles and successes. Not just a scroll, click, like, scroll, but for some of us, conversations…
I have a new memory of Paris now. A great afternoon coffee break with a couple of friends on warm sunny California day changed the moment I checked my Instagram feed and started seeing messages of solidarity and support for Paris. I’ve been to Paris many times and I’ve had great moments. Watching an Italian…
From the barren, rumbled, desolated battlefields, the poppies grew. Seeds that laid dormant for decades bloomed from the disturbed earth of battle. Hence, the poppy became a symbol of remembrance for Veterans Day which initially commemorated the end of World War I at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of…
It’s was moment of stillness and silence. You said something in a meeting and your audience had blank stares as if a hypnotist had brought them to a trance. Come on, hurry up, the audience is waiting. In a split second, they’ve gone from trance to judgmental silence and hostile postures. Well? What do you…
Have you ever seen three people suddenly grab a table and look as if they are about to jump under it? That was me and two friends last Monday in Starbucks. Last Monday was weird; just weird. There were fifty earthquakes in the city where I live. Not in the state, not in country, not…
I can be stubborn and I will insist on doing everything myself. After a dinner party this summer, the last few guests offered to help bring in everything from outside. With great bravado, I quickly waved their help away. I was the host; they were guest. They reminded me that if I left all that food…
Monday, 12 October 2015 is a controversial federal holiday in the United States in honor of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America. For some, Columbus Day represents the demise of indigenous people at the hands of colonization; with estimates of 80% of the North American Native American population was destroyed as the result of the arrival…
Movies and TV have led us astray with respect to drowning. People who are actually drowning are not thrashing and crying for help. In reality, drowning is unnoticed by observers. The person cannot stay at the surface of the water long enough to cry for help. The head bobs on the surface of the water,…
Look at the photo. I am inverted. I am focused, you can see the strain. If I lose balance, I not only fall out of the pose, I will also fall off the kitchen counter. Do not try to help. I have an awareness of my body and balance in space. My stability in this…
Gee, I don’t have time for this. A coworker invited me to do a Hack A Hair Dryer Challenge. One of those challenges to redesign a hair dryer to do something other than dry hair as a part of an effort to get women interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – STEM. Please, I…
This week poses a dilemma, my post needs work. More work than I can finish in an afternoon. It’s a subject I’m passionate about and I want to get it as right as possible. So what do I do? Publish or skip a week? For more than year, my practice has been to publish weekly…
Labor day is all about a celebration of work. It seems like a logical time to reflect about what has happened in the year so far and how to end it. Henry Ford said Vision without execution is just hallucination. Dare I stop hallucinating? As I reflect, in front of my Mac, I am reminded…
