Archive for August 2011
TV can be as healthy as carrots and jumping jacks
A reader pointed me to a list of 5 ways to make watching television more active. I was happy to see that I do three of these already: 1. Watch socially. Social support is a very large factor in overall survival. If you can watch with family and friends, you’ll be able to joke, cajole,…
Read MoreThe office jerk. Death by television. The curse of the agreeable worker. All good news for me.
Three recent studies that bode exceedingly well for me, and perhaps for you. Study #1 Research published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior found that people who are regularly stressed out by the office jerk are more likely to take that stress home with them — and pass it on to whoever is unfortunate enough to…
Read MoreAuthor Laurie Halse Anderson and I have eerily similar mindsets. Except I think the universe wants me dead.
Author Laurie Halse Anderson, at a recent SCBWI conference, spoke to would-be writers about what she called Attitudes You Want to Grow in Your Soul. The title is a little touchy-feely for me. I might have gone with something like Attitudes Required to Stop Being a Loser or What to Remember When You Are Acting Like…
Read MoreI am a small and insignificant person by comparison
It’s important, I think, to reflect back on your accomplishments from time to time as a means of motivating yourself for future success. It’s easy to forget the hurdles you have crossed, the challenges you’ve overcome, and the ways in which you and your life are separate from the crowd. But knowing these things is…
Read MorePlease don’t taint our trashy brand name with your douchebaggery
Abercrombie & Fitch is hardly a store that I hold in high esteem. I could list the number of discrimination lawsuits that the company has lost in the past decade, but all you really have to know about this company is that in 2002 Abercrombie Kids sold a line of thong underwear sold for girls…
Read MoreAnne Hathaway rapping as Lil’ Wayne
One of the ways that I can tell that something is great is if I think my wife will love it. With the exception of Oprah, her taste in all things is impeccable. As soon as I saw this video, I knew that she would love it. Therefore it must be great. It’s a perfect example…
Read More“Mother may I, Mr. Brady?”
From Mike Reiss’s piece on the Patriots preseason victory last night: "The thing that New England does just as well as anybody is their tempo. When you have a quarterback like [Brady], he’s able to come out and control the tempo the way he was; he never lets you settle down and never lets you…
Read MoreIn need of a new theme song
I need a new theme song. My first, from several years back, was Simon and Garfunkel’s I Am a Rock. It was a time in my life when I was dating a fictional character on a now-defunct television program and feeling rather alone, and so the song fit my mood well. I was alone, damn…
Read MoreWhy lift weights and run when you can fuse with your gym towel?
Towel Fusion? Really? “…guaranteed to create a total body fusion!” With your towel. What’s next? Tube sock fusion? Jock strap fusion? Contact lens fusion? Just when I am finally willing to accept the concept of spin class (though I still don’t see why everyone can’t just get on a bike and motivate themselves) comes what…
Read MoreAn admittedly heated response about the notion that a librarian can’t read Shakespeare
One of the students who I’m working with this summer told me that he doesn’t like Shakespeare. I told him that he doesn’t like Shakespeare because he doesn’t know Shakespeare, and he hasn’t had a teacher who loved Shakespeare enough to pass the love onto him. Shelf Awareness featured a librarian who answered the question,…
Read More