Idea
Flaubert and the art of the day job
I just learned about Flaubert’s dictum: “Be regular and orderly in your life like a bourgeois, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” I love this. It is excellent advice for any writer, artist, actor, musician, or similarly creative person who hopes to launch a successful, profitable, sustaining career in their…
Read MoreDiscount men
Every year, Space Telescope Science Institute in Maryland fields thousands of requests from scientists all over the world to use the Hubble telescope to advance their research. Only 200 proposals are accepted. In 2014, the Institute realized that 21.9 percent of proposals written by men were being accepted while only 16.9 percent of proposals written…
Read MoreThe pre-rain date
Here is my new, brilliant idea: The pre-rain date. Allow me to explain. The Turkey Bowl has become an annual tradition at my school. Students and faculty play a flag football game on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. It’s great fun. But last year, rain forced us to postpone the Turkey Bowl and eventually move it…
Read MoreBe flexible.
During intermission at Cirque du Soleil last week, I saw a friend who told me that she was moving from her front row seats to the rear of the tent because she needed to leave early. Her step-father refuses to eat dinner after 7:00 PM, so they would need to leave the show a little…
Read MoreAs a Disney shareholder, here are a few improvements that the parks needs now.
As a Disney shareholder, I spent much of our recent vacation to the Magic Kingdom and its surrounding parks looking for ways to enhance the customer experience. I found a few. Many were related to specific rides. My philosophy on a Disney ride is simple: It needs to make my heart skip a beat, either…
Read MoreBite, damn it!
I’m spending a week at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, CT, teaching 15 girls from all over the world to tell great stories. I saw this sign on a wall filled with great signs during Sunday afternoon registration and loved it so very much. The very last thing your future self would want is for…
Read MoreYour negativity sucks. Shut up.
Elysha and I are taking the kids to Disney World for a week. It will be their first time frolicking at the Magic Kingdom. I can’t wait. Elysha visited Disney World as a child, but I did not. My first visit came when I was about 19 years old. My best friend, Bengi, and I…
Read MoreThe utterly unnecessary letter of recommendation
I was writing a recommendation letter yesterday for a friend and former colleague. It was the fourth such letter of recommendation that I’ve written in the month of June. Though writing these letters takes time, I always find a great deal of joy in memorializing in words how I feel about the person to whom…
Read MoreThink different things. Just be nice about it.
Here’s a promise that I think every person in the world should make: “If I love something but another person hates it and openly criticizes it, I promise not become angry and verbally or physically attack that other person because everyone gets to think different things.” This means that when I say that I despise…
Read MoreFight to ascribe good intentions
They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I hate this phrase. I hate it so much. I understand the sentiment: Good intentions do not always produce good results. The law of unintended consequences often demonstrates that that despite a person or government’s most noble intent, effects that are unanticipated or…
Read More