Not long ago, I had a conversation with a friend about deadlines. We’d both had corporate careers, mine in financial services and his in media, where deadlines were considered serious things. We’d also both subsequently had nonprofit experiences, where deadlines tended to be a bit fuzzier. I told him about a former colleague at a […]
Or, actually, in a peanut butter filled chocolate shell. I recently read about a grandson of the founder of Reese’s Cups who is suing Hershey Corporation. He claims the current owners of his grandfather’s brand have changed things and that now the treats are neither actual chocolate nor real peanut butter. As Reese’s Cups […]
I know, I know – could it be more trite? And yet… There’s so much research demonstrating the importance of community, friendships, and loose social networks to health and happiness. Anybody who claims to have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps is forgetting all the kind words, second chances, mentoring and plain old good luck […]
Dorothy Parker, that famous doyenne of the literary Round Table and master of the pithy putdown, had a very challenging life. And personality. Reading a bio took some of the shine off her image, but she also had a brilliant way with words even when not being funny. This particular quote resonated strongly for me: […]
Turns out one of my favorite sayings actually has a name – Hanlon’s Razor. It says “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” An article in The Economist recently recommended using it to squelch the urge for revenge against annoying or deceitful colleagues. Having found that advice to be useful over […]
Need a bit of uplifting? Perhaps some useful information about stress management, food, health, or how to focus? Perhaps you’d like a brief diversion by way of travel memories? Or simply something colorful to cheer, soothe or distract you? My blog will do the trick. It’s ostensibly about art, and sometimes I do write about […]
A recent article in Barron’s cited research done by colleges in California and Italy on successful aging. Among the obvious bits of advice like eating well, exercising, and having strong social connections was an unexpected finding – be stubborn. Or, as I prefer to think of it, be resilient and determined. Scientists say genetics account […]
On rare occasions, I have created commissioned paintings – meaning somebody specifically asked me to paint a certain subject. It’s not something I do often, or seek out, as it’s far more stressful than simply painting what I feel like creating. When people request a specific painting, I feel a tremendous obligation to get it […]
Being a great believer in challenging myself to get out of my comfort zone and stretch my brain, I took a class in palette knife painting last month. It was apparently part of a self-improvement kick, as I also took a refresher class on perspective drawing. I figured it would be useful both for the […]
Turns out travel doesn’t have to be international to inspire me to paint. This lesson apparently had to be relearned from the last time we spent a month in New York City, pre-pandemic. That resulted in a series of cityscapes, from Radio City to the Village. This time, we rented an apartment for January and […]
