Jane Jacobs posted a very intriguing question on Facebook last week, “What book do you wish you could read again for the first time?" I immediately answered “The Handmaid’s Tale,” by Margaret Atwood. For me, it’s the perfect blend of a tale of a futuristic society that appeals to my nerdy side coupled with a female main character who tirelessly str …
About a year ago, I wrote a blog about a memorandum which was sent to only the female attorneys in one of the largest law firms in the world. The memorandum was created by the firm’s Women’s Committee in order to improve their female associates’ presentation skills. Included in the memorandum were “tips” such as, “Your friends will still like you …
Fred’s blog about his morning swim made me anxious. I cannot conceive of waking up that early so many mornings in a row to travel to a pool to swim. I practically force myself, by taping my favorite trashy reality television, to wake up forty-five minutes early three days a week to go downstairs and walk on my treadmill. I am definitely not a morn …
I am a huge proponent of vacations. I truly feel that we work very hard and deserve our time away. Moreover, I believe that taking the time away helps us to do our jobs better. Giving ourselves time to “recharge our batteries” can only be beneficial to our job performance. In the “old days,” we went on vacation and, generally, no one could g …
When Fred offered the suggestion of “Happiness Week,” my first thought was this is going to be a “cinch.” Just the evening before, my husband and I were in our kitchen when, one by one, our kids each walked in from their evening out. We wound up spending over two hours in the kitchen talking and laughing with them. It was the perfect moment in time …
A recent article about Madonna caught my eye. She appeared at the Supreme Court building in New York City in response to a jury summons she received. She was dismissed, however, within two hours, was not questioned for any case, and spent the wait in a clerk's office instead of in the sprawling juror waiting room. A spokesman for the state court …
A recent article in the Sunday Times made me squirm. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, there is a growing movement on college campuses to provide “trigger warnings” to college students that the materials they are about to read might upset them. Given as examples of works that might, in the future, require warnings were “The Adventures of Huckleberry F …
My youngest daughter, Sydney, is in Israel this week. She was so excited when she called me a few months ago from school to tell me that she and her friend Jaime had applied together to take a Birthright trip. Sydney was even more excited when she called to tell me that they had both been accepted on a trip. Quickly, however, the excitement t …
Saturday was my husband’s annual cousin’s club. Every year in June, all of the relatives from my mother-in-law’s side of the family get together at our house. The cousins begin arriving at about 12:30 and each brings their own picnic lunch and beverages. We provide the location, pool, hopefully sunshine, and the bathrooms (a definite necessity). …
It’s that time of year where I play the role of a dutiful wife. I only do for my husband once a year so I should be a bit more easygoing about it. But I cannot even pretend to enjoy it because I dislike it so much. There is nothing about it that I like. It’s dirty, smells awful, and there is nothing about it that interests me. In fact, when …
It’s that time of year where I play the role of a dutiful wife. I only do for my husband once a year so I should be a bit more easygoing about it. But I cannot even pretend to enjoy it because I dislike it so much. There is nothing about it that I like. It’s dirty, smells awful, and there is nothing about it that interests me. In fact, when …
It’s Sunday morning and my eyes are barely open as I sit down to write this blog. I look to the large mug of coffee sitting in front of me for inspiration. My mug is filled with coffee, flavored with chicory, purchased from the Café du Monde over the internet (the topic of a different blog), with fat-free half and half and two Splendas. As I …
I was interested to read in The Sunday Times about a study in which researchers asked commuters in the Chicago area to participate. Half of those who volunteered were asked to speak to the person who sat next to them on the train while the other half were asked to keep to themselves. Not surprising to me, the researchers found that the commuters wh …
As Dan began packing, his resolution began to fade. So he reached for a different drink, one that would help give him the courage he needed to forge ahead with his plans. As he drank from a bottle of whiskey, questions began to swirl in his head. How was it that Duardo was able to take Espi to Argentina when Dan knew that Espi did not have a …
While reading the New York Times Magazine this weekend, I chuckled at a small section entitled, “That Should be a Word.” This week’s made up word was, “buychology.” As expected, the definition of the made up word, “the science of making people make purchases." While reading, I unexpectedly thought of my mother. Whenever my brother, sister, …
It's Monday, Monday. Let me know what you think about. . .
