We are all faced with a series of great opportunities – brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems. February 16 is the anniversary of the death of John William Gardner, the author of that quote. Gardner was Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the late 1960’s, founder of two influential U.S. organizations (Common Cause and Independent…
The 57th Annual Grammy Awards, honoring excellence in the music industry, will be held Sunday February 8, 2015 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Grammys were originally called the Gramophone Awards which explains the gilded statues presented to the winners. According to legend, music executives created the Grammys in reaction to the rising…
I could care less if you read this blog. Of course, I’m being partly sarcastic and partly ironic when I write that. Since words matter, language purists often point out the phrase ‘I could care less’ is illogical and even an “an ignorant debasement of language”. If you don’t care about something at all, then…
For 40 years in a row, the LSSU-Nation folks at Lake Superior State University have been curating a cra-cra list of “Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness”. During last week’s polar vortex, I hacked the entire 800+ word list to understand if the authors should swag for their skill…
After multiple opportunities to do field research this holiday season, I’ve come to the conclusion most of us choose wine based on brand, rather than taste. Sure, many people have an oenophile friend who knows that a bottle of 1787 Château Lafite with the initials Th.J. etched on it sold for more than $150K. However, most of us…