It’s been a little more than a week since (mostly) everyone in Silicon Valley started sheltering in place and, surprisingly (to me, at least), I haven’t made a dent in my antilibrary. Truth be told, I’ve only read about 100 pages of a single book during that time. Part of the reason is that I’ve…
It’s the time of year when New Year’s resolutions are ubiquitous. In a quick search, I found more than 100 articles published in the last week alone. Apparently, we’ve all resolved to write about resolutions. While they are common, New Year’s resolutions are notoriously difficult to keep – only 1/3 of people who make resolutions keep them…
I’ve been meaning to read Tyler Cowen’s Discover Your Inner Economist since it came out a decade ago. Cowen is an economics professor at George Mason University who describes himself as a “curious intellectual nerd polymath.” He also runs marginalrevolution.com, arguably one of the best economics blogs. While I was intrigued by the subtitle “Use Incentives…
During a recent interview, a non-native English speaker asked me how I have time to write. Unfortunately I misunderstood the question – or maybe I was too tired to think clearly – so I answered something like the following: I read around 30 books per year, mostly when I’m on planes. The interviewer seemed happy…
So, for the 41st year in a row, Lake Superior State University (LSSU) issued a presser with a list of problematic words that should banned by every stakeholder. Their secret sauce in generating the list? The price point is good, everyone can join the conversation, and they never walk it back if someone complains about…
It’s the time of year when New Year’s resolutions are all around us. In a quick news search, I found more than 100 articles published in the last week alone. Apparently we’ve all resolved to write about resolutions. New Year’s resolutions are especially tough because they are usually set only once per year and have…
Longtime readers of my blog know I find ideas for blogs everywhere, from psychology experiments to work events to the origin of words and phrases. Lately, however, books have become my primary source of inspiration. In fact, it’s not uncommon for me to have multiple blog ideas after reading a book. That was the case…
For U.S. retailers, Halloween kicks off the end-of-year holiday spending spree (time to panic: it’s only 54 shopping days until Christmas). Even though Halloween didn’t become a commercial holiday until the early 1900’s, it is now the fifth most profitable holiday for US retailers behind Christmas, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and Easter. Various reports show…
As you probably guessed from my previous post, I have a lot of books in my office I’ve never read. I do plan on reading them – eventually – but new books often arrive faster than I can read my existing ones. Occasionally, I give books away; but only those I have read and that…
You’re gonna need a bigger boat. — Roy Scheider as Martin Brody in Jaws For nearly 30 years, a good friend and I have had an on-going debate on the greatest movie line of all time. Actually, for the first few years, it wasn’t much of a debate. We both agreed “Luke, I am your…