My Blog
All Blog Posts by Date
Below is a list of all my blog posts. I hope you enjoy them.
One-Hit Wonders: What’s Up With That?
What’s the story there? The artists behind things like Lollipop, lollipop, oh, lolli, lolli, lolli and Mu-huther-in-law (mother-in-law!) and It was a one-eyed, one-horned, flyin’ purple people eater*. Why do we never hear from those people again? It’s an eternal mystery, isn’t it?
The Reason is Never Because
You hear and read this one a lot! “The reason is because…” “The reason is because she’s going to meet us there.” No, it’s not. The word because means the reason that. Just take a closer look at the word. Because. Be cause. Be at cause of. So “the reason is because” is redundant. “The reason is…” or: “It is because…” Those are good, those work.
If He Hits You, LEAVE!
There’s suddenly a lot of attention on abusive behavior of men towards women. As there should be. There is never an excuse for a man to hit a woman.* We don’t hit, we use our words. Did we not learn that in kindergarten? But some guys, that’s who they are and in way too many cases, they’re not going to change.
No More Baby Pictures in Doctors’ Waiting Rooms
That’s the headline of an NEJM Journal Watch article. It is in violation of patients’ HIPPA rights. Seriously? Obstetricians can’t post pictures of babies they’ve delivered? Fertility clinics can’t show babies infertile couples have had?
20 Reasons Everyone Should Take Acting Lessons
Here’s what my students learn: Enter a room with confidence, head held high. Look people in the eyes. If you shake someone’s hand, your grip should be firm, not flimsy and not vise-like. Don’t babble, but do speak clearly, distinctly, and loud enough to be heard.
Literally … NOT!
There was a car commercial several years ago that had people talking about looking at cars online. They were saying it was just like actually being in the dealership. One person said you “can literally take a test drive.” No, you can’t.
Winning v. Losing: Nicknames Required
Have you ever noticed that nicknames seem to be required in baseball? For the stand-outs, anyway. Name a baseball superstar who isn’t known by his nickname. Dizzy Dean… Shoeless Joe … Jim Palmer… Okay, maybe not all. Anyway, Cy Young was one of the best pitchers in the history of the sport, but his name is not Cy, it’s Denton. At his first professional try-out, he pitched a ball so fast that it smashed into the wooden fence behind home plate and tore it up.
Business Person v. Person
Thirty years ago – maybe even just 20 – terms like fierce and ruthless were often used to describe a good businessman. Let the buyer beware and cutthroat competition were commonly heard. In other words, the qualities associated with being a good businessman were not the same as those associated with being a good person. As businessman began morphing into businessperson – possible because of that transformation – that became less and less true.
ESPN’s Fan Hall of Fame
Did you even know there was one? ESPN created the ESPN Fan Hall of Fame in 2012, to be the “home to the men and women who keep the game alive.” As it is with the music and movies, so it is with pro sports: Without fans, you have nothing.
