Brain… Thriving Creativity 28 Jan 20206 Jul 2020 Our culture promotes a stereotype that creators like writers and entrepreneurs must sacrifice everything—food, sleep, relationships—for the cause. Long hours, sacrifices, and courageous decisions take a toll, and exhausted people…
Brain… For Engineers and Other Geniuses Who Cannot Spell 26 Oct 20196 Jul 2020 My dad was an industrial engineer and his spellings were creative. His colleagues shared that talent. When I taught college, many of my students were engineering majors, demonstrating that skill…
Brain… Don’t think of a purple giraffe (and what else not to say) 31 Jan 20154 Jul 2016 A company I admire allowed an employee to blog, "You probably don't want to come to our conference, but here's why I think you should." Really? I don't want to…
Books… Reading is for Babies 25 Jun 201413 Jun 2015 The American Pediatrics Association says, "Immunize your children against illiteracy." NPR's Audie Cornish interviewed Professor Susan Neuman about new evidence showing that the younger you read to your children, the better. Reading benefits babies,…
Brain… Want a More Effective Brain? 15 Feb 201215 Jan 2012 Do you think of your brain as a tool? Or have you confused your brain, your processes, your thoughts with your very being? You are not your brain, yet exercising…
Brain… Writing Detox 8 Feb 201215 Jan 2012 Sheila Patel, MD, of the Chopra Center suggests "9 Practices for Seasonal Detoxification," many of which you might expect from a "board-certified family physician and Ayurvedic expert." She prescribes an…
Academic Writing… My Favorite Kind of Payday 31 May 2011 In my introductory college skills class this quarter, a student told me about repeatedly sabotaging his final Naval promotion because at that level, he'd be required to write reports galore. Writing…
Blogging… Random Unexpected Blog of Awesomeness 21 Apr 201121 Apr 2011 Younger son's blog idea: "It's time for your random blog of the month." I didn't know I had such a thing. He explained, "Oh, you just write about Pokemon cards…
Brain… Well Manicured Writing 5 Apr 2011 What is it about a torn fingernail that demands to be torn, bitten, or sanded smooth? Why can't a loose tooth or burned palate be ignored? We seem…
Academic Writing… Bilingual Brain Advantage 4 Apr 20114 Apr 2011 During the decade politicians were banning bilingual education, I was in graduate school studying linguistics, including language acquisition--even bilingual language acquisition--and wishing we could all have bilingual (or trilingual) education.…
Brain… “Let Silence Do the Heavy Lifting” 17 Mar 201118 Mar 2011 "Let silence do the heavy lifting." -- Susan Scott Lauren Owen quoted this in "10 Ways to Avoid Death by Meetings," suggesting we "give people some time to respond. As…
Books… Learning Overload 15 Mar 2011 No solitude today. Interestingly enough, it was an exhibit on brains which left my brain too saturated with vivid imagery, rapid delivery, random information, and crowd noises to process what…