chicago marathon

Chicago Marathon

I won the lottery and will be running in the Chicago Marathon. My friend, Tim Sackett, nearly had an aneurysm when I told him the news. He’s like — Get ready for non-stop updates on what you’re eating, how much you’re drinking, how hard running is, how much you hate it, how much you love…

The Gig Economy is a Lie

This past year, I began working with a start-up company on a big idea that required more and more of my attention. As the work ratcheted up, I was swamped with stuff to do. My other consulting services needed to be dialed down. Unfortunately, the start-up company hit a snag. I am now looking for…

Expose Your Kids to Art

I took the day off, yesterday. My brain is mushy from writing white papers on HR, and I needed a break from the internet. So I went to the North Carolina Museum of Art. It’s not too far from my house. There’s a beautiful running path that crisscrosses through the campus. The greenway is full…

Year of Mister Scrubby

Today marks one year since my beloved cat, Scrubs, passed away. He was Scrubby, Mister Scrubby, Big Beef & Cheese, Mister Doop-Dee-Doos, and the Mayor of Chunk City, USA. (My seven-month-old nephew is the new mayor, by the way.) I wouldn’t say it’s been the worst year of my life, but I’m in no hurry…

Botticelli girls

Botticelli and Girls

About a week ago, I saw Botticelli Reimagined in London. The exhibition reflected on Botticelli’s perfect vision of girls and womanhood, as represented in The Birth of Venus and La Primavera, and tried to show his influence on art from the 15th century through the modern era. Let’s start with the basics of Botticelli’s Venus. She…

failed

How You Know You Failed

Here’s you how you know you failed. If you stopped trying. If you never tried. If you didn’t learn anything. If you gave up too soon because it was hard. If you quit because you were frustrated. If you valued short-term fun over long-term results. If you expected something worthwhile would be easy. If you…

Social Media Spring Cleaning

It’s springtime. My husband did a ton of yardwork and trimmed back our azalea bushes. I washed kitchen cabinets and removed dust jackets from my hardcover books, but I need to paint one of our guest bedrooms. We have a million other projects to complete around here, but while I have a few minutes, let…

HR Bloggers and Analysts

Money has ruined the HR technology market, and it’s destroyed the HR bloggers and analysts. Especially me. I love seeing my friends earn a little cash, but everybody is so afraid of being left behind in the next great recession that very few people are willing to take risks and write boldly. I’m to blame.…

How to do a job you hate.

My adult life has been defined by doing one job: talking people off a ledge who hate their jobs. I don’t particularly enjoy my job of listening to other people complain about their jobs, but as America’s big sister, it is a constant in my life. Here’s how I manage a job that I hate…