Can We Really?

Three years ago, around 11pm Eastern time, the news went out around the world that Barack Obama had won the 2008 U.S. Presidential election and had become the first African-American president of this country. Three years later… Obama is still president, gearing up for his 2012 re-election campaign – a campaign that might have seemed [...]

Weekly Gratitude

This week, I was grateful for… An opportunity to indulge my inner Regency-Era Janeite, with a new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma on PBS’s Masterpiece Theater; A belated celebration of Martin Luther King Day with a day off from work to sleep, read and continue my Jane Austen indulgance; My president, who made me proud [...]

Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative

Whenever someone is up for a review or is being critiqued, most experts agree: start with the positive feedback first. Studies suggest that people respond to constructive criticism better when they’ve first been praised for the good things. Anecdotal evidence certainly suggest that this is true, so it makes me wonder: Did the Republicans not [...]