Tag Archives: reading

The Secret Behind Subliminal Weight Loss Tapes

Many years ago, I came across an ad for subliminal weight loss tapes. The ad was very clever. It said that you could play these subliminal tapes while you were reading, vacuuming the house, studying for exams, or even watching television and you would lose weight. I had been on vacation and had gained some weight after eating those delicious, calorie-laden, restaurant meals, so I was up for anything that would help me achieve my objective without strenuous dieting. The …

I Could Write a Book

There have been so many times when I’ve asked someone about their relationships, the people in their life, a time in their life, or a situation, that I hear the words, “I could write a book about that” and when I ask why they don’t, they give all kinds of excuses for why they don’t or why they haven’t. The excuses range from not having enough time, not being good at writing, not being good at grammar, not, not, not …

The Trick to Getting Your Way

Women have always known that they can get what they want by making men think it was their idea. So, why don’t they remember that in the workplace? If we look at it differently, studies also show that when we talk to someone, we remember 65% of what we said and only 35% of what the other person said. Many is the time when someone is recounting a story to me and at the end of it, I’ll ask, “And …

Real Multitasking is a Myth

I don’t know why some people are so proud of their ability to multitask. Most of us do it for mundane things without even realizing that we’re doing it. Ask any mother who has to drive a carload of squabbling children to school if she considers settling their arguments while driving, the same thing as multitasking, and she will probably look at you as if you’re one sandwich short of a picnic. In her view, it’s one and the same …

The New SAT College Entrance Exam

I keep wondering how much lower our educational standards can go and it keeps surpassing all of my lowest expectations. The SAT college entrance exam used to be standard fare. There were multiple choice questions and essay questions and just about every other kind of questions. There was no studying for it in my day; you were just tested on everything you had ever learned. Over the years, the SATs have changed but now it is changing so substantially that …

Posting a Bad Review? Think Again

This is one of those horror stories about customer feedback that is so hard to believe, yet it’s true. Whenever you buy something online, you get an email asking you to take a survey and to post your opinion of the product and the customer service you received. You also have the option of posting your feedback online so that other customers can benefit from your experience. But wait a minute. Think again. Apparently, if you exercise that option, you …

Wrtiting More, Reading Less

Is it true that we are writing more but reading less? It seems to be so. Having been raised in an era before television, computers, cell phones, and electronic gadgets, books were our greatest source of entertainment. Publishing was at an all-time high. We mostly read the classics because there didn’t seem to be the vast assortment of writers that dominate our bookshelves today. In those days, most writers looked for an agent to represent them. They were paid a …

Does Reading Fiction Make You Nicer?

I have often thought that people who read fiction have a deeper understanding of human nature. I’m not talking about the shoot ’em up stories that are one-dimensional, or even the cowboy and Indian stories that are stereotypical. I’m talking about the kind of stories that are written by authors who are the observers of life rather than being the participants of life. The ones who observe life have the edge, especially with regard to their ability to probe the …