28Feb 2012 by CJ

Neckties are no longer common but getting dressed up does make you feel good

Generosity & Kindness, Life & Living
“If men can run the world, why can't they stop wearing neckties? How intelligent is it to start the day by tying a little noose around your neck?” - Linda Ellerbee The first question my 91 year old grandmother asked me when I got my new job was, “do you have to wear neckties?” Let’s remember she’s from a generation long ago when men wore a suit and neckties to go to the movies and women wore dresses and pumps to do their house work. Sounds pretty foreign, doesn’t it? I don’t think there was really a dress code per say at my previous job. Jeans and sneakers were commonplace and it never seemed to be an issue. In truth, I settled into that work attire pretty quickly – going…
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07Feb 2012 by CJ

Republican politicians turn an inspiring message to all into something bad

Information & Education, Life & Living
Is there anything that Republican politicians won’t try and contaminate? It seems Republican politicians are getting a little annoyed by the recent Chrysler commercial featured in this year’s super bowl. Clint Eastwood says, "It's halftime in America too. People are out of work and they're hurting and they're all wondering what they're going to do to make a comeback.” Republican Karl Rove said he was “offended” by the commercial and Michelle Malkin said she believe it alluded to his support of the auto industry. Are we done children? The political landscape has been reduced to nothing more than name calling, petty fighting and bullying on school playgrounds. We are so concerned with which side of the political field is winning the race that we forget about the everyday citizens who…
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05Feb 2012 by CJ

The word “failure” is for those who haven’t learned anything

Information & Education, Life & Living
“Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”Henry Ford It’s easy to look through the history of one’s life and categorize certain events or experiences as being a failure. I hate that word. The definition states that failure is “a person or thing that is unsuccessful or disappointing.” Okay, there are parts of my life I wish I would’ve handled differently, but to say that I was “unsuccessful” or that my life was somehow “disappointing” because of it just seems a little harsh. I believe the only reason something should be classified as a failure is if you haven’t learned anything from it. If you’ve gone through a string of relationships or friendships and still can’t love someone unconditionally; if you’ve bounced from job to job but never…
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31Jan 2012 by CJ

The #1 Motivation to Lose Weight – look at old pictures

Life & Living, Youth
You can try all the dieting fads you want. But the best way to motivate yourself to lose weight is to break out the old photo albums for a trip down memory lane. At a recent family dinner, while thumbing through a few random images from the past, I got quite the reality check.  It’s been almost 11 years since my wife and I got married and I couldn’t believe what I looked like at my engagement party. Not to toot my own horn, but I looked pretty damn good. I was thin and well dressed, my hair seemed to fall perfectly into place and my skin looked, well, young! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. If not for the evidence in my hand, I’m not so sure I’d…
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29Jan 2012 by CJ

The #1 Site for Beautiful People has nothing to do with real beauty

Information & Education, Life & Living
In July of 2009, I penned a column focusing on Ashley Madison - an online dating site geared towards those already in a committed relationship, but looking for something more. Their motto? “Life is short, have an affair.” Now there's Beautiful People. The existence of such a site surprised me at the time - as did its popularity with millions of everyday citizens paying for the ability to cheat on their significant others. And while I wanted to believe that Ashley Madison was in fact the most extreme and bizarre online dating site I’d come across, I recently stumbled upon a new, and slightly more disturbing entry to the fray. The site is BeautifulPeople.com. While the name and its slogan, “Where beautiful relationships begin,” might seem innocent at first, its…
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