07Nov 2019 by CJ
Baby, It’s Cold Outside is a fun, playful holiday classic – that’s all!

Baby, It’s Cold Outside is a fun, playful holiday classic – that’s all!

Life & Living
John Legend and Kelly Clarkson have remade a holiday classic - Baby, It’s Cold Outside. What’s so newsworthy about that you might be asking? Well, apparently some members of the #MeToo movement have issues with the song’s lyrics, claiming they sound too “date-rapey”. They’ve even gone so far as to petition radio stations to have the song pulled from holiday rotation - successfully in some cases I might add. Here are some of the revised lyrics to Baby, It’s Cold Outside: Clarkson: "What will my friends think..."Legend: "I think they should rejoice"Clarkson: "...if I have one more drink?"Legend: "It's your body, and your choice." There is a long list of well-known crooners who have sung Baby, It’s Cold Outside over the years. Highly admired and respected names such as Dean…
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29Oct 2019 by CJ
Email etiquette is all about respecting other’s time

Email etiquette is all about respecting other’s time

Information & Education, Life & Living
The other day I realized that we all learned reading, writing and arithmetic from our wonderful teachers across the United States. But when were we ever taught email etiquette? If you can believe it, the very first network email was sent back in 1971 – invented by American computer programmer Ray Tomlinson. It’s been almost 50 years and the technology has revolutionized the way in which we interact, both professionally and personally. Admittedly, email etiquette (as it pertains to business) is nothing more than common sense.  Keep your tone professional, practice proper grammar and punctuation, make subject lines clear, re-read before hitting send, and the list goes on and on. Honestly, I’ll forgive bad grammar and even vague subject lines in favor of what I believe is the number one…
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13Oct 2019 by CJ
The people you love – a lesson from our four-legged friends

The people you love – a lesson from our four-legged friends

Love & Relationships
While human beings might be the more intelligent, more refined species, time and time again I see invaluable lessons to learn from our four-legged friend, the dog – especially concerning the people you love. Apparently, I’m not alone, as I recently started reading a book entitled, Lessons From Lucy: The Simple Joys of an Old, Happy Dog. From Amazon, “In this “little gem” (Washington Independent Review of Books), Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist and New York Times bestselling author Dave Barry learns how to age happily from his old but joyful dog, Lucy.” At first you might be thinking, what could humans possibly learn from a dog? But I assure you, Dave’s lessons are anything but inconsequential. They are truly profound and remind you that sometimes the greatest lessons about life and love often come from…
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10Oct 2019 by CJ
Where you sleep is something you should never take for granted

Where you sleep is something you should never take for granted

Life & Living
Have you ever paused from the daily chaos of life to think about where you sleep? I know that sounds strange but stay with me for a minute here. This week, I’ve been battling a head cold – you know, the kind that makes your sinuses feel like they’re on fire and everything you eat just tastes bad. Sleeping? Well, that’s a fun task. You raise you head up so high with a series of pillows that you might as well be sitting up. And forget about finding a comfortable position as you flip from one side to the other savoring your one clear nostril and hoping the other miraculously clears up. Something else happens when I’m sick like this – my snoring becomes unbearable. Knowing that my beautiful wife…
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02Oct 2019 by CJ
Priorities say a lot about the person you are

Priorities say a lot about the person you are

Love & Relationships
“No one is too busy in this world. We all have the same 24 hours. It’s all about priorities.” – Anonymous I discovered this quote while scrolling through Facebook – posted by a family member I haven’t seen or spoken to in many, many years. As someone who always appreciates an insightful quote, no matter how simplistic in its implementation, I agree with this author’s sentiment about setting priorities in life. I myself even blogged about the subject a few years ago in a post entitled, Thanksgiving to-do-lists – who’s important on yours? But as I get older, I struggle with the ability to understand how often we fail to practice what we consistently preach out in the world – particularly on social media. For over 35 years, I was…
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