We don’t use many Latin words anymore, but it’s instructive to look at ancient languages to see how words began and what they mean. For instance, exordium is defined as the beginning of an oration or treatise. In fact, it literally means the beginning of anything. If...
In the 2000 Ridley Scott film Gladiator*, Maximus, (Russell Crowe) is the most famous gladiator in the Roman Empire. With a victory against impossible odds, he wins the crowd and his life, only to be murdered by Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) with a concealed, poison...
At the U.S. Classic competition, gymnast Simone Biles wore a leotard with a rhinestone goat on it. Was it bragging? Hardly. Biles landed a Yurchenko double pike vault, something no female gymnast has ever attempted, much less accomplished in competition. The Olympic and world champion...
Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay made the first ascent of Mt. Everest in 1953. Hillary took Norgay’s photo for the history books, but refused to have his taken. Over his lifetime, Hillary achieved many ascents and medals of distinction, but reluctantly accepted fame. He...
In Northern New Mexico, spring has finally hit its stride. Pink, white, purple and yellow blossoms festoon the high desert. Birds careen from building nests and breeding to constant feeding. The new moon appeared Tuesday, signaling time to plant. It’s an opportune moment to tap...
There is a great divide over whether or not to incorporate humor into presentations. This is especially true of serious talks, pitches or even eulogies. The physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses public speaking and the use of humor in his Master Class online program. Tyson...
The recent Academy Awards were uninspiring. So, we watched one of our favorite films, The King’s Speech. It isn’t surprising that two speech coaches would gravitate to a film about a speech therapist who coached the King of England to overcome his stutter. Yet this 2010...
What is the dominant emotion for 2021? Languishing, says Organizational Psychologist Adam Grant in a recent NY Times article. It’s a sense of stagnation and emptiness which makes one feel joyless and aimless. After a difficult election, multiple mass shootings and no definitive end to the...
If you love great documentaries, watch Ken Burns’ three-part series on Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway was a complicated human who changed the landscape of American fiction. He was masterful at getting to the heart of a character or relationship through simple, unadorned writing. One of the...
Bob Ross was recently featured in a piece on CBS Sunday Morning. Ross hosted The Joy of Painting, a PBS television series that ran from 1983-1994 for 403 episodes. How did a show about learning to paint become so successful?Interestingly enough, 90% of Ross’ audience...