The Extraordinarily Ordinary » Life musings

On New Year’s resolutions

jtal — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:02:17 +0000

I know it’s a little late for New Year’s resolutions. GUESS WHAT–this is not a post about my New Year’s resolutions. And let me tell you why not: I don’t believe in them. It’s partly because they’re only made to be broken, partly because I’m too lazy to think of anything, but mostly because I [...]

How to be mean with purpose

jtal — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:13:53 +0000

Sometimes I ask myself, what is it that I can give back to the world? Some people endeavor to pass on their gift of optimism, seeing the good in everything. Some people share their sense of style and evangelize confidence while staying true to yourself. But me? What am I good at, that people need [...]

Jtal’s management tip #4: destroy

jtal — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:52:58 +0000

So you’ve tried explaining why you need someone to do their job. You’ve tried bribing them with treats. You’ve tried threatening them with the consequences of their actions and STILL you’re on the ass end of missing your project’s deadlines.

It is now time to rain down the pain. It’s time to make good on [...]

Jtal’s management tip #3: threats

jtal — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 01:34:14 +0000

Maybe ‘threats’ is a strong word. Maybe I could call it the sterner side of reasoning. But that would be less interesting, probably. Sometimes playing nice will get you nowhere, sometimes being kind and reasonable and nurturing and food-giving leads people to think you’re a pushover.

Well guess what, people. I’m not.

It is now [...]

Jtal’s managment tips: a series.

jtal — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 19:34:32 +0000

I have not been a manager for many years, but I feel like I’ve gained some experience when it comes to managing creative types in particular. They’re an interesting breed, and while I generally admire their ability to create under pressure, it is not in their nature to give one crap about deadlines or budget [...]

You must be this awesome to ride

jtal — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:56:18 +0000

Disclaimer: I started writing this when I was angry at someone for not meeting my expectations. Thank goodness I know so many awesome people who astound me in every way (you are one of them) to balance out the duds.

Most people probably don’t have a checklist of qualities they look for in a friend. [...]

Social ties

jtal — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 18:21:32 +0000

Tangential to that last post on social capital, I wanted to share something else I learned from my social networking class. For our final paper and presentation, we were asked to keep a social network site diary–recording which sites we used, how often, and how. Yes, this was a graduate-level course.

I didn’t learn any [...]

Social capital

jtal — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 23:17:56 +0000

Earlier this year I took a course on social networking sites, which was fascinating, to say the least. It allowed me to not only study the social media sites that seem to be taking over our lives, but opened my eyes to an academic study of personal identities and social interactions.

One of the most [...]

The power in potential

jtal — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 03:42:37 +0000

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A couple of weekends ago, I was touring possible outdoor wedding ceremony sites with Fiancé and my mom. While standing under the tree which will hopefully be the backdrop of our wedding, my mom squinted a little, looked up, and professed, “That’s a good climbin’ tree.”

Beyond the amazing fact that my mom is [...]

Music memory

jtal — Tue, 10 May 2011 20:02:37 +0000

I’ve said before that music is the surest way for me to be pulled into the past. It’s like a wormhole–one minute I’m minding my own business, listening to one of my Pandora stations and creating endless wishlists on clothing sites working hard, then suddenly a song grabs me by the stomach and pulls me [...]