Oscar buzz is in the air for the King’s Speech, the riveting story of a famous public figure, Prince Albert, Duke of York, who wrestles mightily with a severe and debilitating stammer that has plagued him all his adult life. The Prince, portrayed with tremendous force by Colin Firth, is thrust onto the throne in 1936 when his father King George dies and his elder brother runs off in a selfish fit to marry two-time divorcee...

My husband and I had just finished watching the Patriots get humiliated by the Jets so we were practically suicidal and in need of a laugh. We turned on the Golden Globes. It was just what we needed to wrap up a perfect evening. So UNfunny, it was hilarious.Ricky Gervais claims he has no regrets about savaging the Hollywood elite. But he was offensive enough that the Hollywood Foreign Press, which sponsors the awards, app...

I once had an employee who took one of our new folks to a client meeting. When it was over, this veteran insisted they take the afternoon to go shopping and out to lunch. When the new employee raised an eyebrow and said perhaps they should get back to the office, the veteran cajoled her into compliance. ”Don’t worry,” this employee said, “It’s no big deal. You and I deserve this.”Please don’t get me wrong; we all goof o...

Back in my wild and crazy youth, my friends and I used to take an annual weekend canoe trip down the Wisconsin River. For those of you unfamiliar with that part of the world, the Wisconsin is a 10,000 year old, 430 mile waterway (we did about 25 or 30 miles) originating in the northern part of the state near the border of the Upper Penninsula of Michigan. This isn’t whitewater rafting. It’s a relaxing way to hang with you...

As I write this I’m gazing (lovingly) out the picture window at my husband on a ladder, cleaning out the gutters. For those of you who live in condos or climates where trees don’t shed, this is an annual fall sport for men. They do it because they ARE men and it makes absolutely no sense to them to pay someone a couple of hundred bucks when they have a ladder, a pair of work gloves, and about an hour and a half between th...

About a year ago I got tickets to a Paul McCartney concert for my husband’s birthday. It was amazing to see how, now well-past that mythical and unimaginable age 64, McCartney is ever-brilliant. One of my favorite stories about the Beatles goes back to the mid-1960’s when McCartney woke up in the middle of the night with a song idea. He liked it so much that he immediately played it through on the piano to ensure that he...

I’m in Bora Bora at the Four Seasons Resort for a business meeting (yes, business), a place that qualifies as paradise on earth. The hotel “rooms” on this enchanting Tahitian island are huts built over the water on concrete stilts. We are looking across a tranquil, sparkling turquoise bay at a mountain perpetually ringed by clouds. The resort staff is first rate. Every time they encounter a guest, whether piloting golf...

It was my freshman year at the University of Illinois and I had invited a guy from 101 English for dinner at my place. The chicken and homemade cheesecake (my first) were a triumph. We hadn’t even kissed but both suspected where it was headed when the doorbell rang. It was my high school boyfriend of two years. He had driven an hour and a half to ”surprise me.” For those of you old enough to remember life B.T. (Before...

It was a headline you couldn’t ignore. ”Why Twitter’s C.E.O. Demoted Himself.” Evan Williams, the founder of the exploding social messaging site recently handed over the reins of the company to Dick Costolo, the company’s chief operating officer. But why? The famously shy (although certainly not accidental) chief executive is a creative guy, not a leader.Twitter’s astonishing growth is far less a product of good busines...

One of my best friends recently sent an urgent text. She said something like, “Award speech on Tuesday. 3 days to write a three minute speech. Help.”This is an accomplished woman - author, renowned expert in her field and a sought-after keynote speaker. She routinely gets invited to Washington to testify and lectures around the world. The issue was not eloquence. It was twofold. How to say it without bragging; and ho...