All Blog Posts (331)

HOW HARD CAN YOU MAKE IT?

I know some companies, some institutions, some people....ceo’s, lawyers, financial planners, teachers, politicians, most of us, actually, whose "taglines"could easily be, “We’re the Widget Company (or whatever) How hard can we make it?” Compelling, right? Right. Especially for the “customer.” I attempted to do a transaction with a bank recently and was so…

"LES JEUX SONT FAITS!"

The last time you were hanging around a roulette table in Cannes (okay, maybe Vegas...Foxwoods?) you heard the croupier make that statement. And he always says it twice: “Les jeux sont faits... les jeux sont faits...” usually in a sing-songy way. I can hear it.  And of course, it means, loosely translated, “All bets are made” and no more bets can be placed until the next game. I love…

Gail Blanke on NPR…

Gail will be on Michel Martin’s show, “Tell Me More,” on NPR this Wednesday, May 1st at approximately 11:40. Here’s a link if you’d like to listen live... …

WORTH FIGHTING FOR...

You’ve probably heard the story of the guy who climbs up the steep steps to the Golden Gate to presents himself to St. Peter and St.Peter says, “So, show me your scars!” “Scars?” the guy says, “Uh, I...I don’t have any scars..” “No scars?!” St. Peter asks incredulously.“Was there nothing worth fighting for?”

What is worth fighting for? It’s a good question to ask ourselves. A…

WE ARE NOT AFRAID...

It’s not unusual for me to be knocked out by a piece written by NY Times columnist, Tom Friedman, but last Wednesday’s column, “Bring On The Next Marathon," hit me square in the heart. He writes about the American imperative to clean up, care for each other...and move on. To do anything less is to empower terrorism and embolden terrorists. “So let’s repair the sidewalks immediately, fix…

DON’T FORGET THE MULCH...

Here's the thing about spring: You've got to know what to keep and what to let go of. Mother Nature tries to teach us that every single year. If you've got a garden or a lawn or even a window box, you know what I'm talking about. "Spring Clean Up," as the professional lawn guys call it, can be a major production. Everything is starting over and you have to be vigilant about eliminating the…

 IF I HAD A HAMMER.....

I am up and at it early this morning.  I have read through Gail's book twice now and I love it!! I have to say my friends are loving it too! They are getting to look through all the things that I am throwing out.  They are excited to receive pictures off my walls and jewelry out of my jewelry box.  My friend Connie said, "This is just like Christmas."  Are you sure you don't want this stuff.  I said, I never wear it and it is cluttering up my life.    I went to Wal-Mart and purchased a very…

SOMETIMES IT'S JUST NOT YOUR FAULT...  

You know Willa, our Golden Retriever, or if you read the "Monday Morning Motivators" even occasionally, you feel like you do. She's fabulous. A real lover. Totally irresistible, exuberant and completely wonderful. Yes, she jumps up…

YOU DON’T HAVE TO KNOW EVERYTHING!

You really don’t. You - we - might think we do, might want to act like we do, might knock ourselves out to prove it...but it’s just not necessary. You’ve got better things to do than to be everybody’s go-to person on every subject all the time. (“Better things” might include being the one whom other people can count on to be the expert or best-in-class person at one thing... But more of that in a…

THE MESS INSIDE...

Remember Rex Harrison as Professor Higgins in “My Fair Lady”? His delightful, tongue in cheek rendition of the song, “Why Can’t a Woman Be More Like a Man?!” popped into my head the other day. (Probably because of the barrage of controversial commentary about Sheryl Sandberg’s book, Lean In.. Actually, I’m trying to decide if she would - or wouldn’t - like that song..) One of my favorite lines near the end is, “Straightening up…

A WINK, A NOD, A SMILE...

“Blanke!!!”The voice was deep and shrill at the same time. I jerked my head up from my note taking. “What do you think you’re doing???!!” I was terror stricken. The yelling was coming from my biology 101 professor.... in front of a class of about fifty. “You’re not listening,Blanke, are…

WHEN THE GIG IS UP...

Whether you’re an actor, a politician, a CEO, a television news anchor, a fireman, a teacher, a stand-up comic or an exotic dancer, there comes a time when the gig is up. Your contract expires, they bring in new “talent,” the play closes or you just decide enough is enough. It happens to just about all of us.  Then the question is, “Now what? I mean, who am I if I’m no longer________?"

Take Peggy, for instance. She…

ALMOST THERE...

It was a cold, windy morning in early January. I was riding my bike as I did every morning when I was very young, to a small school in Florida that I attended for a few months each winter. I’d had pneumonia as an infant and doctors had warned my parents that it would be “dangerous” if I had another bout...and that the “lake effect” snow and wind in Cleveland could not only turn your face red and your nose blue but wreak havoc…

Best book I've read in months:  "Emotional Blackmail" by Susan Forward.   FANTASTIC. 

Reading this and applying it will clear the clutter in your mind regarding manipulating people in your life and it just may open your eyes to people who are manipulating you without you even knowing.

"BE ALWAYS GOOD"

Not all that easy, right? Not in this "Barnum & Bailey World...” (Remember? "...just as phony as it can be...”) with its stunning hypocrisy, lying, cheating and stealing, its "how much can we get away with?" attitude, its relentless, tamped down, boiling up rage, resentment...and the resulting revenge on our brothers and sisters. It's hard to seek out good when bad is ever present. It's hard…

THE OTHER SIDE OF FEAR...

Our fear of failing is huge. So is our fear of looking foolish. Or being ‘“wrong.” Or…

TOTALLY FLAWSOME...

Forget bland, boring perfection. Flaws are good. In fact, having a few flaws, whether you’re a pizza company, a big time celebrity or just a regular guy, can make you even more than awesome, it can make you uh, “Flawsome.” Yes, Flawsome is a word all right. (I heard it might’ve been coined by a senior executive at Pepsi but that could be “flawed” info.) You might be rolling your eyes but it’s more than a cringe-worthy…

WE ARE MADE FOR THIS MOMENT...

I love these lines from President Obama’s Inaugural Address:

"America's possibilities are limitless; we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands: youth and drive, diversity and openness, an endless capacity for risk and a gift for reinvention. My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment and we will seize…

HERE COMES TROUBLE...

That's what they used to say about me when I was a very little girl and walked into just about any room of adults. I'm not sure why, maybe like most little kids, I had a point of view, was a bit obstreperous (I threw myself down in the middle of a room once and kicked my feet because I'd seen some child star do it in a movie - and just wanted to try it out...) and had a habit of interrupting the conversation with my own…