Cynthia Closkey's blog
If you’ve spent most of your life cruising ahead on natural ability, doing what came easily and quickly, every word you write becomes a test of just how much ability you have, every article a referendum on how good a writer you are. As long as you have not written that article, that speech, that …
Continue reading “Writing (or Any Creative Activity) and the Fear of Being Less Than Amazing”
What if you could start over whenever you wanted? What if you could begin again? What if you could begin again again? What would you do differently if you could do it differently? When do you have the chance to do THAT? Hm? Well, you can each time you step on a stage, sit before a blank …
Continue reading ““What if you could start over whenever you wanted?””
Yes, the media are the ones engaging in these practices. But the reason that they’re doing so is because we – the public – are gawking at the public displays of pain. Our collective fascination with tragedy means that we encourage media practices that rub salt into people’s wounds, all for the most salacious story. …
Continue reading “We, the media consumers, are a big part of the problem”
Here’s the thing: your odds of guessing my home address, armed with only the knowledge that I live in Wisconsin, are still MUCH better than your odds of winning the Powerball lottery. If you have ever thought of buying a Powerball ticket, or other similar lottery ticket, please read this blog post that explains why …
Continue reading “Why should you not buy a Powerball ticket? Because of math.”
From an opinion piece in the New York Times on the issue of society ignoring evidence that mammograms only increase medical procedures, they don’t save lives: For years now, doctors like myself have known that screening mammography doesn’t save lives, or else saves so few that the harms far outweigh the benefits. Neither I nor …
Continue reading “Reason #2978 why health insurance in the US is so expensive”
“The question isn’t whether or not you should wait to be picked, the question is whether you care enough to pick yourself.”Seth Godin on self-publishing
Journalists in Britain have traditionally justified shady practices by arguing that they are in “the public interest.” Asked by an inquiry lawyer how he would define that, Mr. McMullan said that the public interest is what the public is interested in. “British Inquiry Is Told Hacking Is Worthy Tool,” New York Times, 30 Nov 2011 …
Continue reading ““Give the people what they want” as a legal strategy”
Often, a woman will enter the salary negotiation phase and I’ll tell them a number will be sent to them in a couple days. Usually we start around $45k for an entry level position. 50% to 60% of the women I interview simply take this offer. It’s insane, I already know I can get authorization …
Continue reading “A simple and sad reason why women make less money than men”
[T]ell readers that they’re wrong about something they know in their heart to be true, and they will send you hate mail. from “You’ve got mail, you idiot!” by Christie Aschwanden
Two opinion pieces that arrive at much the same conclusion through very different routes: My period of greatest creative output was during my corporate years, when every meeting felt like a play date with coma patients. I would sit in long meetings, pretending to pay attention while writing computer code in my mind and imagining …