1. i learned to snowboard in tahoe last weekend. it was very fun. that’s me falling on the hill, then smiling on the lift.

2. on the plane back from SF, i busted my third laptop in 4 months. drat! fortunately, i bought the extra cracked screen insurance. unfortunately, i will, once again, be sans home compie for a coupla weeks.

3. in keeping with my rough and tumble nature, i went to the west side rifle and pistol range yesterday to celebrate linda’s birthday and learn to shoot a rifle.after a few practice shots, i got the hang of it.

between the shooting and my successful acclimation to the world of snowboarding, i feel like a badass.

People in the professional world often hide behind what they perceive to represent professionalism: formality, adherence to and reliance upon hierarchies of authority (titles, reporting lines) speaking in jargon and cliches, adopting Alpha personalities that do not represent their true selves, dressing in suits and other imperious getups, and obsessing over process.

It is startling how many fakers are out there, faking it through the day … blowing all kinds of smoke. The outfits, the postures, the mind-numbing conformity. It’s pervasive and exhausting.

As a member of the corporate world, I participate in the fakery. I play the game when needed. Yet I also strive to achieve a level of authenticity and integrity: to be my true self. Talk like I talk. Communicate like I communicate. Dress like I dress. Be who I am.

Early on in my career, both my Dad and one of my most influential mentors — two very powerful and successful men in business – urged me to “be myself” in order to succeed. It took a while for me to let go of the faux formality that I thought was “businesslike” and adopted my own style and personality. I quickly learned how much better, and effective, it is to be real.

“Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry… all forms of fear… are caused by too much future, and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of non-forgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.” — Eckhart Tolle

i’ve had one too many online dates with guys wearing hairpieces. yes, sometimes i feel like the liz lemon of my own nyc media comedy. it’s embarrassing but at least i can laugh at it … after the fact. most of these guys are attractive, if it weren’t for the science hair system. it’s sad that they feel compelled to try to pull a trick on the world. you’re not fooling anybody, bro. BTW i know plenty of dudes who are cute baldies. you just have to embrace the tide and take it down. still, i kinda feel bad for media personality dan abrams getting eviscerated by keith olbermann for rockin the rug.  it hurts just to watch it.

EXCERPT: “It is hard for compulsive activists to see that the vast social and economic problems of the world cannot be settled by mere effort and technique. The outsider cannot just barge in like Santa Claus and put things to right—especially our kind of outsider who, because he has no sense of belonging in the world, invariably smells like an interferer. He does not really know what he wants, and therefore everyone suspects that there are limitless strings attached to his gifts. For if you know what you want, and will be content with it, you can be trusted. But if you do not know, your desires are limitless and no one can tell how to deal with you. Nothing satisfies an individual incapable of enjoyment. I am not saying that American and European corporations are run by greedy villains who live off the fat of the land at everyone else’s expense. The point becomes clear only as one realizes, with compassion and sorrow, that many of our most powerful and wealthy men are miserable dupes and captives in a treadmill, who—with the rarest exceptions—have not the ghost of a notion how to spend and enjoy money.”

• order it on amazon.
• song the book makes me think of: everything is everything

christy, also known as crusty, or more affectionately, crust, wrote a compelling guest blog post a coupla weeks ago that went virtually unnoticed. or at least no one commented. not even me ; ( bad col.

in the post, crust detailed how she had successfully stuck to her new year’s plan to get back in shape. one thing you should know about christy: she is a planner with an exasperating level of discipline. in college, she always finished her papers and projects with time to spare after diligently parceling out the workload over the course of the semester. every other roommate in our house of six women, and most college students i have ever known, ended up furiously finishing major efforts at the last minute. on many occasions we would team up to help each other print, proofread and run pages down the hall (and ultimately out the door) to be delivered at the very last possible second (yes, before email was a given. i am old). not crust. it irritated the rest of us. but we respected her M.O.

so, as crust explained, our plan to run the minne 1/2 together in the fall has been foiled because there is no minne half. what to do now? i don’t know, but i do know that crusty is one to watch.

winking — the real kind — makes me think of my dad. or my poppa. or an aunt or uncle. it’s that knowing gesture that a grownup gives a kid to say, “hey kiddo, we’re in on this joke together.” there’s something fun to it. done right, it can be a charming gesture.

that said, a wink can also go wrong. like this:

or like this:

strangely, winking is a default setting on most online dating sites, designed to let you show interest in a person without “going through the trouble” of writing an actual email. basically, you’re taking a courtship method that was already devoid of real effort, and reducing it even further to one click.

the wink: for when you care enough to hit ENTER.

2 weeks from today i’m going to a shooting range to celebrate a friend’s bday. i am way too excited.