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Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right, Part 2

By on August 23, 2012 in My life

In Part 1 of this article, I looked at the connection between the dating manual for women, The Rules, and the story of Cinderella. I contend that the close association of ideas – borrowed from Cinderella by the writers of The Rules – is what made the contemporary text a success. Cinderella’s satisfying resolution is [...]

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Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right, Part 1

By on August 18, 2012 in My life

Back in the mid-1990s, a very popular dating manual for women was published. It was called The Rules and was subtitled, Time-tested rules for capturing the heart of Mr. Right. I didn’t buy the book – honestly – but on a 1996 road trip to New York City, a friend read it in the car. [...]

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At the Olympics: Thank you London!

By on August 13, 2012 in My life

Hi Everyone, As many of you know, I attended two events at the London 2012 Olympics. This picture was taken at the Greenwich arena, during a break in the men’s bronze medal round for basketball. It was a riveting game. The score, during the first two quarters, was never more than 6 points apart. During [...]

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The Difficulties of Cooperation, Part 2

By on August 10, 2012 in My life

I wrote about how cooperation can be difficult. I posted a wonderful TED talk by Margaret Heffernan where she discusses how our unwillingness to disagree with others can lead to lost potential, particularly in organizations where creativity is necessary for both stability and growth. I’m still thinking about her talk because she raised a lot [...]

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The Difficulties of Cooperation, Part 1

By on August 9, 2012 in My life

I recently had a falling out with someone I admire. I kept wondering what I was doing wrong. Was my ego getting in the way? Could I have done things differently? I have friends who follow 12 step programs and I’ve learned a lot from them. They say it’s our ego that causes us to [...]

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A Herd of Narcissists, Part 3

By on July 28, 2012 in My life

In Part 1 of this series, I wrote about the connection between shame and narcissism. In Part 2, I looked at narcissists’ belief they are special and unique. In this final section, I will be looking at their belief that they are better than others: the “others” in this case being you and I, the [...]

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A Herd of Narcissists, Part 2

By on July 20, 2012 in My life

In Part 1 of this series, I wrote about the relationship between narcissism and shame.  This brings me to my next point, which is that narcissists see themselves as “unique and special people.” (Scroll down to get the rest of article.) I’m looking at narcissism because I believe its submerged half, shame, is a shadowy but [...]

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A Herd of Narcissists, Part 1

By on July 18, 2012 in My life

I’ve touched on the issue of shame twice now in recent articles. It’s because I believe it is a powerful tool for both good and evil. When I refer to shame as a tool I mean that the evocation of it, whether self-generated or externally prompted, often triggers one of two responses: a self-correcting mechanism [...]

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Maybe You Should Disobey: Hospitals, Shame and Vulnerability

By on July 10, 2012 in My life

I’ve been watching the two TED talks given by Brené Brown, the Texas professor who studies shame and vulnerability. I was drawn to her videos for some reason and now I think I know why. I’m posting her second talk, about shame, here: I’ve taught many subjects in my 20 years of teaching. I initially [...]

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Why I live in Montreal

By on June 28, 2012 in My life

I’d like to tell you why I live in Montreal. I came here in 1990. I was fresh from my Master’s programme in English Literature and needed a second-language credit to finish, so I came to do French immersion. Two weeks into the programme, I knew I was going to stay. Although I’d grown up [...]

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