Disregard the Naysayers

Anyone who has tried to do something outside of the expectations of those around them knows how dispiriting it can be to be told, “you’ll never succeed”.  Take it from the US national soccer team who has been categorically panned by the international sports community as having “no chance to achieve” in the World Cup.  […] Read More

How Job Loss Can Lead to Untold Riches

Clearly, it won’t happen this way to everyone.  But there is a lesson to take from the story of Bob Croak, the man responsible for making “Silly Bands” a household name.  You see, Croak was a bar owner/operator who ran afoul of the law.  As a stipulation of the judgment against him, he was ordered […] Read More

Do What You Love and Success Will Follow

Okay.  I know we usually keep the content on this blog toward the highbrow end of the spectrum.  But I felt like being a little silly today.  View this awesome video of a two year old Brazilian boy who Sambas better than I ever will.  Beyond the cuteness factor and the giddiness of propagating a […] Read More

Mindfulness: Take Time to Think Amid the Rush

I had a teacher once who taught me the value and rewards of mindfulness.  Mindfulness is a concept from eastern religion that simply involves the act of living in the moment and maintaining the clarity of though that so often is hard to achieve.  As we live our frenetic modern lives, with work, family, online […] Read More

More Resumé No-no’s

Every so often, I post on ways to enhance your resumé or to at least avoid some common job-hunting mistakes. These posts always generate alot of interest. So here’s another installment in the “how not to botch your resumé” category. Below are some comical errors culled from hiring managers in diverse fields in an article […] Read More

Summer Travel Season is Here – Run Away!

With Memorial Day behind us, the summer travel season is officially in full swing.  But before you decide to go “all in” on a big trip this summer, view the following video from website, www.titanicawards.com which chronicles the worst of the worst in travel.  It may lead you to decide on planning an epic “staycation” […] Read More

Remembering How to be American

Our American society has been growing increasingly arrogant and ugly lately in this blogger’s opinion.  One need look no further than our politics, especially on the right, to see levels of disrespect ratcheting up to excruciatingly high levels.  But it goes beyond politics to infect other areas of our society as well.  From the wanton […] Read More

The Speed of Progress

I came across this fascinating article in WIRED magazine that made me feel like a dinosaur.  Sure, I am a “hip” blogger, using the latest technical application to produce my every-other-daily musings here at the Allen School Online Blog.  But I am old enough to remember life as it was before the personal computer and […] Read More

Horrifying Ingredient List Artfully Presented

You know I have an affinity for whole foods.  Not Whole Foods the grocery store (which we refer to in my house as Whole Paycheck), but rather simple, healthy ingredients.  So much of what our diet consists of is adulterated, processed and downright chemical.  Case in point: the ham & cheese Hotpocket.  Don’t get me […] Read More

Start Your Monday Like This Little Girl

With all that’s going on in the world, it can be hard to get up and hit the ground running some days. Especially Mondays!  But we can all take a page out of precious little Jessica’s playbook, spending 49 seconds in front of the mirror each morning to psyche ourselves up by listing all the […] Read More