Posts

Using Three Words to Anchor Your Year

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In Search of Goal Setting Words for 2018 "The process of setting intentions and joyfully reflecting on them is how, over time, we transform extrinsic into intrinsic motivations, and thereby sustain the energy and purpose to live true to our best aspirations."  Thupten Jinpa, Two Exercises for Turning Intention into Motivation . Starting in 2014, I began picking three words to remind me of my goals for the year.  Chris Brogan gave me the idea.   Here are his words for 2018.   To my surprise, I started picking yearly words even before Brogan did.  My coach, Christine Kane, had encouraged us to pick one word . Here is her tool for finding the right word.  In  2014 , I picked:  Robin, launch, and wealth.  Click on the link for an explanation of why I chose those words.  In  2015 , I picked:  Well-being, manifestation, and love.  In 2016, I must have completely forgotten about the goal-setting exercise in the midst of my hectic transition to Qatar. In

The Semester Ends. My Students Shine

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The Semester  Again Ends I work here for one reason.  I love my students.   The young women here are getting the skills they need to serve as leaders in this quickly evolving country.  Those graduates with especially good English-language skills will find opportunities that open as Qatar plays an expanding role on the international stage.   They remind me of me when I graduated from law school in 1982, when only 8 percent of all lawyers in the U.S. were women. They will face many of the same challenges entering the legal profession here.  At the same time, they understand that the ongoing recognition of human rights in the country will support their career ambitions.  They have many great female role models to emulate.  We are close to ending the Fall 2017 semester.  I teach one of the skills courses QU College of Law offers: Legal Research & Writing I.  This required course serves as the first course in our Legal Skills Program.  Before graduation, students must also

Charity Groups Supporting Gun Law Reform

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Have we Reached the Tipping Point? After the Vegas shooting, I decided to research the charity groups working to reform gun laws.  Time passed.  I got busy.  My attention was drawn to other news. Sadly, this week in a Texas church, we had the second deadliest shooting this year.  Gun law reform is back in the news.  So, I am getting this post up so I can send it out every time we have another "mass" shooting.  Wikipedia is keeping a list of mass shootings in the US.  Update: The August 2019 shooting in El Paso, Texas is the 249th shooting in 213 days of 2019.   August 3, 2019, in fact, had two mass shootings on that day, with total loss of life exceeding 30 people. I wrote this post after the good news for Democratic candidates across Virginia and other states in the November elections.  A Democratic candidate won running on a platform to end gun violence (after he had lost his girlfriend to gun violence) and, in doing so, defeated a candidate h

Mom & Me & Mike & My Hair

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Looking Back For some reason, several people recently began asking to see photos of me as a younger woman.  Perhaps because I am no longing hiding behind thick eyeglasses, people are looking at me differently. So, to satisfy this ongoing curiosity, here are some photos from my past.  I don't have many old ones in digital format. Just how far back do you want me to go? Mom and me.  1954 or 1955.  She was 18 or 19 years old.  We are posing in some rural part of Illinois.  Both my parents grew up in small towns. Dad got Mom off the farm and to the big city.  She loved it.  We always said she had lived a past life in San Francisco or New York. She had good taste and a designer's eye. She was a pretty woman. She also loved little kids.  Her most beautiful attribute was her loving heart. Here I am entertaining my younger brother, Greg. I was a tall three and a half year old with dishwater blond hair.  I still have those red corduroy coveralls in my keepsake box.  My Mom

Stand or Else: Trump's Attack on Black NFL Players

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Commentary I am sharing a comment that first appeared in my Facebook feed written by my former colleague, Professor Joseph Carl Grant.  His bio appears at the end of this post.  I appreciate his point of view and his courage in conveying this powerful point of view.  I monitor all comments, so if you plan to say anything hateful in response, no one will ever see it.  My blog.  My rules. "I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts on Trump's criticism of NBA and NFL players.  This weekend I watched Trump's Huntsville, Alabama rally, tweets, and sporting events and commentary very closely and carefully. First, what really strikes me is the passion with which Trump, especially in the past couple of weeks, has gone after Jemele Hill, Stephen Curry, and the mostly African-American males in the NFL peacefully protesting racial inequality and injustice by kneeling during the National Anthem-the "S.O.B.'s" in Trump's lexicon.  There

A Western Expat Notices Abaya Fashion Trends

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Pushing the Form I have now lived in Qatar for three fall seasons.  I teach at Qatar University College of Law, so I am perfectly positioned to see youthful fashion expressed in the abaya.   Many Westerners, when they see a photo of a group of Arab women wearing abayas, probably assume that the abayas they wear are the same in style, fabric, and embellishment.  Not true.  As the outward statement for these young women, you see many expressions of their personality and fashion sense in the abayas they choose to wear.  Some students, who view the abaya as a utilitarian piece of clothing, may wear the same abaya all semester.  Other women, more fashion conscious, may have four or five abayas that they rotate throughout the semester.   As a seamstress, I am fascinated at the thousands of interpretations of this basic form.  In Qatar, most abayas are cloaks with long sleeves that a woman wraps in front of her and holds with one lower arm and elbow.  A rare one will have a