How Do You Spell Class? Hillary

When my father encountered someone he deemed to be ignorant he described them as NCAA “no class at all.” I share this with you tonight because I witnessed the best display of quintessential “class” I have seen in quite sometime and that came from Hillary Rodham Clinton. Regardless of your political affiliation I think you would be hard pressed to deny that someone’s true character sometimes comes in the face of defeat and Hillary was triumphant in her effort to unite the Democratic Party in her speech which endorsed Barack Obama. Keith Olbermann so eloquently put it best, “Grand Slam, she hit it out of the park, across the street, over many buildings.” http://www.msnbc.com/

What Is Class?
Class never runs away. It is sure footed and confident in the knowledge that you can meet life head on and handle whatever comes along.

Class never makes excuses. It takes its lumps and learns from past mistakes. Class is considerate of others. It knows that good manners are the right sacrifices to make. Class has nothing to do with ancestors, money or titles. You have heard money can’t buy class. The most affluent blue blood can be without class while the descendant of a Welsh miner may ooze class from every pore.

Class never tries to build itself up by tearing others down. Class can walk with kings and keep his virtue, and talk with crowds and keep the human touch. Everyone is comfortable with the person who has class because they are comfortable with themselves.

If you have Class, you don’t need much of anything else.
If you don’t, no matter what else you have- it doesn’t make much difference.

Because this is my blog I get to be corny if I want to so I will end with my favorite quote that describes amazing women and say that Hillary makes me proud to be a woman.

If by strength is meant moral power,

then woman is immeasurably man's superior.

Has she not greater intuition? Is she not more self-sacrificing?

Has she not greater powers of endurance?

Has she not greater courage?

Without her man could not be.

If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with woman.

- Mahatma Gandhi

The Indecent Extremes of Beauty

I hope the majority of the people around the world have been made aware of the recent bad (I will go so far as to say “immoral”) choice by the Olympic Committee to satisfy a member of China’s Polituro’s request to switch the faces of two little girls during the Opening Ceremony, and are as disappointed as I am.

7-year old Yang Peiyi was chosen to sing “Ode to the Motherland” during the opening ceremonies, but she was deemed not cute enough to perform the song live, so she was tucked away behind the scenes, and 9-year old Lin Miaoke lip-synched her performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq2SukIN10Q

The ceremony’s chief music director, Chen Qigang, even had the audacity to say, “The audience will understand that it’s in the national interest.”

What is this telling the rest of the little girls in the world? Have we become globally superficial? Will this insanity ever stop? And what has this done for the self esteem of a sensitive 7-year old? I wish I could hug her and tell her how beautiful she really is!

Stuart Smalley Was Right!

Some days we all need a little pick me up and that comes in varying forms. Today mine is a little laughter with Stuart Smalley. I’m assuming we all know who Stuart Smalley was – but in the event that you are too young or never got into the Saturday Night Live fever in its heydays, here’s a brief synopsis:

Stuart was the inspiration of Al Franken born of his experiences attending Al Anon Meetings, wherein the 12 steps are a prominent part of that very successful offshoot of Alcoholics Anonymous. Stuart became a popular (tongue in cheek) new age self-help guru espousing positive self affirmations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvgMIerTXl4&NR=1

As with all good parody, Stuart’s vulnerability was a little over-the-top. It was also brilliant and funny. I love Stuart Smalley. Affirmations are really very effective and powerful when spoken with conviction and authority.

So, everybody, let’s all stand in front of our mirrors and repeat after me (and Stuart):

I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people LIKE me!

The Art Of Listening

I’m all about empowering women, yes, but let’s face it – loving and appreciating men also enters into the equation. Currently my husband, baby and brother hold the top spots on my inventory of loved males, but a local celebrity, Sam the Cooking Guy http://www.thecookingguy.com/ has a place somewhere on that list. He’s smart and funny – two of the three most important characteristics an admirable man must possess to maintain a spot in that sacred place in my heart. The other (and most important) attribute is kindness. Since I don’t know Sam Zien personally, I can’t speak with authority about that. But it is my experience that smart and funny people are almost always kind as well. Those three qualities seem automatically to go hand in hand.

I digress. Well not really. Maybe what I’m talking about really does have to do with kindness. Certainly it isn’t kind to interrupt. And it isn’t polite. And it isn’t admirable. Recently that’s what happened to Sam when he made an appearance on the 4th hour of NBC’s Today Show, hosted by Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov9k_yABNHU

Let me know what you think. It is a slippery slope for me because I sometimes interrupt when I am comfortable with people and that signifies camaraderie. Do you think Sam was out of line, or should the ladies have curbed their desire to babble, and let him do his thing? There’s not much time in those segments to accomplish that.

NBC must have appreciated his assertiveness in the moment because I understand they have invited him back on August 8th.

Stay-At-Home-Moms Doing Double Duty

I recently wrote that “stay-at-home moms need a job description.” Well, guess what? According to this article in the Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB120951025037054311-lMyQjAxMDI4MDA5NDUwMTQwWj.html prospective employers are discovering multi-talented women in the most unlikely places They are finding these capable ladies on the playgrounds and at PTA meetings. There are staffing firms specializing in finding work for stay-at-home moms. Not just clerical or data entry jobs, but high powered staffing firms seeking highly educated, “executive” type women.

The controversial topic of the Mommy Wars (those battles between women over whether to work or stay at home while raising children) has now morphed into what one woman labels the Mommy SWAT Team (smart women with available time).

Women have been conflicted for years about whether to utilize their intellects and talents by being a vital and vibrant part of the work force or whether to stay at home and nurture their children and give them the security of knowing they will be there for them. It is a tough choice, and most of us find it impossible to be in a comfort zone with both of these ideals. So for some women, this seems to be a viable solution. They can stay home AND work with challenging and stimulating assignments. Of course they are not drawing the kinds of salaries they could expect to earn in the real world. But it’s a start. Another tiny little victory in our constant quest for equality.