Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are - Amy Cuddy

Amy Cuddy is a social psychologist on the faculty of the Harvard Business School. This talk "could" change your life, or then again... maybe not.  I'm not positive I would bet my life on it, but it does seem to have some merit.  Take a look at it, try it out, and see if it works for you.  

"Why you should listen

Amy Cuddy wasn’t supposed to become a successful scientist. In fact, she wasn’t even supposed to finish her undergraduate degree. Early in her college career, Cuddy suffered a severe head injury in a car accident, and doctors said she would struggle to fully regain her mental capacity and finish her undergraduate degree.
But she proved them wrong. Today, Cuddy is a professor and researcher at Harvard Business School, where she studies how nonverbal behavior and snap judgments affect people from the classroom to the boardroom. And her training as a classical dancer (another skill she regained after her injury) is evident in her fascinating work on "power posing" -- how your body position influences others and even your own brain."

http://www.ted.com/speakers/amy_cuddy



 Click here for a transcript.

Post Card Memory

I've been cleaning out my office at home. I found a small box with lots of letters and postcards from my father to my mother.  My father was drafted into the Navy in late 1943 (at the age of 34).  He was one of the oldest on his ship (a Landing Craft Infantry). My sister was 3 (born in December of 1940) and my brother was 1 1/2 (born in July of 1942).  This postcard was sent to my mother January 30, 1944.  He was on a train somewhere in western Nebraska.  Luckily my mother lived close to her parents who helped her with the children.  Luckily for me, my father returned from the war.  I was born in 1947.

 

Dual Monitors - Vanity or Productivity Booster?

For quite some time, I noticed that some people that I considered very "techie" had two or even more than two monitors.  To be honest I felt that it was just a bit ostentatious. Then for some reason (I can't remember exactly how right now), I came into possession of two LCD monitors.  I decided to use both of them since I had the desk space.  I must say that I have fallen in love with using two monitors and I apologize to all those anonymous folks that I thought were just being vain.  Two monitors is truly a productivity booster.  At one time I would have thought that having two windows open at the same time on one monitor was great, but that was before I started using the two monitors. There are a number of circumstances when it is especially useful to have two monitors.  One such circumstance is when you are trying to follow some complicated instructions.  Open the file containing the instructions, slide it to one monitor and use the other monitor to follow the instructions.  Another circumstance might be when you have two instances of the same program open.  I regularly use BOTH Chrome and Firefox as browsers.  Chrome is set to be on my extended monitor, Firefox on the other.  Works GREAT! 

A Birthday Trip

Last Friday was my birthday and Richard and I went to Bartlesville OK and stayed a few nights at the Price Tower.   
I'm a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright and enjoyed being able to see this marvelous example of his work again.  

In addition to staying at the Inn at Price Tower, we also visited Woolaroc.  The name "Woolaroc" is a combination of the words - woods, lakes, and rocks, features of the beautiful Osage Hills of northeast Oklahoma where Woolaroc is located. 

 One of the most impressive pieces (in fact the FIRST piece) in the museum is the Travel Air 5000 designed by Clyde Cessna.  The plane - named "Woolaroc" was the winner in the Dole Air Race from California to Hawaii in 1927.  

I highly recommend both the Price Tower and Woolaroc. 

Commencement Scheduled for May 16th and 17th at Wichita State University

For the first time in 33 years, I will neither feel guilty about missing commencement nor unhappy that I am missing a celebration of my birthday!  One of the things that always bothered me a bit about the academic life, was that Spring Commencement (the largest ceremony of the year) took place either on or very close to my birthday (May 16th).  I don't want to seem selfish to be able to celebrate one day that is mine without having to feel guilty, but I must admit to have only considered attending commencement this year for a nanosecond.  I WILL miss congratulating my students and seeing their excitement at "finally" being done.  I will think about you, but I am going to be thinking about you from a short trip out of town.  Have a GREAT day!

Moving!

After 20+ years in the same house, my husband and I have moved!  The new house is about four miles from our old house.  The biggest change is that three of the bedrooms are on the first floor.  There is a very large basement with a huge family room, another bathroom, a large unfinished storage area, and a large hobby room. 

A piece of advice to all my friends who might think about moving?  Get rid of "stuff"!  I had no idea that I had so much "useless" stuff.