Via National Stroke Association, a short video and a fact sheet that remind of the warning signs of stroke and what to do if you experience them. It's no fun living through a stroke, so it's worth a few minutes of your time to take a look.
For Whom the Bell Tolls
via charlierose.com
Just enjoyed watching Charlie Rose's appreciation of people who left us in 2009. There's lots to wonder at and admire here, but I think the pieces that impressed me most are the interviews with John Hope Franklin, Edward Kennedy, and Thomas Hoving. Especially in the Hoving I felt energy, passion, and engagement.
Letting go
Now, when people ask what are you going to do next, I am tempted to co-opt Susan Stamberg's one-word answer when she left her anchor post at NPR: "Less." I am more tempted to say, simply, "We'll see." After 46 years of deadlines, it is time to take in some oxygen, to breathe and consider.
Ellen Goodman's piece as a regular columnist--thoughtful, challenging, hopeful. And not just for her, for all of us looking to the future.
Secrets Of Having A Good Talk : NPR
New Year's means we have, at last, reached the end of cocktail party season. That means the end, too, of long conversations with almost-strangers. Some people may breathe a sigh of relief at that, but not Daniel Menaker. Guest host Ari Shapiro plies his skills with Menaker, author of A Good Talk, about the art and science of conversation.
via npr.org
Listening to Daniel Menaker talk about talking on Weekend Edition. His New Book, A Good Talk, is mostly geared to conversation, but it seems to me there's more than little application to more formal situations. I mean, how many times have you heard a speaker mention the talk he or she is about to give? Audio should be available at the NPR site in about three hours.
Mozart on Speaking (or not)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) Austrian Composer and Musical Genius
“To talk well and eloquently is a very great art, but an equally great one is to know the right moment to stop.”
Remember that advice about making your point and stopping? Well, here's another reminder from an unexpected source. Referred on Twitter by @ZimmerJohn.