Author Archive: Paul Epps

That Narrows it Down to Half the Population

by  on 
 

This exchange — a post followed by a comment — showed up on my Facebook home page today. The poster and the commenter are both women, btw . . . let’s play a game! Who am I?? I’m the first to talk shit behind peoples back, but when I’m talked about i’m the first to get all pissy! Who am I? Every female known to man. I spit cola all over my desk when I read that . . . Read more →

La Jueza Empática

by  on 
 

I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life. — Judge Sonia Sotomayor   President Obama has said he wanted justices with “empathy,” although in fairness he has also insisted that knowledge of the law would not disqualify a prospective nominee. — Best of the Web Today Read more →

20 Years Went By Like the Wind

by  on 
 

I found a former colleague on LinkedIn this weekend — he was my boss at my very first IT job as an entry-level programmer. He mentioned that his daughter had graduated from college and is now an ER nurse. That doesn’t sound right because I remember when his daughter was born and it seems like just last week, but I’m doing the math in my head and sure enough it was more than 20 years ago . . . Read more →

Women and Solitaire

by  on 
 

We’re driving home from the hockey rink in Corona . . . my son’s playing solitaire on his iPod. As we’re pulling off the freeway in Irvine, he says, “I just won my first game the entire trip.” I say, “When I play it on the computer, I lose most of the time, but once in a while I’ll get like a three-game winning streak.” “Yeah, me too.” “It’s like women in that respect. The overall goal is to make you feel bad about yourself, but they throw in just enough positive reinforcement to keep you from giving up completely.” Read more →

Finding the Dragon

by  on 
 

My son and I walk into Trader Joe’s . . . there’s a big sign that says “KIDS! Find the hidden dragon and win a prize!” “I’m going to find the dragon,” the boy announces. “I bet it’s at the free sample stand.” Not surprisingly, it’s not at the free sample stand, but while we’re there we’re able to drown our sorrows with some free baked beans and hot dogs . . . Read more →

Learning to Drive

by  on 
 

My son’s learning to drive . . . pulling out of a parking lot, he turns right and clips the curb a little bit. I ask him, “Did you look left to make sure no one was coming?” “I saw no one was coming.” “How did you see that if you didn’t look?” “I saw it in my peripheral vision.” “Did you also see that curb you just hit in your peripheral vision?” Read more →

Where Are We?

by  on 
 

A Facebook friend recently posted a set of Washington DC photos. Almost all of the photos show people standing in front of easily recognizable landmarks, but all of them are dutifully captioned — White House, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, etc. The one exception is a photo of two people in an ornate lobby with the caption: “I forget where we are here.” Read more →

Conversations with Frank Gehry

by  on 
 

[From Conversations with Frank Gehry by Barbara Isenberg. Gehry (Class of ’54) is a USC grad — like me!] On the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright: I studied every section drawing, model and building of Frank Lloyd Wright. Everything. I went to see what he did in Oak Park. I went to see Robie House. I went to see Unity Temple. I studied Taliesin East and Taliesin West. I studied his planning ideas at Broadacre City and his ideas about the high-rise and his Mile High Building. I read everything I could about Wright’s life, and I visited the buildings in Marin County that were built after his death. I knew Frank Lloyd Wright. On the competition to design Walt Disney Concert Hall, eventually won by Gehry: My European colleagues thought I had the inside track, but it was quite the opposite. I was the long shot. In fact, in… Read more →

Why (Some) People Love Meetings

by  on 
 

[W]hat … meetings are doing is playing out an emotional drama–conflict, blaming, flirting, one-upsmanship, random outbursts, anger, and so forth….the soap-opera aspects of meetings are the most exciting parts of their jobs…. Indeed, these people are often upset if I show them how to conduct well-run meetings, because I’ve taken all the joy out of their lives. — Gerald M. Weinberg, The Secrets of Consulting: Why We Love and Hate Meetings Read more →

Two Jokes

by  on 
 

“Knock knock.” “Who’s there?” “Bessie, the Interrupting Cow.” “Bessie, the Interr–” “MOOOOOOO!”   Two TV antennas fell in love and got married. The wedding was nothing special but the reception was excellent. Read more →

« Previous Page — Next Page »