Clare Consultation, LLCWhy Write?
I’m sitting in a coffee shop. It’s high summer in Portland. There’s the usual backdrop: coffee beans surrendering their abundance to the grinder, barista utensils clattering into motion and that burst of steam that, today, sounds most like the explosive exhale of a kid who’s held her breath as long as she can. Threading through is the canned music. The current crooner observing: “Everyone is lonely.” I’ve just looked back on my… Read More
“QE2 May Legally Gore a US President with a Sword”
Yep. This just out from the British Monarch in response to questions for clarification on her legal authority (satire – see NOTE below). The limitation: This may only occur if Mr. Trump sets foot on UK soil. The refinement: Only she may do it, and no one may interfere. WOW. Depending on where you tend to find your emotions relative to the early days of Mr. Trump’s administration, this news may horrify… Read More
Bring Your Best or Forfeit Your Country
In the January/February 1996 Harvard Business Review, 21 years ago, economist Paul Krugman ran out the ways countries are not businesses. The ways successful business people cannot automatically apply their skill sets to steering a nation and its economy. At the same time, he admitted that economists could not, without considerable extra expertise, run successful businesses. Krugman writes, “Let me begin with two examples of economic issues that I have found business executives… Read More
Eight Years Ago – Listening to American Voices
Today, eight years ago, I was just across the threshold into a giant project. A listening project. Only 16 days earlier, on New Year’s Eve, I’d decided to take time off from work so I could drive around the country with a flip camera to record the voices of everyday Americans. I would start the day after the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States – Barack Obama. I would… Read More
Three Quotes for Weary Citizens
In days when helpful words don’t come easily, these Elders are, for me, clearings in the fog. George Takei wrote this in the past week – [you may know him for his role as Sulu in Star Trek.] Just a few weeks after my fifth birthday, in the spring of 1942, my parents got my younger brother, my baby sister, and me up very early, hurriedly dressed us, and quickly started to pack…. Read More
A Protest Vote Decades in the Making
“White people elected Trump.” Over these last 10 days, these words are showing up everywhere. Mostly because they’re true. And white progressives actually helped. Among most white people I know who think of themselves as social progressives and who, like I, have had loads of access to privilege – aka education, careers, financial literacy, problems of identity that way outnumber problems of monetary survival – reactions to the election of Donald Trump… Read More
CUBS!! Everyone can relax now ~
Dear Mr. Trump, It’s all worked out. You don’t have to worry any more. America’s enduring greatness showed up last night with the Cubs winning the World Series. Securing national greatness beyond every doubt. One hundred and eight years is a long wait. But we all made it. Thanks Cubbies! And congratulations everyone.
Talking Sex(ism)
People are talking. This matters. We suspect our country and its people are better than this. But we’re not sure. Question. Does a Presidential candidate’s personal history of repeated demeaning public comments about women – with regard to appearance or sexual utility – have civic relevance? Does a Presidential candidate’s history of physical sexual harassment of women have civic relevance? Does a Presidential candidate’s dismissal of either or both kinds of behavior… Read More
An Elephant on Fire
From time to time, a bad habit bursts into flame. Most bad habits are, by definition, world views and behaviors that don’t necessarily play well. But, for the most part, they stay at a level low enough to be ignored. Chewing on fingernails, for example. Interrupting is another one. Some of these bad habits arise from social agreements about the worth of people that just aren’t fair – that erase dignity. And… Read More
Thanksgiving was Yesterday
And, today Americans awaken to what the commercial conglomerate has named “Black Friday.” The term originated in 1951 in relation to industry and business owners noting the tendency of workers to call in sick the day after Thanksgiving in order to have a four-day weekend. By the 60’s the term was a derogation on the part of law enforcement officers in Philadelphia who had to deal with significantly increased pedestrian traffic on… Read More