Joy Phenix's Blog

No matter how much you love your work, there’s usually something that makes walking into a new week feel burdensome.  The disappointment in Monday can be triggered by having an enjoyable weekend end, the dreaded start of another week with a bummer job, or even the dread of the commute.  Yes, Monday blues are cliché, [...]

When I use the expression “he can’t see the forest for the trees,” I mean that person is so detail-oriented that he misses the big picture.  I use this saying frequently at work because, quite frankly, I like seeing forests.  I would rather not look at the trees (which are the more detailed points of [...]

I have always thought of conflict as an unsavory, unfortunate fact of life. I dread conflict because it means I’m in a battle I may or may not win.  I like winning.  I dislike losing. I don’t even like admitting to such competitiveness;  it sounds spoiled.  Much of the time my desire to win IS [...]

“We have a ‘strategic plan.’ It’s called doing things.” Herb Kelleher I have always loved this quote from the CEO of Southwest Airlines for its simplicity and practicality.  So much of the time it’s easier to analyze than to do.  Southwest is known for its “do something” sense of urgency, and, quite frankly, I want [...]

I didn’t mean to flash the window washer.  The incident just happened. Let me back up… I took twelve weeks off for maternity leave when I had my first child.  As I described in an earlier post, I gained an extraordinary amount of weight with this (and my subsequent) pregnancy.  As a result, I was [...]

Imagine you have two children – one is reading a book and the other is building a room sized version of Legoland.  When it comes time to clean up The Reader quickly puts the book away while The Builder has to disassemble his weight in Lego pieces.  The amount of effort required even gives me [...]

This past May Creative Loafing published a list of 100 Dishes  you should eat before you die.  Its scope is impressive – covering every course and a huge variety of food genres.  Finding the restaurants themselves will tax your gas bill, your sense of direction, and your ability to decipher Korean as you pass strip [...]