Facing the Truth in Order to Move Forward

There's a lot I could say about financial expert Suze Orman, but I want to focus on one thing for this post: her frank, in-your-face honesty. I've been a fan of her books and TV show for several years, and I've been impressed with how she counsels people. She's not afraid to be brutally honest with a caller to get to the meat of the problem. Most of the time, she knows the truth about someone's situation before he or she vocalizes it. I don't think I've ever heard anyone get upset on the phone with her when she forces him or her to face something. This is pretty amazing, considering some of the tough topics and life events that people discuss with her.

Many people call her about money problems, but don't realize how those problems are closely related to and caused by what's going on inside a person. For example, she has traced overspending to a need to compensate for an emotional void. Her theory is that if you fix the emotional issue, the money problem gets repaired too.

At some point in our lives, all of us need a harsh dose of reality. Often, it comes in the form of some carefully spoken words from someone we know and trust. Those words can be the catalyst for taking a crucial step forward in some area of life: school, work, faith, money or relationships. Here's hoping all of us know people like that who care enough to tell us the truth for our own good. And here's hoping we hear them out.

I Can't Believe I Waited This Long to Write About Daryl Hall

Somehow, I've already mentioned a few singers here without naming my favorite first. It's Daryl Hall, the man with the best voice in the world, in my opinion. Nearly two years ago, Daryl Hall started doing free concerts online every month at www.livefromdarylshouse.com. (Yes, it hurts to leave the apostrophe out.) He brings in a different guest for each episode, resulting in a glorious mix of musical styles. They perform Hall and Oates' songs or Hall's solo songs, the guest artist's songs and covers of songs like "Ain't No Sunshine."

Young artists blend in with Daryl's talented collection of experienced musicians. Guests have included Finger 11, Company of Thieves, Chromeo and Matt Nathanson. I hadn't heard of any of them until they appeared on the show, but I liked Matt Nathanson so much that I bought his CD. If the comments on the site are any indication, that sort of thing happens a lot.

Daryl proves he can harmonize with anyone, especially with KT Tunstall. Rapper Travis McCoy, a seemingly unlikely guest for a pop legend to invite, adds his own flavor to his episode. The current episode's guests are from Plain White T's -- you know, the ones who recorded "Hey There Delilah." That song is the reason they were invited on the show, and the performance of it does not disappoint. As a bonus, viewers also get to hear the story behind the song, which is always fascinating to me.

Ever heard of Monte Montgomery? This nimble-fingered guitarist earned his spot on the show because Daryl saw him singing the Hall and Oates classic, "Sara Smile," on YouTube. He does a fabulous job with it too. Much to Monte's surprise, Daryl graciously let him sing lead on that one.

Online concerts may be the best use of the Internet yet.

Fun With Words

I could get lost in the dictionary. Every time I look a word up, I notice all the interesting words around it. So many wonderful words!

I can open up to any page and find words that are new to me or simply not used often. Here's a good one from the "D" section: disparage. It means: "to speak of as unimportant or small; belittle." Right below it is disparate, which means: "completely distinct or different in kind; entirely dissimilar." Two fabulous words on the same page. I love the English language.

Driving Is Not as Fun as It Looks on TV

Did you ever stop to think about why driving a car looks so enjoyable in TV commercials? It's because there is nobody else on the road.

The professional driver in the commercial isn't trying to figure out whether the person in front of him is about to make an unsignaled turn. He isn't concerned about merging into traffic or missing an exit. And he doesn't have to keep an eye out for drivers who have one hand on the wheel and the other on a phone. All he has to do is drive. Ok, it's more complicated than that, but you get the idea.

Today's Tip

Recently, I read a tip that suggested reading text out loud to check for errors. While there's merit to that advice, this method has its shortcomings. "Your" sounds like "you're." "To" sounds like "too." And "they're," "there" and "their" all sound the same.

Please, if you're going to do this to your text, think about the meaning too. Look! They're reading their text over there.

As a side note, whenever an apostrophe is present in a word like "you're" or "they're," it's taking the place of a missing letter. Think of it as a stand-in for a star letter that got sick before the show and could not make an appearance in the word.

Trying to Find Myself... On Google

I heard somewhere that a job seeker should look up his or her name on Google to find out what a potential employer would see if he or she entered the job seeker's name. Typing my own name into a search engine felt a bit weird, but I did it anyway.

I discovered that there are a fair number of people out there with my name. Just to be clear, these are the ones who are not me: a high school PTO secretary/treasurer, an account manager at a company in Rhode Island, an actress in a 2007 movie, a travel agent in Canada, a runner on the East Coast, a presidential campaign contributor on the West Coast, a professor of criminal justice, and of course, the person who died in 1999. I hope that clears up any confusion.

Express Yourselves, Men!

Men who wonder why women are drawn to male singers don't understand something about women. It has to do with the feelings that many men are uncomfortable expressing. Those innermost thoughts and feelings are exactly what women want to hear about.

When a male singer (especially a singer-songwriter who writes the words himself) pours out his sentiments through song lyrics, women respond to it. If the lyrics are delivered in a genuine, heartfelt way, the effect is intensified. The vulnerability (which is probably what makes it scary for men) creates a connection between the singer and the listener.

I'm not suggesting that every guy out there should serenade his girl -- especially if he can't sing. Just a few words spoken from the heart will do.