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The hourglass is running on empty, but Uncommon Sense comes through for the first of two December issues! The Self-Development column will school you on a communication flaw you don’t want to be caught doing. The Elephant in the Room column will answer a question from a friend who asked for my take on why […]

People sometimes have their favorite quips to throw out at a moment’s notice. This can happen in many different scenarios: casual conversations, pick up lines when meeting members of the opposite sex (men are usually the guilty ones here), sales pitches, political pitches, you name it. The problem with pre-packaged pitches is that they lack […]

The wife of a close friend of mine, JB (a close friend in her own right) is really disappointed in the recent presidential election results.  Thus, she asked me to address the question: Why is it that so many Christians voted for this loathsome, creepy, villainous character, Donald J. Trump?  (She didn’t word it quite that […]

To all you kitchen connoisseurs, listen up! You know the routine: You are in the kitchen whipping up several different dishes to feed your family or friends. Every so often, you need to quickly sample the various items you are working on – pasta, gravy, stew, vegetable dishes, casseroles, etc. So you grab a kitchen […]

By habit, we often greet each other with the question, “How are you doing?” or some variation thereof (“How are you?” “How are things going?” “What’s going on?” What’s been happening lately?”) We generally don’t ask such questions with absolute seriousness. We’re just being polite. In many instances, we don’t really care how the person […]

Building Your Power of Expression Effusive, adj. Pronunciation: əˈfyo͞osiv Meaning: Any time you are expressing feelings of gratitude, praise, approval, or offering compliments in a way that is unrestrained, deeply heartfelt, or over-the-top, you are being effusive. Usage: She received quite an effusive welcoming upon her return. I couldn’t help it; I gave them effusive praise […]