Category Archives: Work

Get Back Inside the Box

Posted on April 24, 2014 by WhiteElephantInTheRoom

The children in my family have a long-standing gift-opening tradition. After excitedly ripping away the paper on the giant something-or-other our parents painstakingly tracked down, funded and gift-wrapped just for us, we marvel at our new possession for the requisite … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Holidays, Humor, Nostalgia, Work | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

The Dos and Don’ts of Foolin’

Posted on April 1, 2014 by WhiteElephantInTheRoom

The scene is Christmas Day 1991. Snow falls in the Chicago suburbs as an eleven year old girl in red snowman socks (that she still owns) wakes up at 7AM and runs to the tree to scope out the loot. … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Family, Friends, Holidays, Humor, Life Lessons, Work | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Adverbiably

Posted on January 16, 2014 by WhiteElephantInTheRoom

With the proliferation of abbreviations, emoticons and emojis masquerading as words in our emails and text messages, we somehow seem to be wordier than ever when it comes to our conversational tactics. In particular, we have been plagued by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Friends, Humor, Uncategorized, Work, Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 50 Comments

How to be Brilliantly Vague: Corporate Jargon Part 2

Posted on May 9, 2013 by WhiteElephantInTheRoom

I once had a professor who enjoyed incorporating unnecessarily lengthy words in his lectures. At first he sounded brilliant and I hung on his every really long word. Alas, this was a class in accounting rather than rhetoric, so it … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Humor, Life Lessons, School, Work | Tagged , , , , , , | 34 Comments

Modern Tourism

Posted on August 1, 2012 by WhiteElephantInTheRoom

When I was a kid, my parents took me on a week-long road trip from Chicago to Boston. It was disguised as a learning experience, but I’m pretty sure my dad just wanted to play golf across half the country. … Continue reading →

Posted in 80s, Commentary, Family, Food, Friends, Humor, Life, Mobile, Nostalgia, Phone, School, Social Media, Travel, Uncategorized, Work | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

How to Seem Super Smart

Posted on June 20, 2012 by WhiteElephantInTheRoom

In sixth grade, I won the class spelling bee because my esteemed rival tossed a “c” at the beginning of the word “kindergarten.” My victory proved once and for all that I was the smartest kid in the entire class … Continue reading →

Posted in 80s, Commentary, Friends, Humor, Life, Nostalgia, School, Work | Tagged , , , , | 17 Comments

Kreativ Blogger Award – Paying it Forward

Posted on April 9, 2012 by WhiteElephantInTheRoom

I recently received a lovely unbirthday gift from fellow blogger (and clever commenter) armchairauthor – a nomination for the Kreativ Blogger Award. My duties as a nominee are simple: first I am to tell you ten random things about myself … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Humor, Life, Social Media, Uncategorized, Work, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Lazy to the Max

Posted on January 25, 2012 by WhiteElephantInTheRoom

It was only last week when I finally flipped the clock in my car an hour back to align myself with the rest of the country in the fight to save daylight. I believe the call to action for this … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Food, Friends, Humor, Life, Uncategorized, Work | Tagged , , , , , | 14 Comments

White Elephant

Posted on November 29, 2011 by WhiteElephantInTheRoom

As you can infer by the title of my blog, I’m fascinated by the concept of the white elephant. Once upon a time it referred to possessions too valuable to part with, but also too burdensome for their worth (as … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Family, Food, Friends, Health, Holidays, Home, Humor, Life, Movies, Work | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Out Sick

Posted on October 2, 2011 by WhiteElephantInTheRoom

DJ Tanner was my idol. She had the greatest bangs, she got to sing onstage with the Beach Boys, and she was an all-around good girl which afforded her a free pass on some occasional bad behavior. So when DJ … Continue reading →

Posted in 80s, Commentary, Family, Health, Home, Humor, Life, Nostalgia, School, Work | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments