Penelope Trunk

Archives

Most popular posts of 2010

Posted to: How to blog
December 30th, 2010
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Here’s a list of the posts that got the most comments this year. Interestingly, the post that got the most traffic is did not make the list. That post is: What it’s like to have sex with someone who has Asperger’s.
Thank you for a fun year. I feel so grateful to have my blog. Being …

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Tim Ferriss diet

Posted to: Fulfillment | How to blog
December 27th, 2010
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The most common criticism of my blog (which has 60,000 subscribers) is that I write controversial headlines just to get traffic. I usually ignore this criticism because it's so ignorant. But today I'm going to tell you why writing controversial headlines just to be controversial is totally stupid.
There is no formula for a wildly popular …

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A list of gifts that’ll help your career

Posted to: How to blog | Productivity
December 22nd, 2010
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It's true that I am publishing my gift suggestions too late for the biggest gift-giving season of the year. But I think it's okay, because the gifts are totally impractical.
In fact, I think this is actually my wish list—stuff I wish I had been given over the years to keep my career on track.
1. A …

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My new path to self-discipline: DBT

December 21st, 2010
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My new thing is self-discipline. I am going to get better at it. I am nervous writing this, because I don't want to fail.
So this is the first thing I know: If you are really serious about doing something, it's painful to tell people, because fear of failure is so high. Once you …

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Don’t give your boss a gift

Posted to: Managing Up
December 20th, 2010
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It's the time of year when there are a bazillion articles about what gift you should give your boss. The implication is that of course you'll give a gift. But I think you're better off skipping it. Here's why:
1. Gift recommendations are not really recommendations.
When a journalist or blogger (is there a difference?) writes about …

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Hey, look! I got a camera.

Posted to: How to blog
December 16th, 2010
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The farmer bought me a camera. It’s a big deal for us because the farmer agreed to date me only if his photo would never show up on my blog. It means a lot to me that he’s buying me a camera which, invariably, will mean more photos of him on the blog.
But also, owning …

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How to make life more interesting

Posted to: Fulfillment | Productivity
December 15th, 2010
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This is a guest post from Fabian Kruse. His blog is The Friendly Anarchist.
“May you live in interesting times,” a Chinese curse goes. It's true: “Interestingness” is a dangerously broad term. Having a chronic illness can be interesting but it sucks. Wars can be interesting — but they suck even more. And maybe you too …

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Maybe no moms are working moms

Posted to: Women
December 13th, 2010
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I want to finally end the bullshit of dividing women into categories of stay-at-home mom or working mom.
This is not just semantics: we are all working. It's more than that. Here's why.
Before I had my first child, in 2002, I had been bouncing between corporate jobs and fast-paced startups ten years, and I was earning …

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My birthday present to myself

Posted to: Productivity
December 10th, 2010
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It's my birthday. So I get to write about anything. I get to indulge. The first thing is that I want to republish a poem that I published a long time ago, when I thought maybe I could get away with publishing poems on my blog. Now I know that for sure, poetry kills traffic.
But …

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How to get a workplace spouse

Posted to: Office Politics
December 8th, 2010
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Sixty-five percent of people in the white-collar world have workplace spouses. Jacqueline Olds, professor of psychiatry at Harvard, explains that because we spend so much time in the office, “these relationships can be critical to succeeding in today’s work environment.” CNN published a piece singing the praises of the workplace spouse, as “a wonderful support …

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How men can improve work for women

Posted to: Diversity | Women
December 2nd, 2010
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Throughout my career, men have helped me every step of the way. Sometimes it was when I asked for help. Sometimes they saw I needed help even before I did, and they were there.
So you might think this is December-is-full-of-good-cheer-post — you know, me thanking men for all they've done for me at work. …

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