Pearls Before Swine cartoon about a bar with a confusing name

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pearls Before Swine cartoon strip for September 24, 2026 by Stephan Pastis has the following dialogue:

 

“Goat: I heard you’re opening a new bar. What’s the name of it?

Rat:      It’s ‘Totally Escaping Me.’

 

Goat:   You don’t know the name of your own bar?

Rat:      I do.

 

Goat:    So what is it?

Rat:       You can’t remember what I said?

 

Goat:    The name is ‘Totally Escaping Me?’

Rat:       Shouldn’t be. I just told you.” 

 

That confusing name likely was inspired by an Abbott and Costello comedy routine about baseball players with Who’s on first? There is an eight-minute video of it. A similar idea with three rock and roll groups where Who is on first, then Guess Who, then Yes is in a four-minute video.

 

The sign was photoshopped from one at Wikimedia Commons.

 

 

A free e-book from 2020 all about Sustainable Networking for Scientists and Engineers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a detailed 218-page book from 2020 by Christina C. C. Willis titled Sustainable Networking for Scientists and Engineers. It was published by the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) and can be downloaded as a free e-book at a web page of theirs. Chapter titles and starting pages are:

 

Chapter 1: Sustainable Networking and Why You Should Do It - 1

 

Chapter 2: Networking and Strategy - 13

 

Chapter 3: Self-Awareness, Social Anxiety, and Communication - 31

 

Chapter 4: Conversational Principles - 51

 

Chapter 5: Conversational Skills and Applications - 71

 

Chapter 6: The Strength and Challenge of Diversity - 91

 

Chapter 7: Networking Activities for Anywhere - 115

 

Chapter 8: Networking Locally - 131

 

Chapter 9: Networking at Conferences - 141

 

Chapter 10: How to Network Digitally and Online - 161

 

Chapter 11: Networking Platforms - 179

 

Chapter 12: Networking the Job Hunt - 199

 

The networking cartoon was adapted from here at OpenClipArt.

 

 

Misinterpreting what an audience member in the front row was doing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a useful 2026 book by Michael Lynton and Joshua L. Steiner titled From Mistakes to Meaning: Owning your past so it doesn’t own you. Google Books has a preview. They describe a worst moment where a speaker misinterpreted what an audience member in the front row actually was doing:

 

Chapter 6: The Front Row, pages 81 and 82

 

“Tony Schwartz works with leaders around the world to help them manage their energy by better understanding what’s in their way physically, emotionally, and mentally. Through books, speeches, leadership programs, and consultations he provides insights into what internally blocks us and the stories we tell ourselves when challenged. For all the passion he brings to his subject, Tony’s demeanor and success make him the kind of person you would not expect to lose his cool in front of an audience.

 

Many years ago, a company asked Tony to speak to a group of high-potential young leaders about the power of absorbed attention, and the myth that multitasking increases efficiency. As Tony paced the front of the room and scanned the audience, he saw heads nodding and basked in the mix of appreciation and laughter. Everyone seemed engaged.

 

Everyone except one young man in the front row who avidly scribbled on his phone. Worse still, Tony noticed that the man wore earphones and occasionally seemed to be mouthing words. Tony assumed that the man was catching up on emails or texts. Perhaps he was even listening to music – and singing along silently as he did. As much as Tony tried to focus on his talk, he felt himself getting more and more upset.

 

Finally, and impatiently, he walked over to the man and grabbed the phone out of his hand. As Tony held it up to the audience, he said, ‘This is exactly the problem I’m talking about. It’s not possible to do two things at the same time.’

 

Tony and the man locked eyes. To Tony’s surprise, he noticed that the man seemed remarkably unembarrassed.

 

‘Why don’t you take a look at what’s on the screen?’ he said calmly. Tony looked down at the phone, only to find nearly verbatim notes of his speech.

 

‘So, what about the earphones?’ Tony asked.

 

The man hesitated. ‘Are you sure you want to know?’

 

‘Yes,’ Tony heard himself reply sheepishly, instantly realizing that he should have cut his losses.

 

‘Well, I served in the military. On my last tour in Afghanistan, I led a scouting mission with my troops along a road. While we rested, I bent down behind a tank to tie my boots. Just as I did, one of my soldiers stepped on an IED. It exploded, killing him instantly, and injuring several other soldiers. I didn’t get injured because I was behind the tank, but the explosion pierced my eardrums and left me hard of hearing. I’m wearing hearing aids, and I also read lips.’

 

Tony felt a sickening wave of embarrassment wash away the positive energy that had animated the first part of his talk, He apologized.

 

So, what exactly went wrong?

 

For starters, it’s not great to grab anyone’s phone, and particularly not for an experienced speaker to do it in front of a large audience.”  

 

The cartoon was adapted from one at OpenClipArt.

 

 

A half-dozen brief articles about networking in Toastmaster magazine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fairly recently there have been a half-dozen brief and useful articles about networking in Toastmaster magazine. 

 

One by Maureen Zappala on pages 22 to 25 in the June 2019 issue is titled Building Meaningful Connections: Techniques to try when networking. 

 

A second by Victor David on pages 24 and 25 in the March 2022 issue is titled How to Network Like a Pro: Use your Toastmasters training to make a connection. 

 

And a third also by Victor David on pages 18 and 19 in the December 2022 issue is titled Next-Step Networking: How to develop meaningful and useful connections with new contacts. 

 

A fourth by Shannon Dewey on a web page in the July 2023 issue (but not the .pdf for the entire issue) is titled Be Confident in Casual Conversations: Talk to anyone, anywhere with these tips from the Toastmaster. 

 

A fifth by Jennifer L. Blanck on pages 24 and 25 in the April 2024 issue is titled Preparing for Successful Networking: Take these steps to build your connections. 

 

And a sixth by Matt Abrahams on page 6 in the May 2026 issue is titled Quick Networking Tips: How to calm your nerves before connecting with others.

 

 

Are 99% of people more terrified of public speaking than death?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course not! But there is a three-minute YouTube video by imlaunchguru on August 9, 2026 (featuring Trevor Ambrose) and titled 99% of People Are More Terrified Of Public Speaking Than Death. Here’s How To Beat It in 30 Days.

 

I blogged about a similarly outrageous claim (lacking any backing via surveys) in a post on February 7, 2017 titled Bursting a hilariously overblown claim that 99% of the world fears public speaking. And there was another even worse one in another post on May 21, 2017 titled The most arrogantly overblown statement about fear of public speaking. That one had said:

 

“99% of the population is afraid of public speaking, and of the remaining 1%, 99% of them have nothing original and interesting to say.”

 

 

Figures are an important part of scientific ‘show and tell’

 

 

 

 

  

There is a brief article by Julija Hmeljak and Kirsty Cooper in Disease Models & Mechanisms magazine on November 8, 2023 titled The importance of figures in scientific ‘show and tell’. Its topic mostly is articles for magazines, but it also will be useful for preparing speeches. Eight tips and tricks are discussed in Box 1 and can be paraphrased as follows:

 

Structure graphics logically. Keep in mind that each figure tells a story. Make information flow logically by using a left-to right and top-to -bottom arrangement. Avoid arranging in a circle - unless you are showing a cycle or presenting a mind map (spider diagram).

 

Help readers perceive the graphic structure by using a clear hierarchy in your text. Use larger and/or bold font for headings and sub-headings. Bold is preferable to underlining.

 

Your fonts should be large enough to be easily read and have good contrast with the background.

 

Avoid overcrowding your images, and remove unnecessary details.

 

Minimize text, and include recognizable landmarks.

Use colors mindfully. Use the same color to group objects or show relationships, and use different shapes to distinguish individual elements.

Beware of red-green and blue-yellow color combinations which can confuse the color blind.

Be consistent within and between figures.

An image was cropped from OpenClipArt.

 

 

Living your life sideways - The joy of orthogonality

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

The Wikipedia page for Orthogonality says that:

 

“In mathematics, orthogonality is the generalization of the geometric notion of perpendicularity. Although many authors use the two terms perpendicular and orthogonal interchangeably, the term perpendicular is more specifically used for lines and planes that intersect to form a right angle, whereas orthogonal is used in generalizations, such as orthogonal vectors or orthogonal curves.”

 

There is an interesting 2026 book by Ian Bogost titled The Small Stuff: How to lead a more gratifying life. A Google Books preview from it goes through page 27. The book has the following sections and chapters:

 

Preface: What If Contentment Were Easy?

 

The Sensory Enchantment of Everyday Life

C01 The Small Stuff 7

C02 Happiness, Satisfaction, Gratification 20

C03 The Problem with Marshmallows 28

 

How You Got Dematerialized

C04 The Decline of Sensory Life 43

C05 Why You Can’t Open Doors 50

C06 You Can’t Control What You Do Not Own 58

C07 Working Anywhere Means Working Nowhere 66

C08 Every Place Is the Same Now 75

C09 Adrift in the Data Sea 83

C10 Automated Away 92

 

The Path Back to Gratification

C11 Reclaiming Sensory Life 105

C12 Heap Wonder on Everything 115

C13 Get a Haircut Every Day 126

C14 Talk About Anything 137

C15 Keep Some Junk Around 147

C16 Live Your Life Sideways 155

C17 Spend Your Day in Its Moments 164

 

Conclusion: Build a Relationship with Everything 177

 

In Chapter 16, Live Your Life Sideways, Ian says on page 157:

 

“A concept from mathematics, which my colleagues in engineering, computer science, and even game design have borrowed, can help explain that feeling and offer lessons for applying it to gratification in your downtime. The idea is called orthogonality, and its just a fancy name for a perpendicular – such as a line intersecting another at a ninety-degree angle. Applied to more concrete domains than geometry, one thing is orthogonal to something else when it contains distinct elements that complement but do not interfere with those of the other.

 

Consider the difference between chess and checkers. Both games are played on the same grid. In checkers, every piece moves in an identical way, forward in a diagonal. Even when you ‘king’ a checker by reaching the other side of the board, it still moves in the same way, just backward, too. But in chess, the pieces move in varied ways. Pawns and rooks can both move forward, but rooks can move forward as much as they want, until reaching an obstacle. Bishops can move diagonally. And knights move in that distinctive, L-shaped way -they can also jump over pieces.

 

The relationships between the different chess pieces are orthogonal. Rooks and pawns move along one axis, bishops along another one, the queen and king across both, and the knights according to a different logic entirely. The combination of all these creates the strategic depth that characterizes chess. Whether it is a better game than checkers is not the point; rather, orthogonality makes chess feel bigger, richer, and more complex.

 

Orthogonality can help explain all sorts of phenomena, even some that are not deliberately designed to be orthogonal. Fashion works well when it is orthogonal. If you want to look good but vary your dress for different styles, seasons, and situations, then you want a supply of separates and accessories that you can combine in creative ways. You can dress down a pair of jeans with a T-shirt and sneakers or dress it up with a shirt or blouse and a jacket or sweater, along with a pair of pumps, boots, or loafers. Capsule wardrobes, which first became popular in the 1970s, have been revived as a way to mix and match more easily, economically, and ecologically. Capsule outfits are composed of core pieces, often in neutral tones, that can be worn alongside colorful or style-specific accents.

 

Food, too, benefits from orthogonality. Sweet things are beneficially offset by saltiness; fatty ones by the freshness of citrus. A gooey or wobbly dish such as flan is improved by a complementary crunchy element, such as a shard of toffee. Delightful though a schnitzel or a steak might be, their brownness benefits from accompaniment by creamy white mashed potatoes and a forest of green asparagus. Contrast is good. A thing is better alongside its complement. Your life is better when it includes a version of itself done sideways.”

 

Page 161

“….Othogonality – the art of living your life sideways – is not meant to create hard rules or unbreakable guidelines. As you search for gratifying complements in your life, focus less on the output of the practices you undertake than on the moment-to-moment experience of doing them. That’s where orthogonality lives, in the sensory encounters, not in the work or leisure itself.”