If you had a choice between two deep, meaningful relationships and 15 superficial ones, which would you choose? (I hope you find this to be a no brainer.) We live in a time when amassing as many Facebook friends and Twitter followers as you can is celebrated, even if many of those people are friends of friends of friends whom you've never spoken to in your life. Our time and energy are not limitless. We ought to reserve them for the few people who enrich our lives -- not for those who couldn't remember our names or where they met us if their lives depended on it. I find that it's a good thing when your circle decreases in size, for it means that it's increasing in value because only the people who truly care remain. Can you imagine how many relationships have gone down the tubes because people stretched themselves thin trying to accommodate countless acquaintances whom, in the end, weren't worth it? When we stop and think about it, hardly any of those ...

Donald Trump takes the oath of office today and officially becomes the 45th president of the United States. While I didn't vote for him, I still plan to tune in. The peaceful transfer of power has been a hallmark of American democracy since Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams for the presidency in 1800. Though I disagree with Trump on a bevy of issues, loathe his antics (Twitter, anyone?), and have found many of his remarks toward women and other groups to be reprehensible, I still wish him well. The bottom line is that if he succeeds, America succeeds, and if America succeeds, the entire world succeeds. America spoke loud and clear in last year's election. Tired of the broken system in Washington, it wanted to see an outsider take the country in a whole new direction. Whether Trump can live up to all the promises he made on the campaign trail remains to be seen. He enters office with the worst approval rating of any president in modern history, so surely he has ...

In a press conference last week, President-elect Donald Trump refused to take a question from a CNN correspondent, proceeding to call the network "fake news." The testy exchange came on the heels of CNN reporting that intelligence officials had briefed Trump on an unverified dossier alleging that the Russian government was in possession of compromising information about him. But the sourcing on the 35-page document is unclear and probably unverifiable. CNN reported that it is based chiefly on memos gathered by a former British intelligence operative that were meant as opposition research into Trump. In typical Trump fashion, he took Twitter shortly thereafter and blasted the report, tweeting, "FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!" While the jury is still out on the report, one thing is for certain: Cable news has become increasingly biased over time. Whether you're watching CNN, Fox News, or MSNBC, every cable news network slants left or right, ...

If you're one of those people who strives to impress other people at every turn, I'm here to tell you one thing: you should be trying to impress y ourself  instead. Some of you may ask, "What does impressing yourself even mean?" In a nutshell, it means growing as a person. Impressing yourself signifies achieving big goals -- succeeding at things even you never thought possible. For example, maybe you're convinced you can't lose 30 pounds in two months or read two voluminous books in a single month, but through hard work and commitment, you prove yourself wrong. There's no better feeling in the world, especially when other people said you couldn't do it. While "I told you so" moments can be empowering, here's the problem with trying to impress other people:cic You'll always fall short of someone's expectations. What's more, people always have something to criticize. You could have lost more weight. You spend way t...

We'd all agree that working with younger people has its advantages and disadvantages, as does working with more seasoned coworkers. But what one finds to be a pro or con about a certain age group really depends on their own age, experience, and other factors. In general, though, you can probably pinpoint a few characteristics of younger and older employees that would hold no matter where you work. For starters, many younger employees -- those in their 20s and 30s -- are eager to prove themselves, sometimes leading them to angle for the big projects and clients before they've earned their stripes (much to the chagrin of some bosses who want to keep those for themselves). While people can still be ambitious in their 50s and 60s, they may not be as aggressive in showcasing their skills or fishing for plum projects. At this juncture, they're usually settled and averse to job hopping, especially as they eye retirement. I've also observed that younger employees se...

Have you noticed the latest trend in the world of shopping and commerce? A few years ago, companies were encouraging us to like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter. (They still do today, though not as often given that avid internet users know by now that virtually every business has jumped on the social media bandwagon.) Now, they're pushing us to review them on sites like Yelp. But, as the saying goes, they ought to be careful what they wish for. I have had unpleasant experiences at various restaurants and retail establishments in the past year, and I've had no qualms about airing these sentiments on said websites. In fact, many consumers are more inclined to rate and review a company following a bad experience than a favorable one. A preponderance of either negative or positive reviews, however, should raise red flags. For example, a disproportionate number of 5-star reviews coming from accounts with only one or two reviews to their name means something i...

Actress Susan Sarandon's clothing -- or lake thereof -- caused quite a stir at Saturday's SAG Awards. She wore nothing but a cleavage-baring bra under a white jacket, a look some deemed inappropriate given that she presented the in memoriam segment of the show. Needless to say, Sarandon is making the rounds on social media today. While some are saying she pulled it off nicely, others feel she dressed in poor taste. While we can expect the debate over whether her getup was too unseemly for an in memoriam tribute to rage on for days, there's another question that's worthy of discussion: Should the 69-year-old Sarandon be dressing this way in the first place? Jennifer Lopez, who's 46 but sports the body of someone half her age, similarly gets flak for dressing very provocatively. Some people feel she's setting a bad example for other young women out there, especially considering she's a mother of two. I feel women like Sarandon and Lopez are entitled to...

Today's quote comes from Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), an American poet, essayist, and lecturer who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century: "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." - Ralph Waldo Emerson It's amazing how Emerson's words ring especially true in this digital era we live in. Whether it's on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, people are always trying to one-up each other in an effort to get as many "likes" and positive comments as they can get. They lose sight of their true selves and instead turn into the individuals society wants them to be. In essence, they sell out for social approval. Indeed, society says that we should do all the following: Look as skinny as possible Have as many kids as possible Get married as early as possible Work in the most prestigious high-paying jobs (vice president, etc.) Possess as much money and materi...

In case you didn't watch the MTV Video Music Awards last night, I'm here to fill you in on something Kanye West said that has both the entertainment and political arenas -- not to mention Facebook and Twitter -- buzzing. The hip hop artist and producer -- otherwise known as Kim Kardashian's husband -- declared his intent to run for the presidency in 2020. Now, I don't know if this is yet another publicity stunt in the same vein as the ones the Kardashians have become notorious for over the years, but Kanye West isn't the least bit qualified to run for office. Now that the anti-politician movement continues to pick up steam, we may see more and more Washington outsiders make a bid for the White House. Currently, we have three businesspeople in the presidential race, the most notorious of which is Donald Trump. But who's to say that more entertainers won't throw their hat in the ring? From Ronald Reagan to Arnold Schwarzenegger, we've seen several ...

In this day and age of such rapid technological change, anyone who still utters the words "I'm bored" deserves, at the very least, a slap on the wrists. I think our ancestors would be turning in their graves at such a pronouncement considering all that technology has made possible. In their lifetime, all they could really look forward to were leisurely pursuits like reading and writing (my personal favorite even now), knitting, and storytelling. Our generation, on the other hand, has the internet, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google, Apple, Amazon -- you name it. Sometimes we definitely take what we have for granted. Back in colonial times, people had to ride a horse for days of not weeks just to reach another city -- let alone a different state. There's so much we can do nowadays, whether or not we avail of the latest technology. Charities could always use another pair of hands. Cities everywhere are teeming with parks, gyms, shopping centers, movie theater ...

It feels like it was yesterday that chatrooms were all the rage. Everyone and his brother seemed to go into chatrooms on what was then America Online (now AOL), Yahoo!, and other sites. On America Online, for example, you could choose from a wide array of chatrooms catering to everyone from those who were "40 and single" to "movie lovers." People really took it to extremes, though. I remember there being a chatroom called "AOL Prom" where kids actually pretended they were at a prom dancing with each other. No joke! Before dating sites like Match.com became popular, many people took to these chatrooms to find love. I liked going into the city-specific ones, as well as the chatrooms dedicated to sports talk. However, even though a few remain, chatrooms are mostly a thing of the past  (of the late 90s to early 2000s, to be exact). In the world of online chatting, they seem to have been dethroned by social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Google +. Though...

As we hit our 30s and 40s, life becomes only more and more complicated. From juggling multiple jobs to maintaining a household and raising children, some of us have little time left over for anything else -- and that especially includes friendships. Thankfully, the internet has made it intuitive not only to keep in touch with people we know in person, but to forge "web" friendships with individuals all over the globe at the push of a button. The question is, can friendships forged in cyberspace be as fulfilling as the in-person kind? To me, it's an emphatic yes. I don't believe that you have to physically be with someone in person to establish a connection with him or her. After all, even after you befriend someone in person -- say, in school or at work -- don't the phone and internet account for a huge chunk of the time you spend talking to one another anyway? I find it's easier to strike conversations online -- and, consequently, go on to forge fri...