Weird Word of the Week: Termagant

Madame L has known a few termagants in her time. She had a neighbor once, for example, who could be counted on to come roaring out of her house to yell at neighborhood kids when they did something she didn't like.

So Madame L was not surprised to find, when she Googled this word, that "termagant" has come to mean a harsh-tempered or overbearing woman.

But Madame L was surprised to find on Wikipedia that the original meaning of the word "termagant" was a made-up god in Christian morality plays, supposedly worshiped by Muslims, who were also believed to worship Muhammad the prophet as a god.

Do read the Wikipedia article for more fascinating information about this. Here's how it came to refer to women, according to Wikipedia:

As a result of the theatrical tradition, by Shakespeare's day the term had come to refer to a bullying person. Henry IV contains a reference to "that hot termagant Scot". In Hamlet, the hero says of ham actors that "I would have such a fellow whipped for o'er-doing Termagant, it out-Herods Herod". Herod, like Termagant, was also a character from medieval drama who was famous for ranting. In similar vein Beaumont and Fletcher's play A King and No King contains the line "This would make a saint swear like a soldier, and a soldier like Termagant."


Mainly because of Termagant's depiction in long gowns, and given that female roles were routinely played by male actors in Shakespearean times, English audiences got the mistaken notion that the character was female, or at least that he resembled a mannish woman. As a result, the name "termagant" came increasingly to be applied to a woman with a quarrelsome, scolding quality, a sense that it retains today.

More on Unions

Dear Readers,

Madame L has received an intriguing message from Aldo Baker (whom Madame L thanks for sending the message instead of commenting anonymously on this blog), directing Madame L to a Web site with information about the state of unions in the U.S.

Madame L grew up in a union family. Her father worked in a union shop and thus was a union member, and even though he wasn't always happy with union politics and actions, he was grateful that he belonged to a union, which protected his wages, ensured that he got off work at a reasonable time weekdays, and gave him weekends off. None of these benefits was available to people like him before unions made them possible.

Now, as we all know, big companies are influencing the politicians whose pockets they fill to vote against unions and against every possible help to ordinary workers like Madame L's dad. In turn, not only by voting against unions but by speaking untruths about them in stump speeches, politicians are influencing people who, if they knew the truth, would join unions.

Here's the whole series of graphics from that page.  Madame L can't see it very well, either, so she has posted it here as a tease so you'll follow the link to go to that page to see the whole thing.

As unions become less a part of the working family's world, wages will continue to lag behind the cost of living, families will have fewer resources, and our economy will suffer. Just look at those graphics to understand what it's all about.

Best,

Madame L

Bundy V. U.S. Government

Dear Madame L,

Don't you feel sorry for the Nevada rancher, Cliven Bundy, who has been grazing his cattle on federal land for years, only to be unjustly attacked by the Bureau of Land Management?

Sincerely,

Why Should I Recognize the Federal Government?


Dear Bundy Supporter,

Your ridiculous, ignorant and jejune question leaves Madame L floundering. Are you kidding? Where should Madame L start?

Here, for her Dear Readers who don't like to follow links from this page, is Stephen Colbert's answer to the question, with apologies for the weird speed of the recording. (You can find a better version of it here.)

And here is Jon Stewart's answer to the question:

Please, even before we all knew Cliven Bundy was a racist, we knew he was a hypocrite and a criminal, grazing on land owned by the U.S. government (that is, you and me) while claiming not to recognize the government. He owes US, you and me, a million dollars in fees. And even though the BLM mis-handled the confrontation, they were right to go after him. Shame on Cliven Bundy, and shame on anyone who finds anything admirable about him.

Sincerely,

Madame L

Weird Word of the Week: Jejune

Madame L enjoyed reading this word in an online article about some immature complaints regarding President Obama's use of the language.

Apparently columnist George Will was offended by President Obama's use of the word "stinkburger":

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) had recently released his budget, so Obama expressed his disapproval by calling it, for the benefit of his academic audience, a “meanwich” and a “stinkburger.”

Try to imagine Franklin Roosevelt or Dwight Eisenhower or John Kennedy or Ronald Reagan talking like that. It is unimaginable that those grown-ups would resort to japes that fourth-graders would not consider sufficiently clever for use on a playground.

The writer of this article points out that previous presidents have used even more "jejune" language. Read the whole article, and laugh out loud, as did Madame L unless you'll be offended to hear that any of those aforementioned presidents (Reagan, Bush, Nixon, and JFK) were capable of language offensive to the tender and delicate ears of George Will, one of Washington's longstanding nitwits (in Madame L's not-so-humble opinion).

What does "jejune" mean, you ask? According to dictionary.com, it could mean naive, simplistic, superficial, uninteresting, immature, or childish.

Yes, Virginia, You Need to Change Your Password(s)

Dear Madame L,

All these people are saying stuff about something called Heartbleed and how I need to change all my passwords. Really? Why?

Sincerely,

Virginia


Dear Virginia,

Yes, really. You need to change your passwords on every single Web site, service app, and device you use which may have been affected by the Heartbleed "bug" (not a "virus"---and Madame L can tell you more about that, if you're interested; just ask through a Comment).  If you want to know which sites have been affected, you can find out here.

If you don't want to check but still want to be sure, just go to every Web site where you have logged in, over the past two years, and change your password.

Why? Because this bug affects the so-called "OpenSSL cryptographic software library," which is used in most supposedly secure Web sites. Heartbleed allows stealing the information protected by passwords, including your address and other contact information, credit card numbers, and Social Security number.

According to the Washington Post, "Estimates of the severity of the bug’s damage have mounted almost daily since researchers announced the discovery of Heartbleed last week. What initially seemed like an inconvenient matter of changing passwords for protection now appears much more serious. New revelations suggest that skilled hackers can use the bug to create fake Web sites that mimic legitimate ones to trick consumers into handing over valuable personal information."

Because it's such a huge problem and fixes have been slow in coming, you will want to change all your passwords again in a week or two. And then again, just to be safe. And then, you should be changing all your passwords every two months. In fact, federal employees and many in the private sector are required to change their work-computer access passwords that often.

For more information on Heartbleed and how you can respond to its threat, Norton has provided lots of details in a very readable and understandable format. Here are some of them:

Due of the complex nature of this vulnerability, changing your passwords before sites update their version of OpenSSL won’t fully protect you. Here are some simple steps you can take as a precaution:

	•	Change your passwords on any website that contains sensitive information about you. You should first confirm that the site does not contain the Heartbleed vulnerability by using this tool.
	•	If you’ve reused passwords on multiple sites, it’s especially important to change them. To change your Norton Account password, visit manage.norton.com and click Account Information.
	•	Beware of phishing emails and type website addresses directly in your browser instead of clicking on a link through an email.
	•	Monitor your bank and credit card accounts for unusual activity.

It may take an extended period of time for all the sites affected by Heartbleed to fix this vulnerability. To determine if a website is vulnerable to Heartbleed using this tool. We recommend you only exchange personal or sensitive information such as your credit card number if the site is not affected by Heartbleed.

Sincerely,

Madame L

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

It's not Fiction Friday yet, but Madame L has to mention here that one of her all-time favorite authors, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, has died. He turned 87 last month.

He wrote in the so-called "magical realism" style that we often associate with fiction from South America, but he did it very much his own way. He won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1982, the first Colombian and fourth Latin American to win it.

His most famous and most-read book is "One Hundred Years of Solitude," which Madame L read years ago, when she was living in Venezuela. Madame L thought she would next read the book in Spanish. However, when she went to buy a copy of it in Spanish from her local bookstore. the proprietor, who was originally from Colombia (like Garcia Marquez), chuckled and said, "Good luck! I have trouble reading him. His vocabulary is so unique, so original, so large."

From USA Today's report of his death:

In 1988, Garcia Marquez told The New York Times that his style varied: "In every book I try to make a different path…One doesn't choose the style. You can investigate and try to discover what the best style would be for a theme. But the style is determined by the subject, by the mood of the times."

But he also said, "In Mexico surrealism runs through the streets."

Another great one who will be missed!

Weird Word of the Week: Vogueing

Here's another great word Madame L found by accident. She had heard this word before, of course. Hasn't everyone? And doesn't everyone in every family across America take turns vogueing every Sunday morning as they check out the Lord & Taylor ads in the Sunday New York Times?

No?

Pity.

According to Wikipedia, "vogueing" is a dance style "...characterized by model-like poses integrated with angular, linear, and rigid arm, leg, and body movements." But of course it is much more than that.

Slate writer Katy Waldman uses the word "vogueing" as she writes about "power poses" a woman might use as she asks for a raise. She refers to "The End of Men" (which, BTW, Madame L is not going to buy and probably won't even check out of the library). Ms. Waldman writes about how she prepared for her interview in which she asked her boss for a raise:

I sent the Big Kahuna an email asking to meet with him about my salary for the new year. I figured he would reply to the message suggesting a time and I would prepare with my Wonder Woman stance beforehand. But instead he stopped at my desk on his way back to his office. “How about now?” he said, perhaps because he’s a casual boss or perhaps because he knows it’s best not to give us employees any time to prepare via vogueing in the bathroom.

“Sure!” I enthused, panicking. I followed him down the long hall with my hands resting on my hips and my shoulders not-so-subtly open, praying he wouldn’t turn around and see me locomoting like a fool. The leisurely walk took about half a minute. Were neural terminals emptying their packets of testosterone into my synapses, enzymes vacuuming up most of the cortisol? Hard to tell: This was my first salary negotiation, so I’m not sure how I would have felt without the pose. But when I sat down in his office, I squared my chest slightly. For an extra boost, I was assuming one of the less obvious high power positions—legs slightly apart, chin up, torso forward. The key was projecting poise without arrogance; if I could do that, I would be, as they say, in business.

Did it work? All that vogueing? Dear Readers, you'll have to read the (hilarious) article by Ms. Waldman. Enjoy, keep coruscating, use those power poses, and,

You're welcome,

Madame L

Tonight's Eclipse (Early Morning April 15)

Dear Readers,

Thanks to Ellen for asking about tonight's so-called "blood moon." This eclipse should be visible from anywhere in North America and South America, as well as Australia. It will be seen as a partial eclipse in arts of Asia, Africa and Europe.

Just find a comfy place (and a warm blanket, maybe some hot cocoa, and certainly some friends) to enjoy watching it!

You can read more about it in this article.

Even better, though, is the NASA explanation for the moon's "blood red" color in the eclipse: "What you're seeing is every sunrise and sunset on Earth--all at once. This ring of light shines into Earth's shadow, breaking the utter darkness you might expect to find there."

Madame L knows that Ellen and all her other Dear Readers are interested in the science and not in the creepy-crazy pseudo-religious nuts who are saying this eclipse has anything to do with anything outside of the normal life of our solar system.  Here's a NASA scientist explaining this lunar eclipse:

Villanelle and Paradelle

Dear Readers,

Madame L has found this poem, which she mentioned yesterday, Billy Collins' "Villanelle," online:

Villanelle

This first line will not go away,
and though the middle ones will disappear,
the third, like the first, is bound to get more play.

Examples of the type are written every day,
and whether uplifting or drear,
that first line just won’t go away.

It seems some lines have the right of way.
It’s their job to reappear,
for example, the third, always getting extra play.

Whether you squawk like an African gray
or sing sweetly to the inner ear,
the line you wrote first just won’t go away.

You may compose all night and day
under a bare lightbulb or a crystal chandelier,
but line number three must get more play.

How can a poet hope to go wildly astray
or sing out like a romantic gondolier
when the first line just won’t go away,
and the third one always has the final say?

Madame L also found this "paradelle," "Paradelle for Susan," by Billy Collins, online:

I remember the quick, nervous bird of your love.
I remember the quick, nervous bird of your love.
Always perched on the thinnest, highest branch.
Always perched on the thinnest, highest branch.
Thinnest love, remember the quick branch.
Always nervous, I perched on your highest bird the.
—
It is time for me to cross the mountain.
It is time for me to cross the mountain.
And find another shore to darken with my pain.
And find another shore to darken with my pain.
Another pain for me to darken the mountain.
And find the time, cross my shore, to with it is to.
—
The weather warm, the handwriting familiar.
The weather warm, the handwriting familiar.
Your letter flies from my hand into the waters below.
Your letter flies from my hand into the waters below.
The familiar waters below my warm hand.
Into handwriting your weather flies you letter the from the.
—
I always cross the highest letter, the thinnest bird.
Below the waters of my warm familiar pain,
Another hand to remember your handwriting.
The weather perched for me on the shore.
Quick, your nervous branch flew from love.
Darken the mountain, time and find was my into it was with to to.

You can also go online to find another invented form, inspired by Billy Collins' paradelle, the upside down paradelle: "Extractions," invented by poet Grace Curtis.

The Book Review: Sunday, April 13, 2014: National Poetry Month

The public library in Madame L's town has a bookcase near the checkout desk with books recommended by the librarians. This month, the books of those shelves have mostly been poetry books, which (of course) has delighted Madame L.

Do you, Dear Readers, enjoy poetry? Madame L used to hate poetry, undoubtedly because of the many boring and formal poems she had to read and write essays about in high school and college English classes.

Lately, though, she has enjoyed checking out random books of poems from her public library. And this month, the library has made it even easier for her by putting all those books there.

There are still some poetry collections that Madame L does not stoop or even pretend to enjoy, however, including the poems of Robert Service, AKA "The Bard of the Yukon." So Madame L passed on all those books in that bookcase. Sorry, all those people who can quote entire poems such as "The Cremation of Sam McGee" and "The Shooting of Dan McGraw."

Madame L did pick up a collection by Garrison Keillor, called "77 Love Sonnets." Madame L didn't think Garrison Keillor had 77 sonnets, or poems of any kind, in him; but he did, at some time, anyway; and someone has published them all together in this book. Madame L is glad she picked up this book because it helped her realize that some of the sonnets she had disliked so much in years past were not that bad, after all.

Madame L also picked up "A Companion for Owls, Being the Commonplace Book of D. Boone, Long Hunter, Back Woodsman, &tc.," by Maurice Manning. She scanned  through it quickly but not so quickly that she was not able to ascertain that which she had indeed suspected: Daniel Boone did not actually write any of these poems. And the guy who did write them did not impress Madame L favorably, either.

Who else? Ah, Alice Walker, in "Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth," impressed Madame L very favorably indeed, as did Billy Collins, with "Aimless Love." Madame L knows that not everyone likes Billy Collins' poems as much as Madame L does, and, as usual when Madame L becomes aware of someone's disagreeableness, she doesn't care. She likes those poems, and she had a great time scanning through and reading some of them. She is going to keep the Walker and Collins books out of the library as long as she can so she enjoy more of these poems and re-enjoy the ones she has already enjoyed.

Here's an example from Billy Collins, a villanelle that uses that form perfectly while making a witty commentary on the form. What Madame L means to say is that this "Villanelle" is the most meta poem Madame L has ever read, so meta that even a dunce like Madame L can figure out the form of a villanelle just from reading this one (though Madame L will not paste the entire poem here):

The first line will not go away
though the middle ones will disappear,
and the third, like the first, is bound to get more play.

Examples of this type are written every day,
and whether uplifting or drear,
that first line will just not go away.

(...and so on...)

Fun fact: While trying to find this poem online so she COULD paste the entire poem here, Madame L read that Billy Collins has also written a parody of the villanelle form, called the paradelle. He claimed it was invented in eleventh-century France, but he invented it himself; and other poets have since enjoyed writing in this form, too.


One final poetry book that Madame L selected from the bookcase was "Don't Bump the Glump! and Other Fantasies," Shel Silverstein's first poetry collection, which Madame L loved. Here's "One-Legged Zantz":

Please be kind to the One-Legged Zantz.
Consider his feelings---
Don't ask him to dance.

Madame L hopes her Dear Readers will enjoy a few poems this month and share them with the rest of the world. And, while you're at it, maybe you'll want to write a poem or two, too.

What's Wrong With These People? (Powell's)

Dear Madame L,

I recently went to Powell's, the famous bookstore in downtown Portland, to sell some books and buy some new ones. As usual, my experience there was not so good.

First, there were three bookselling guys at that counter. The first one had a sign in front of his place that said "Next buyer." I smiled at him and started to walk past, since, you know, I can read, and I could tell that he wasn't there to help me in any way, shape, or form. Still, he decided I was illiterate and ignorant, I guess, because he frowned at me and said, "Next buyer."

At least the buyer who looked through my books wasn't as rude and dismissive as they usually are: He actually chatted with me a little while he went through them, instead of talking with the other guy the whole time. He only bought back half the books I had and didn't give me a good price for those ones, but he didn't make me feel like I was scum for being there.

I found some "new" used books to buy, and went to the checkout line. There was a lady in front of me with a little girl, and when it was their turn to go up to the front, they got distracted by something and just stood there. I waited politely for them to finish what they were doing, but politeness is obviously not part of the normal everyday procedures of most of the Powell's employees: The man at the check-out counter frowned at me and said, "Next!" and waved for me to go on up there.

So I did. He scanned my four books and told me the price without ever once looking at me. I said, "I have a paper here from selling back some other books." He sighed with boredom and/or exasperation and said, "Lemme see it." I gave it to him and he said, "I need a photo ID." I showed him my driver's license and he said, "You still owe four dollars."

I said, "I also have a coupon for ten per-cent off," and I gave him that. He practically snatched it out of my hand and said, "Lemme see it." He stapled it to his copy of the receipt and said, "You still owe four dollars." I said, "What about the ten per-cent?" He said, "I did that."

I paid him his four dollars and he gave me my receipt. I looked it over carefully and said, "It doesn't look like you gave me the ten per-cent off." He frowned even more and said, "That's right, I didn't, because it doesn't apply with the books you bought today." I said, "Then it's good for another time?" He frowned and unstapled it from the receipt and gave it to me, very reluctantly.

And then he looked past at me and frowned at the next person in line and said, "Next."

What's wrong with these people?

Sincerely,

I only go to Powell's because it's the only place around here that buys books, but let me tell you, if there was another store that did, I'd never go to Powell's again!

Dear Unhappy Customer,

Madame L sees your misery and raises you a hundred. Madame L never sells books at Powell's any more. She would rather give her books away to a charity than deal with the rude and disrespectful people there. She also buys used books through Amazon.com rather than have to deal with Powell's.

Madame L believes they must have mandatory employee meetings where, instead of getting their workers all hyped up on customer service, they yell at them, "The customer is always wrong! Wipe that grin off your face!" And so on.

And then they complain about how people aren't going to bricks-and-mortar stores any more. 

Sincerely,

Madame L

Why Does Airline Food Taste So Bad?

Dear Readers,

Madame L knows you have all wondered the same thing. And here's the answer, in Conde Nast Traveler, online: 

It's partly because after the food is cooked and refrigerated and re-heated, it loses some of its flavor, which is like, Duh!---what we all knew, all along.

But it's also because the cabin air and atmosphere decrease our perception of saltiness and sweetness.

So we can't blame it all on the airlines. Though there's still plenty to blame them for.

Happy Flying,

Madame L

Weird Word of the Week: Coruscatingly

Madame L loves this word! She found it when she was researching the answer to a Dear Reader's question about the book "Leaning In."

Madame L found an article about the woman "W" who had been offered a teaching job at a college, which job offer was then withdrawn when the the woman tried to negotiate terms which would probably have been considered normal for a man being offered the same job.  The college responded to the request not by negotiating or accepting even one of the suggestions made by the woman; but rather by writing, "...Thus, the institution has decided to withdraw its offer of employment to you."

Madame L followed a link in that article to another article by the same author in which she discussed the value of "power poses," the idea that if standing like Wonder Woman for a few minutes before a job interview, date, raise request, and so on, will empower you and make whatever you're trying to achieve become more possible. 

What about the word, you're asking? Yes, Madame L was getting to that. In that article, Katy Waldman wrote that she used the power pose before meeting a friend at a bar for drinks. Here's how it went:

A friend and I made plans to meet at 9:00 p.m. at a popular bar in Adams Morgan. I arrived a bit early, which gave me some time to stand outside the entrance with my fists planted on my hips and my legs spread. I did not, in fact, feel powerful. I felt silly. So I walked around to the side of the bar, where I had a slimmer chance of being observed, and tried again. No discernible testosterone cascades, but after a few minutes a sediment of calm did begin to settle in my chest. I also noticed that I was getting tired from holding the power pose.

When I went inside, a greeter was stationed in the doorway, and perhaps I was more gregarious with him then I might otherwise have been. We bantered, coruscatingly, about whether he planned to ask for my ID (“No, I’m just the greeter”) and whether the upper floor experience merited the steep climb upstairs. When I traipsed up to explore, a second man blocked my ingress.

Dear Readers, you'll have to follow the link to find out how this specific experiment turned out. Madame L will reveal, however, that Ms. Waldman concluded after her three experiments with power poses that they might have had a placebo effect, at least.

So, what about the word, you're asking, again? Yes, Madame L hopes you noticed that the word is used in that quoted bit: "We bantered, coruscatingly..."

Madame L had to look it up, and she found that "coruscatingly" means "in a flashing, brilliant, or keen manner."

And there you have it.

Coruscatingly,

Madame L

Doggie Treats, Part 3

Dear Laura and Other Faithful and Curious Readers,

Great question! Laura asked Madame L, about "Doggie Treats, Part 2":

"You know I have to ask - are you able to proclaim their deliciousness with such certainty because you tried them yourself? Or were they tested on actual canines? ;"

And Madame L must admit that, yes, she proclaimed the deliciousness of those doggie treats because she tried them herself. She has not yet tried them on actual dogs. Oh, the shock! The shame! And whatev. But since they didn't have liver or bacon or anything disgusting in them, and since Madame L her very own self made them, Madame L felt okay with tasting them.

Try it, you'll like it!

Sincerely,

Madame L

Doggie Treats, Part 2

Dear Faithful Readers,

(and I don't mean to imply you're dogs, even though of course dogs are rightfully famous for their faithful and loyal nature),

Madame L tried out the recipe for doggie treats, and GUESS WHAT:

They are delicious!

Here's the recipe, for those of you who want to try this at home:

Sweet Potato Biscuits

1 sweet potato, baked and cooled, and mashed
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 large egg
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix everything together and knead a few times. Roll the dough into a thick sheet and cut out desired shape of biscuits. Arrange these on a baking sheet and cook at 350 (F) for 30 minutes, until they're crunchy and golden brown.

This version of the recipe is from The Oregonian, February 21, 2014, which adapted it from the "Dog Treat Cookbook," which is available as a free Kindle book from Amazon.com. 

Madame L will be freezing her doggie treats to save for when her grand-dogs Mugwai and Lola come to visit in a couple of months, and then she promises to let you, Dear Readers, know their verdict.

No, Madame L is not crunching down on these doggie treats, now that they're cooled off and hardened. She wants to save her teeth, which are not as crunch-proof as her grand-dogs' teeth are. But this recipe has made Madame L and Aunt Louise think about ways to make biscuits and muffins and other such treats for humans that would be naturally sweet without added sugar. (Here's another recipe Aunt Louise tried and enjoyed, but with reservations.)

Any suggestions, Dear Readers, will be gratefully accepted and posted here (with your permission).

Leaning In?

Dear Madame L,

I've read a lot of very positive reviews of that book "Lean In" by Sheryl Sandberg, and I'm thinking her ideas sound good. Do you think I should buy the book for myself?

Sincerely,

Not a Fast Reader


Dear Beloved and Normal Reader, 

DO NOT BUY THE BOOK. Madame L has nothing against the book, its author, editors, or publishers, but she doesn't see why you should buy the book. 

Helloooo! Isn't that why we have public libraries? Check it out from your library, even if this means having to wait for a few days or weeks to get it. 

Yes, yes, yes, Madame L has been known to buy many books that she could have checked out of the library, but those were different because:

1) They were novels or poetry collections which weren't available at her library; or

2) They weren't full of self-promotional billet shorts that anyone with a brain could have figured out for herself; or

3) They weren't full of ideas that might have billeted Madame L's own professional life, viz., the idea that you should go ahead and ask for that raise because, darn it all, you're good enough, you're smart enough, and, doggone it, people like you!

So, again, Madame L suggests you wait to find this book at your library and consider carefully which parts of its advice are not common sense and which parts of its advice might apply really well to the white rich woman who wrote the book and which might not apply so well to you, Madame L, and the majority of women who are working in North America.

A recent case of a professional woman (not unlike the author of "Lean In," Madame L suspects) who asked for better hiring terms should be cautionary. The woman's job offer suddenly disappeared, as the hiring committee (all middle-aged white men, Madame L suspects, though that is not specified in the articles Madame L has read about the case) decided the woman probably wasn't such a good match for the job, after all. 

Yes, that's right: The woman leaned in, still not even being nearly as aggressive as a man in her position might have been, and she was slapped back for it.

So, lean in all you want, and for sure look at the "Look Inside!" feature on Amazon.com's page for the book. You might get as much as you need from the Table of Contents. Then, if you must, read the book for tips on how to lean in, but beware. And don't lean too far.

Sincerely,

Madame L