Irene Tanner

Have you ever been stuck in the middle of a puzzle, jigsaw or not, wondering if the next piece -- thought or action -- will be the one that helps complete the picture?

Yogi Berra understood that "it ain't over till it's over." Movie makers are constantly planning sequels and...

Last week's subject was about the idea of being in the right place at the right time. Continuing this theme means, in addition to evaluating one's present status, taking a peek backwards to determine what got us here. Next week, we will peer into the projections of a crystal ball...

At the conclusion of my first year of blogging -- and as I test the waters entering the second year -- I am astounded that we are living through an enormous sea change. So great, in fact, that full realization of its impact is yet to come.

Let me backtrack...

At pivotal points in my life, when all avenues for solution to one crisis/dilemma or another seemed closed, a seemingly-random occurrence entered the equation, resolving the situation in such a marvelous way that I can only marvel. I have written four blogs on this subject; there is no guarantee that...

The purpose of having a muse is to receive inspiration for creative endeavors. So why shouldn't anyone not necessarily endowed with artistic genius be empowered by a personal muse as a natural component and companion to daily living?

Louise Hay, renowned publisher, author and self-help guru, has described the signal...

Recalling Greek mythology, the three lady goddesses known as muses (Mousai), were an inspirational trio, being the creative force -- whispering into the ears of the entertainment superstars serving the Olympians. Dance, music, song and poetry were their domain -- Apollo, Homer and Terpsichore could Google them up when in...

I once had a friend who was so into instant gratification that in a restaurant, she sometimes ordered dessert first, so that she could fully enjoy it before she was full.

Sometimes I wonder if those who achieve their heart's desire early and easily in life, before the meat and...

Irene Tanner is my legal birth name -- actually Irene Rose Tanner. "Rose" is my paternal grandmother who passed on in my infancy.

Though I came of age in pre-feminist times, I strongly and intuitively knew that I would never change my name -- husbands might come and go --...

I am borrowing the name of the iconic 1952 movie musical -- and its title song -- in an attempt to describe one of those priceless New York evenings that contain all the ingredients of unexpected magic.

Last night was cold and wet enough to discourage all but the most...

This week I traveled by Second Avenue bus from East 79th St. to 60th St., on my way to Bed Bath and Beyond, a favorite store for variety, value and service. I seldom ride the new "blue light" express around 3 p.m. because it bursts with screaming boisterous children escaping...

In the heyday of the textile converting business in New York, before its relocation to the far east, a firm's sales manager worked closely with the stylist, coordinating products according to the requirements of its customers. My sales manager was a guy named Sy, known for his hard driven Type...

As the number of candles increase on my birthday cake, I marvel that my creative powers accelerate as my physical powers do their very best to maintain. There is reason to rejoice to be aging at a time that a groundswell is unmistakably rising that puts a positive spin on...

Kids do it delightfully and effortlessly. News couldn't exist without doing it. Photographers, before digital, did it in a darkroom.

"Let's do it," sang the seducer in the amusing lyric by Cole Porter. "Let's Fall in Love"!

We're all evolving all the time -- evolvement is an integral component of...

"Follow the Leader" is a childhood game which almost universally is played unquestioningly throughout life. Somewhere along the way Thomas Paine upgraded and expanded the rules. He gave us options, advising "Be a leader, follow a leader or get out of the way."

On a personal level, presumably, one's ego...

Picture this: I am 16 years old attending my first English 101 class at Women's College, University of North Carolina. Our professor is Elizabeth Bowen, a small spritely silver-haired lady who instructs us to outline Emerson's essay "Self-Reliance" as our initial assignment.

My roommate, Rita Robbins, and I turn in...

After decades of exploring the human potential movement and studying many methods of its gurus, I now believe that I have garnered enough information, instruction and experience to edit it all down to some simple guidelines that have proven invaluable to me.

I shall live by those principles for...

Who doesn't know the direction given to a tourist asking how to get to Carnegie Hall?

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

No amount of practice would have worked for me. For ten years I struggled with lessons from Miss Kirkland, a spinsterish teacher with halitosis, only because at that time playing the...

In my life I have had two major unfulfilled fantasies:

Swirling around a melody and moonlight-filled terrace wearing a gown of pure gossamer -- guided gloriously by Fred Astaire -- and...

Sitting at the feet of Joseph Campbell as he charismatically steers his spellbound students at Sarah Lawrence College through...

I am borrowing the title of a 1955 song composed by David Mann and Bob Hilliard and plaintively sung by Sinatra in his album of the same name, in which he mourns a lost love. Presumably he couldn't sleep either.

Insomniacs do what they can to get through the night....

Brand -- "A mark made...to attest manufacture or quality or to designate ownership...to impress indelibly..." (Excerpted from Websters' Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary.)

When I was growing up, the Ivory baby and Breck girl were major brands or icons. So were Lucky Strike and Camel cigarettes, the Marlboro Man, Aunt...