Win Friends, influence people, and annoy them as little as possible (I'm looking at you, Tiger Woods!).

I love this (below, from a NY Times review of the e-book version of Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People," a book I've never read but now almost want to - in the original; a hard copy version please, thank you!):

The following sentence, which appears on Page 80, is so inept that it may actually be an ancient curse and to read it more than three times aloud is to summon the cannibal undead: “Today’s biggest enemy of lasting influence is the sector of both personal and corporate musing that concerns itself with the art of creating impressions without consulting the science of need ascertainment.”

You can read the whole review (which also includes a discussion of the updated "Emily Post's Etiquette") here. Personally, when I'm looking for advice, I turn to "Dear Prudence," "Ask Amy" (not as annoying in print as she is on "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell me") and Carolyn Hax, and for etiquette, the Social Q's section in the New York Times. Emily Post has never really done it for me. Oh, and I also like the Ethicist in the New York Times, though I did sort of prefer Randy Cohen to the anonymous female writer they have now.

This message will not only post on my blog, but will be posted to Twitter, and therefore, to Facebook. Hope it doesn't annoy you too much! :-)