Yes, Taylor Armstrong really is coming out with a memoir that details the alleged abuse she suffered at the hands of late husband Russell Armstrong.

It will be titled “Hiding from Reality: My Story of Love, Loss and Finding the Courage Within,” and Taylor unveiled the book cover last night on Bravo:

“My book takes readers behind the glamour of Beverly Hills to show them the terrible violence I suffered, and the slow and painful process of rebuilding my shattered life,” Armstrong said in a statement. “I want readers in abusive relationships to learn from my suffering and use my book to help them find their own courage within.”

Yes, fellow abuse victims, you can learn a lot from Taylor, namely: if you are rich and famous and have a televised platform from which you can promote, you, too, can profit from the suicide of your estranged husband.

What do you think of Armstrong releasing this book?

The Hollywood Gossip

Lady Gaga is ready to put her paws up … and communicate with them!

The hardest working woman in show business says she was recently inspired to learn American Sign Language (ASL) so she can communicate with her deaf fans.

Lady Gaga plans to take lessons with a personal tutor, she says, after being inspired by watching YouTube clips of her deaf fans signing along to her songs.

A source explained, “once she’s mastered sign language she’ll be able to respond to the videos that are online, and include signing in future live tours.”

This is … a pretty awesome gesture on her part, we have to say.

People have said plenty of unflattering things about the Lady, but accusing her of phoning it in or not caring about her fans have never been among them.

Our only concern is that Gaga is going to burn herself out. With such a relentless touring and interview schedule, how is she going to fit tutoring in?

Even the Mother Monster must require sleep, right?

[Photo: Fame Pictures]

The Hollywood Gossip

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There is much talk about Interviewing Styles: The Directive Interview, The Behavioral Interview, The Stress Interview, The Qualifying Interview, The This Interview, The That Interview. Articles outline different styles, list typical questions for each and tell you how to prepare for them, as well as suggesting appropriate answers.

That’s all well and good, but there’s an obvious question here that begs to be asked: how do you KNOW which style you’ll encounter? When you phone to schedule the interview, do you ask, “Oh, by the way Mr. Interviewer, what interview style do you use? I’d like to study that one and ignore all the others.”?

I absolutely endorse asking questions that you need to know the answers to (when it’s the appropriate time)……but THAT question is obviously an exception!

So do you study all of the styles? Memorize every question that applies to each style and all the recommended answers to prepare for each one? And when the interview begins, you say to yourself, “AHA! It’s The Abstract Theoretical Look Sideways Style!” and then you know exactly what to say and do.

What if you missed a style? And you find yourself saying “What the heck style is THIS? I don’t recognize it! HELP!” Which completely throws you off and you bomb the rest of the interview.

Worrying about interviewing styles is ridiculous. Not only is it too much information to memorize, but it’s also a waste of time. An interview is nerve-wracking as it is without worrying about which style you’re going to encounter.

The interview is about the company and how your presence will benefit them. The preparation (with the exception of your company research) is about knowing who you are and what you’re looking for. It’s not about the company or anticipating their interviewing style.

Interview preparation is an absolute, non-negotiable, unequivocal must, but preparing by learning different styles is not. That’s why your interview preparation needs to be focused on learning about yourself, listing questions to ask, forming your answers to fundamental interview questions.

You prepare by focusing on yourself because you are seeking your perfect job. You want to have the power to decide if you want to return for another interview instead of giving that power away. You want to be in control of your future.

An interview is a sales process. The product is, essentially, you. And you need to be real about who you are, AND be prepared enough to interview well. Do THAT properly and the style you encounter is irrelevant.

Interviewing is 85% prep and 15% common sense. Sometimes it does involve a bit of mirroring, but again, some of that is common sense. Do it without losing your individuality. For instance, if the interviewer is chatty, longer answers are okay. If the interviewer is crisp and serious, keep your answers focused and on the topic.

Occasionally you’ll run into an interviewer who wants to make you sweat. You feel as if you’re under a bright light – they’re grilling you, and you might as well have been fingerprinted. There’s no need to get all worked up (besides, they WANT you to). If that’s his interview style, what do you think it will be like to work for him?

The answer to that should calm you down. You won’t care what he thinks, because you probably won’t want to return. Good money? Eventually you’ll hate your boss, then you’ll hate your job, then your life will be hell, because the salary won’t be worth it. Short drive? Eventually you’ll hate your boss, then you’ll hate your job then your life will be hell, because the drive will STILL be too long – you don’t want to go where you’re driving. Great advancement promised? After how long? How many people have held that position in the last 6 years?

If you want to work for a control freak or someone who needs to appear tough and all-knowing, you’ve found the place. If he’s rapid firing questions at you, hoping to trip you up, let him feel important . Finish the interview and then cross the company off your list.

Another interviewer might leave you thinking “What’s UP with this guy?” He seems sort of at a loss as to what to ask you. His questions are all open ended and don’t seem to have any firm direction or point. Just use common sense. You’ve done your interview prep work – jump in and sell yourself. That doesn’t mean talk non-stop, but you don’t have to sit there and be uncomfortably silent for long periods of time either.

Ease the awkwardness. Help him out. Lots of holes? Gracefully and professionally answer some of the questions you were prepared to answer, even though he hasn’t asked them. He may not know how to interview very well.

(Face it, NO ONE – except maybe a human resources person – should have a lot of experience interviewing. If they do – they either can’t keep a job….or they can’t keep employees!)

If your first interview is with human resources, often they can be crisply black and white, detail oriented, and by the book. Don’t let it throw you. If you know yourself and what you’re looking for, you’ve done your research on the company, and you’ve thoroughly prepped yourself for the interview, you’re much less likely to get flustered.

Mirror their style, but don’t drown your personality. SOME human resources people are adept at giving you enough rope to hang yourself – so don’t be lulled into a warm cozy camaraderie. Watch their visual cues – which can be subtle. Follow your instinct, but follow their lead. They’re screeners, but in that sense, they are also decision makers.

Don’t waste your time memorizing styles and how to handle each one. There ARE different interview styles, just as there are different types of people. The hiring authority’s interviewing style is usually a reflection of his personality. Stay aware of what’s happening at the moment, what you’re saying, what you’re learning, and how you’re feeling about what’s taking place.

The more you’ve done your homework in accordance with what I’ve suggested, the more relaxed you’ll feel. The more relaxed you feel, the more confident and in control of your answers you’ll be, and the less likely you’ll be to worry about interview styles and types. When you know your background and who you are – the hows and whys and whats – you’re also less likely to be blindsided by an unexpected “type” question.

So before you interview, it is imperative for you to give significant thought to:

? Why you chose your current field

? What environment you work best in and why

? What your personality traits are

? Why you liked and didn’t like your previous jobs and what you learned from them

? What your skills and talents are

? How you’ve handled diverse situations and what you might have done differently, or why what you did was effective – be able to back it up

? What you’ve accomplished in your previous positions and how those accomplishments contributed to the success of the department and the company

? In what areas you feel you need some work or polish

? Where you see yourself going and how you plan on getting there

? Why you chose to leave one company to go to the next

In addition to knowing the answers to the above topics, you need to think about the most appropriate way to phrase those answers AND how they relate to what you’ve learned about the company from your research on line or at the library.

In fact, some of the topics on the above list you should already have given thought to before you began your job search. If you don’t know who you are, what you want, in what circumstances you perform best and in what circumstances you don’t perform well at all, what type of management style helps you to flourish and give back to the company, and what the goal of your next job is – you won’t know what you’re looking for, much less be able to recognize it.

Put effort into making sure you know who you are and what makes you that way. Know what you’ve accomplished and what contributed to those accomplishments, what motivates you and what turns you off. Spend time learning about the company with whom you’ll be interviewing. Make a list of questions to bring with you, and know what kind of answers you’re looking for. Be able to address issues by showing how who YOU are will benefit THEM.

Then it won’t matter what style you encounter. You’ll be comfortable with any style you meet. And when they want you to come back for another interview, you can decide if you want to….or not.

copyright: Judi Perkins, VisionQuest

When studying the piano, a student encounters a myriad piano styles. To master the instrument, at least several of these styles must be learned, and all if at all possible. Knowledge of various playing styles enables a pianist to enjoy and play in any genre and to cross-polinate styles to create a fusion he or she can call their own.

Many modern piano styles are based on the blues. The blues involve an emphasis on the major and minor pentatonic scales, with an additional note included. The flatted fifth is added to the minor pentatonic to create the blues scale. Many blues songs are based on a simple chord progression, known as 12-bar blues. This uses the I, IV and V chords of a scale to create a foundation for melodies and solos.

For example, rock piano was born out of the blues and then took on a life of it’s own in the stylings of Jerry Lee Lewis, Michael McDonald, Elton John, Billy Joel, and many others.

Cocktail piano is a style generally connected with Liberace, Eddy Duchin, Roger Williams, and others who play popular tunes with lots of great technique — lots of notes, runs, flourishes, and so on. But I hate to catagorize and of these great pianists, as many of them play in other styles as well.

Boogie-woogie is a piano style based on the blues. It started as a solo piano style, but has expanded into other genres, such as county-western and gospel. It differs from the blues in that it is considered dance music, while blues music traditionally expresses sadness and frustration.

Rhythm and blues piano is based on blues, jazz, and gospel styles. As the name suggests, the emphasis is on the rhythm of the song. Most R&B has a particular swing to it, with a strong feel of syncopation in the rhythm. Syncopation involves placing the stress on a normally unstressed beat. This often results in an almost off-time feel to the untrained ear.

Ragtime piano also incorporates syncopation. Ragtime uses syncopation in its melodies by placing melodic notes between the stressed beats of the rhythm. Ragtime is often considered the first completely American genre, even predating jazz.

Jazz piano encompasses such a broad palate of styles that it is impossible to describe. Many piano styles incorporate ideas borrowed from jazz, such as improvisation. An emphasis on extended chord forms and chord re-harmonization also stems from jazz piano.

New age piano often involves less chord changes than other styles, instead relying on simpler progressions and polychords. It often imitates the sound of nature -babling brooks, wind, rain, and so on. A polychord occurs when two different chords are played at once. This technique is taken from earlier classical works by composers such as Stravinsky.

Gospel piano is often similar to the blues, jazz and R&B. It emphasizes certain extended chords, such as the 11th, and usually has the swinging feel associated with jazz and R&B. The apparent simplicity of gospel songs often hides the fact that they are, indeed, quite musically complex. Syncopation is highly stressed in gospel music, as it contributes to the overall spiritual feel of the music.

Country and western piano has similar roots as blues piano. Both styles stem from earlier folk styles, often developed by the less fortunate people of the era. Many early country songs stem from Appalachian folk songs. Country and western piano is highlighted by very bright playing, with simple chord progressions underneath the melody. One of the greats in this styles is Floyd Cramer.

Traditional sacred piano styles involve the playing of liturgical songs and hymns. These can range from the harmonically and rhythmically complex to simple two and three chord songs. Many hymns stem from folk songs of centuries past. The variety of sacred piano styles is as numerous as the liturgical songs themselves. These piano styles often involve a strict reading of notation, with less of an emphasis on personal interpretation than other styles.

The classical piano style is probably the most varied of all the styles. Classical music is older than other styles, and is considered to the proper grounds for musical instruction. Many elements of other piano styles come from classical music, and nearly all forms of musical theory are used in classical music. Andre Previn is the classic example of a well-trained classical pianist crossing over into the world of jazz, and with great success. Classical music usually requires intense training to master, though there many simpler pieces designed with the novice player in mind.

Though classical is often considered the high point of music, this “ain’t necessarily so.” For instance, many players who are “classically trained” have trouble adapting to the feel and sincerity of the blues. For this reason, a well-rounded player should be adaptable and learn as much about each of these piano styles as possible. In this way, a pianist is ready for any musical challenge. And besides, who knows where the future of music lies?