Jumping Puddles in the Rain

Looking for Me?

2008-07-27T21:44:00.001-04:00

Check out www.sarah-morgan.com.

Thanks to my fairy godmothers, I've finally got a domain, and I'm slowly migrating to it.

Here in the biz we call this a soft launch.

...

Well, okay, that's a lie. And a geeky, pretentious one, at that.

The truth is, it's taking me longer than I'd hoped to get a service and a domain, find a template, rig it to be passably close to what I want, and migrate 900 posts over six years. Even with the fairy godmothers. Maybe I need the mice, too.

Anyway, it's happening, and I'm psyched. Please check it out, update your feeds, tell your friends, hire the skywriters, and go comment all over it and tell me what you think.

The World Is Just Awesome

2008-07-18T14:47:00.000-04:00

Possibly the best commercial ever. Just when I think I can't love the Discovery Channel any more. (Also, they've got a cool mini-site on it.)

Happy Friday, y'alls. I hope you're feeling like this. I know I am.

(Thanks, Colin!)

Just Another Day at Work

2008-07-17T17:05:00.000-04:00

Matt's solo Formations flight, completed today. He's flying the one marked 845 and 2265, the lead of the two aircraft.

...my brother is SO much cooler than your brother.

PR Via Status Updates: The HARO Effect?

2008-07-17T10:46:00.001-04:00

The inimitable Peter created a Facebook group earlier this year (as you know) to distribute reporters' requests for interviews. Since then, it's grown into - as Kevin puts it - "a free media source matchmaking service with more than 14,000 members."

So yes, part of this is, Peter's asked for plugs. And if you are or know anyone who is or wants to be an expert in anything, or if you do or know anyone who does ever need to quote an expert in anything, you really should go sign up.

But what's specially interesting is how he's promoting it today. He asked subscribers (free brainstorming) for social-media ways to get attention (free publicity). And the winner - ~~unfortunately I don't have her name, because she deserves credit for a genius idea~~ Laura Ackerman - suggested asking subscribers to put a promotional tagline on their social-network status messages on one day. So, today, you're likely to see, on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., “Get sourced. Get quoted. Get famous: http://www.helpareporter.com – putting journalists and sources together, one quote at a time.”

Iit's a fantastic direct social-media PR idea. Simple concept, minimal effort, quantitative results. And so I'm super curious to hear whether it's actually successful. A jump in subscribers today will tell a lot about how strong the connection really is between the influence of networks and actual action.

So, yes, if you want to see who reporters want to talk to, go sign up for the HARO list, and massive props to ~~the anonymous idea girl~~ Laura. Cool stuff: let's see if it works.

Updated to add Laura's name, and to note that with the day not yet over, it's tracking to quadruple the average daily number of new subscribers to the mailing list. Seriously, I love this stuff, don't you?

20/20 Hindsight

2008-07-15T09:26:00.000-04:00

If you've ever not liked the way you looked, I think this post - a wonderfully well-written piece on looking back at an old photo - will hit home. I know I've had this moment myself. You probably have too.

Moreover, it says something about how wrenchingly hard it is to be an adolescent. I had a lot of great times growing up, but God, I wouldn't do it again if you paid me.

Social Media Truth: So/Me Outs the Good

2008-07-09T12:13:00.000-04:00

(via Olga and USAT Pop Candy)

So this girl posts a video of herself sniffling while she watches the Wall-E trailer. No big deal.

What's cool is what Pixar did when they found out - because it's the essence of social medial. Simple, basic, genius.

Amazing employee relations to surprise their people with the girl they'd all seen who genuinely loved their work so much. And great press, both product for Wall-E and corporate for Pixar (Her blog, Metafilter, local news, and now Pop Candy).

And it cost them maybe a grand to bring her to their party? Just a small nice thing, paying off for them because it deserves to.

I keep saying this: social media outs the good.

It's so simple. If you're good stuff, social media shows that off. And if you've been trying to pass with a fake front, that will come out too.

Exhilarating - or terrifying - depending on who you are. Karma is like that.

Presenting

2008-07-09T10:25:00.000-04:00

My first home.

Now officially owned by me.

Why I Love My Brother

2008-07-09T10:15:00.000-04:00

He just sent me this story with the note, "because the author put in the last line." He knows me so well.

Woman Shoots Herself While Trying to Kill Mice

POTTER VALLEY, Calif. — A Mendocino County woman who was trying to kill mice in her trailer with a gun ended up shooting herself and another person.

The 43-year-old woman pulled out her .44-caliber Magnum revolver after she saw the mice scurrying across the floor of her trailer on Highway 20 in Potter Valley, sheriff's officials said.

But she accidentally dropped the gun, which went off as it struck the floor. The bullet went through the woman's kneecap, bounced off the keys sitting on the belt loop of a 42-year-old man in the trailer and grazed the man's groin before ending up in his coin pocket.

Authorities did not release the shooting victims' names.

The mice escaped the shooting unharmed.

The Girl Effect

2008-07-08T15:27:00.000-04:00

Ian is one of the people I adore knowing: cool as hell as a friend AND fantastically intelligent as a professional. Less filling, tastes great, you know?

Anyway, he just showed this to me, and I not only love the cause, and the execution, but also his pithy commentary on it: "The execution is especially good for PR people. It means our words still have meaning - it's not just about flashy animation."

And seriously. I was looking at orange text, and I got the chills. That's not Flash doing that. (And it's not a plain-Jane press release, either.) It's a narrative done right.

(Deliberately skipping controversy on the Nike Foundation, FYI.)

Mistaken Identity 29-43

2008-07-03T20:52:00.000-04:00

(As always, see all the Mistaken Identities here.) This latest batch includes:

The cliffs where Other Me's father and she used to go
Other Me's breast screening appointment (very important)
Anthony's moving sale (and the fact that his missus is apparently a purger)
Other Me's application to teach vacation Bible school

And more. From Vegas, Milwaukee, Southern California, London, and more. (The Other Me's get around.)

* * *

From: Scott (Ontario, Canada)

Hi Sarah,
try this latitude 48 degrees, 7' (minutes), 51.2 " (seconds?) NORTH
longitude 89 degrees 37' 22.9" WEST
altitude 1450 feet
this should put you right where we used to stand looking out over the cliff if you rotate so that instead of looking down on it you are looking across at the other hills
pretty neat. the landscape looking west and south should look familliar.
you can kinda fly around like that too. without crashing
cabin side is too poor a definition but the topo map is good.
have fun exploring
love Dad.
real map to follow.

* * *

From: Careers@ontario.ca (Ontario, Canada)

Position: ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Job ID: 8325
We are pleased to acknowledge receipt of your application/resume.

* * *
From: Orkut

Hi Sarah,
Imogen Hunter has scribbled in your scrapbook.

* * *
From: SweetTomatoes.com

1. Join Us for a Cherry Good Time!
2. Happy Anniversary from Club Veg!
3. Treat Dad to Our Breakfast!

* * *
From: Decibel/Deepbar Milwaukee (Milwaukee, WI)

1. Outdoor Block Party Featuring Mechanical Bull Riding!
2. Join us tomorrow for the release of Nuvo. Be the first in Milwaukee to try the all new ultra-premium blend of French sparkling wine, French vodka, and exotic fruit nectar.
3. Chicago Rock Band Plain White T's official summerfest afterparty!

* * *
From: Pier 1

We appreciate your feedback. Your information has been received by Pier 1 Import’s Customer Relations Department. If further action on our part is needed, a Customer Care Professional, or a member of our stores' management team will be in contact with you. If you have provided a general suggestion or comment, your email will be forwarded to the appropriate department.

* * *
From: North London Breast Screening Edgware (Edgware, North Middlesex, UK)

Dear Sarah,
Please note we have now got some available slots for North Middlesex. Please contact the office on 0208 951 4045 to arrange an appointment.

* * *
From: eat@muddysbakeshop.com (Memphis, TN)

Muddy's Bake Shop June Newsletter

* * *
From: Anthony (Jersey City, NJ)

Heads up, I'm moving, and the lady says my furniture is not! All the air conditioners are already gone, but the rest must go. If you ordered a book and never picked it up, it's for sale, along with the rest of the art I have compiled in the last 10 years. (that I haven't sold or given away already) Some of the art available, has a photo on myspace. Search Everythings a book. Also many of my baseball cards are up for hock, cards from the 50's to present -$0.01 to $100. If you collect coins or stamps your in Luck! because I don't have any idea what they are worth! but they date as far back as the late 1800's. Also available, kitchen table set , crap, shenanigans, things you don't need, my liver, fake id's, my sister's cat! a bunch of Tupperware with no lids, silk ties and some old pizza I found in the fridge.
PeAce,
Anthony

* * *
From: Palms Nightlife (Las Vegas, NV)

Table Reservations
Dave Aude & DJ Chachi | Red, White and You | Kenneth Thomas | DJ RIZ | Scooter and LaVelle | Pete Tong | Hair Wars

* * *
From: Robin (Merced, CA)

Hello!
In processing your vbs volunteer application I did noticed you did not fill in your driver’s license number. Do you have one and drive? If so please contact me with that information as we do a background check with everyone who works with our children. Thank you for your vbs volunteer application.
Robin
Ministry Assistant to Next Generation
Yosemite Church

Two SoMe Links To End a Short Week

2008-07-03T12:56:00.000-04:00

First, a truly fantastic, working-blue explanation of social media (by Bona Fide Marketing Genius, via PR Squared). Take three minutes to go through it, then pass it to anyone who doesn't get SoMe yet.

| View | Upload your own

Second is the Life Changing Box.

(Via Managing the Gray and Adrants) It's a marketing scheme, but I'm into it. The site is going viral because people are curious - but moreover, it's got a related, prize-giving Facebook app that encourages repeated daily interactions, and that's what's got me interested. Viral is four years ago. (Think Subservient Chicken.) But, done right, this could be a great case of how to pair viral with social networking. I'm intrigued to see how it goes.

(Um, plus, I totally want a new TV.)

Happy Fourth, y'alls.

A Bit of Groveling, and Then Giraffe Charades

2008-07-01T21:00:00.000-04:00

You're far too lovely, and I've been neglecting you for far too long, dear Interblogiversinet. I could excuse myself, but - say it with me - there's no excuse for me.

So instead of excuses, I present you the best gift I know: Eddie Izzard miming a giraffe eating leaves. Because nothing in this world makes me happier. And that's what I got to see this weekend, with two of my favorite people and a splendid bottle of Sancerre, and despite the fact that I was breaking out into full-body hives, it was wonderful.

(What you need to know in order for all of this to make sense: the only noise giraffes can make is a cough, tigers are not native to Africa, Rennie Mackintosh chairs have very high backs, and I am apparently allergic to carpet cleaning.)

Serious content, you ask? Coherent sentences? Content with a point? Where is all that, you ask?

Dear Internet, do you not know that it's summer? And it's hot? Particularly if you're airing whatever itch-making chemicals remain in the lovely home that's about to be yours, so you've got all the windows open and the air conditioning off?

Serious content in time. Meanwhile, go make mama a margarita. There's a good Internet.

Finish Me Anonymously

2008-06-29T17:15:00.000-04:00

Define me in two words. Please?

"Good, Loving and Hopeful"

2008-06-27T13:52:00.000-04:00

It figures that after two weeks of radio silence over here, it's Tracy that gets me motivated.

Two brief notes in my defense. One, I'm hoping to make a big change shortly, and that hasn't been able to happen yet. Two, I've been busy with things. Insanely busy with wonderful things. However, is either of those a decent excuse? Of course not! So I'll write like a mad thing to make up for it.

But in the meantime... Tracy.

Whose blog you already know and love for her amazing, intellectual, visceral, funny look at life. (Her life being twice as cool as anyone else's, with her combination of career, gifted child, crazy husband, extreme sports, but oh yes, also fiendishly complicated by an eight-years-running grudge match with Stage IV cancer.)

But now, you can also see Tracy on NPR, as part of the My Cancer community's photo gallery. She's picture 5. Looking, of course, like a badass, and making the extremely good point that for her - and in a smaller way, for all of us - what we have good in our life is OUR choice. Bad things can happen to us - but we never lose the power to bring in the good things.

A pretty strong concept. Unsurprising, given the source.

So anyway, that's the fast news. Stay tuned for long-promised changes and stories of journeys in social media evangelism, slogs through the legal morass toward newly minted home ownership, and other thrilling adventures.

But in the meantime - go lookit Tracy.

Gerunds

2008-06-23T20:42:00.004-04:00

For the last week, I've been moving, hiking, boxing, sparring, flying, baking, researching, budgeting, shopping, pitching, crying, theorizing. Work is busy, the home purchase is ongoing, and The Summer of Outdoor Weekends is going swimmingly. (A wine festival, two 5Ks, and two state parks in the last six weeks.)

The thing is, busy and outdoorsy are neither particularly conducive to blogging. So, in apology, I offer two videos (and three Matts).

The first, more just plain silly, is James Blunt on "Top Gear." He can drive a tank and he put his sister on eBay: what's not to love? And on the best show ever. Of course it's good: Matt was the one who told me I'd love it. Matt, who passed his check ride

And the second, more seriously and truly wonderful, "Where the Hell Is Matt"'s latest installment. As I said to Peter, this is the kind of thing that makes me love that I live at this point in history. That's a melodramatic sort of thing to say, but I do mean it. To be able to see that people are people all the world over, and you don't need a common language or nationality to connect. Joy is joy, whatever end of the planet you're on. And to see someone get that - share that - teach that - bring people together for that - is pretty fantastic.

(If you're keeping count, my third Matt is to ask Matt whether this might be good for your class, somehow? It's just so cool that I want it to fit.)

Father's Day

2008-06-13T11:03:00.003-04:00

He's spending this weekend moving out of one house and into another, poor man.

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful dad.

The Girly Trifecta

2008-06-13T08:46:00.003-04:00

I've been in love with Leona Lewis since December 2006, and "Bleeding Love" is finally blowing up over here.

Sara Bareilles has had my heart since Bill played her for me in September 2007 - and now "Love Song" is all over Radio One.

But since my top two Sirius stations are the US and UK pop stations, my girls crisscrossing the Atlantic means it's getting a little samey.

And I heard my third favorite girl just this morning, so the writing's on the wall.

(So who's the latest love of your life?)

Speaking Up: As Patients, As Consumers

2008-06-11T11:39:00.005-04:00

(via FDANews -> Pharmalot -> Pharma Marketing Blog)

When a patient has a bad reaction to a prescription drug, that's an adverse event (AE). Those should be reported to the FDA, and healthcare professionals are required to - not only doctors and nurses, but pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies.

New data (2006, but newly published) shows that the number of AE's reported by the consumers themselves has surpassed the number reported by doctors.

FDANews suggests it's because people are more aware of drug-safety issues (after highly publicized problems with drugs like Avandia and Vioxx). Ed and John seem to agree. They also both point out that while the other rates of increase are pretty steady, the rate of consumer reports is pretty much skyrocketing. And John notes that the FDA, post-Vioxx, made it a lot easier for people to submit AE's online.

I'm sure news about adverse events makes people more alert to the possibility that they could have a bad reaction to their medicine - and I think the ease of reporting helps a lot - but I actually think it's bigger than both of those.

John points out that pharmaceutical companies don't seem to be submitting a lot more AE reports, despite the fear that Web 2.0 outreach efforts would cause patients to tell them about AE's and require a lot of expensive, time-consuming new reporting procedures to be put into place. It doesn't seem to be the case. And that fits my theory. We're getting smarter. We know that the company probaby won't be our fastest solution there.

My thought is, Web 2.0 has made us all a lot more personally responsible for our lives as consumers. Whether it's looking up restaurants, comparing shoes, checking out vacation destinations, researching the condition you've just been diagnosed with - we find out what experts and peers and strangers have to say. Just about everybody does it now, and just about nobody did a decade ago.

If you went to the doctor in 1998, would you have rushed off to the library on your way home to yank out the Merck Manual? But now, there's WebMD, there's Medline, there's even Wikipedia.

That we have this ability (and that it's only getting easier) shifts our mindset completely. We are far less likely to accept things, far more likely to know when something happens that we shouldn't accept, and far more able to take action when it does.

Personal accountability. Just another benefit of Web 2.0.

On Bruises

2008-06-10T09:43:00.007-04:00

Yesterday's hacking cough has been replaced by today's raspy voice. Between that and my mockery of "heat closings" (In my day schools didn't have air conditioning! You went in your neighbor's pool after school! And then you slept on the floor! You didn’t have air conditioning! Or your own pool! Uphill! Both ways!) I sound like a leathery retiree in Palm Beach. (Except it’s hot there, too, so no thanks.) So it's nice to type instead of talk.

. . .

I post professional stuff a lot, and I like that. (Incidentally, I heard a commercial this morning in which they compared working at Wawa to social networking. I died a small, quiet, geeky death.) I'm very proud of what I do in that vein, but that doesn't change that this still is a personal space. It's a weird balancing act to maintain, but one I think is worth doing.

All of which to say, beware, personal post ahead.

. . .

“Not the pain of this but its unfairness was what dazed Peter. It made him quite helpless. He could only stare horrified. Every child is affected thus the first time he is treated unfairly. All he thinks he has a right to when he comes to you to be yours is fairness. After you have been unfair to him he will love you again, but he will never afterwards be quite the same boy. No one ever gets over the first unfairness; no one except Peter. He often met it, but he always forgot it.” - Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie

I have awfully high expectations. Of life. Of myself. Of other people. So you’d think I’d be accustomed to unending disappointment, not least in myself. But, like Peter Pan, I never seem to remember. (Peter had the excuse of being a fairy tale. What’s mine?)

Since I am only friends, conveniently, with amazing people (they’d agree), it’s easy to believe in them, think better of them, expect more of them. But I’ve had a few disappointments lately of both sorts - letting someone down, and the other way round.

They’re learning experiences. Or would be, except I don’t seem to learn a thing. And maybe it's the stubbornness in me, but truly, I think I’d rather not. Why not expect the world? It might not feel great when you get proven wrong, but isn't it worth it for the rest of the time?

. . .

However, in other and more important places, stories that are not mine to tell, and situations that I can’t imagine being in, are being gone through right now by people who don’t deserve a bit of it about and about whom I care tremendously. If you pray, if you believe in karma – heck, if you believe in fairies – say a few words, clap your hands, do whatever you do to send some good vibes out into the universe for them. Please.

. . .

So, this week is working hard to change what I can – my attitude, if nothing more is within my power. (And, more prosaically, to get out of my car. 500 miles this weekend was a bit extreme.) So far, it’s going swimmingly. Yesterday I had a fantastic lunch with the splendidly fun and smart new pharmaceutical reporter for PRWeek, and had an equally fantastic workout last night. My right toe is now an interesting shade of purple. (From tae kwon do, not lunch.)

And every time I wiggle it I remember that bruises are at least a sure sign that you’re moving. Maybe you did do something dumb to deserve them, but more likely it was just an accident.

So. Don't be afraid to move – and think some good thoughts while you’re at it - and try not to focus on the bruises you get along the way. Not a bad goal for my day today.

Weekly Roundup: Filthy Gorgeous

2008-06-08T21:48:00.009-04:00

More cleaning out of the del.icio.us, two categories this time:

Kitcheny

Techie

And a reminder: for getting back into yourself, sweat and endorphins help. Filthy feels gorgeous. And I am definitely filthy.

Lastly and very, very importantly, a stunningly happy birthday to Sac. Filthy/gorgeous indeed. I know you had a wonderful day.

Social Media Is for Gi-irls

2008-06-06T14:01:00.004-04:00

I was talking to Doug earlier this week about how one of the reasons why I'm loving social media is that I'm not always the only girl in the room anymore. (A situation usually marked by that *blink* when a guy realizes that you somehow have two X chromosomes AND a working understanding of technology.)

And now Colleen has just written about how women are all over the relationship-driven aspect of social media. (And Gary has vlogged with a very important reminder about how all of your relationships are worth valuing. Quality, not quantity.)

Anyway, I love that people I think are amazing are all talking about this. My socnets aren't mostly female, but that because that's the way I am in regular life. I don't think the exact balance is key - the thing is that there IS balance.

And my main follow-on thought from Colleen's article is, I wonder if the power of social media is going to be the final straw that breaks the glass ceiling. Who knows, right?

It doesn't matter how old you get, girl power is still nice. (*In a Ladies Who Launch kind of way, not in a Sex and the City kind of way.)

Sad = Fat?

2008-06-04T12:18:00.004-04:00

Happy people might have an easier job being thinner, according to a new UCSF study that links increases in serotonin to decreases in fat storage.

Either good news - or heaping insult upon injury - depending upon your situation.

It just makes sense, though. Health is a spiral. If you're treating yourself right and doing good things, it makes it easier to do more of the same, making yourself happier, nicer to be around.... But if you're sacked out on your couch eating Extra Value Meals and rotting your brain in front of the TV, it makes it that much easier to make another bad choice, and another, and another.

Inertia ain't the first Law of Motion for nothing.

On that note, I'm going to go run. (And increase my serotonin.)

Post Number Nine Hundred

2008-06-04T10:40:00.005-04:00

Well, damn.

When I started this, I never thought I'd have 900 things to write about. (And perhaps some of you think I haven't, ha ha.)

Then, I was desperately trying to figure out the transition from college - what I wanted to do with my life, how I fit into my professional and personal spheres, how they fit me. All I knew was that I wanted to write about it all while I did it.

Six years later, I'm delighted with where I am, both personally and professionally, but - of course - still trying to figure out how the world fits me, and how I fit it. Less desperation, thankfully, but just as much curiosity.

And this place has changed to match.

I can offer useful commentary on my profession - public relations, the pharmaceutical industry, social media, and how they all fit together.

(However, I still like pop music, silly links, pretty things, and shiny bits of technology. Some things won't ever change.)

Thank you for reading. Sincerely. It's an honor to know that you think I'm worth the time. And while it's always a nice place to air out my opinions, it's ever so much better when it's a conversation.

So I'll try to make sure this stays worth its place in your RSS reader. And don't worry. I'll keep talking in the meantime.

With love and appreciation.

This Could Be...

2008-06-02T14:43:00.001-04:00

(via PostSecret)

Weekly Roundup: Milestone Week Edition

2008-06-01T18:10:00.005-04:00

The first week of June brings me good things. High school graduation - 12 years ago Wednesday. The start of my blog - 6 years ago Saturday. My current job - 5 years ago tomorrow. And birthdays of five lovely people - Matt, Kristin, Sac, Derek and Melissa. How much goodness can you fit into one week, you ask?

All kinds of goodness, clearly. And already for this week I've got lovely stories to tell. Oh, and I've got Plans. With a capital P. So stay tuned.

In the meantime... some beautiful things.

I'm dreaming of my next runaway.
Tara Parker-Pope (how often do I link to her? I love me some TPP) on cooking at home
Tim Ferriss on wintering like old money
Mitchell York on professional speaking and actually being good at it
Great examples of new-media art, including Eric Nordenankar's utterly amazing biggest drawing in the world (via Ze Frank)
Kid Koala (if you can ever go see him perform, do.)
Patti Digh (You should know by now she will come up when I speak of beautiful things. I collect her posts like vacation postcards. But I think she knows.) on love and loss and being your best and learning and dreaming and seeing what matters... and seeing what matters... and seeing what matters... and seeing what matters. On commitment (one that I needed very much when she wrote it). And on making friends (in which I realize only now from the photos that she delivered Yaron practically to my doorstep).
Janine Payer's Brielle necklace
Lisa Lindblad's job
Botkier bags
A coin to flip
This t-shirt
This one even more
Beer cupcakes
When famous people (like Wonkette's Amanda Chapel and Techneuroti's Joel Postman) start following me on Twitter (and I haven't followed them)

And some useful SoMe stuff while I'm here.

Acronyms and shorthand for SMS and Twitter
Social media buzzwords
Lifehacker on managing your online reputation
Chris Brogan on the value proposition of social media and what a “social media expert” ought to be able to tell you
WebWare’s best Web 2.0 applications of 2008

(And lastly, a geek laugh. On the "oldest" page of bookmarks I found this. You think I can let go of it?)

I Think It's Stress

2008-05-29T07:58:00.003-04:00

Personal Development, Canine-Style

(via Nan - and it led me to a great site and some good music.)

This was perfect to read right now. I'm tired and sick and all I want to do is loll around in the grass barefoot next to somebody who's going to lick my hand and maybe run with me later.

Nothing's really wrong - there's lots of wonderful stuff going on, and the only truly bad things in my life are worries about a few of my friends and the very real problems they're dealing with.

Me, I don't have anything that a nap in the sunshine couldn't handle.

T, I think I'm borrowing Murphy and Judah next weekend.

Healthcare Beat Reporters on Social Media

2008-05-28T09:24:00.003-04:00

A survey released this morning asked a variety of beat reporters to rank blogs and social media news sources that they valued most highly. I’m looking forward to reading a copy of the full results, but in the meantime, an article with this pull quote about healthcare reporters is interesting (although they seem to be conflating web sites and social media):

The "big four" health sites followed by health care journalists were NIH, WebMD, Mayo Clinic and MSN Health. All of the remaining top 10 sites tested were far less likely to be followed regularly (or at all!) by health care journalists. For health reporters, views on credibility largely mirrored their active engagement. NIH and Mayo were, by far, viewed as the most credible of all sources of health care information, followed by WebMD and MSN Health.

Alongside the article, you can see some graphs on what each beat think of social media. While healthcare reporters didn’t like what it was doing for accuracy or quality in their field, they did like what it was doing for tone, editorial direction and diversity. And either way, they're all very much immersed in it, spending extensive time reading, commenting and writing.

A cool snapshot of how social media are changing journalism from the inside, as well as from the outside.

Happy Summer: Soundtrack Edition

2008-05-27T16:05:00.003-04:00

I don't think I've ever linked to a Myspace music profile, but I'm completely in love with a song El just sent me.

(It's from a Brooklyn reggae kid, it's on the French dance charts - it's weird, of course I like it!)

But really - go listen to Nicco's Destination and tell me you're not ready for summer.

Post-Conference Wrap-Up

2008-05-27T10:59:00.003-04:00

Plenty of people have been writing about ESM, probably better than I could. So I’ll just show you where you can get all that (done), and instead just give you my take on it.

I have to say, at first I was skeptical. (I’m like that.) When I realized that the majority of attendees were speakers or session leaders, I expected two days of navel-gazing and self-promotion.

And I’m not saying there wasn't any. But while the balance may not have been great financially for the conference, it ended up being phenomenal for me. I was surrounded by people who really knew their stuff – in many cases, who I’d read and known by reputation for years. It was great.

Especially since, as I mentioned, I’ve been thinking about how to translate all this cool talk into practicalities. It’s fun to Twitter back and forth in a conference room like passing notes in junior high, but how does my familiarity with that technology help me or my company or my clients?

If I were consulting on increasing software user numbers, or getting tech geeks to communicate more efficiently within a company, that might be a simpler path. Not easier work, but easier to see what to do.

To clarify, I’m not complaining. The exact opposite. Working in one of the most scrutinized industries with some of the world’s tightest federal and ethical regulations… it actually makes it that much more interesting.

I mean, it’s like sonnets. It’s hard enough to write poetry. But to get your point across in that restrictive structure is that much more of an undertaking.

To clarify that, nobody’s glorifying anything here. This ain't poetry. All I’m saying is, it's a challenge, and I like it that way. Will my clients – or my own company – embrace every social media concept right away? No. (Nor should they.) But it will eventually, when it’s right.

It just means a little creativity and a lot of stubbornness. (And I’m like that.)

Mistaken Identity 22-28

2008-05-25T17:35:00.010-04:00

I'm figuring out part of the problem. I've had Gmail since being a beta tester in April 2004, but in October 2005 a trademark dispute caused Gmail in the U.K. to become "Googlemail". So there's some glitch whereby emails addressed to firstname.lastname@googlemail.com come to me at firstnamelastname@gmail.com.

Thing is, I don't know how to fix that. I wish Google was as alert as some companies (Outlook and Buzzlogic and Plaxo, I'm talking to you) to who's talking about them in this whole blogosphere Twitterverse place. I've tried to find someone to explain this to, but the Google monolith remains silent and implacable.

* * *
Hi saz race for life went well, i power walked all the way, it were to hot too run (that's my excuse anyway). Saw Shirley's family :-( they had her photo printed onto their t-shirts. I don't look too knacked in this photo :-)
Julie * * *

Congratulations! You are now a member of the Northwest Airlines WorldPerks program and are on your way to earning award travel, which begins at just 12,500 miles with PerkChoice awards. Your WorldPerks membership number is...

* * *

Thank you for registering with nwa.com Reservations.

* * *

Dear Sarah: Thank you for your recent purchase of 27,000 WorldPerks® miles.

* * *

Dear Sarah Morgan, Thank you for your recent decision to transfer 27,000 miles to William...

* * *

Volvo Celebrates Savings at Dyer & Dyer Volvo, Chamblee, GA

* * *

Decibel/Deepbar Milwaukee Presents Paradise! The Summer Kickoff Party

* * *

Pratfalls and Other Technological Events

2008-05-23T23:29:00.004-04:00

So: today.

I wake up at 3 a.m. to catch my flight home. I work on the flight, so upon getting to my connection, I need one of those rare-as-diamond outlets. The only one I can find is far from my gate.

At this point, I’ve completely forgotten four things: I’m on far less sleep than I usually function with. I’m on a shorter-than-usual layover. I’m in a different time zone than I’ve left or than I’m going to. And neither my laptop nor my Blackberry clocks update the time zone. So I'm tapping away, working and IMing and Twittering.

If you guessed that the story ends up with me exhausted, humiliated, furious with myself, and on a later flight, you’d be right.

A friend told me this was because of my over-reliance on technology. I think she just meant I needed to wear a watch. But maybe she's even more right: maybe this is a fantastic, irony-bathed example of the ills of social media. Coming back from a conference on all this trendy new technology, all hopped up on its coolness and promise... I miss my flight, while hooked up to all this so-called helpful technology. I'm my own cautionary tale on the useless distraction that is social media.

Yeah. That was definitely part of the mortification. But. While I completely, undeniably, did something stupid, the thing is, I've never required technological assistance to do stupid things. I’ve been doing them all my life, and I’m sure I’ll keep doing them, with or without anything electronic nearby. Nothing I was logged into or out of created my stupid mistake.

But on the other hand, technology put me in touch with people who (despite my aforementioned proclivity to do stupid things) care about me. And when you’re feeling alone, dejected, and very, very foolish, that can be the best thing in the world.

After some commiseration and some old-fashioned sympathy, I felt less alone in my stupidity. Moreover, I felt less alone, period.

So is social media a concatenation of distractions that can leave you overstimulated, confused, distracted, and unable to focus, like the naysayers argue? Absolutely.

But people argue that about the internet overall. About computers. About television. Probably Moses took crap from people who didn’t like stone tablets.

And they’re always right. Because like McLuhan said, the purpose of technology is to take your regular capacities as a human further. To imagine, to converse, to learn, to hear, to see. It’s like a pair of stilts. If you don’t get the balance right, you’ll fall down, it’ll hurt, and you’ll look pretty stupid. But if you do, you can be head and shoulders above those who aren’t bothering to try.

So I’ll just keep wobbling along and try not to mind the bruises.

Edited to add related link.

Executing Social Media

2008-05-22T17:30:00.003-04:00

…sure, it's annoying, but does it really deserve the death penalty?

Sorry, but I’ve been making that awful joke in my own head and it had to come out.

Anyway, that's the name of the conference on social media that I'm attending. And so far, it's been an odd experience in several ways.

First, being at a meeting, to me, normally means being at a medical convention with tens of thousands of doctors, looking conservative, tracking down reporters to hook them up to interview doctors, managing events, rewriting press materials, collecting competitive intelligence. Instead, I’m sitting still. Taking notes and Twittering and emailing and IM’ing and learning. It’s startlingly relaxing, actually being an attendee.

Second, I’m usually one of the geekier people I know, being something of a technology magpie. But here, I don’t come close. It’s disorienting. But very good.

Third, I work for an agency and I work in the pharmaceutical industry, both of which make me odd here: I’m not a tech consultant. So while I’m getting a lot of information, it’s going to require a lot of thought to translate it to practicalities.

One of the main things I’m realizing is that there are several different facets, for me, of “figuring out social media.”

The first is, how to use it for my own benefit? That's not new to me.
The second is, how to use it to benefit the agency? That's getting clearer.
The third is, how to use it to benefit clients? That's the hard part.

Which realization is in itself something of a breakthrough; I hadn’t really divided it up that clearly before, but now that I have, it makes things make a lot more sense for me.

So, more later, but now, back to the presentations. (While doing some client work simultaneously. Maybe not so relaxing after all.)

Overheard at Work

2008-05-19T22:21:00.003-04:00

Nobody believes me when I mention the things that come up at work. So today I took notes.

"Okay, so, new this week..."
"Nudist week?"
"Nudist week!"

"Nobody puts pancreatic cancer in the corner."

"You'd flagellate me if I asked you to."

(Context would provide no additional logic, don't worry. And this was only one meeting.)

Rhetorical Questions from My Internal Monologue

2008-05-19T20:39:00.003-04:00

How can I love traveling so much, but hate packing and unpacking this much?

Do horoscopes really tell you anything?

Am I turning into my parents?

Is it OCD of me to put my groceries on the conveyor belt grouped into categories?

Is it OCD of me to worry if that's OCD?

What's the magic number of people to follow on Twitter that's manageable enough to keep up with but broad enough to be useful? (FYI: 100, for me, so far.)

Is the logic behind my eating habits any different from that of a Golden Retriever?

How do people manage to let the ones who meant the most to them slip out of their lives?

Do I think too much?

Ever-Increasing Possibilities

2008-05-18T21:47:00.007-04:00

...for public humiliation.

I kid, I kid.

...well, sort of. I ran my first 5K.

...well, sort of. It's not my first, it's just the first time I ever tried to run one. And I didn't; I broke down and walked for a couple of minutes midway through. And my time was unspeakably dismal -

...well, sort of. It's speakable, it's just dismal -

Wow. And it's actually wrong on the official site, I just noticed. Two of our group had the same first name, we finished one after the other, and somehow they mixed up our times.

ANYWAY, my point is, because I DO have one, and it IS an optimistic one, and I'm NOT focusing on the bad stuff like it sounds like I am, my point is that I DID IT, and I truly AM happy about it. I don't have to be scared of it anymore, and I can cross it off my goals list, and I can just do it again and do it faster next time!

2500703090_77f8a9b5d4_o
Originally uploaded by Saranne03

And there were some perks, even besides all that. An unbelievably gorgeous morning with great people who were ridiculously proud of me, and who in two cases did their own record-ish things for themselves - made it all pretty nice.

And really, how often do you get the chance to get schooled by an eight-year-old in two different sports before brunch? It's got to be healthy to get your ego that firmly in check.

(Although that's usually accomplished pretty effectively just by having the ever-awesome Tracy around.)

Be More Social. But Also, Fact-Check.

2008-05-18T17:20:00.000-04:00

An overdue explanation and apology for misunderstanding, misinterpreting, jumping to conclusions and just altogether being me.

(Please read this post or this conversation will make zero sense.)

Tracy: A public notice that my reading comprehension skills suck?!
Sarah: Wha?
Tracy: The blog, baby. The blog!
Sarah: It was not! You read his blog and took it personally. Now you read MY blog and take IT personally.
Tracy: Harrumph. Did not.
Sarah: Did too!
Tracy: The post came across to me as... if you don't keep up on technology, you WILL get left behind. Not ME personally, but everyone who doesn't start Twittering.
Sarah: Well, sorta, but it's like, don't just try to figure out how to play these new technologies your way or try to ignore them - keep learning and keep an open mind.
Tracy: See. You have just implied that my reading of his post was incorrect.
Sarah: Not incorrect. I just see it SLIGHTLY different. CRIKEY, LADY.
Tracy: Stop yelling at me biotch!

...some time later...

Tracy: Hey, what if, hypothetically, you got all riled up about the wrong guy?
Tracy: http://www.pr-squared.com/2008/04/get_into_twitter_or_get_outta.html
Tracy: I'm just sayin'.
Tracy: It could happen. You know. Possibly.

Sorry Miss T. You were right. But, then, you already knew that.

Harder Better Faster Stronger

2008-05-13T21:20:00.003-04:00

This was the most beautiful day of the year so far. And for the first time in weeks, I got to get out at lunchtime. And this time, I ran the farthest I've ever run.

(I would've said furthest, but Doug would correct me again. And he'd still be right.)

Anyway, I was feeling chipper when I got back from my lunch break. Pretty proud of my three and a half miles. (Four, if you count walking to and from the track.)

Then I read about Peter's marathon training.

I tend to be the littlest bit competitive. So being reminded that, for many people, my gasping little trot is not the smallest fraction of what they would consider a difficult workout... sort of put a puncture in my balloon.

I'm not saying it should have. I know. But it did. I'm just like that.

But then I went to tae kwon do.

The thing I love about that place is that nobody ever thinks I can't do anything. The assumption is always that I can. And the thing about that is, sometimes they're wildly wrong - but only the first time. Because eventually, no matter how crazy I think they are for thinking I can, they're always right. I always can.

And tonight the class was just the way I like it. Terrifyingly, appallingly, out of my league. Two dozen black belts getting ready for their test... and me.

(I am not a black belt. Not even close. I am not going to be a black belt for years.)

But tonight, they were doing the physical requirements for the black belt test. So that's what I did. And a full class of forms (well, the ones I know, anyway) and kicks and sprints. And I learned some grappling.

It wasn't until I was nearly done that I realized that the reason I was so tired was not just because they'd all been training for years longer than me. Or because I hadn't slept much. Or because it was nine o'clock. It was because of those three and a half miles.

But I still did it. So yeah. I don't brag usually because I don't usually think I have much to brag about. But today I'm close to satisfied with myself, and that feels nice.

Now, though, I'm going to go soak my bruises.

Home Sweet Home

2008-05-13T19:39:00.003-04:00

Growing up, our neighborhood was mostly wooded acre lots, so most neighbors weren't usually very close - geographically or emotionally.

Especially after college, but really starting in high school, I was a bit of a nomad for a while. I always had a mailing address, but I was just as often somewhere else. Apart from Wroxton, I didn't usually call anyplace home.

But now, my mortgage application is with the underwriters. The appraiser just left. I've got four painters' estimates coming. It's not official yet, and all my fingers are still crossed (well, not really, I'm typing, but you understand the metaphor) - but the point is, it's getting there.

I'm about to not just have a home, I'm about to buy a home. My home.

This is, to put it briefly, a big deal. And one that I'm sure will knock me sideways and cause repeated spells of hysterical freaking out. Because that's how I do. I know it's full of responsibilities and expenses and probably a handful of lonesomeness.

But I love that it feels like a treehouse. I love leaving the windows open all day. I love eating breakfast on the deck and watching the sun rise over the hills. I love that every now and then my neighbors and I spend a day going in and out of each other's houses barefoot with drinks in our hands and small children running around. I love how many of the stars I can see at night.

This isn't a gloat yet. It won't be real for a while. But it's very much a looking forward to. It scares me to death. But I do the things that scare me. So yeah. I'm happy.

Weekly Roundup: Quo Vadimus?

2008-05-11T21:19:00.003-04:00

Sports Night was truly a great show. But now I'm done with the series, meaning that I have to give the box set back to Karen. (And see if anyone but Casey finds my obsession attractive, or just another line item on my list of truly dorky tendencies.)

Anyway, back to Sunday's list of links to get you through the week. And it's a long one, because I've been reading a lot and not telling you about any of it. I'm secretive like that.

Not really. Mostly it's just a massively overdue and uncategorized brain dump. But it sounds better the other way. Far more serendipitous. And duplicitous. Serenduplicitous.

Yeah, I'm done here. Happy week.

What's Really In That Seat-Back Pocket (Ought Not to Be Read If You're Getting on a Plane Any Time Soon, I Promise You.)
Can You Become a Creature of New Habits?
The Things That Carried Him (Very Long, Desperately Sad, and Absolutely Worth Reading)
Why Journalists Need PR People
True Wife Confessions
Get Over It: An Archive of Regrets
Feeling Paranoid? You're Not Alone
The Furminator (If You Think This Is a Dig at You and Your Sheddy Pet, You Are Correct)
Zappos Tony's Guide to Twitter
Some Darn Cute Cufflinks
Fabulous Birth Announcements (In Honor of Brendan)
Brainstorming Doesn't Work: Here's What Does
Mental Detox Week
Free WordPress Themes (Not That I Want to Get Into This, See Twitter for Details)
What Happens Sometimes When You Try to Put on a Happy Face

And if you get through all this and you're looking for four minutes of total surrealism, go YouTube "you're not my father wtf". Trust me on this.

Saturday Afternoon Geek-Out: BuzzLogic

2008-05-03T15:33:00.006-04:00

(Via KD Paine, via Shel Israel)

BuzzLogic is fantastically cool to me. What Biz360 and Cymphony started 5-10 years ago for media monitoring... this is the next logical step from that. Those companies went beyond "how many mentions of your term are in an article, and how many readers did that article have "to "what did the article say about your term and what did they mean". Now, this is trying to tell you not just what bloggers are saying about your topic, but how much each blogger matters in relation to the others. And therefore, which ones you need to talk to. Which is not 100% of the point of media monitoring, but pretty close.

The thing I really love about this, though, is that they're working with the realization that the most influential people on one topic are not necessarily influencers on any other issue.

This is super obvious to anyone who reads blogs. You're not going to go to Perez for tech news, and you're not going to Gizmodo to see what's up with celebrities. (Oooh, happy birthday, David! But I digress....)

So it's intuitive, but in terms of how media measurement has always functioned, it's groundbreaking. Because if you took an old-school approach, all you'd be able to do is compare two sets of numbers - site statistics - which represented reader populations that had absolutely nothing to do with each other. It wouldn't tell you which people were important to reach at all. Useless.

But here, you see which people are the influencers. That's pretty huge.

Publicis is using them - no surprise there - and I must admit I'm jealous. The drawback of working for a small agency is not having access to fancy megabucks vendors. But we've figured out how to do Biz360 work on a shoestring in-house. We'll just have to figure out how to approximate this, too.

Freecycle

2008-05-02T20:30:00.005-04:00

Holy sweet Moses, I love the internet.

I'm in the process of buying my father's condo. He's in the process of moving out. Between us we have the detritus of a combined 86 years of life in over a dozen homes.

Thing is, I'm the opposite of a pack rat. I am a purger. A seller, a donor, a declutterer. (Heh. I was going to say "a tosser.") I'm big on simplicity and organization. So this house full of stuff has been making me insane.

And then I discovered the magic of Freecycle.

The concept: "to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources and eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community."

That's it. No buying and selling and posting photos and writing up descriptions and bargaining and bidding and negotiating. Just giving stuff to people who need it and come and get it.

There are over five million people participating in Freecycle worldwide. Just on my local one, there are 2,600 people and over a thousand posts a month. It's a truly amazing hidden network.

And because my town is close to a city with its share of poverty, it feels nice that things I don't need can go be helpful to other people. Maybe that's Pollyannaish, or maybe it's even condescending. I'm not sure. And no, I'm not only giving stuff away for free; I'm selling plenty of it. But, like tonight, giving a bed and a couple of bookcases to a family who comes and takes it away for their kid? Yeah, I'll take the nice feeling.

So thanks, internet, for the warm fuzzies - and the newly cleared space.

Be More Social!

2008-05-01T20:51:00.004-04:00

It hit me today that the word "social" is not often used in a positive context.

Seems like it's either used to yell at you for being quiet... "Come be social!"

Or to yell at you for having more to do than the speaker does... "Well, aren't you just the social butterfly." "You and your social calendar."

So maybe that's why I've taken to disliking the term "social media".

I'll tell you one thing, it's a bitch on my tagging, because "new media" stopped being "new" and got all declasse, and now "social media" is ticking me off. "Emerging media" sounds better to me, but pretentious because it's not very widespread. And "SoMe" is still a little eye-roll-worthy.

But seriously. Social media? Think about that. Isn't it kind of the most redundant phrase in the world? Media is communication. Communication is between people. Of course it's social.

Anyway, I wish I could get comfy with a term for what all this is called.

As Tracy and I were leaving work today, she said she'd read that that if she wasn't on Twitter, she should get out of PR. So I went home all riled up about Jeremy Pepper discounting her career because she hasn't joined what is still, whatever we Twitterers want to think, a niche social network. (Maybe there are a million people on Twitter, maybe even 12 million, but there are over 70 million Facebook users.)

Except then I found his post, read it, (wondered why he hasn't updated in over a month,) and totally agreed with him.

Part of his post is on the J&J mommyblogger debacle I've mentioned. But overall he's talking about an issue that I think I see slightly differently. He seems to see an overall attitude toward social media by PR people that includes management apathy, staff incredulity, underfunding, underresourcing, and deliberate attempts to undermine social media structures.

I don't disagree that those things exist, but I think I'm more optimistic about it. Or maybe I just like the solution.

In my company, and in my industry - small agency, pharmaceutical clients - the learning curve is long. But people are learning. And the only way they're going to, is if people who have something to teach, teach. Explain why the old way doesn't work, and what the purpose of the new way is. Use baby steps and easy examples. And don't stop. If you love this stuff, it's easy. If it's fun to talk about new ways to connect with people, and better ways to make things happen, you're exactly who should be teaching.

And then maybe nobody will need to write grouchy blog posts about it.
(I still don't like that it's called "social media," though.)

Signs of the Apocalypse: Musical Edition

2008-04-30T09:29:00.002-04:00

I am in love, this week, with two things that I NEVER thought I would be.

One: the latest Coldplay song. "Violet Hill" is amazing.

Two: a cover of "Beat It". By Fall Out Boy.

If these things come in threes, I can't wait to see what the third thing I fall for will be.

And Now for Something Completely Different

2008-04-29T21:29:00.002-04:00

There is a lot of unhappiness and worry in the air tonight.

So here's 66 seconds of silly.

Count the ones you know... and when you are sad, just think of Lobster Judi Dench.

What Matters to You Right Now?

2008-04-28T19:35:00.005-04:00

Answer that, please. What's really getting to you?

Now. Please go read this story about Matt Logelin. (You can't see his blog right now - the traffic from the story probably crashed it - but you can see his photostream.)

I defy you not to have it break your heart.

It just makes your world stop. And when it creaks back into motion, all you want to do is find someone you care about and hold them as tight as you can while you tell them exactly how much you love that they are there, that minute, and how much they matter, and how little anything else does.

Maybe, if the smallest bit of good could come from something so breathtakingly unfair, maybe that's it. It's hard to even think that though.

If you pray, or think, or whatever you do - let's do some for him.

Mistaken Identity 21: Want a Margarita?

2008-04-27T20:42:00.003-04:00

With as many girls named Sarah that they're friends with, you'd think they'd double-check their email addresses. Oh well. If you're in Atlanta next weekend and want to crash the party, let me know and I'll give you the details.

You are invited to FELIZ LES DE MAYO!!!!! by Christi and Kim.

Location: Leslie and Kim's Casa
When: Friday, May 2, 9:00PM

No time for a siesta...we're having a fiesta! You're invited to CELEBRATE Senorita Leslie's 26th Cumpleanos! There will be plenty of cold cervezas, sombreros, and marcas... so bring your amigos as we listen to La Bamba and hit the pinatas!!

Mexi-Can

Josh
Leslie - would the party girl miss her own party!?!
Sarah (+ 1 guest) - can't wait!
Brittany - Nice picture. Can't wait.
Deanne - If I am still awake by 9, i will make it!, no joke1
Tony - I'll ax my gurl, but I'll need to carpool from Dekatur.
Kayla (+ 1 guest) - Of course I will be there! I finish exams that day so I will be ready to party! Let me know if I can bring anything to add to the festivities!!!
Cambo - Kim - I mean if you are going to force me, I guess..... bye!
Susan (+ 1 guest) - can't wait!!!! i am going to try & talk darren into giving the books a break and coming out to celebrate!
Sarah (+ 1 guest)
Molly - before i finalize my decision, what assortments of candy will be inside the pinatas?
Matt (+ 1 guest) - arriiiiba
Amy (+ 1 guest) - We are so there!!!!!!!
Kyle
Mikey

Mexi-O

Allison - i'll be in the middle of final exams, but a cold cerveza might be just what i need! thanks for the invite!
Sean - If I am in town, I will be there. I am so bringing a funnel too

Mexi-Can't

Shane -Will be out of town. Happy bday les-bo....
Josephine -Hey ladies! Long time no see. The 2nd is my birthday..so i will be celebrating as well. Sorry i can't make it. Hope this finds y'all well and HAPPY BIRTHDAY LESLIE!! Starting our upward climb to 30...can't wait.
Molly - I would love to be there but its during my finals! Have fun and Happy Birthday Les!
Taylor - I have a wedding that weekend. Happy Birthday Leslie!
Leigh - Wish I could come but I'm babysitting! But have fun!
Bray - I will be out of town. Have fun!

'Tis True, 'Tis True 'Tis Pity, And Pity 'Tis 'Tis True

2008-04-25T11:32:00.001-04:00

Temptation. Island.

2008-04-22T17:15:00.002-04:00

The Travelzoo Newsdesk has found this outstanding offer from
CheapCaribbean.com:

NEW YORK--APRIL 22, 2008-- On only 3 departure dates in May and June, CheapCaribbean.com has slashed all-inclusive packages to upscale St. Lucia to $799 per person. This package would cost $1200 to put together individually.

You must book by April 28.

This $799 package includes:

Nonstop, roundtrip airfare from New York (JFK)
4 nights at the beachfront Almond Smugglers Cove resort
Departure dates of May 15, May 18 or June 12
All meals, drinks and snacks
Spa credit of $50 per room

Amenities at Almond Smugglers Cove include a private beach, 9 restaurants and bars, spa, free golf (cart fee not included), and sports courts.

If your travel dates aren't that flexible, they are offering only the all-inclusive hotel for $99 per person per night.

For full details of this offer and to book directly through CheapCaribbean.com, click the link below. Or call them at 1-800-915-2322.

Ways I Could Have Gotten Rich, No. 137

2008-04-20T20:59:00.005-04:00

My friend's daughter had this book lying around.

And so I've realized how badly I missed out on a book deal. Throughout high school, we went through several notebooks just like that. I even think one girl's yearbook quote was "where's the notebook?" And that's apart from the notes... the bookcovers... the locker murals....

I hope at least some of it still exists somewhere, because I'm sure they're priceless. "Priceless" in the sense of "funny", I would've thought. (I believe one of my bookcover masterpieces was briefly framed, but that was about all the acclaim it got.) But now, I see that even teenage navel-gazing has its price.

And I wrote that stuff for free. Sucker.

Updated to add: it makes me very happy to hear that the framed bookcover still exists.

I'm Omnivorous

2008-04-17T13:10:00.002-04:00

According to Pew Internet & American Life Project, anyway....

Omnivores make up 8% of the American public.

They have the most information gadgets and services, which they use voraciously to participate in cyberspace and express themselves online.

Basic Description
Members of this group use their extensive suite of technology tools to do an enormous range of things online, on the go, and with their cell phones. Omnivores are highly engaged with video online and digital content. Between blogging, maintaining their Web pages, remixing digital content, or posting their creations to their websites, they are creative participants in cyberspace.

Defining Characteristics
You might see them watching video on an iPod. They might talk about their video games or their participation in virtual worlds the way their parents talked about their favorite TV episode a generation ago. Much of this chatter will take place via instant messages, texting on a cell phone, or on personal blogs. Omnivores are particularly active in dealing with video content. Most have video or digital cameras, and most have tried watching TV on a non-television device, such as a laptop or a cell phone.

Omnivores embrace all this connectivity, feeling confident in how they manage information and their many devices. This puts information technology at the center of how they express themselves, do their jobs, and connect to their friends.

Who They Are
They are young, ethnically diverse, and mostly male (70%). The median age is 28; just more than half of them are under age 30, versus one in five in the general population. Over half are white (64%) and 11% are black (compared to 12% in the general population). English-speaking Hispanics make up 18% of this group. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many (42% versus the 13% average) of Omnivores are students.

What are you?

C'mon Get Happy

2008-04-15T19:56:00.003-04:00

This afternoon I was grouchy.

But then a lot of things cheered me up.

...

Wow. Am I a storyteller or what?

Anyway, I thought I'd borrow a page from Karen and list my happy things. But the thing is, when I do that, I notice that the things that cheer me up are a little weird:

Smelling the hyacinths mixed in with the daffodil beds as I walked out the door from work.
Still seeing afternoon light even though it was after seven.
Adorable neighbors saying hello as I got home.
Unfreezing the DVD player after I was afraid it had eaten the putrid Ryan Reynolds DVD out of spite.
Learning that I am to be the recipient of the Best Bridesmaid Gift Ever, the Ryan Reynolds Box Set, a threat/promise on which Maria cannot renege even if it has to be made with a shoebox and Scotch tape and a Sharpie.
Turning on the TV to see Andy pitching (yes, of course the TV was left on YES).
Realizing I don't need to make or decorate any more cookies for a little while.
Watching Jon Stewart talk about being bitter, elitist and from western Pennsylvania.
Making rice and beans for supper.
Bailing on working out in favor of curling up for a geriatrically early bedtime.

Yeah, it's geeky, but it's that kind of night. You cheer up however you can in this world.

Weekly Roundup: Wanna Be on Top?

2008-04-13T17:26:00.005-04:00

I may possibly have watched just about all of Cycle 8 of America's Next Top Model.

I can't move without popping a hip, I'm smiling with my eyes, and am seriously considering a pixie cut.

I wonder if the damage is permanent.

So no links for you this Sunday, just some chitchat. Because my brain is mush. Partly because of Tyra - seriously, though, I love her so much - but also because I'm straightup sleepy. It's been a great weekend (ending with a morning with Kerrin today and my very first bacon-egg-and-cheese bagel).

For starters, I got to see a great big bunch of friends that I never get to see enough. It was, in a word - if an overused word - "delightful". A group of the coolest, most impressive people I know, just hysterical and chill and fun.

I hate that I'm on the wrong side of the state from Manhattan, but times like this weekend remind me how much the trip is worth it.

Saturday I got up early and got an awful lot done right away. When a day starts off like that, you know it's going to be good. The weather was gorgeous - finally spring. (Even if it's gone again today and I'm freezing. Sigh.) And my father and his fiancee have begun moving his stuff out of what will be (in six weeks OH MY GOD) my condo. Which realization makes me want to shriek and jump up and down in a very not at all mature enough to be a homeowner way.

And then I went out to get the mail and didn't make it back inside for the rest of the day, because I ended up laughing myself silly on the lawn with my neighbors. Delicious rum concoctions were involved. And two enthusiastic entrepreneurs made at ten dollars washing cars while making disapproving comments about how goofy the adults were being.

(So my car is clean, too. Mostly. They aren't tall enough yet to get the roof, but what do you want for $2?)

It's exciting to realize that the house might really be going to belong to me, and to be reminded how nice my little street is. I complain that it's far away from a lot of the things and people I love, and that's true, but there is a lot that's great too. I can't wait to start making it my own.

I'm terrified that I've written that whole paragraph, because I'm scared of jinxing something. Also, I'm afraid that I'm being horrifically girly in my nesting and gushing. So I'll stop. Tired and happy and just - looking forward to things.

Social Media Friday: Bits and Bobs

2008-04-11T10:20:00.003-04:00

I really have to clean up my post tags. I’m not looking forward to it. Sigh.

. . .

So after over a year trying, I may finally be figuring out the point of Twitter. Sometimes, yeah, (like this morning) it’s trying to get songs stuck in people’s heads. Sharing links or catching up or being silly. But sometimes you do see the implications of the ability to share quick information broadly, instantly, wherever. Wednesday a USAir passenger claimed he had a bomb - and a passenger Twittered it. How will this change what we call breaking news? It's going to be wild to see how wide-ranging the implications will be.

. . .

As companies slowly wrap their brains (and budgets) around social media, it’s interesting to see the acknowledgment of effort. Honestly trying gets appreciated, while being disingenuous gets called out. The J&J Camp Baby debacle – scheduling a mommyblogger gathering concurrent to BlogHer, and then not making accommodations for kids – has gotten plenty of scorn, but seems to have been understood as mostly a mistake borne of ignorance and awkwardness in an honest effort. Unlike, for instance, the fake WalMart/Edelman blog, which in my opinion was worse. I think the problem is laziness - when you try to use old-media tactics, it's going to be painfully obvious. Think like people, not like companies... and go from there.

. . .

Brian Solis talks about how social media are evolving to distribute conversations. So news might start with a blog post, that gets commented on, that gets Twittered about, that gets other blogs linking to it, which get commented on… etc. Yes, obviously. The point? Well, for starters, I realize that media reports are going to be rapidly more useless. Unless and until the semantic web makes terms more cross-platform searchable. And, of course, I realize this while writing… a media report. Oooh, the irony, she is palpable.

. . .

Finally, I wonder, is it greedy to want rather desparately to see Patrick Stewart on stage yet again when I’ve already seen him in The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, The Tempest and King Lear? It is, isn't it? Hm. Well. I guess you can just call me greedy.

. . .

By the way, Maria, go read Embers.

Weekly Roundup: One for the Cheeses

2008-04-09T10:23:00.002-04:00

Sarah's NCheeseAA tournament is super cute. And also makes me crave cheese.
Andrew has a fantastic party idea.
Gary's Wine Library TV has me becoming a massive fan. His personal vlogs are maybe even better.

First Memories

2008-04-08T11:37:00.005-04:00

So I've got a new theory: that your first memory is a total Rorschach test for you as a person.

It's worked 100% so far. Everyone I've asked has remembered something that's exactly what you'd pin on them.

The gay remembered rearranging the furniture in his room.
The biker chick remembered hurting herself and getting fixed up.
The thinker remembered realizing she could hear her own thoughts.
The entrepreneur remembered doing what her family thought she couldn't.
The mama remembered standing up to a bully.
The musician remembered his mother surprising him with a new song.

Mine is sitting on my father's shoulders in a dim, green hospital hallway looking down into the nursery window at my new baby brother.

Make of that what you will, but first tell me yours.

(Confidential: this is where you click X Comments and type something!)

Out-of-Body Experiences... Also, a Book Review

2008-04-04T23:07:00.005-04:00

Like last week, I'm going to try to describe something that doesn't need describing if you understand it - and probably can't be described if you don't.

I've been reading for pretty much 27 years straight. I guess that's probably more than I've done anything else in my life except breathe and sleep.

Sometimes it's just a pastime. I flip. I'll read magazines back to front. I peruse. I'll read a few chapters till I get sleepy. Like that.

But every now and then it's not like that. It's a drug or a love or an obsession. Or maybe it's just getting stuck. I get locked in and I don't want to do anything else - or really, I can't do anything else. I don't hear what's going on, and I don't get sleepy, and I don't realize that I'm moving my eyes or that I'm turning pages or even that I'm there in any bodily sense.

Rarely, I'll I smile. More rarely, get excited. Rarest of all, get teary. Mostly I suppose I don't do anything at all. I have no idea. I sort of forget I'm there.

And then when it's over and I have to come out of it, I'm not quite right. I walk around sort of dazed. Everything is too much and I don't want to be around anybody. It's all too loud and too strong. I guess it probably feels like a hangover.

It's like coming home from a trip where you did a lot, but not much happened while you were gone. The sameness of everything is too jarring and you just want to get back because you're not ready to be here again yet.

Maria told me I'd love The Time Traveler's Wife and I doubted her because I am snobby and elitist and skeptical of Book Club Books and Airport Bookstore Books. But she was so right and it was perfect and I can't wait to read it again. And of course she was right because she's got perfect taste and she's known me for almost 20 years. But she was extra special right this time.

Prodigals

2008-04-03T18:50:00.005-04:00

Working late.

Cell phone broke.

Pen leaked.

And suddenly an old friend is saying hello and the day is fixed!

Today's mood swing has been brought to you by the kind of friend that can randomly pop into your life like they never left.

Go be one, would you? Pass it along.

Weekly Roundup: Girl Stuff

2008-03-30T15:43:00.000-04:00

A lovely few minutes on women's shoes in narrated photos from Paris fashion shows. What I mostly notice is how prevalent black opaque tights are. (via)
Star Wars as explained by a three-year-old girl. She's right: the shiny guy always worries. (via)
What is it about My Little Ponies lately? They're everywhere.

Hi from Chicago, where I'm here, had a hysterical night that ended up here, and am working from here. Yesterday I went for a run along the lake and am so glad I did, because today it's too foggy to even see the lake. Today? Work, catching up, History Channel documentary on the 1968 election, IM, and yoga.

Classic Examples IV: Songs

2008-03-29T12:00:00.002-04:00

There are a few pretty perfect songs. The ones that break your heart a little bit every time you hear them. And not because of what they remind you of... that's different. These are just so altogether right that it makes you believe a little bit in divine inspiration.

One is Etta James' "At Last."

Another is Rufus Wainwright's cover of "Hallelujah."

I'd put a few others on my list. Tony Bennett's "The Way You Look Tonight." Lennon's "Beautiful Boy." Jackson Browne's "The Pretender." Dire Straits' "Romeo and Juliet."

What's your perfect song?
(spark via)

Help a Reporter

2008-03-27T17:29:00.004-04:00

If you work with, for, or as the media, helpareporter.com is rapidly becoming a great free, no-spam version of other, incredibly expensive pay services.

The only down side - I think its proprietor will look pretty silly doing the jig he's promised to do when the list hits its next membership target.

Hmm.

Did I say "down side"?

Go sign up, won't you?

Web 2.0 in 2 Minutes

2008-03-27T09:01:00.003-04:00

Wait, isn't this that Jersey guy from all those wine billboards?

He's succinct and dead on: what's all this technology for and why it matters. via CC)

Shopping List: Books

2008-03-26T22:38:00.001-04:00

So I can maybe be a little choosy. Also maybe a little indecisive. Also maybe a little clutter-phobic.

Hush, you. I hear your derisive snorting. So maybe it might not be maybe, and maybe it might be a little more than a little. Whatever.

The point is, I don't usually buy a book till I know I like it. Same with music or movies. I only want ones I'm going to want to keep around. So to make the list, it's already passed a few tests. Here's what's there at present.

Atonement. I haven't read it, but I did love the movie, and I've heard the book is better.

Status Anxiety. I loved Alain de Botton's The Art of Travel, found this when I went looking for How Proust Can Change Your Life, and it's completely fascinating.

The Art of War and The Prince. Surreptitiously borrowed from my brother. (Matt, I'll totally mail them back to you, I swear.) Now I want my own copies.

Dear Catastrophe Waitress. Karen made me take this, and she was right - I adored it.

I'm always looking for new ideas. What's on your list?

Classic Examples III: Symbiosis

2008-03-26T16:33:00.001-04:00

There are two classic examples of symbiosis.

One is that bird that sits on a hippo.

The other is the PR person and the reporter.

Classic Examples II: Creativity

2008-03-23T22:11:00.000-04:00

When I draw or when I painted - which, sadly, I haven't in years - there's a way my brain has to shift the way it processes my vision. I'm floundering, but this is the best I can explain it. Normally, you don't really concentrate on seeing, you know? You just see. Same as breathing. But when you're trying to replicate what you're looking at, you don't see in the normal way. Things lose the dimensionality and the shape you know they have and just become angles. They lose the colors you know they have and just become tones and shades. You ignore what you know things actually to be, to focus on every element of them. Things stop looking like what they really are.

I'm not sure that explanation works, but it's the best I can do.

I guess the same shifts happen with words, too - when you're simultaneously looking at something for the narrative or the grammar or the flow or the arrangement on the page. But that's more fluid for me. And I guess it happens physically, too - when you start being aware of your breath or your movement. It probably happens if you're a musician. Or if you meditate a lot.

But my point is that clunk in your brain, that moment when it comes out of gear and the process goes from automatic, to something deliberate that you're making yourself conscious of. It must be that way all the time for people who are stunningly, startlingly creative. They must be permanently off autopilot. What a brilliantly beautiful - but utterly daunting - life to consider.

So what's my example (since I've decided to start looking at examples)? The most free-rangingly creative person I can think of is Ze Frank. I haven't gotten into most of his stunts or projects, not the way some of my friends have. But his latest is Color Wars. Google Ze Frank, Twitter and color wars if you're curious. Basically... he found a new medium, and where some people (i.e., me) would hang back and poke around till you figure out how everyone else plays - he lobbed a water balloon into the middle to see what would happen. And if it's anything like The Show, it'll be a community-building, difficult-to-describe collection of creativity just for the joy of creativity.

He seems to be one of those people who wake up every day out of gear, looking at everything slightly unfocused so he can notice at what everyone else is missing.

Enviable.

Weekly Roundup: Video Edition

2008-03-23T21:43:00.000-04:00

This is all you need in one: the YouTube Video Awards. It's the magic vault of internet videos. Specially watch the Battle at Kruger. Truly amazing.

Political Ignorance and Other Offenses

2008-03-22T18:40:00.005-04:00

Two things about the presidential campaign are pissing me off monumentally. I'm not trying to convince anybody who to support. But I think we all can stand to know more about the issues. Sound bites just don't cut it any more.

(Actually, in passing, I'll add a third thing that's pissing me off. That it's "McCain" and "Obama" but "Hillary." There's a potential for confusion between Bill and Hillary? Seriously? Who thinks Bill Clinton is running? It smacks of misogyny to me, and I don't like it. Call her Clinton already, or start saying "John" and "Barack." Casual sexism is still sexism. End it.)

The first is the dismissal of the Obama campaign as vague and emotional, lacking specifics and essentially adolescent. Not only is it broadly incorrect - I'm one of the most ignorant Obama supporters I know, and I don't think I'm a moron - but it's patently unfair. I don't see Clinton supporters facing an inquisition on policy points before people will allow them to support her.

And if they did, who among them could answer as thoroughly and intelligently as this? These clips of Derrick Ashong are absolutely worth watching, and this NYT article on them worth reading.

The second is that people are still so racist. Forgive me, I know that's not news. But last night I discovered that someone I love and respect tremendously is (to my mind) shockingly racist, so I'm still reeling. It wasn't about politics - he was judging my dating history, actually - but was a sharp reminder to a naive white suburban girl that racism isn't the faraway thing I have the luxury of thinking of it as being. That made all this hit me even harder than it had been.

The Reverent Wright speech and Geraldine Ferraro comments are not news. But the full stories of them might be. Give these your time.

Olbermann commentary

Obama speech

Anderson Cooper blog on Wright's speech

Whoever you're supporting, it is incumbent upon you to know more than the pundits want to say, more than Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert can find joke material in, more than your favorite blog finds fodder in. We are drowning in an ocean of information and if we die of thirst it's our own fault.

(via Melissa, also El)

Classic Examples I: Perfection

2008-03-22T11:27:00.003-04:00

One special reminder this Easter weekend that the world is, sometimes, very nearly perfect.

That reminder is about as big as a handbag, and her brand new name is Avery Rebecca. Welcome to the world, little one. And all the congratulations in the world to your family, who, if your dad's any example, very possibly might explode from pride. Keep an eye on him, girl.

RSVP: It's About Time

2008-03-21T12:04:00.002-04:00

People who share my geeky passions for papers, stationery, and overall pretty design will be delighted to see pingg. No more lame art, no more ads, and it works with SMS and Facebook. Bliss.

Now, to have a party worth sending invitations to? All in good time.

(via)

Anniversary

2008-03-20T17:57:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it's been five years.

Guest Post: Unfortunate News

2008-03-20T17:36:00.002-04:00

From my cousin Pat (Yes, that cousin Pat.)

Subject:
Talk about a bad day

Body:
You only need to read the headline:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,339270,00.html

Weekly Roundup: Recaplet

2008-03-16T14:03:00.001-04:00

Two weeks in, 30 is pretty fantastic. It's been just celebrating, so far, really... birthday, dinner party, Eddie Izzard (who has a great article in the Times - oooh and he's coming back. Any takers??), Cowboy Mouth, step-sister-to-be's birthday party, St. Patrick's Day parade... what's not to love?

And today? Today is Pajama Day. Life is good.

Next weekend is Easter. And the one after that, I'm disappointed that I won't be competing at states, but I do have a lot going on in Chicago where I'm going instead. And then it's April. When did THAT happen?

I'm Listening (and Thinking)

2008-03-16T11:22:00.004-04:00

Political, sort of, but nothing Obamariffic today. Instead, a reminder of how chillingly matter-of-fact people can be in their ignorance and hate.

(via via)

Shakespeare said, "The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose." How much more so can a person with good intentions twist them so horribly.

The site hosting the video has an open letter to the woman speaking, and it's worth reading. It isn't hateful. It points out that such offhand talk is, in fact, hate speech, and does, in fact, tacitly condone, and therefore perpetuate, hate crimes.

Inspiring people to want to kill someone who hasn't hurt anyone is evil. I don't see any way around that.

And the "but it's in the Bible" rationale gets me madder faster than just about anything. If you're religious - and I am - this is a great article on it.

I don't take the Bible verbatim and I don't understand people who do. But I believe, as Voltaire, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Hypocrisy has no place in that, though. Either you take it as literal truth, or you take it as spiritual teaching. A or B. You can't pick or choose the bits you want to ignore. It's illogical, it's academically unsound, it's just plain cheating.

So if you want to take those half dozen ancient laws as guidance against homosexuality than you take every last one of those ancient laws. And everyone who has divorced, cheated, cursed, worn cotten and silk together, eaten pork, had their period, masturbated, used birth control, mixed races, cut their hair or eaten shellfish - we're all screwed.

Some religious thinking on a Palm Sunday on which I've missed church and am okay with maybe therefore going straight to a cotton/poly blend hell full of seafood and hair salons.

Southern Comfort

2008-03-14T09:44:00.008-04:00

Up way too late, floor shaking, hair sticking to the back of your neck, a little bit sore, hoarse and exhausted from screaming and laughing for two hours.

There are two things that do this.

One is a Cowboy Mouth show.

I'd forgotten. I'd thought I was over it. I thought they'd lost their touch.

Nope.

Their music is great - but the best thing you can say about listening to their albums is that they remind you of their live shows. So much energy. So much fun. Just unbelievable.

(And - for people who've known about them for a while: I miss Rob Savoy and Paul Sanchez, but Regina Zernay was amazing, and JP Pretus was a lot of fun. And - as always at their shows - I ran into friends who I haven't talked to in forever.)

So yeah. I'm exhausted, but my ears have stopped buzzing and my voice is coming back. And in a week where the R&B download charts are topped by Ashley Alexandra Dupre, and my Twitter feed this morning included

snoopdogg imma be on THE VIEW tomorrow mornin - checc it out

Yeah, sometimes it's nice to have the just plain good stuff.

Guest Post: On the Dangers of Profanity Out of Context

2008-03-14T09:38:00.001-04:00

Karen depicts a lovely moment.

On Reading, Flocking and Voting

2008-03-11T10:17:00.005-04:00

Dewey linked me to Neil which linked me to Science Daily and this article about how humans flock like sheep and birds.

And, by the way, today is the last day to donate at Dewey, so for the deep, abiding, passionate, head-over-heels, seventh-grade-drawing-hearts-on-notebooks, head-over-heels love of books, please go and do it. It's the fifth year running, and so far this year's drive has gotten 15,000 books to libraries that need them. How cool is that shit?

I was at my library yesterday, and seriously, they really are kind of magic. You go in and take whatever you want. It's free. And you basically just bring them back when you're done. Really, where else in life does it work like that? So please: go give. I did.

Anyway, back to sheep. It's interesting that there's a genetic predisposition, and not just a character weakness, to drive us to just sort of follow along. That's usually considered a flaw - but if it's innate...?

The article says all you need are five percent to direct the movement of a whole crowd. And I think the ways you could extrapolate this are pretty interesting.

Like, I wonder if there's something that triggers this more strongly during teenage years. A survival thing, maybe. It would make sense. Before your brain finishes up on the prefrontal cortex, do you automatically get a push to follow the herd more, so you won't go off and do as many stupid things by yourself? Are teenagers programmed to stick together to help themselves survive adolescence?

And if you go even further along bringing the idea from physical movement to strictly thought, what does this mean for the impact of social media on the presidential election? It's safe to say that our "five percent" is not the same media authors that it used to be. (Mine's completely different from the last election, anyway.) But this new five percent is a lot more scattered - less the one voice of reason and more a handful of chatterers.

The post-hoc analysis this election is will show how much effect social-media authors end up having. Until then, though, I don't think anybody knows quite what's going on. Who matters? How much? It's nerve-racking, but at the same time, I like that it's so game-changing. The pandering is not so automatic anymore - the candidates don't always seem to know where to turn. Sort of democratizes things, if you will.

But does social medial go against our genetic sheep mentality? On the one hand, there are more opportunities to band together with people who think similarly. But on the other hand, there's not as much of the Walter Cronkite mentality, where we all look to a trusted person for their opinion.

Do we want people to tell us what to do, and is it so uncomfortable to have to go out and find the details, that we'd rather not bother? I wondered when I read this memo released today by the Obama camp. How many people are actually going to read it - versus the ones who'd rather just hear a sound bite and watch an ad? I guess there's no way to really tell for another eight months.

Guest Post: Middle-Aged Cartoon Men

2008-03-09T22:57:00.004-04:00

A post which makes me suspect I am nothing more than a conduit between Sac and Jon:

Letterman Top Ten Lists by...

From the overworked, underappreciated Hot Republican.

Thank you, Pittsburgh, they were worth the callback.

Weekly Roundup: Photosets Worth Your Time

2008-03-09T17:25:00.000-04:00

Preschool lunches. The kid is spoiled something awful. The mom is either amazing or terrifying; I can't decide. But I am in awe.
Nowata High School yearbook. The comments are to die for. (These two via PCJM)
Best Flickr Babes. Is... basically that.
Flickr's Best Polaroids.
Flickr's 100 Best.
Stick Figures in Peril.
Closer and Closer.

Thirty

2008-03-03T00:00:00.002-05:00

So. Thirty. Wow. (Not to be eloquent, or anything.)

I didn't expect to feel ready for this great big milestone birthday, but I actually think I am. My twenties have been... well, a lot of things. Good and bad and big and little and - just a lot. And now, I guess I feel like I'm better at being me, sort of. I'm more like who I really am most of the time than I ever used to... but at the same time I think I'm awfully different than I used to be....

Ugh. I'm doing an awful job of explaining. Okay. There are two weird ways to sum it up.

First. I sing now.

Not on stage or anything, God no. Not even hardly ever in front of anybody. But before the last year or so, I always sang so quietly that I couldn't even hear it myself. I hadn't really sung out loud since I was about six.

And this is completely eye-rollingly maudlin, but true - it's a lot because I've found people who sort of turn me up. Who sing (and don't care if they're off-key). Who play my game. Who let me hear their songs. Who tell me I'm not making enough noise.

So I doubt I'm any better than I ever was, which was never very good. But I'm finally loud enough to hear myself. I can hear what I'm singing. I can also hear what I want and what I don't want. I'm loud enough to hear myself. And that is very good.

And the second... I use the word "home" now.

For most of my 20s, you wouldn't hear me calling anyplace "home." It was, internally, a very big deal to me. Because no place felt like home anymore. I was a nomad, a vagrant. "Home" was a word fraught with a lot of meaning, for me. It made me wistful. But now, I have people and places that feel like home. Moreover, I just feel at home in me, more. So it's nice to casually be able to talk about "home." That, also, is very good.

So who knows if 30's the new 20. But either way, I'm okay with it. In my 20s I had nine mailing addresses in four years. Worked seven jobs. Got three promotions. Put myself through grad school. Totalled two cars. Hooked up, dated, got engaged. Got un-engaged, dated, hooked up. Traveled 14 countries. Watched little people grow up into amazing adults. Had people I loved die. Lost friends, made friends, reconnected with friends.

Some of that I'm phenomenally proud and happy about, and some of it I'm not. But it's all made for a decade that I am so grateful for.

So. Thirty. Wow indeed.

Weekly Roundup: Monsters, Songsters, Actors, Flacks. and Tech Support

2008-03-02T20:42:00.002-05:00

Public relations is mostly just about being real. A breakthrough, that.
Patrick Stewart as Macbeth? Ooooh, yes please.
In Japan, March 3 is Girls' Day, or Hina-matsuri - "hina" meaning girl or princess. March 3 is my birthday, and "Sarah" means princess. (No point. I just liked that.) Also, Ronan Keating and I share a birthday. In addition to our soulmate connection, of course. (I digress.)
Cookie Monster on NPR. Fabulous.
flickrvision and twittervision. Totally addictive mashups.
Sirens magazine. Biting, funny, true.
Running iTunes off an external hard drive is not working for me. I am afraid to investigate further tonight, but it appears the library is suddenly missing all kinds of random songs... again. If I have to copy the whole thing over from the backup external... again... I shall be displeased. It takes days to sort out the duplicates. Drop me a note if you can help/commiserate.

TED on Love

2008-03-01T14:11:00.005-05:00

The inimitable Matthall turned me on to TED.

It's what happens when the smartest people alive focus on the most fun and interesting parts of science and music and life. It's amazing.

Since the annual conference is this week, I've got a few dozen posts to catch up to on my RSS for the TED blog, but here's one of my first favorites.... a video on love by a Rutgers anthropologist. It's not short, but don't let that scare you. You won't notice the time.

Hindsight

2008-02-29T19:52:00.005-05:00

I thought and rethought that last post. But I let it stay. After all, it's true.

I felt like I was being oddly cryptic, though, to put it out there and not explain myself.

Basically, my mother's an alcoholic, I guess since about when that picture was taken. And I've spoken to her once in the last eight years.

I'd be prouder of myself if I could handle a relationship with her, but I haven't been able to figure out how to do it and keep myself okay at the same time.

It's not a dramatic story. She tried to be a good parent. She didn't want to hurt anybody. She's just profoundly unhappy. I wish it wasn't like that, but it is.

So, that's it.

With that said, just to clarify... I am happy. Most days, I'm happy to the point where I feel like I'm tempting fate.

I do think it's a choice. Very much so. But when you're as embarrassingly lucky as I am in so many ways... it isn't a hard one.

Possessions

2008-02-27T19:41:00.004-05:00

A box on my doorstep.

Bubble wrap and a pink plastic bag.

A packet of old letters and photos in an old stationery box.

A card, as always with no printed message, just a short handwritten

"March 3, 2008. Dear Sarah, Happy 30th birthday. Love, Mom"

Maybe most people don't immediately think about how giving away possessions is a warning sign of suicide when they open their birthday presents.

I wish I didn't.

Mistaken Identity 19 and 20

2008-02-27T12:00:00.003-05:00

I am not the Other Me who will be attending the librarian conference meeting Sunday night at the library at Park Elementary School. Although I do agree both that it's a shame Jane's home renovations preclude the meeting being at her house, and that it's still nice of her to bring coffee and bagels. I also appreciate the new speaker suggestions that have been brought forward.

I'm also not the Other Me who just booked a trip with 1-800-CRUISES. (Sadly.)

Truth in Advertising

2008-02-26T08:57:00.003-05:00

Love it. (via DHAK)

That Thing You Do

2008-02-25T19:19:00.007-05:00

Patti's blog made me stop and wonder about the things we do. The tiny ones, most of all.

Chaos theory, I guess you could call it? Implications. Ripples. Meaning.

Something small a stranger does that changes the course of your day. Something someone says in passing - to you, about you, around you - that you remember still, years later.

You're thinking of one right now, aren't you?

The thing is, most times the person doesn't even notice or remember what's been said or done. But, whatever it is, it sticks, it stays, and it makes a difference. And sometimes it's good and sometimes it isn't.

I wish you could tell what things are going to do that to people, but I don't think you can. So I guess tonight I'm thinking about the things I do.

It's a Dish Better Served Cold

2008-02-25T10:37:00.002-05:00

And by "a dish," I mean "Ben Affleck."
Best revenge ever. (via K)

Mistaken Identity 17 and 18

2008-02-22T16:23:00.003-05:00

I am not the Other Me who reserved the Computer Services Departments' Collaboration Room 234 at Marshall University for Monday evening.

And, thank God, I am not the Other Me from Washington State who contacted the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers to find juvenile inpatient treatment for her son, who has one felony conviction and is facing another.

(I do, however, now have exactly one result when I search my Gmail for "felony".)

Weekly Roundup: Like, Love, and Everything In Between

2008-02-22T10:43:00.009-05:00

Some real links for you this week, because it's been a long time and I'm feeling some Catholic guilt over it all.

Stuffed animals turned inside out. Some say they're creepy, or sad. But I thought they were surprisingly, endearingly, somehow defiantly, still loveable. (via zefrank)
Amazing, peacefully dreamy, cut-paper animation. (via zefrank)
THIS is the purpose of Twitter: stalking Snoop. (via Peter)
Aw, poor guy. (via popbitch)
A tip, or at least a small epiphany: when you get do-gooder-daydreamy, but the haircut video on Locks of Love gives you actual shivers... you are not ready. (Anyway: ...hmm.)
Stuff White People Like. Pretty self-explanatory, very zeitgeist-funny, but still worth a smirk or two. (via Pamie)
Dear Catastrophe Waitress, which I just finished, has me completely, head-over-heels in love. (via Karen)

Happy Clooney Day

2008-02-22T09:16:00.004-05:00

So, it's Friday. TGIF and all that. In honor of the end of the week, George Clooney will come to your house for dinner, gently mock your cooking skills, and take a flashlight to your fuse box.

...what? There's too much snow to get there today? Hmm. This will have to do. (via Karen, via Pamie.)

(By the way, how cutely awkward is Joel Stein?)

You know, sometimes I don't understand all the hype about The Cloon. He's a very good, good-looking, middle-aged actor. But, so?

And then, you see him in a t-shirt and jeans. And... yeah. I get it.

You can investigate my crawl space any time, sir.

Sometimes You Don't Need a Remix

2008-02-22T07:30:00.005-05:00

I didn't know about this till it was over, but apparently something called "Rent Remixed" played in London for almost five months, ending a few weeks ago.

And from what I can tell, it wasn't nearly a short enough run.

Mark, ripping off his Abercrombie shirt at the end of "La Vie Boheme" to show his six-pack? An Angel who doesn't wear drag? A white Joanne? Mimi doing "Out Tonight" as a burlesque with backup dancers?

I know Rent just didn't work in London originally. I saw it twice there, and it was all American tourists. It's just too New York of a story to last anywhere else.

(Although - to digress for a little story - and Karen can back me up - closing night in London was unbelievably moving. Mimi stayed onstage as the lights came up, and did a sad little dance in the center spotlight, holding her hands up to catch the end of the snow falling down on her. And then, outside, the cast looked down on Shaftesbury Avenue from their dressing room windows, while the audience poured out into the street and, impromptu, sang "Seasons of Love" up to them. It still gives me chills just to think about it. Brrr.)

But to do this to the show? I won't go all melodramatic and call it blasphemy. People liked it, and it's cool that that they had a general admission offer. And I thought the movie was pretty bad, too, so clearly I'm an old grump.

But why couldn't they all just have left the original alone? Yes, it's an early-90's period piece now. What's wrong with that?

Daughter of the Year Winner: Not Me

2008-02-20T13:23:00.007-05:00

I'm in a mood today, and in a pretty unbelievably selfish way.

My father had surgery last week, and so I'm home keeping an eye on him. His fiancee and my aunt have been switching off, and since I was away, now it's my turn. He's in a lot more pain than he'd been told to expect, although he's trying to be no trouble. But it's embarrassingly surprising to discover how uncomfortable I am about it.

It's disconcerting to have your parent out of commission and have to, by default, be in charge of them. And since my mother was like that pretty often while I was growing up, I know that's why I react so strongly to it.

But last night I had a completely visceral reaction. "Get out." Sudden, strong. Out of nowhere, my adrenaline went and my reflex was to just get the fuck out, to go someplace safe where I don't have to be in charge of the people who are supposed to be in charge.

Of course that's not what I did. Of course I didn't let it show. Of course it's a totally different situation. Of course I know all that.

But I was just leaning over fidgeting the curtains, and all of a sudden I was 16 and my brain was telling me to go, go now, to do the only thing I knew to handle trouble at home.

It almost took my breath away. I had no idea it was still there at all, let alone to show up in a rush like that. It left me reeling, and I guess I'm not over it yet.

So today, my poor dad is having another difficult day. And I guess I'm still off kilter. So I'm going to keep faking being a good daughter till I actually pull it off.

Edited as I remember another layer of frustration. Because, you see, as lovely as my father is, I am his kid and therefore never really know what I'm talking about. Even when I'm trying to be in charge. Maybe specially then.

So. I suggested calling the surgeon. He blew it off. I got the surgeon on the phone. And it turns out he's NOT the devil incarnate. He's callous. Brusque. He's... a surgeon.)

And oh, wow. Taking NINE Vicodin a day IS bad. It's NOT the way it's supposed to be.

How about that. Just like the dumb kid said. The one who's worked at drugstores and drug companies for a decade.

Grumble grumble bitch bitch, says the dumb kid... and still doesn't let it show....

New Music Tuesday: Dueling Titles

2008-02-19T14:06:00.003-05:00

Tricked by my iPod.

I went looking for Mickey Factz "Heartbeat"... and got Scouting for Girls "Heartbeat" instead.

Which wasn't what I wanted, but was actually pretty good in its own way. Serendipity.

Neither's on iTunes, but here are some ghetto deep links.

Which one do you like?

(Oh, and while I'm here? Apart from bands, MySpace is so 2005. Get a Facebook, would you?)

Weekly Roundup: President's Day Edition

2008-02-18T21:43:00.004-05:00

This has nothing to do with President's Day... apart from that being my excuse for posting Monday, not Sunday. Long weekend, you know.

Also, no fun links. Lazy long weekend, you know.

And it's hard to make it a recap, either, because this weekend was a whole lot of things. But altogether one of the best in a long time.

So instead: here's some random nonsense that I've been up to.

One: I'm officially in a state championship tournament. (Because I am (officially) out of my mind.) And as of four hours ago, I'll be doing something completely new at it. (I'm terrified.) It's exciting. (I want to throw up.) It'll be fun. (Maybe. But mostly terrifying.) I can't wait. (For it to be over.)

Two, and completely different: the 2008 season is out at the SToNJ:

Comedy of Errors starts April 30
Amadeus starts May 28
The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged) starts at St. E's Greek amphitheatre June 18 (yes, the Reduced Shakespeare Company's play - and one of the coolest spaces ever)
King Lear starts July 2 (with Daniel Davis as Lear)
Private Lives starts Aug 6
Streetcar Named Desire starts Sep 10
Romeo & Juliet starts Oct 15
(and the Christmas show, TBD)

Same as last year... I subscribe, so if you'll be in the area, tell me. Tickets are roundabout $35 again. It's an amazing company.

Three, lastly, and still differenter yet: as Karen points out, watching the original "Casino Royale" was like being on six kinds of drugs at once. And then watching an awful nonsensical movie. From the inside of a Surrealist painting. Upside down.

Even the synopsis is completely incoherent. It was... there are no words. It was jaw-droppingly jaw-dropping.

If you can enlighten us, please do. If not, please don't ever watch it. Because I love you.

Superdelegates

2008-02-15T09:24:00.001-05:00

The below is from MoveOn.org. Who knows if it'll work, but it's worth a try.

You've probably heard about the "superdelegates" who could end up deciding the Democratic nominee.

The superdelegates are under lots of pressure to come out for one candidate or the other. We urgently need to encourage them to let the voters decide between Clinton and Obama — and then support the will of the people.

I signed a petition urging the superdelegates to respect the will of the voters. Can you join me?

But What's the Point?

2008-02-14T15:56:00.006-05:00

I was just playing around with Pownce since Peter Twittered that it's out of beta.

God, that is one geeky sentence.

But anyway. It's all pretty and well-designed, but I just don't get the whole microbloggy thing. And you know I've tried.

I don't see the point of Twitter, unless I wanted to be some CNN headline source to my friends. Why am I going to tell my whole list of people what I'm doing? Who cares? If I have something to say, I'd blog about it and be equally meaningless that way.

At least Pownce gives you a continuum between IM and microblog - you can send a message or a file to one person, or a list, or everybody. But still, it just doesn't seem very useful. I can already do that with IM or email or Facebook. What do I need one more application for?

Shrug. Please, somebody enlighten me.

Edited to add: dude, I can't believe you check your own links.

That's the Way We Roll

2008-02-14T09:15:00.002-05:00

There may be cuter Valentine's Day moments, but I doubt it.
Happy V-Day from my cousins and the Jonas Brothers.

Rainy Day at My Cousin's First Job

2008-02-13T11:01:00.004-05:00

Pat: note to self

Sarah: ?

Pat: trying to dry socks in the microwave
not the smartest idea

Sarah: HA
pat, I fucking love you.

Pat: i am now sockless

Sarah: um... did they catch fire?

Pat: and i had the even more brilliant idea, of putting them on paper towels.
so that they didnt get any crusty cheese and sauce on them
but that added to the smoke
just intense smelly smoke
no fire
scorched paper towels

Sarah: I'm laughing hysterically, all my coworkers must think I'm crazy

Pat: haha and the icing on the cake is
they were from 2 different pairs
i couldnt find their corresponding partners
so now i ruined 2 pairs of socks

Sarah: I am crying
you have given me four socks worth of laughter this morning
(if it's any consolation)

Pat: hahah
good
if my suffering can bring laughter

Sarah: oh it can

Pat: then thats all i need

Sarah: who needs warm feet when you have that kind of joy in your heart

Pat: haha

Sarah: why are you at home microwaving your socks, anyway? no work?

Pat: lol
im at work
it was the work microwave
i woulda just hung them up to dry if i was at home

Sarah: oh now hang on
just one fucking second
you nuked your mismatched socks
in the WORK MICROWAVE?

Pat: yes
thats why i needed the paper towels to protect from the crusty cheese

Sarah: jesus christ patrick
people EAT FOOD from that thing

Pat: and the hall stinks
i sit right by the microwave
haha yes
the little spinning tray thingie was not in there though
so i know
it didnt contact anything food would contact

Sarah: okay pat
just as a general business tip
keep your socks as far as possible from people's food

Pat: haha meeting time
hey it was early
no one was in
except for the guy adding coffee to the coffee machine

Sarah: enjoy your meeting... barefoot

Pat: haha im in shoes
its just a little
clammy you could say

Sarah: I'd imagine.

Questions I've Been Asked This Week

2008-02-12T15:30:00.001-05:00

Did you defend me?

Do you trust her?

Does he have an accent?

Can you take care of him?

To which the answer to every one is, I realize just now, exactly the same:

not as much as I want.

Surprising. I wonder what that says about me. I don't really know.

I think the snow falling outside is making me kind of quiet and thinky.

Bridge and Tunnel, Indeed

2008-02-08T22:42:00.000-05:00

Ever have one of those days where you do something that seems funny at the time, but later you cringe just thinking about it?

Next time you have one of those, just watch this. (Jalopnik via B)

You will feel so much better.

Apparently this is Jill Nicolini, and a Google reveals that... well, propriety may not be her strong suit. And she's not from New Jersey, thank you. But to be fair, she is awful pretty.

(Related, but confidential for Jon: your favorite.)

I'll Pencil You In

2008-02-08T21:18:00.000-05:00

Am I weird for having to make plans two or even three weeks in advance?

Twice now this week somebody's been like, "Then? Really? Not till THEN?"

The first time I figured it was just a fluke. But twice? I'm starting to get self-conscious.

Is this odd? Rude?

Am I odd? Rude?

Discuss.