Wednesday, January 31, 2007

I'm fantastic in bed


I'm guessing this is an oldy...
But It's my first time...

Marketing Explained

The buzz word in today's business world is MARKETING. However, people often ask for a simple explanation of "Marketing."

_Well, here it is: _

1. You're a woman and you see a handsome guy at a party. You go up to him and say, "I'm fantastic in bed."
That's Direct Marketing.

2. You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a handsome guy. One of your friends goes up to him and, pointing at you, says, "She's fantastic in bed."
That's Advertising.

3. You see a handsome guy at a party. You go up to him and get his telephone number. The next day you call and say, "Hi, I'm fantastic in bed."
That's Telemarketing.

4. You see a guy at a party; you straighten your dress. You walk up to him and pour him a drink. You say, "May I?" and reach up to straighten his tie, brushing your breast lightly against h is arm, and then say, "By the way, I'm fantastic in bed."
That's Public Relations.

5. You're at a party and see a handsome guy. He walks up to you and says, "I hear you're fantastic in bed."
That's Brand Recognition.

6. You're at a party and see a handsome guy. He fancies you, but you talk him into going home with your friend.
That's a Sales Rep.

7. Your friend can't satisfy him so he calls you.
That's Tech Support.

8. You're on your way to a party when you realize that there could be handsome men in all these houses you're passing; so you climb onto the roof of one situated towards the center and shout at the top of your lungs, "I'm fantastic in bed!"
That's Junk Mail.

Monday, January 29, 2007

Powerpoint, great name. lousy results

Nine times out of ten the presentation results of Powerpoint are lousy because the user doesn't follow any rules and has no idea what a presentation should look like. I worked for a major airline on a secret presentation about the restructuring of the ground labor force. It took three years for me to convince management not to put every word of the presentation on the slides and the need to use compelling graphics and pictures. Needless to say in three years we went through a lot of versions. I'm quite proud of the end result. I'd show it to you but I can't (I signed confidentiality papers.) Although over a 100,000 airline employees did see it.

Seth Godin has written a great list of rules for Powerpoint users. Check it out. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/

Friday, January 26, 2007

Did I Ever Tell You My Fantasy?




Birthdays Abound! Happy Birthday to me & to Spare Change.


Did I ever tell you my fantasy?

When I'm good and wrinkled with tuffs of white cotton candy hair I want to have a penthouse on top of an international airport. I will come down to the gates in an evening gown, a boa and marabou slippers to talk to all the international travelers. I will tell them stories of when I visited India, Africa, Peru, China, Russia, etc. Because I will have traveled the world 10 times over by then. I will be the famous crazy old lady at the airport.


Come visit anytime!!!

Wednesday, January 24, 2007


Writing is like showering . . .
if you don't do it everyday,
you're going to stink.
- adapted from the
"Naked Brother's Band"

I've learned that I must write everyday, get edited everyday, edit myself everyday, read everyday and write some more . . . everyday!




Check this out!

http://www.beyondmadisonavenue.com/

Tuesday, January 23, 2007


What's so Magical About It?

Saturday I lit a candle to
El Nino de Atocha and prayed for this petition: God, please let the weather be nice on Sunday for Isobelle’s 6th birthday party. Then I began the tedious process of cleaning the house as much as I could before Sunday at 1 pm. Oh yes, I also had to make a Jiggly Puff Pinata. Jiggly Puff is a Pokemon that has the special ability of singing its opponents to sleep and then it takes great enjoyment in writing all over its slumbering victims. Isobelle is obsessed with Pokemon.

Sunday morning I awoke to a partly cloudy, chilly but nice day. Kevin was cooking two dishes for the adults to enjoy at the party while the kids ran around screaming and ignoring the sliced turkey and cheese, rolls and snacks I set out for them. He made a to-die-for roasted red pepper and cream cheese dip that was kept warm in the crock-pot and a Southwest chicken and rice dish that was mighty tasty.

I had to run out to the store to get a rope for the piñata, beer for the adults and ice. In the ten minutes it took to gather these things the temperature dropped about ten degrees and it was clear that it was snowing like mad in the mountains. Not a good sign.

The jumping castle arrived along with extra tables and chairs. The castle was hysterical. It was a giant Spiderman themed monstrosity with a jumping area and a slide. Heaven for kids. Isobelle was out riding her new birthday bicycle from her Grandma and Grandpa with her friend Laurel. They saw the jumping castle delivery truck and came running in the house and out the back door straight into the castle. So much for having a bath before the party.

Kevin was cooking away while Diana (grandma) was icing cupcakes. She had also made a chocolate castle cake with powder sugar sprinkled on it that looked ominously like snow.
The kids and parents began to arrive. The kids were in and out of the house and in and out of the jumping castle for about two hours while the parents chatted and ate. I think there were a total of 16 kids but I lost track. The weather was holding out so far.


Time for the Jiggly Puff pinata.

I walked through the house and outside in the backyard yelling “Pinata!” and everyone came running to our dilapidating swing set where we hung Jiggly Puff. I had to draw a line in the dirt to keep the little devils behind so they wouldn’t get whacked by the kid that was swinging at the piñata. We don’t do the blindfold thing. Too scary! So all the kids had a crack at the thing but it wasn’t budging. Some of the boys tried to poke holes in it, but I said that was cheating and yelled “No poking the Pokemon!” Finally we enlisted Izzy’s teacher’s 13 year old daughter Bridjette, to break it open. It fell off the string but it still remained intact. Before everyone lunged for it I swooped in grabbed it, ripped open the bottom and showered the kids with candy.

Time for cake.


The kids at Izzy’s school sing “Happy birthday to you, cha cha cha…” and so on. It’s really cute. Everyone had a piece of cake and a cupcake.

With all the kids running on a full sugar high they ventured back out to the jumping castle. Unfortunately it began to rain.


Time to open presents.


I sat with Izzy trying to write down all the gifts for thank you notes. It felt like I was sitting in the middle of a beehive. The kids were swarming around Izzy and I trying to get as close as possible to see the gifts and to make sure everyone knew which gift was from whom. Of course Izzy raked it in with tons of Pokemon stuff, crafts and more. It’s almost shameful.

Little by little they began to leave. I painted Pokemon characters on the faces of the remaining few. Finally only three girls remained.


Time for a beer.

Suddenly, someone yelled “It’s snowing!” Which is crazy because we live in Tucson, Arizona in the desert. . . it almost never snows. But sure enough flakes were coming down. The girls threw on their coats and ran outside to try to eat snow flakes. So cool! Pretty soon they were all freezing so we put them in a warm bath. Rub a dub dub, three girls in a tub giggling with glee.


The last guests departed. It was pouring snow!

Kevin and Izzy were throwing snowballs at each other and I took pictures. It was glorious! Then we made a snowman, and a snowcat.

I looked up at the falling snowflakes and thanked God for such a magical day and for my wonderful family.


More pictures to come...

Friday, January 19, 2007


Me and Izzy

I've been relatively safe with my posts. Now I am at home, alone, wondering about life and my place in it. I feel I have a lot to offer the world yet I keep fallng short of expectations. The problem with this is my expectations seem to be lower than everyone elses or are they higher? I am happy being me and doing the best I think I can. Could I do better? Maybe. But would I be happy? Happier? I'm not sure. I have a good life. I am a mother. Am I a good mother? I try harder at that than anything else. But am I a good mother? Yes, I think so. I am not perfect. No, I will never be perfect at anything. I am not the pristine fabulous mother I have projected myself to be as in rants and confessions. She is my life. I do my best. Please understand, I am trying.
More Fabulous Reading

1 - Seth's Blog -
2 - Creating Passionate Users -
3 - Gaping Void -
4 - Duct Tape Marketing -
5 - Marketing Shift -
6 - Daily Fix - (my personal fave)
7- Converstations -
8 - Coolzor -
9 - The Viral Garden -
10 - New School of Network Marketing -
11 - Logic + Emotion -
12 - What's Next -
13 - Drew's Marketing Minute -
14 - Jaffe Juice -
15 - Brand Autopsy -
16 - Diva Marketing -
17 - Marketing Headhunter -
18 - Marketing Nirvana -
19 - Make Marketing History -
20 - Pro Hip-Hip - Hip-Hop Marketing -
21 - Church of the Customer -
22 - Experience Curve -
23 - Beyond Madison Avenue -
24 - Spare Change -
25 - Emergence Marketing -

Thursday, January 18, 2007


foofaraw \FOO-fuh-raw\, noun:1. Excessive or flashy ornamentation or decoration.2. A fuss over a matter of little importance. A somber, muted descending motif opens and closes the work, which is brief but effective. It provided much needed relief from the fanfares and foofaraw in which brass-going composers so often indulge.-- Philip Kennicott, "Brass Spectacular is a Spectacle of Special Sound", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 17, 1997 After working in the news business for a number of years, I've become a bit cynical about mass-media coverage of events like the Y2K foofaraw.-- Roy Clancy, "Ready for Y2K...", Calgary Sun, December 15, 1999 Making the Times best-seller list, or a movie, or all that other foofaraw is not necessarily proof of [a novel's] lasting significance.-- Roger K. Miller, "Peyton Place' was remarkably good bad novel", Minneapolis Star Tribune, December 29, 1996 Foofaraw is perhaps from Spanish fanfarrón, "a braggart." Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for foofaraw


http://www.spencerfinch.com/om/

It’s been a long time since I’ve discovered something that truly inspired me. When I look at Spencer Finch’s work I feel like a kid in art school again. I was obsessed with Jasper Johns, Mark Rothko, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp and many more of similar ilks. What Finch does with lighting, drawing and sculpture has a familiar thread. There’s humor but it’s still powerful and life changing.

A colleague at work sent me this link and she absolutely made my day. I love some of the critic’s comments on the Information page.

“As Finch is fascinated with the interaction of the physiological and the psychological aspects of perception, the way our inner world casts a veil over the outer, it makes sense that he would travel thousands of miles to make a work that explored the tiniest details of his hotel room.
excerpt from Charles LaBelle, Frieze pp. 66-69, May 2003”

or especially this one. . .

"He is unafraid to inhabit the paradox that art exists in the play between language and perception. What many artists and theorists find unbearable, literally, the ‘speaking against itself’ implied in para-doxa, is for Finch less something to escape than the very condition necessary for his art practice.
excerpt from Saul Anton, Artforum, pp. 124-127, April 2001"

I find that paradox irresistible! Escape? Embrace!

Don’t miss. . .

Sky (Over Roswell, NM, 5/5/00, dusk) 2000, 48" x 76", rhinestones and acrylic on aluminum panel; shape is based on the artist's field of vision.

It’s so dreamy!

And . . .

Avalanche (K2) 1998, 48" x 76", glass mosaic and acrylic on wood.

Exquisite!





Sky (Over Coney Island, November 26th, 2004, 12:47pm. Southwest view over the Cyclone.) 2004, balloons, helium and string. Installation at Miami Beach. Violet balloons inflated inside cobalt balloons to precisely match the color of the sky over Coney Island.

Brilliant!



Times Square Boogie Woogie (02/10/06 8pm) 2006, 4'x4', fluorescent lights, filters. Detail view. This piece replicates the artificial light in Times Square at night.

I’m mad with creative energy now!

Which current artists inspire you?

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Technorati Profile
Hello world. Here I come. I'm going to do this and I am starting today. So stay tuned for the musings of Influential Foofaraw