Should this concern me? Would @DisasterAlerts be following my tweets in the hopes of finding out about a disaster they could alert people to? Or am I perceived on twitter as one of those ghoulies that needs to know about disasters in realtime?
Either way, not so flattering.
Filed under absurdities, twitter
Every year for as long as I can remember my dad has always sent me flowers on Valentine’s Day. No matter where I lived, or with who, he always made sure that on February 14th my doorbell would ring and a beautiful bouquet of flowers would be delivered to remind me that I would always be his little girl.
As soon as my daughter was old enough to understand, she too, was the recipient of her Zaidie’s special Valentine’s flowers. Daughter #2 – my sister-in-law, was on his list as well. And of course he would never forget my mom. Simply put, there will always be flowers for all his girls.
This year the flowers came as I was running out to a meeting. I unwrapped them, looked at the card and called dad as soon as I could to thank him. I could not help but think how special this constant is. How the little things in life are the ones that form the memories you will never forget. Even though we know they will be coming, it is always so special to receive them.
This post could have been a Time to Cry (again) Thursday if the florist with the hearing problem did not add this humorous twist.
It was not until this morning as I was making coffee that I looked more closely at the card:
To my doctor who can do everything. Luv ya, Dad.
I can’t help but wonder if his doctor got flowers addressed to me.
Filed under absurdities, family, humor
Danny at 8 years-old, maybe
Scene: Sitting in a client meeting in the middle of an extremely busy (out of the basement) day.
Phone rings.
Quick glance and my son’s number comes up. I excuse myself for a moment and explain I am concerned as he rarely calls. Texts, sure, but call… this could be serious.
Me: Hey man, everything ok?
Danny: Yeh, sure.
Me: Wassup.
Danny: Just called to say Happy Valentine’s Day.
Time to Cry Tuesday… enough said.
Filed under danny, Time to Cry Tuesdays
Oh, and with my husband, of course. A man of brevity, Gary leaves me little notes on the kitchen counter if he leaves before I get up. (he is such a romantic).
I have been battling the plague some sort of sinus/respiratory thing this week and slept in this morning since I was up hacking half the night. I came downstairs to make a cup of tea and found this note on the counter.
Translation: Let the dog out and she did her business, gave her insulin and fed her.
It’s good to laugh first thing in the morning, thanks G.
I saw this in the book rack at the drug store while I was waiting for a prescription. The local shop owners don’t even flinch anymore when I whip out my camera.
Am I the only one who thinks this title is hysterical? It’s like the guy’s version of the book. I love the quote at the bottom:
“An absolute delight!”
Filed under absurdities, book review, carry a camera, humor
My daughter and her friends have finally hooked into twitter, and I LOVE it.
The other day I saw this tweet:
Since it is hard to read I will translate:
Chetley Has Been Compromised. There is a Situation!
Chetley would be her beloved teddy bear that I have reconstructed more than once in her lifetime. He has also been the target of similar ‘terrorist’ attacks by her campers when she was a counselor. I was a bit concerned when I saw the tweet so sent back a reply asking about his welfare.
This is what came next:
I could not see who was in the picture so I texted her to find out that it is The Situation from Jersey Shore, hence, ‘the situation’ in the first photo.
How can you not love these girls? Speaking of which (cough cough, shameless plug) if you did not get a chance to donate to the UW Dance Marathon that they are participating in, it is not too late. You can do so here.
Filed under college, conversations, humor, twitter
Just when you thought it was safe to be a living, breathing snowman in my neighborhood… Snowman Condom2. Last month the small one was featured here on i could cry and here she is again, with a friend… double protection if you will.
This family has to be the most committed to snowman preservation in the entire zip code; maybe even the state! I ran into the dad the other day after the big ice storm had coated the new big guy with a nice solid glaze. He seemed so happy in his confidence that it would take forever for this one to melt, while the little one was actually doing some modified version of the camel pose (that was for you yogamom) but still going strong.
When I woke this morning to the sound of rain against the window in my now virtually gutterless house, I had more than a pang of anxiety about the fate of those snowmen.
Sure enough when I went for my walk, there they were in all their condomized glory. And the big guy had that fabulous belt, to boot.
I can never give up this morning walk. Screw the heart-healthy benefit, there is way to much blog fodder to miss.
Filed under carry a camera
If you live in the northeast, you felt it over the past few days. That ice-glazed mountain of snow you call your yard shrunk down a few inches. Perhaps your gutters came crashing down as the ice dams that formed in them melted. You opened your coat, took off your gloves, gave the snow shovel the finger and smiled when you went outside for the first time in weeks.
You believed in that groundhog, dammit… this winter WILL end soon!
Let’s not get a false sense of security here. We will shift back into the frigid temps before the end of the week. But perhaps we should take a look at this little snow reprieve as a sign that we need to adjust our attitudes about this winter.
It will end. We WILL see our lawns again. The dogs will be able to relieve themselves in places other than the doody lanes that we have shoveled for them. We will garden, and picnic and yes we will actually feel sand between our toes.
And hey, before you know it we will be bitching about the steamy hot summer again.
Filed under humor, Time to Cry Tuesdays, weather
These neighbors have the absolute BEST garbage ever. They are the same ones who had the headless mannequin last week. I don’t know them but I am hoping to meet them soon. With such interesting garbage how can they not be interesting people?
Mel, of course, used the opportunity to view the artwork on her walk and add a little culture to her morning.
Filed under absurdities, carry a camera, garbage, photography
I know many of my readers’ eyes glaze over when I talk about social media. I try my best to put things into lay terms and help those of you who feel a bit overwhelmed with all this information make some sense of things.
I am not one to jump on the bandwagon of bashing a brand when they make a mistake. I believe it is counter-productive, fad-like and in my opinion the equivalent of being a mean girl in the world of public relations. Many will run to write about these things to boost their blog stats. That is surely not my intent. This is, however, a social media PR case study in the making and worth taking a look at.
Right now there is a serious situation arising on twitter surrounding a brand that is usually held in very high regard as being socially responsible. The brand is Kenneth Cole. In fairness to the great work they have done, let me first tell you that since 1985 they have been supporters of AIDS awareness and research as well as various other social issues. They created the Awearness Fund, a not-for-profit initiative that uses partnerships, merchandise, events and its blog to celebrate, encourage and empower acts of service volunteerism and social change. A full 100% of net proceeds of the Awearness products go toward the fund.
Now on to ‘the situation’.
In short, a hashtag or the # sign is used for a topic stream. People use it in a tweet and it is followed by those who are interested in that topic. In the case of natural disasters, it has helped get aid to those in need (think Ann Curry and Haiti). In the case of political uprisings it is sometimes the only way to mobilize and communicate. This is where Kenneth Cole came in with a huge fail today.
So far this has been their response to hundreds of tweets showing disgust with their poor taste.
This is a perfect example of a brand ‘hijacking’ a hashtag to promote itself. It is an equally perfect example why NOT to do this because it is not only in terrible taste; it forsakes the very foundation and principles of social responsibility. The very principles that this brand has spent 25+ years building upon.
This saddens me and reinforces what I constantly tell anyone who will listen my clients about the dangers of social media. There is much speculation in the industry right now as to whether this was a strategic decision or a newbie without a clue.
It matters not. The damage is done for now. Will the world stop buying Kenneth Cole products? I doubt it. People continued to buy Motrin after the MotrinMoms debacle and it merely became a social media fail case study like the rest.
My (albeit long-winded) point here is this; brands need to treat social media like PR on steroids. Once you let out a tweet, Pandora’s box opens and you can’t take it back. I find it hard to believe that a senior strategist had any idea about this stream. In fact, I don’t think even a mid-level brand person could possibly think this was a good idea. UPDATE: it has been determined that the tweet came from none other than Kenneth Cole, himself. This is a frightening lesson in why the CEO needs oversight. Read Todd Defren’s post with the hysterical title: In social media everyone can hear you fart.
Social media tools are just tools, how they are used makes all the difference between a great idea and a huge headache.
UPDATE 4PM: Kenneth Cole respondes on facebook. Is this enough or do the sharks continue to circle?
I apologize to everyone who was offended by my insensitive tweet about the situation in Egypt. I’ve dedicated my life to raising awareness about serious social issues, and in hindsight my attempt at humor regarding a nation liberating themselves against oppression was poorly timed and absolutely inappropriate.
Kenneth Cole, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer
Filed under conversations, current events, twitter
i could cry but i don't have time 