Life Is Like A Series of Meals!

Of all the things from which we learn the most, experience is our greatest of teachers! There are few times a lesson will make an impression to last a lifetime unless one has experienced that lesson being handed to them on a silver platter. The thing is, what you choose to do with each delicious serving is what makes the difference. Great leaders know this. I guess you could say that life is like a series of meals! Sometimes were served fast food, sometimes we have to hunt for food and sometimes were offered gourmet cuisine that sets our mouths watering and our hearts longing to savour every glorious tasty morsel passing across our hungry taste buds. Why do I liken experiential lessons to food? Because our reactions to both are quite similar! Have you ever been watching a fantastic movie with a bowl of popcorn at your side only to become suddenly aware the popcorn bowl is empty and you cant recall having eaten any? Thats right; you managed to shovel a whole bowl of popcorn down your throat while your focus was elsewhere. When were not focused on whats heading down the oesophageal passageway, we disregard that sustenance without even remembering weve chewed and swallowed. As with the popcorn, the delicious life lessons served us are changed by our focus. Sadly, focus is often based on what we DONT have rather than what is being served and we completely miss lessons carefully baked within the enchanting recipe. We notice the serving doesnt meet our expectation and we might even lament bitterly on the lack of care in which it is served. As we age, reality eventually teaches us that life hands us a lot of stuff, we are served challenges, struggles, loss and heartache. We are also served love, compassion, strength, honesty and friendship. Each of these servings is designed to shape and fashion us into the remarkable human being we are meant to become. The secret is in learning from those lessons and ensuring our focus is based upon what some call the silver lining. I like to call it the Buried Gift Within, mainly because its not always easy to find! Each and every experience tossed into our path or handed our way, (no matter how difficult, heartbreaking or painful), has a gift buried within. Some might argue about there being a hidden gift, but hindsight tells me my direction and my place in life is shaped and formed into me by each experience and my reaction to those experiences. I also want you to know that life isnt always easy. I share personal experiences with clients when I feel it applicable to presenting a different way of thinking, and they will tell you - Ive had some tough moments just like everyone else; moments tough to chew and harder to swallow. The true secret is what I learned from each moment. I dont want life handing me a bowl of popcorn I carelessly shove down my throat without recollection of having tasted it! I want to become passionately aware of each morsel and flavour, the salt butter and corn all melded together combined with a smell permeating the room such that popcorn in a bowl becomes an experience, otherwise why waste my time eating it? That which we focus on, we intensify! I have suffered loss and there is always something to come from that loss, be it a lesson left, a behaviour changed or a gift of anothers experience from which I can draw. All great leaders understand this focus. Exceptional leaders know how to look for the Buried Gift Within. With employees, balance sheets, personal strife, company changes, family challenges, and much more. Exceptional leaders savour and taste every single morsel and then experience the lesson bringing it forward into many more situations. What makes them exceptional is they share those lessons with others and, most importantly, they model and teach others how to discover the Buried Gift Within! Strategic Sense is a Leadership Development, Plans of Action and Facilitation organization who’s mission is to change the world for leaders and their employees everywhere. We believe each individual comes with their own unique talents and skills that can be enhanced and utilized to help them become the very best leaders only they can be. Contact: So many options… we’re here to accomodate you! Subscribe Here! Find us onTwitter! Find us on Facebook! Let us know you Digg us! Do you find us Delicious?

Do you remember silly, inconsequential things from decades ago?

I remember the man who sold me my very first car, an 1965 Oldsmobile F85. I bought it from Richard Cremeans in 1972! Why should I remember that silly fact? I only saw the man once in my life when my mom took me to buy the car that he recommended--I wanted a VW Bug and mom said they were unsafe and she wouldn't cosign on that--and I don't even remember what he looked or sounded like. But I remember his name for some reason. My middle school principal had a wart on his nose, his name was Mr. Frieze (freeze). He looked like penguin. All sorts of silly stuff like this... Do you have useless knowledge floating around in your head? And yet you may not even remember the name of your best friend's boy/girlfriend in high school? Weird, isn't it? What kind of silly things to you remember? P.S. Richard Cremeans was known by his nickname beginning with a D--in fact, his parents may even have named him

a big cup of STFU please?

How many times can you beat a dead horse? Apparently, every quarter if that horse is the PR is dead meme.Well, this time it's more a slow build kicking of the horse: the recent meme started with the launch of Cuil, and Robert Scoble not being pre-briefed. There, he decided that he's done with the PR game.Robert fed the fire with his recent post highlighting a company that he found through word of mouth - albeit a company that is not a mass consumer product, and likely will do okay with little PR.It bubbled up in other posts - from Steve Rubel (who seems to forget that he's in PR and collects a pay-check at the world's largest independent PR firm), from TechCrunch, from Mashable. All people that have and continue to profit from PR people and PR firm relationships, with scoops and sneak previews. Here's the usual TechMeme crowd putting their voices into the one-way conversation.A more balanced POV came from ReadWriteWeb - the pro's and con's of what is happening in PR.So, here's my .02 - there's nothing new here. There's nothing new being said, just the same things every year (or is it every quarter now?).I have written in the past that we need to train and educate. It's simple, and yet the firms aren't fully embracing it.And, Ryost made the most pointed comment on Twitter to my first eye-roll on the situation: PR will become more valuable as newsrooms continue to shrink.The fact is that social media is ONE part of public relations. A SMALL part, if you are a good PR person or firm. The other parts are traditional media (while it might be shrinking, it still reaches that middle part of the country), analyst relations, events, and more.PR is about relationships. It's about relationships so much that Lowe's went to Abraham Harrison for it's recent project because of its relationships with people at Lowe and because of their relationships with bloggers. See - it's about relationships.It's also about writing, about talking, about conveying a story. But, without those relationships, there's nothing there. And, unfortunately, with the industry's reliance on technology - let's email, let's launch a blog, let's get Twitter, let's do this and that ... well, you're failing in PR.As my friend Andy Abramson (and, full disclosure, my firm) notes, it's BAM now: Bloggers, Analysts, Media. You need to have the right mix for the right story, and it's never one size fits all. Go and try to do local PR and see how far the social media only strategy works.Social media is just a tool in the PR mix. And, it's just a good tool in the mix for certain clients and brands. For technology and consumer technology, it's great. For consumer goods, it's great. But, it's NOT the only thing. The PR bloggers - on some level - have become so enamored with the tools, that they are unable to take a step back but have become lost in their reflection like Narcissus.But with the current posts - just concentrating on technology only - even the companies with no PR are not going to survive. You need to be able to tell a story, have trained executives that know what and what not to say in public, you need to have a plan.The thing is - it's not just PR people that need to educate. It's bloggers and social media people. There are certain social norms that are kept in the norm, but seem to be ignored and broken in social media.Now, I'm not talking about the embargo fiasco with Jeff Pulver; the PR person there should have not sent out a mass email, should have sent individualized outreach, and just asked the simple "do you do embargoes" without all the news.I'm talking about being invited to press conferences or events. That invitation means that you are getting special insight - and by blogging guesses on what it is, just to be ahead of the curve - provides no real value to the readership, but is just guessing and hurts the press conference because the PR firm is inundated with people that want to be included in the press conference.There goes that exclusivity and news hook.So, here's my simple rules for public relations professionals.1. Develop relationships. If you are a PR person - at any level - and cannot call up a reporter (not email, but pick up the damn phone) and set up a lunch to talk ... the you are not providing value. From the AAE to the SVP, you need to have relationships. If push comes to shove on a client deadline, everyone should pick up the phone and pitch and land a meeting. If the SVP is so detached from the media and client, what value is there?2. Read. Not just blogs, but media. Traditional, social, new - be on a steady diet of media, so you think beyond today's news and come up with trend pieces and stories.3. Think beyond today. It's not a race, it's a marathon. It's the long term strategies that work, not the panic. A good PR person never sweats, never panics but is calm.4. For the PR bloggers that are calling for PR to be dead - if you believe that the industry needs to change, go to your local college and teach a session or two. Mentor students that email you - if memory serves, I have responded to and helped every college student that has written to me (War Eagle, my favorite PITAs) - both in the US and internationally. Instead of bitching about the state of PR, go do something.I'm not prone to think PR is dead or dying. I do believe there are issues, but also talk to junior staff, help out when I get bad pitches (hey, I get them a lot and respond back to them), and try to help out for the most part. Instead of just talk, walk a little.

video recording, faster browser

Filed under: OS Updates, Google, Open Source, AndroidAs if the G1 wasn't slick enough already, Google's latest update is packing tons of new features for both end users and developers that will make it an even stronger competitor for the iPhone.Version 1.5 introduces two key features that users were clamoring for: softkeys and accelerometer support for switching display between landscape and portrait modes. Another major introduction is the ability to record video and upload directly to YouTube. Likewise, photos can now be quickly shared via Picasa.The Webkit-based browser has been turbocharged and now features a tabbed bookmarks and history page, in-page search, and copy/paste. Enhancements for YouTube video playback have also been added as has full Bluetooth stereo support. Android's Linux kernel has been updated to version 2.6.27, and OS 1.5 also boasts many API additions for developers like secure widgets, location awareness, text prediction, and speech recognition.More details about the 1.5 update can be found on the Android SDK site.

Happy Valentine's Day

I don't write about product launches much anymore - well, never anymore - but this was just too good to pass up, especially since today is Valentine's Day. M&M's had come out with Green M&M's for Valentine's Day.I didn't see any PR on the launch, and had to search for the press release (look, they did an SMR - and it didn't seem to do anything for them!) - but I did come across a POP set-up at Walgreen's, where I clicked the photo in this piece.Despite the seemingly lack of PR on this (and, I watch enough TV, read one print and at least 2 online papers a day, that I am sure I would have caught something), the product did bring out old memories from when I was in the 5th grade.And, being sick this week, I dreamt of the school (being sick brings out old memories and dreams for me).In the fifth grade, my best friend (Ezra Bookstein) and I decided to go along with the urban legend of Green M&Ms, and start a horny collection of candy. Did we believe in the aphrodisiac properties of the M&Ms? Not sure, but come on, we were stupid kids. So, we had a lucite box, and we started filling it with green M&Ms, and then expanded it to other green candy, such as gummi bears and Now & Laters.This went on for a few months, and the girls took notice of it, so decided to start their own corollary, the hot collection. Same idea, but since they were hot, it was all in red. I am pretty sure that Selma Beitner (aka Selma Blair) came up with the idea.So, pretty much two groups of students at a school with a lot of time on their hands, disposable income for candy, and sweet tooths. I also learned about Greek history that year (thanks Mrs. Levy!) and how to write well (thanks Mrs. Levy!) and about orchids (thanks Mrs. Levy!) and about my namesake (thanks Mrs. Berris). Yes, I went to a small school.Seeing the green M&Ms, though, brought back these memories - and it's a smart move to tap into nostalgia for products. It's why Transformers worked well as a movie, why there's talk about other 70's and 80's properties being made as movies ... or being re-released for my generation's own children. And, yes, I bought a few packs.The three things I wanted to say about this post: first, the SMR doesn't work, or this would have had more coverage. A better written release, smart outreach, better PR would have done more. Second, yes, I went to school with Selma Blair, but haven't spoken to her in about 20 years. Third, hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

netbook processors compete

You know the drill: the Atom is the king of all netbooks, with a domain stretching as far as the eye can see. But, upstarts like the Via Nano and AMD's Athlon Neo are encroaching on Intel's domain, and Crave took the time to pit examples of the three against each other in a series of benchmarks to see which should rule the land. Rather sadly for us, each of the three tests had a different winner, with the Atom N280 excelling in multi-tasking, the Nano U2250 best for iTunes encoding, and the Neo MV-40 quickest under a Jalbum-based benchmark. So you know what that means: everyone gets a prize, nobody has to go home crying, and you should just go ahead and buy whichever netbook you like best already.Update: It's actually unclear which proc won which test, as the table at the source shows one thing, but the text swaps the Neo and Nano around. But, again, there's not much between these three.

Did you ever tear your ex's photos?

I just ended a serious relationship with the guy I really liked. It's been 5 or 6 years and it's sad. And I feel like even more painful if I go into details. Yesterday, I sold the computer he gave me and tore his photos, letters he wrote to me and got rid of other stuff he gave me as gifts. I have to make a confession that it does not feel all better. But,,, I think it is a startover for my future life without him. So I am moving on...

Default directory

Hi Tim, The wizard included in the WCSF creates a folder in the website for each of the modules. Unfortunately it does not support creating this folder in any other location but the root of the website solution. In order achieve what you are looking for, you will need to modify the Guidance Package. You might find useful the following article in the documentation: Modifying the Guidance Package Take into account that it might not be easy to customize the Guidance Package, but it can be done after understanding how it works. The source code of the WCSF can be obtained after running an installer that comes with the downloaded factory. Perhaps the following thread, in which Michael Puleio (p&p Dev Lead), explains how to customize the Guidance Package could be useful for you: · How do i customise WCSF to remove presenter layer Below you can find a link to the GAT/GAX site, one of the main things you will need to understand and a requirement to customize the Guidance Package: · Guidance Automation Extensions and Guidance Automation Toolkit Please let me know if this helps. Hope it helps!

A Late Dinner at The Publican.

A sad but true story: My friend Lara and I lost touch when we went away to college. We had spent high school sitting a few seats away from each other in more subjects than Im capable of remembering (I think we were in at least one Global Studies, almost all of our Spanish courses, perhaps every English class&) but I did such a terrible job at maintaining a long-distance friendship that our level of camaraderie dwindled because of it. Heres the happy ending though: an e-correspondence has popped up between us. Since Laras finishing up with her Ph.D at the University of Chicago, the moment I knew I was going to be in town I immediately sent her a message detailing our plans. We decided to meet up for a tour at the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Robie House on the universitys campus in Hyde Park and then spend some time catching up before getting to our reservations at The Publican. The Publican is the newest eatery from the team behind Avec and Blackbird, but unlike its predecessors, the focus at this restaurant is on beer. Had I been drinking that night, I would have started with the Cane + Ebel red rye from Illinoiss own Two Brothers Brewing Company, before moving on to Goose Islands Pere Jacques, a Belgian-style ale. After all, when in Chicago, right? Massachusetts law makes it tricky for breweries and vineyards to ship product in; the selection at liquor stores can be very limited, so when we travel Keith and I try to take advantage of locally-made drinks. When we walked in the restaurants doors, the first thing I noticed was the noise. The dining room is big and cavernous; sound bounces around the space like a superball. The second thing I that caught my eye was the space itself. For one thing, the ceiling is ridiculously high, and from it hangs countless globe-shaped light fixtures. For another, like at Avec, a majority of the tables are set up family-style; the rest are shuttered away behind mini barn-like doors. (You can see them in this picture here, which is from the Publicans site.) I was happy to learn that our table was one of the sealed-off; not only did we get a little bit of privacy — the wooden walls are came up past my shoulders, when I was seated — but the three of us were able to have a conversation without shouting at each other, which is always nice. The Publican is similar to Avec in one more way: the menu encourages sharing. Our server informed us that three small plates and two larger ones would be more than enough for our little group, so we had a caucus and decided on our choices. Since we said we were okay with our selections arriving as soon as they were ready, our dinner started with frites ($5.00). If it were up to me, all meals would begin with frites, so I was thrilled to see them blooming out of a paper cone like a golden bouquet. I wasnt disappointed by the fries — they were so warm they all but melted, and the garlicky mayonnaise we requested went fantastically with the crispy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside frites. Lucky for Lara and Keith, a member of staff placed the cone on the opposite end of our gated table from where I was seated. Otherwise, it would have been very likely that I wouldnt have shared a single stick. The second plate we received over our barn door was pork belly atop a pool of black-eyed peas and pickled shallots ($16.00). Lara had never had pork belly before; once we learned this, Keith and I both insisted upon ordering it (though, to be fair, chances are I probably wouldve demanded the belly regardless). As I watched Lara have her first bite of belly, I realized how badly I wanted her to love it as much as I do. In my mind, belly of pork is as close as you can get to heaven — while eating, anyway. I love its tender texture, and the finger of fat that covers the meat is my absolute favorite part of each bite. My mouth is watering now, many meals later. Another plate that we three agrees on was the boudin blanc ($15.00), much to my absolute delight. I love hot dogs and think of sausages as their chicer, equally lovable older sisters, so the thought of passing the boudin up was a devastating one. Boudin blanc is white since the sausage is made without blood; this one was served atop a small pile of apple and celeriac. Orange-infused mustard had been drizzled over it all, resulting in something fantastic. Each bite was a bit tangy and a somewhat nutty and, as with the frites, I did not want to share at all. I did, albeit reluctantly. I still regret it. Im just now starting to realize how pigcentric our meal was, especially now that the time has come to discuss the next dish: pork ribs with polenta and a helping of caraway-mint slaw ($20.00). The ribs were sweet and lovely, and the polenta crisp, but what really got my attention was the minted slaw. I had never known that I liked slaw until I had the Publicans version; it had the perfect amount of mint essence. Sometimes — well, more like oftentimes — I find mint to be one of the most overpowering of aromatic herbs, beating down into submission whatever other flavors might be present. That was definitely not the case here. The ribs, briefly, were sweet and meaty, and devoured almost instantaneously. The three of us wanted to make sure we ordered some sort of vegetable-focused dish, particularly since we knew we had one more porky plate coming our way. Once I saw the sunchoke sformato ($6.00) with pancetta and dill vinaigrette on the menu, I knew which vegetable I would be voting for. I had tried sunchokes for the first time last spring in Maine and had loved their crunchy sweetness; I wanted to taste that flavor again. Not only wasnt I disappointed with the sunchokes, but a small piece of me totally fell in love with the sformato. Creamy and milky, it added a lush sort of luxury to the earthy vegetables. Our last plate, a potée, was another meatastic dish, though it didnt revolve completely around the axis of pork, as it featured a veal cut. The Publicans potée was made out of a minced-meat crépinette, a sizable piece of pork tenderloin and a veal breast ($25.00); the three cuts had been simmered with vegetables, and was similar in feeling to a pot-au-feu. I think of both dishes as comforting, cold-weather food, the sort that is meant to heat you from the inside out — which ultimately, for me, made the potée perfect Chicago food. No frosty breeze would be able to blow me over, not with this warming my belly. In fact, when we left the Publican, the temperature had dropped even further, something that made a perverse sort of sense as we were amongst the last of the patrons to gather our coats and slip reluctantly out into the cold. The truth of the matter is this: I had forgotten about the chilly air outside, and the iced-over puddles lacing the street. All that was on my mind that night was the food, the company and the conversation, and how the combination of it all filled me with a toasty glow that stood up to an arctic Chicago evening.

To Make Our Lives Easier

After messing around with the Internet, I came across a few definitions for Folksonomy. Miss M's definition is very similar to mine, which states that it can be open to interpretation. Having all kinds of information layed out in your own personal way sounds kind of sweet. The interesting thing about such a lay out is the lack of relationship between the content. I found myself confused for a few minutes because of it. I'm so used to having information related to each other with a parent-child relationship that I was thrown off by the new interface. A very interesting feature are the tags. Tags connect similar URL's to one another. This can be extremely useful when looking for odd information on a specific subject. Imagine a time when you are in dire need for inspiration. You would be able to type in a word and get all kinds of crazy links for that particular subject. The beauty of tags is the possibilities one can have of accessing information one never knew existed. From a business perspective, Folksonomy can be a huge advantage. Businesses are always on the lookout for new niches and segments to expore (exploit). If businesses make too many guesses, they will be prone to losing large amounts of money. Businesses can learn to use their money in a more efficient way by listening to the consumer, and the best way is through programs like Flickr and Del.icio.us. With the use of these programs, businesses can look "into" the mind of the consumer to find out what they really crave. With such personal information, businesses can not only save money by smartly investing in the right products but they can also be upto date with their customers. Finally, I agree with Chris in that this is just a taste of the future. The ease and proficiency of Folksonomies make it much more appealing for users. It's a known fact that people are lazy and ADD stricken therefore they will have an easier time with simple tasks. I agree that Folksonomies are a glimpse of the future. The future is now.

What's In A Blog Name?

I've been thinking, lately, about the name of this blog.When the blog began, it was a travelogue; the name "pretty blue salwar" came, in part, from an idea expressed in Madhur Jaffrey's Climbing the Mango Trees:Kamal returned with suitcases full of fashionable gifts for all of us. I received a pair of pedal pushers and a black-and-white-striped T-shirt that practically became my uniform. She also presented me with a light tartan shawl and a sterling silver charm bracelet with the Eiffel Tower dangling from it. [...] I had yet to see the rest of the world, but, already armed with a pair of pedal pushers, the charm bracelet, and the Coke, I felt that phase of my life had to be just around the corner. (Jaffrey 237, 240)I had yet to see the rest of the world, but, armed with a blue salwar I bought on eBay...Now the name is no longer representative of the purpose of the blog. Not, perhaps, that the blog has a purpose. I still stand by my post-trip statement that I will continue blogging because "life is a continuous travelogue" (and, of course, because I enjoy blogging and enjoy meeting new people via blogging). But, even if my blog is about life-experienced-as-journey, it isn't, anymore, about a pretty blue salwar.The other drawback of the blog's current name is that, every once in a while, it draws people who aren't aware of its original purpose and who see these random posts by a white woman in a salwar and then tell me what a horrible person I am for exotifying Indian clothing.It seems at this point I have three options:1. Keep the blog's name as it is; possibly put something on the "About Me" section explaining the title.2. Change the name of the blog, but keep the "prettybluesalwar.blogspot.com" URL.3. Start an entirely new blog with a new name: Blue Ink, Bluewords, BlueBlog, Blue's Clues, etc.The problem with the last option is that I would seem to lose all of the relationships I had built since I started blogging. At the least, I would lose my Technorati ranking (which isn't that big to begin with, but...). On the other hand, people who are currently following this blog could easily switch their bookmark or RSS to its new URL/feed. I wouldn't change my handle, and would continue to post on all of your blogs as Blue.It would be... like moving to a new house, and sending round a forwarding address.What do you think? Should I move away from the salwar association and start a new blog under a less contentious name? Or is the salwar still pretty enough to wear, even though I'm no longer a world traveler?

Anita and Flo Take Mike's 4 Parks In 1 Day Challenge: The Results

NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED As you'll recall from an earlier blog, my best friend and partner in crime Flo Tographer and I read about Mike Scopa's 4 parks/1 day Challenge and decided to accept that challenge. What follows is a true and accurate account of our Challenge adventures. No columnists were harmed during the course of the Challenge -- well, Flo had a cold and got a small blister and I caught said cold at the end of the day, but we soldiered on anyway. The Date: Saturday, May 10, 2008. Weather Conditions: Unseasonably warm (mid-90's,) sunny and humid, but luckily also very windy. The humidity dissipated by noon, thank goodness. Clothing of Choice: Very light, sleeveless cotton blouses; cotton shorts, sunglasses. I wore an Animal Kingdom Villas freebee hat, sacrificing beauty for comfort. Hat Hair! Footwear of Choice: Flo chose Naot sandals, I chose Disney Crocs with low profile moisture-wicking runner's socks. Minnie Answer would have died of shame at the sight of this, but she wasn't there now, was she? Transportation of Choice: Rental car: Dodge Avenger. We thought it should have come with a cape and its own theme song. Stuff We Schlepped: A small notebook, two pens, small digital camera, car keys, cell phones, an extra pair of glasses for me. Flo had a small wallet, and I had a lanyard for my pass, money, hotel key, etc. If it didn't fit in a pocket, it didn't go. The plan was to be able to use the Guests Without Bags entrance at each park and skip the long, time-munching security bag check. Predicted Crowd Levels: On the high side of Moderate. Actual Crowd Levels: With the exception of two attractions to be named later, the crowd levels were actually on the high side of Low; a pleasant surprise. Things We Researched and took into account before deciding what to ride and in what order: Location of the ride; popularity; availability of Fastpass or Single Rider lines, duration of pre-show; duration of ride or show; slow or fast loading/unloading; likelihood of it going 101 and how long it takes to reset afterwards, and a million other variables we know from experience. RISE AND SHINE...OR NOT Pre-Challenge Early Morning -- The Plan: Get up at 6 am (there's a 6 in the morning?? Who knew?) Eat breakfast in our villa, dress, leave for park #1 (Animal Kingdom) to arrive at 7:30 am. Pre-Challenge Early Morning--What Actually Happened: I set the alarm for 6 am the night before... and unfortunately, I forgot to turn it on. Luckily I awoke at 6:15, so we were already a little bit behind schedule, but not much. Best laid plans, yada yada, etc. So anyway, I fixed and ate breakfast while Flo got ready, and vice versa. We left Old Key West at approximately 7:30 am. LET'S DO THIS THING!!