I’m giving a talk tomorrow about Blogs, Podcasting and RSS. I’m speaking to the MN Women in Communications organization. Here’s the info.
I’m actually really excited to be sharing this topic, one that I’m very passionate about, with a group of people that want to utilize these tools in their work. I’ll be talking about the context of social media and why it brings these delivery mechanisms (blogs and podcasts) to the fore in terms of their power and effectiveness.
I got to do another photo shoot yesterday with some super cool soon-to-be rockstars. The Skullcranes will rock your world. Check out this preview from the shoot.
white trash parking lot
This Saturday was my neighborhood garage sale. I know lots of neighborhoods get together and have multi-family gargage sales and such, but this one must be seen to be believed. It’s organized too! We sign up to be part of the sales, pay the Scouts our $8.50, and we get a listing and maps for the day of the sale. YES, maps. It’s big. Most people that have never experienced can’t quite believe it. It’s fun, but exhausting. I think I might be fully recovered by Monday morning.
People milling about at the sale.
More people milling about
This is one of over 300 sales. We’ve all got alot of junk in our houses! But one man’s junk is another’s treasure…..
Jonah loves fries just like daddy!
Our friend Jonah came over to help. He’s enjoying his lunch. mmmmmmm fries
Here’s Jonah with his pretty mommy. At this point I think Jonah’s dad was trying to get people to take the rest of the ‘rummage’ for a buck a bag. Price things to go!
Thomas and I got a chance to step away from our sale. He’s just taking it all in here.
I found something out yesterday that i want people to know. Garrick told me about it. It’s pretty upsetting actually. MPR just finished another fund drive. They do that often to get money to run the station. I contribute to them. I’ve always felt it was a valuable resource. I was not in agreement with the recent big spend to build a big building. I’m somebody that works from home. I believe that things can be distributed and cost less. I got a fundraising call for the new building and I explained that I already gave a significant amount monthly and I didn’t think they should be building the new space. OR at least felt that enough viable options, meaning distributed options were not considered. I mean, why not set Mary Lucia up with a microphone from the comfort of her own home…..
i digress because that’s not what I found out yesterday……..
Garrick pointed me to Tod Maffin’s blog post.
Apparently some of that money that they needed to fund raise is going to the laywers. This is not how I want this money being spent. Al Gore started a TV station last year and it’s called Current. MPR is suing because that radio station that plays cool music is called The Current.
As if ‘current’ is something that PUBLIC radio owns or even could own. It’s public radio. It’s supposed to be for me. I mean, I’m paying for it. This is so disheartening. Only laywers win when people sue. This is not good public behavior. Doesn’t public mean things like participate, share, not sue for stupid things……
All I can say is i’m not happy and my contribution to this is definitely in jeopardy. My husband and I are going to try and be fair. We’ll write a letter, try to get both sides of the story, but if we are not satisfied with the response, we will show our disapproval via a donation withdrawal. At least I feel like I can do something. People need to be called when they behave unacceptably. I don’t think it’s MPR’s place to ‘protect its intellectual property’ of a word. I get all the stuff about brand. I worked at a global ad agency. I still don’t think this is ok.
Already a month of the year 2006 is gone. It’s February now. So far I’ve been to California and Colorado this year. I’ve gotten some pretty good work done too. I’m happy with the way things are going.
It’s been alarming how nice the weather has been in Minnesota. I mean it was the same temperature in CA as in MN during January, I was in both places and at different times of the day it was hard to tell the difference? Shouldn’t we all be a little bit concerned about that.?!
I got the funniest spam in the email today. It just made me pay attention and then laugh.
that they have winter here too. I was pretty excited to go to California on a work trip in January. I mean getting out of the midwest is usually considered a very good thing. It’s not cold here, but it’s rainy and cloudy. It’s winter here too. It’s more of a bummer than you might think.
However, it’s definitely helped me reaffirm that I really like where I live. Minnesota is pretty great. I don’t mind weather. I would actually really miss it. And I do have a chance of seeing the sun more frequently during those long, cold, winter months. And I’m pretty sure, I won’t have to worry about the ground underneath me in Minnesota. Although there was an earthquake in Morris, MN. (where I went to school, but not WHEN I went to school)
“It’s all about the level of risk you are willing to live with….” said a friend. I agree with that. I’m willing to live with the outside chance of a random tornado that I’ve been warned about well in advance or a nasty thunderstorm dropping some big branches on my house as opposed to the things I’d be constantly worried about if I lived in California. We all make choices. That’s my choice and I’m stickin to it.
It’s really cold here in Minnesota. It should be cold this time of year. It’s the change of the season. I always marvel at the very real and very visceral experience of winter in Minnesota. It’s the same in South Dakota where I grew up. Sometimes I think its actually a bit worse in South Dakota because of all those sprawling praries. Really is nowhere to hide.
This is also the time of year when the people that live here ask themselves the question, ‘why do i live here…..’.
I live here because I like it when the seasons change. I’m also used to it. I grew up with this weather. It’s also the lesser of the other evils for me. I have the luxury of being a bit less concerned about natural disasters such as oceans flooding me or earthquakes. I’m also pretty removed from forest fire concerns. The only scary natural weather here are the tornadoes and I can deal with tornadoes. I have a basement and I live in the city. This makes me pretty insulated from all of these various nature issues. All except that one that makes me wonder why I live here. Winter.
I think the real answer to the question is that every year around late March/early April it’s the most ecstatic amazing thrill when the snow begins to melt and that first warm spring day comes and you go outside in shorts in weather that is too cold for shorts. Usually it’s the first 40 degree day. You might even drive around with your car windows down. Spring just isn’t as sweet if you haven’t been hiding inside for the past several months. That’s why I love it. The pure joy that comes in the spring is worth all the rest of it.
And as December begins and we hunker down for the next few months laying low and trying to stay warm and dreaming of that first day, that first warm day.
Sometimes you actually witness karma in front of your eyes. It’s amazing when that happens. I saw it the other day on my way to the pharmacy. I was driving down Hennepin away from downtown and toward uptown. Several cars were stopped at a red light and this very erratic driver came up buzzing like a bee to get in front. I drove at a steady pace. She was so intent on going fast. There was this urgency that made her dangerous. The car intermittently got in front of me and behind me. We were both, it seemed, headed toward the same destination. She kept weaving and changing lanes to get ahead. She had to get ahead. But it would just get her behind. Meanwhile she was blathering away on her phone and causing havoc. She was a danger to others, but that didn’t seem to phase her. I was getting upset.
(Sidenote for Context: My father was killed in a car accident so I’m particularly indignant when people drive in a way that could negatively affect other human beings. Carelessness in driving is not something I appreciate.)
As it turned out we were going to the same place. I went to Walgreen’s. She had turned off ahead of me. I went into the pharmacy and picked up my medication. I turned around and crazy driving cell phone girl was standing behind me. She was waiting. She was waiting impatiently and she was clutching her cell phone. She had no idea I’d been watching her and observing her and using her behavior to tell an amusing story about her. I have no idea who she is. It’s all just what you see when you observe.
And then I thought, there it is, Karma. Don’t see that too often.
So many great radio moments happened this week on the Current.
Mary Lucia playing FogHat and then throwing it in our faces. She talked about how great it was that she could DO that. She wanted people to pledge and I know at least one friend of mine that did just because of that. I’m pretty sure she made her point with a few others too.
And then, the last day, the last moments before the drive ended, the web site crashed because so many people were trying to get in and bring it home to meet the goal. It was the same on the other stations, I was flipping between the channels. I love MPR and the drama at the end when they are so close is really good radio.
So on the current, they said ‘we think we made it, this is huge, it’s gigantic….” and then started playing Gigantic by the Pixies. And I have to be honest, I was driving to the store in my Saturn wagon and I just turned it up really loud and celebrated. I LOVE the fact that this community can support MPR. We are so freakin lucky that we live amongst like-minded people that will band together and make it happen.
I personally want to thank everyone who is a member and is doing as much as they can. I’m doing my part, but it wouldn’t matter without everyone else doing the same. Thanks fellow citizens. 
The city is always so pretty when it’s wet.
