My mother, it seems, is dying. For those of you who know me, this is a very loaded sentence. Like, minefield loaded. Like, supersaturated solution loaded. Like, cruise ship buffet table loaded. No matter how you slice it, no matter which way you approach it, this is pretty much a raging river of emotions and […]
The silence and the fury.
This week has been a week like none other at Penn State. Our community has been rocked by the scandal of a sexual predator in our midst, and accusations of who knew what when. For someone who uses writing as a catharsis, I haven’t even attempted t…
Life and loss in 140 characters.
Steve Jobs died yesterday. We all knew it was coming, because a guy like him doesn’t step down from a job he loves without a struggle. He was an inspirational force of nature, and I took some time this morning to scroll through my twitter feed, watchi…
Remembering a decade.
It’s hard to believe we are coming up on ten years of a post-9/11 world. In some respects, it’s hard to remember a time before 9/11 when terrorism was a distant concept more relevant to the Middle East than the United States. It’s a bit like looking into the side mirror on your car: “Things […]
Dear Veolia.
Dear Veolia, This morning I received your joint suspension notice with the Office of Regional Refuse and Recycling Program. Non-payment of the outstanding balance was indeed an oversight, as I clearly missed that I needed to re-enroll for automatic bill pay. However, I would like to share with you the frustration of trying to pay […]
That’s code for something, right?
The QR Code: Up-and-coming, or flash-in-the-pan? It seems that manufacturers are anxious to try every new technology that comes along, and marketers are no better. Magazine ads are rife with those pixelated boxes. Business cards offer QR codes as a way…
Reluctant Pennsylvanian.
I have a love/hate relationship with Pennsylvania. I’ve lived here now over half my life, but I refuse to consider myself from the area. Ask me where I’m from and I’ll most likely tell you New York, though that’s really not full disclosure. While I was, in fact, born in New York City and lived […]
Out, out, damned spam.
Lately, this blog has been under a massive spam attack. I’ve been getting, on average, 24 – 36 spam comments a day — which means I also get 24 – 36 emails notifying me of spam comments in my inbox. This is a rant, and I know it’s a rant, but roll wi…
Stay creative.
29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.
This morning, @LaurenEBeal posted this video that struck home. I’ve been having some mental blockage with my blogging, and it is all piling up relentlessly. It also doesn’t help that I’ve been playing with…
I want you to know.
If you do nothing else today, I want you to spend five minutes of your time watching this PSA. Believe me, I’ll wait.
mel·a·no·ma/ˌmeləˈnōmə/Noun: A tumor of melanin-forming cells, typically a malignant tumor associated with skin cancer…
Crowdsourcing the obvious.
Personal branding is a tricky thing. You really need to understand your strengths. In my case, I like using humor, authenticity and a dash of quirkiness in my vision of personal branding. Still, despite best efforts, sometimes it’s just too tough to come up with new and innovative ways to describe what you bring to the table–especially […]