The Master and Margarita
Posted on | July 19, 2010 | No Comments
By Mikhail Bulgakov
A word to the wise: If you’re reading book reviews, I’m going to guess you are a smart person – someone who likes to read books. And if you’re single, you’re probably on the lookout for someone about as smart as you are, if not more so. But have you ever noticed that sometimes even the smartest people end up dating unabashed word-hating brain-rotting tube-droning bore-ons?
There’s a cure for that – go to the smart person’s facebook page. Look up their favorite book. Come back here and http://www.powells.com/?p_hp_tx&PID=35234 (use this link so I can get credit for my awesome advice) or . . okay, go to the library if you’re cheap ( but don’t expect any more advice). In any case, get those books. especially the first one listed.
Next, read the books, or at least carry them around. If they are brand new, rough them up a little. Now – bump into Mr. Smartypants. Accidentally drop book. Hear him say “Hey, that’s one of my favorite books!” Act surprised.
You don’t have access to his Facebook page? Then read The Master and Margarita. For some reason, the Devil + Russian artists + giant black cats really seems to be the literary ticket to smart dating.
What should I read?
Posted on | July 18, 2010 | No Comments
Don’t let the authoritative nature of the blog fool you – I am always open to suggestions regarding what I should read. If you suggest a book, and I like it, then I’ll review it here – or maybe let you do a guest post (if you ask nicely)
So tell me forum: What books should I be reading?
The Scarlet Letter
Posted on | July 17, 2010 | 2 Comments
If it were written today we’d call it “The Racy Letter”
Alright, alright, I’m sure 90% of you read this in high school, and the 10% of you that didn’t consider yourself lucky. But it’s American classic – and if you read closely, it’s filled with scintillating details your sophomore English teacher probably failed to point out. For instance, take this paragraph:
The stigma gone, Hester heaved a long, deep sigh, in which the burden of shame and anguish departed from her spirit. O exquisite relief! She had not known the weight, until she felt the freedom! by another impulse, she took off the formal cap that confined her hair; and down it fell upon her shoulder, dark and rich, with at once a shadow and a light in its abundance, and imparting the charm of softness to her features. There played around her mouth, and beamed out of her eyes, a radiant and tender smile, that seemed gushing from the very heart of woman hood. A crimson flush was glowing on her cheek, that had been long so pale. Her sex, her youth, and the whole richness of her beauty, came back from what men call the irrevocable past, and clustered themselves, with her maiden hope, and a happiness before unknown, within the magic circle of this hour. And, as if the good of the earth and sky had been but the effluence of these tow mortal hearts, it vanished with their sorrow. All at once, as with a sudden smile of heaven, forth burst the sunshine, pouring a very flood into the obscure forest, gladdening each green leaf, transmuting the yellow fallen ones to gold, and gleaming adown the gray trunks of the solemn trees. The objects that had made a shadow hitherto, embodied the brightness now. The course of the little brook might be traced by its merry gleam afar into the wood’s heart of mystery, which had become a mystery of joy.
Crimson flush? bursting sunlight? Someone ought to tell the Pastor to keep his little brook in his pants.
This time period is endlessly useful for term papers and research papers. Consider comparing the depiction of the time to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, or delve into the work of John Demos to put the events in context.
For a no-shame A, I recommend the Nortan critical edition. It comes with critical papers in the back – so you don’t have to back to school library.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Posted on | July 14, 2010 | No Comments
It’s easy to see why Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is deliciously readable. Though neither of the main characters are super heros or special agents, Chabon keeps the pages packed with action and a definite sense of adventure for the boys as they manage sudden success, awkward dating situations, and the pain of losing family during the holocaust.
The book has a deep sense of metaphor throughout, but never gives in poetic abstraction. It’s the type of book you could read when you’re looking for something a little light, and then tackle again if you want to find a deeper meaning in the character’s desire to escape their current situations. The premise of the book fully exults genre fiction and comic books, but I think even those of us who eschew these forms will find the story enjoyable.
The only criticism that I have is that at certain points in the novel, Chabon either takes us into the narrative of the comic books themselves, or jumps forward chronologically and forces the reader to reorient themselves in the world of characters. The comic book sections are perhaps the most interesting and fantastic of the whole book, but as the book moves towards the end, years are skipped over the characters lose a bit of their charm.
All in all, the book is 650 pages, but moves quickly enough that you’ll want to take it to beach with you. I grew attached to the characters in the end and was grateful for the insight into the comic book industry during its golden age.
Who should read this: teenagers who don’t like to read, readers looking for a good plot.
Medium Raw, By Anthony Bourdain
Posted on | July 13, 2010 | No Comments
Anthony Bourdain's most recent book
Anthony Bourdain is mostly famous for writing a book – a scathing non-fiction memoir of the restaurant industry. Since then it seems that he’s lightened up a little bit, but the voracity of his opinion still keeps him in the public eye. Mr. Boyfriend got into him by watching “No Reservations,” a traveling restaurant review show that aired on the food network and now on the travel channel – it’s a show that combines two things that many people love – exotic travel and eating. Geez, how could you go wrong with that combination?
In any case, Bourdain gets to enjoy a life that most people only dream about. But instead of gloating about it, he’s actually pretty snarky on the show. The best episodes include a mix of bizarre travel discoveries and hole-in-the-wall eateries that are surprisingly scrumptious and reveal something about the disparities of the rich versus the poor in terms of how we eat, AND many moments where Bourdain is reacting to cheesy, tourist oriented hype or staged “exotic events” with his own particular style of sarcasm. (By that formula, I think an episode in Orlando, Florida is way overdue.)
So what about his new book? Is it anything like the show?
Uh, Not really. If you are looking for passages on his world travels, there is really only one, and it gets lame pretty fast. The book is really more about the cooking industry in the U.S., especially on the high-end side. It’s a series of essays, really, about his life, how he’s changed in the past ten years, and what’s changed in the world of cooking. I find it ironic that the cover features him sitting at a table with wooden-handled knives – he proclaims in several sections of the book that he no longer considers himself a chef, so why is he in the presence of so many cooking accouterments? Perhaps the key symbol here is that they are knives. He holds on in his hands, the tip of his finger on the blade. He’s wearing a dark suit, and hunches over the table, his face stoic, mouth unsmiling. Who cares if he’s a chef or not, he looks like he’s ready to cut YOU into tiny little pieces for just suggesting that a meal at Applebee’s wouldn’t be so bad.
There’s a lot of anger in the book – His targets include Alan Richman (the critic) and Alice Waters, co-owner of Chez Panisse and the mother of the California food movements (he cuts her a little slack for having a nice personality.) Sections of the book read like a who’s-who of the cooking industry, with carefully crafted arguments as to why you should be for or against that celebrity’s existence. He also offers profiles of working chefs and cooks that will leave you surprisingly impressed with the people who handle your food when you dine at an expensive restaurant. The profile of Justo Thomas, the man who prepares all the fish for Le Bernadin, is beautifully crafted homage to the people who get up very early in the morning to create the processes that make this hold capitalism thing work.
The most moving sections, however, are not about the torrid careers of celebrity chefs, but his personal memories that shape how he approaches life today. The essay titled “The rich eat differently from you and me,” sticks out as dating adventure gone horribly wrong, and a unique transformation born out of terror, regret, depression, and anger that you can still feel in every sentence of the piece. This is Anthony Bourdain before we knew Anthony Bourdain, and in a very raw state. In a very different mode, “I’m dancing” is a very personal essay regarding his transformation from a hard-living, chain smoking rebel to a father completely dedicated to his little girl. “If Stiv Bators were still alive and put his filthy hands anywhere near my baby, I’d snap his neck–then thoroughly cleanse the area with baby wipes,” he writes, as an example of how much he’s changed. “She’s never going to look for validation from some predatory asshole,” he assures us, proof that his sense of fatherhood is truly about preparing his daughter for the future.
who should read this book: People who want to be cooks or chefs, fans of Anthony Bourdain (the person, not the show).
If you like the show, you should probably read A Cook’s Tour instead.
Summer vacation
Posted on | July 25, 2009 | Comments Off
Yep, that’s pretty much where I’m at – and I when I return I’m going to write more about books and writing and less about SEO.
Until then, I’m going to give a little link love to the blogs I just can’t get enough of:
www.cakewrecks.com
www.fmylife.com
www.icanhazcheeseburger.com
etc. Have a nice summer!!
Back from the brink . . . .
Posted on | May 2, 2009 | Comments Off
Sortof . . . . About a month ago I moved (physically) and in true Miss Vapor Trail style I didn’t get my internet set up. There is another cute hipster coffee shop down the street that I can use, but guess what? They aren’t open very late on week days. The other big guess what? I don’t really miss the internet that much. Right before I moved a started a class that’s mostly reading. and reading and reading and reading. I still haven’t even fully unpacked my stuff yet.
Besides which, I get more than enough internet at my job. In fact, I’m so over-internetted that I don’t even look at the websites when I do first round cold calling. An itern asked me what I look for in a website before I call a company, and I had to admit the truth: I read OMMA while I’m on hold.When I’m not on hold reading OMMA, I’m working late (it’s actually slowed down a little this past week, which I’m thankful for even though it’s not good when the sales team isn’t busy)
Facebook, I thought I could never do without, but since the last redesign it’s just gotten goofy. I think they tweaked the algorithm of the friend feed and now I see more actions of my acquintances who I barely remember than the pithy updates of the people I really care about. Also: spring finally hit in Chicago, which means people are going OUTSIDE and SEEING PEOPLE instead of stalking them on facebook (I know, the lengths that some people will go to to get an interactive experience is appalling.)
But you know what I really don’t miss? TV. I’m currently completely TV-less and can’t even watch it on my computer without the internet, and I’m not missing it at all. I do occasionally wonder what’s going on with my buddy Betty and Meredith Grey’s ongoing/offgoing relationship (last I heard they got engaged, but she didn’t seem overly excited about it when she told Christina . . . . maybe she was just tired. Ever notice how she doesn’t sleep? She just works and drinks and hooks up with the attending surgeons,) but I’ve pretty much shed my need to rot my brain out when I come home. If I need noise or something I turn on the radio and listen to NPR. Have you ever noticed that they always seem to have something really interesting to talk about? I feel far more informed about the current torture/water boarding controversy now that I would be if I had blown my evenings watching . . . . . what was it that I was watching? Oh right, I was actually a little obsessed with Keith Oberman and Rachel Maddow. Oberman can put together some very interesting arguments sometimes but mostly he just blathers on about Bill O’Reilly, and Rachel’s pretty much every where these days. Actually, I do miss Rachel a little bit. She’d definately got a charming personality that makes you want to hang out with her every day.
Okay, so this is clearly one of my “Randomness” posts – Next week I want to get back to the stuff I had originally intended to blog about: web development innovations and the creative mind.
Fail Whale!!!
Posted on | March 27, 2009 | Comments Off
So tonight I went to the Social Media Club event at the CME focusing on Social Media for B2B. What did I learn?
- There’s this thing out there called Coachsuite which is in private beta and I NEED IT RIGHT NOW!
- Showing up late because you’re working on a proposal is lame
- Social Media can be great for customer service
- Social Media is great for listening to what your customer base is talking about.
- A roomba is actually a robotic pet that happens to vacuum.
- the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Tweets. (no, really. It tweets!)
- Social media agencies mainly work with the marketing department (half the time I’m working with the IT department)
- I’m not very good at working the room.
- Sometimes, when people see the fail whale, they say “Oh, Gosh.” (not that there’s a website for that or anything)
And finally – Arrive at networking events ON TIME, and sit in the front. I learned this because I arrived late, missed the actual networking part, sat in the back, couldn’t see anyone, and in the end was very confused at to who was who and where everyone came from.
I didn’t really get what I wanted out of the evening, which is half my fault – of course I wanted awesome sales leads, but that requires showing up on time, and a lot of circulation, which I’m not very good at. I don’t know about you, but when I meet someone, I want to talk to them. I can’t explain what I do in a handshake.
But what I was really hoping against hope for was to learn more tricks of the trade and get some better ideas. I’m already very well versed in the idea of starting with your ultimate objective, figuring out where the audience is that fulfills that objective, and then going to that place and driving them to you (it’s like herding snails . . . . with money in their shells). Anyone with a background in tracking and analytics can tell you that. What I need are fresh ideas – from myself. I do come up with some very innovative recommendations at times, but if something goes really hot it turns into a broken record for the next two weeks. I need skittles people. SKITTLES!
I also wanted to learn more about how agencies are managing the conversation when the brand ambassadors are in-house – it seems that many companies are finding a road block in that they are not ready to let their employees talk about the brand. First off, we need to realize that branding doesn’t live in a vision document but in the hearts and minds of the people that love you most. Secondly, I should hope that the people that love you most are your own employees!
Finally, going back to the fail whale in the room – I am a little worried about Twitter and Facebook. I think Facebook will kick their advertising sales platform into high gear by 2010, and it will be a lucrative venture for them (and sometime soon most advertisers will learn how to target the clients on facebook – so that when my cat goes online she will be served ads about catfood, etc.)
Twitter – I just don’t know, man. I’m out of ideas.
But I did get to meet the wonderful and exciting @scottfmurphy (very briefly) and @lenkendall (even more briefly! (I mean, I just died of shock when I came home and found out he was following me (see how lame it is to not have an iPhone, I have to wait until I get home find out that I have a new follower)))(oh I should add he did an excellent job moderating) So for that alone, it was a worthwhile adventure.
Not to mention gossiping with @crosberg is ALWAYS a good time.
Where have all the good leads gone?
Posted on | March 22, 2009 | 2 Comments
I woke up this morning and found out there is a twitter channel just for agency layoffs (@adagencylayoffs) and I was reminded, again, that I’m pretty lucky to be in a position at a company that’s not only growing, but that my job puts me in control of the growth. It’s a pretty powerful position – if I’m confident in what we can do for a client, I really get to choose who we work with and what we get to do.
But there’s a timeliness to this profession, which became clear to me when a friend of mine, a freelance copywriter, asked me (in seriousness) where I get my leads. Well, geez, the vast majority still come in as referrals, and sometimes then we’re still competing (with other companies that were also referred to the client), but referrals can be hit or miss, and if you sit around waiting for referrals to come in all day, you could miss out on an opportunity to pursue a client that really excites you.
The copywriter’s question came up because one of her biggest clients, a local web designer, has been in a tough position over the last few months – for the lifetime of his business, he’s had a steady stream of referrals, only to have it dry up recently do to the Adult Recess. Now he has to prospect in order to survive and getting started isn’t any easy one. Hence, her question: Where do you get your leads.
I hate to admit that a large piece of my lead list over the past year has come from an outside lead generation group, although I should call them a lead research group, and mention that I don’t think they did a very good job. I’ve got this huge list now that mostly looks like it came from a phone book, and many of the numbers were disconnected (this, before the Adult Recess really got started). Then, if the phone number works, and I’m talking to someone, inevitably they ask how I find them- (errrrrrrrrrr . . . . .linkedin?)
For our recent iPhone contest, I was given a list of companies and phone numbers. This is a far more fun way to operate! I like the combination of research online as well as the challenge of reaching the right person on the phone. And with so many people using linkedin or posting their biography to the company site, I can see when people are doing something exciting or interesting and hopefully strike up a conversation about that. I try not to waste too much time doing research on the website it self – you never know what projects people have already in the works. Not to mention, with Adult Recess going on, everybody’s doing the cold call game, but I’m not sure if everyone is quite as prepared as we are to meet that challenge of turning a name and a number into someone who realizes that you are trustworthy and may have some good answers.
As you can imagine, the power of the company I work for has been driven for the most part by the years of sales work completed by Boss Lady, who now often does speaking engagements to present our work in various industries – a highly successful channel for gaining new clients. Getting speaking engagements can be a bit of a sales process unto itself. Boss Lady is a sales woman at heart, but at the same time, she has become quite an industry leader in SEO. I think now she’s compelled to really help her clients innovate their web offerings to provide an extremely high level of value to their customers.
As for me, I’m thinking about gettng my name out by attending some of the Social media and seo meetings and panels that are pretty popular in Chicago right now. Some people at the company don’t think they are really worth the time, but I figured if it on my off-hours, why not? If nothing else, I can meet some new people and keep my ear to ground.
Tags: adult recess > boss lady > generating leads > recession > sales
Why Vapor Trail?
Posted on | March 18, 2009 | 1 Comment
So someone asked me recently – “Why Vapor Trail Gallery?” and I had a lot of explaining to do. Instead of explaining, I decided instead to walk behind a wall and then say “WHOOOOSH!”
But no, there is a real reason, a reason that goes all the way back to when I was in highschool. Back then, I was an avid digital consumer (much worse than I am now), and I was starting to explore online dating. By college, I was pretty well versed in the world of online dating, and a couple years after college, well, I would have nothing to do with online dating. But that’s besides the point.
There was a site called Sparkmatch.com (which I think now has just turned into okcupid.com) that had these amazing quizes – one of which gave you a dating “sign” (kind of like a zodiac sign) that would match with dating signs of the opposite sex. One of those signs was the Vapor Trail – guess what she does during a break up!
While I am cleverly nodding to my own knowledge of social media, I’m also making a statement about SEO – the point is to stay on top, but with ongoing problems such as the Google Dance and the Google Sandbox, we’re likely to see sites come and go. They may rank for some time (hopefully a long time if they are a client of ours!) but chances are people and search engines will move on to something new, whether we like it or not. And the links on those websites will be as precious as stocks in the American automobile business.
It’s also a personal title: My job function is, truely, a sales one, but I’m actually strictly in sales support, and while sometimes I’m in the process from beginning to end (I make or take the first call, do all the assessments, follow up questions, dream up a crazy marketing plan that nobody thinks will work, create a proposal, more calls, some hand wringling, a few prayers offered, and finalize the billing), many times I’m just given a budget and some notes from the SEO engineer. The sad part is that often, when the check is cashed and the account manager is chosen, the client is out of my life. (and sometimes they don’t send a check and they are REALLY out of my life, but again, that’s another story) As if I had given a child up for adoption to some distant cousin, I hear from time to time that the client is doing well, they’re taking their first steps into social media, or thier traffic has improved by 95%, but they are the account manager’s project now, not mine. I have to move on to new things, always new websites, new names, and new objections to over come. I rarely really work on a project for more than two weeks – although sometimes getting a sale will take months of regular phone calls, emails and consultations, when it’s all done and over, I have to turn around and do it all again.
That’s it! We’re done, and the client is out of my life.
keep looking »Social Media
