Expect the expected

Tomorrow is the first time in nearly  20 years I am flying British Airways westbound in Economy.  I'm not complaining, it was of my own choosing.  I wanted to get home fast. I have equipped myself with a good book, earplugs and a chocolate eclair from La Marquis de Laduree. I hope this and a decent cup of coffee at the airport will see me through.

I've flown American Airlines many times in the same class and with long layovers and survived. I've grown accustomed to the declining service, lack of edible food, vastly long layovers and non-personalized attention from my airline of choice. I think that is part of the problem - I have no expectations, I just expect meh service and to be exhausted when I get to Seattle.

I'm moving into new ground here with British Airways, wish me luck.

Plats du Jour

Many small boxes (not of take out), November 2014. 

Sunday is a big day for eating out in Paris.  Families gather to have a lovely lunch out and catch up and tourists look at menus with great hesitation trying to decide whether to venture inside a bistro to get something to eat. Others may wander in to get out the cold or hot or just take a load off.  In all cases, it is nice to take a break and spend the next hour - erm, staring at a screen.

Face it, most of us are guilty of doing this.  You have been pretty darn good all day long.  You may have used your phone to take a few pictures or look up directions, but once you sit down, you are lost.  We are guilty of catching up with Instagram comments, answering work emails from six thousand miles away, or waiting to take a picture of your soup.

The important things is we're sitting down to eat a meal someone else has prepared and more than likely,we're sitting with someone we like/love/respect and we're not paying giving them or the food the attention it or they deserve.

Today I witnessed many tables where both parties were eating and typing at the same time. They weren't sitting at a fast food establishment wolfing down a burger to rush back to their desks.  These were people who were dropping close to 80 bucks per person to eat lunch and they barely spent it interacting with each other or their food.

Why even bother?

I am just as guilty as others, but I am trying really hard to be mindful about this. We have a no phones the table unless the world is ending or the World Series is on. Is it okay to tune in instead of tuning out by shutting out the real world?

Is it okay to just thank the waitstaff who has seated you and brought you food? Is it okay to chew each mouthful of food and be humbled that someone went to the trouble to feed you? 

Watching other's today made me even more determined to stop looking at my phone for entertainment and start paying attention to what is going on around me.

How about you?  Do you have a no-phone/device policy while eating? 

Tuileries, Nov. 2013.

It is lovely to spend the day with the person you love in your favorite city.

Happy Saturday from the City of Lights

See something, Say something

I have learned a lot about myself in the last few years. One thing is that I am much better off confronting a situation that stewing for hours . It is better to face whatever is nagging or bothering me instead of losing sleep or involving others in my web of crankiness.

There is nothing like remembering a trip because of the one shitty thing that happened to you instead of the 300 awesome things which occurred at same time.

"I loved x, but all I can remember was the rude waiter, crappy valet, lack of turn down service or smelly seat opponent." 

Trying to turn this around to - "Greenland was amazing, I even enjoyed the surprise overnight visit to Disko Island thanks to the ferry running aground.  We got to meet some folks we would have never of met and saw way more icebergs because of it".  

So, not everyone has had  the joy of being stranded in Greenland, but I'm thinking all six of you who have read this blog post have gotten a sub-par room in a hotel and have either shut up and unpacked your suitcase or have bitched about the room to someone other than the Front Desk Manager.

Now, I just confront whatever it is that is bothering me - hotel rooms, inadequate service or ferries that run aground. If I get resolution, great. If I don't, I tried and can move on. Moving on is hard, but sometimes it is all you can do.

What about you?

Guilty Pleasures

I'm sitting in the Skyteam Lounge at LAX waiting to board my flight to Paris. It is a really nice lounge, light and airy and spacious.  It is also very quiet, which is very unusual in this day and age.

It is also place with free wifi. I'm working but I'm also doing something else  - I'm catching up on my vapid television watching. I do a lot of that these days.  I have become somewhat of a tv watcher. I'm not proud of it, but instead of reading tattered copies of Redbook at the gym, I'm catching up on British shows and U.S. popular culture in 45 minute chunks.

What is my guilty pleasure? Picking a series and downloading a full season to watch on the trip.  The rest, I'll pick up on netflix or hulu, but spending that 19 bucks for 19 hours of entertainment is my guilty pleasure.

What is yours?

There is nothing more exhausting on than being "on". I have great admiration for folks in sales. 

That is me on stage. 

 

Nm

Please hold questions until the end 

Woo Woo What? and missing your target

Klout, WTF? 

I spend my days wondering if anyone will ever read what I write.

Truthfully, I spend about six minutes wondering if I should hit the share buttons and even posting to Google Plus to see if I can increase my reach. I don't always execute on my intentions because the people I follow or care about are usually on more than one of my networks and I hate bombarding people with the same content or whines.

There are a million places, apps and opportunities for people to share content, but picking the right one is critical to building your audience. Are the folks you engage with the most  on Twitter? Do you love to curate collections and have a million followers on Pinterest? Are your photos envied and emoticoned by more than your best three friends?

Should you pick just one?

I recommend that you and I should spend some time testing hypotheses, measuring reach, and trying different approaches before developing your outreach mix.   I crack up every time I see this ad for Adobe Marketing Cloud.  It is a great example of brands and maybe you, jumping on the latest thing without thinking things through.

Jumping on a bandwagon - Cashing in the Q4 budget and buying some followers. 


Until next time, WOO WOO on or until you mama joins up.

How to dress for success or how to dress yourself successfully

A room with a view, Hyatt Etoile, July 2014.

My life has taken some turns - mostly good.

I have started to dress like a grown-up. Maybe its that I finally feel like I can buy clothes that suit me. It might just be that I work right next to the Nordstrom shoe buyers and I feel like I have to up my game.
Whatever it is, it takes a little more effort that it did before to get out the door and that takes some planning.

I'm going on an eight day trip soon that involves air travel and a bit of driving. I have a short work presentation to a bunch of friendly colleagues who are more casual and then to Paris where I want to look nice and be comfortable. I'm not into wardrobe changes per se, but I could definitely get out of my rut and try a few things.

In my new found love of retail I have learned a few things that I would love to share with you. Here they are.

Always shop for clothes on an empty stomach - you'll look better.

If you can't take someone you trust with you when you go shopping  make sure you model what you bought for them before you rip off the tags.

Try and sit down and cross your legs, bend over, stretch your arms up in your new garments on a full stomach before you rip off any tags.

Cut those tags off, do not rip them.

Always save the receipt and the buttons that come with whatever you bought. You'll need them one day.

Oh, I hate Pinterest, but here is a board that shows you just what I'm thinking of taking.

Do tell me what you think.

nm

First Sunday

                                 515 PM - still light out, embrace it or go south. 

I love the first morning after Daylight Savings Time ends. I love getting up and having an extra hour of the day to do things.

When did we start doing things on Sunday?

Isn't Sunday the day our Protestant forefathers (yes, fathers) decided we needed to rest after a week of toiling? Come to think of it I did toil a little in the garden yesterday. 

Isn't Sunday supposed to be out relaxing, spending time away from devices, and reflecting on the week behind and thinking about the week ahead?

I'm tired of overachieving on Sunday.  I want my Sunday back. 

Maybe next Sunday.  

nm

What's the frequency Kenneth?

                                           Startup Hall - U of Wa. Go there. 

Yup. I'm back.

Life has been pretty decent around here - we're busy with work, family, dogs, gardens and travel.  I miss writing terribly. I start a hundred blog posts in my mind and then I just walk away without scribbling anything down.

I think once I learned about page views, impressions, SEO, SEM, trackbacks and how blogging really worked, I got turned off.

I'm not sure Twitter is my medium, either.

Photography is great. I like the instant gratification of posting an image and getting instant feedback. Who wouldn't? However, there is something lovely about writing out your thoughts and something even better when someone takes the 45 seconds in their day to read what you wrote.

I'm going to try this again.

We'll see how it goes.
nm

The journey can be half the fun

What I did this week

My first ever lightning talk - so much fun

Playing the Lottery

I lost.

I am now stuck going to Paris via Detroit.

Wish me luck.

At least I am getting another 1000 miles for my return flight from Southern California and I get to dump all my work paperwork from this trip.

One day I'll have to tell you all about it.

How I spent the last six weeks

I need a drink.

The best use of instagram to date

Today I feel like I am a terrible traveler. Partially its because I refuse to check a bag, and thus feel I must be a minimalist in what I bring.  Partially because no matter how many times I leave, it always seems that I have packed too much or not packed the one thing I need.

Typically I am found somewhere in the first world. I have a credit card. I usually have command of a language that is spoken by someone around me. I can cope.  

So tonight I am packing for two trips that are back to back.  There is a planned touch and go in the middle, but on the off chance I do not have fly back home to leave again, I am packed for both trips. The temperature range is approximately 30 degrees and the occasions requires some semblance of natty dressing. 

What does this have to do with Instagram?

A few months ago, a friend of mine, Kristy embarked on a thirteen day trip to the Eastern US and the Maritimes.  She was spending a few days in Boston and NY and then the rest of the time was cruising. Before she left, she figured out her outfits and then instavideoed her wardrobe.  I could not stop watching it,  it was brilliant.  

I wish I had time this trip to be this creative.  Instead, I'm going with one extra pair of jeans (mailed home from California, a pair of boots that I may regret, a pair of ballet flats that I am mailing home after my meeting) and a crap ton of grey t-shirts. No one messes with a girl wearing a grey t-shirt and a black cashmere sweater and jack purcells.

last light

Hey! Did you see the blue sky today?

The sadness of the last few hours of light today was hard to take.  I hate Standard Time. I hate coming home in the dark.  I am resolved to get out at lunch and catch some sunlight.  I'm lucky enough to take Ernest on two to three walks a day, but this time of year, they are all in the dark. TH does his lunchtime walk.

Light is important.  I live for flights above the clouds. I pine for Hawaii in December, but always end up in London.

I'm just waiting for Dec. 21.

Let the light shine in.

Happy Nov 1

Rabbit.

Postcard from the Edge (or the Peripherique)

Room with a view.

I am in Paris.

This is not unusual.

In fact, it is a little boring.

From this trip I have learned a few things (in no particular order).

I am no longer self-amusing, that is I can not rely on myself and my imagination to keep myself occupied for any time.

I have become the person I hate - the one who craves validation.

I can't leave well enough alone.

I really don't like macarons all that well.

That one should still brush one's hair and be presentable when you are video skyping with colleagues 5000 miles away.

That one should not video skype while on vacation.

I will be glad to be back in my own bed tomorrow.

Tout a l'heure.

Done

Hi!

It is 525 am here and after a rabble rousing night here, I slept fitfully. That one iced tea at 7 pm killed me.  Sad isn't it?

Looking back at my to do list, I realize I have not accomplished much, but I am trying.


8. Revisit the Spiral Jetty.

That and starting on my iTunes library (#10)  is all I have done.  The weather is prone to be vile next week (upper 80s) so that should be reason enough to learn how to grill (#3 and #4).  The idea of turning on the oven has no appeal.

In other good news, I shall dip my toes in the lake after work. Yup, work.

That alone, is good news.

To do

 Post no thrills, taken in Mid-Mahattan, February 25, 2012

Instead of focusing on what I am trying to not do this year, here is a list of things that I would love to do/try/learn this year.

1. Learn how to properly snorkel.  I spend enough time in the warm waters of Hawaii, you would think that I enjoy floating with my face in the water and a tube shoved into my maw to get oxygen to my lungs.  I really don't. I need to chill and learn that you can see a lot in 6' of water and that maybe fish can be cute and entertaining if you relax and learn to breathe.

2.  Learn how to sea kayak.  Insert cold  water, San Juan Islands, eskimo roll and terrible currents into the previous thing to learn to do and realize that North Pacific fish are not entertaining enough to pay much attention to them unless they become dinner.

3. Learn how to light a barbeque and learn how to grill. 

4. After I master that, move on to indirect heat grilling.

5.  Pressure can tuna.

6.  Run faster, longer and without stopping. 

7. Finally go to Marfa, TX and see all that great art work.

8. Revisit the Spiral Jetty.

9.  Go to Argentina in our fall when the weather is more to my liking.

10.  Listen to all the music I have in my iTunes library, make a few play lists and start culling things I do not care for any more.

I think that is a pretty good start, don't you.

What do you want to do this year, or next year or ever?