Sunday, October 21, 2007
Me-Me-Me-Meme
I have been tagged by Kim at Knit Whimsies. The purpose of this particular meme is to post eight random things about myself. But there's some language to include - the not-so-fine print, which is below:
The Rules:Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they’ve been tagged.
Once again, I'm going to have trouble listing eight other people to tag, but I'll give it the old college try. So, eight random things about me . . .
1. I keep a stack of books beside my bed. I can't live without reading material. Sometimes I don't get to them all.
2. I heard a Moby song today at the grocery store and it made me realize how much I like his music and how much I miss it. I haven't listened to any Moby in months. I really must buy some of his albums, rather than borrow them from the library.
3. I'm obsessive about backing up my writing files.
4. I'm not obsessive about editing my writing. I edit as I write (I know - it's a sin in the writing world to do this), so my stories and essays are pretty much finished by the time I'm done writing. (Please help your editor friends off the floor. I think they've fainted.)
5. I'm totally envious of Neil Gaiman's writing output. Does this guy fret over editing?
6. Eldest Son and Daughter are both taller than I am. Young Son is not far behind.
7. While I'm glad I have an art degree, I'm really jonesing for the sociology degree my husband is working toward.
8. I own an original Geek Squad t-shirt, handed to me by Robert Stevens (Stephens?) himself, while I was at the Minnesota State Fair. Stevens (Stephens? - Somebody please give me the proper spelling!) was a co-founder of Geek Squad, which is now owned by Best Buy.
Okay, now it's time to tag. I'll tag Livy, Lex, Ariel, Rianna, Soloist, and Reeva Dubois. Hey, that's six people. Not bad.
The Rules:Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they’ve been tagged.
Once again, I'm going to have trouble listing eight other people to tag, but I'll give it the old college try. So, eight random things about me . . .
1. I keep a stack of books beside my bed. I can't live without reading material. Sometimes I don't get to them all.
2. I heard a Moby song today at the grocery store and it made me realize how much I like his music and how much I miss it. I haven't listened to any Moby in months. I really must buy some of his albums, rather than borrow them from the library.
3. I'm obsessive about backing up my writing files.
4. I'm not obsessive about editing my writing. I edit as I write (I know - it's a sin in the writing world to do this), so my stories and essays are pretty much finished by the time I'm done writing. (Please help your editor friends off the floor. I think they've fainted.)
5. I'm totally envious of Neil Gaiman's writing output. Does this guy fret over editing?
6. Eldest Son and Daughter are both taller than I am. Young Son is not far behind.
7. While I'm glad I have an art degree, I'm really jonesing for the sociology degree my husband is working toward.
8. I own an original Geek Squad t-shirt, handed to me by Robert Stevens (Stephens?) himself, while I was at the Minnesota State Fair. Stevens (Stephens? - Somebody please give me the proper spelling!) was a co-founder of Geek Squad, which is now owned by Best Buy.
Okay, now it's time to tag. I'll tag Livy, Lex, Ariel, Rianna, Soloist, and Reeva Dubois. Hey, that's six people. Not bad.
Labels: daughter, editing, eldest son, geek squad, husband, meme, moby, neil gaiman, random stuff about me, reading, sociology, writing, young son
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Reestablishing Boundaries
Kathy Sierra of Creating Passionate Users is down, but not out after receiving death threats on her blog. Now, she's soliciting advice about how to handle the situation. The matter seems to be one of reestablishing boundaries. Those on the path to fame have to take stock and figure this out at some point. It's the price that has to be paid for renown because the famous lose the boundary of anonymity. Think about the barriers celebrities place around themselves. Unlisted phone numbers; unlisted addresses; a big house, preferrably in a secluded location (space makes a good barrier); agents & managers; fan clubs; moving out of the country of fame. If they have websites, they either don't have email enabled (U2 and Moby are examples), or they don't answer it (DMB). If they have blogs, they do not enable comments (Seth Godin, Neil Gaiman). See? There are ways to draw lines in the sand and say, "You've got part of me, but you can't have all of me." And that's eggzactly as it should be.
Labels: advice, anonymity, blog, boundaries, death threats, dmb, fame, kathy sierra, moby, neil gaiman, seth godin, u2
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Status Upgrade from Interesting to Truly Interesting
I was reading Moby's blog the other day and wanted to comment on his posts. He seems like a pretty liberal and interesting guy, but there's no way to comment directly to him because he's famous and probably doesn't want to deal with a bunch of cuckoo-loos. (You can post to the message boards, which Moby says he reads, but they tend to degenerate into troll fights and wander off topic.) Then, I got to thinking about some of the other blogs I read, notably Seth Godin's and Neil Gaiman's, and how they don't have their comments enabled. It seems that when one reaches the status of Truly Interesting Human Being (as opposed to Interesting Human Being), one gets flooded with comments and no longer has time to read or respond to them. There goes the commenting feature. Neil and Seth both accept email, though. Neil is forthright in saying that he gets so much email that he can't answer it all and has a backlog of over 1,000. Seth, so far, has responded to every email I've sent (I don't send many - no need to inundate him), albeit his responses are very short. He's a busy guy, so this makes sense, and, frankly, I find it incredible that he has time to respond even this much. It just shows that he is as remarkable as his purple cow.
So, now I'm wondering: At what point does one upgrade from Interesting Human Being to Truly Interesting Human Being such that they have to turn off their commenting feature and can no longer respond personally to people?
So, now I'm wondering: At what point does one upgrade from Interesting Human Being to Truly Interesting Human Being such that they have to turn off their commenting feature and can no longer respond personally to people?
Labels: blog, comments, cuckoo-loos, email, human being, moby, neil gaiman, purple cow, seth godin, status, trolls
Saturday, October 21, 2006
FtTP - Say Goodbye + Very
This Frankensteining the Talent Pool is about two songs that are soul mates. The first of these to make its way into my consciousness was "Say Goodbye" by the Dave Matthews Band. It's on their album Crash.
A sampling of the lyrics:
So here we are tonight, you and me together
The storm outside, the fire is bright
And in your eyes I see what's on my mind
You've got me wild turned around inside
The other song is "Very" by Moby, from his Hotel album. The song is sung by Laura Dawn, who has a voice so hot it could melt iron.
A sample of the lyrics:
Now, we will make it, just you, you and me
Soon, we will take it, just you, you and me
Hey, it's cold out there, so come inside
Hey, it's warm in here, so come inside
As soon as I heard "Very," I wanted to hear it blended with "Say Goodbye." Laura's voice with Dave's voice would be an interesting contrast, as would the two styles of music. Alas, I am not a musician, so this mash-up isn't going to occur through any skill of mine. (Plus, there's that thing called copyright that keeps me from going there.)
A sampling of the lyrics:
So here we are tonight, you and me together
The storm outside, the fire is bright
And in your eyes I see what's on my mind
You've got me wild turned around inside
The other song is "Very" by Moby, from his Hotel album. The song is sung by Laura Dawn, who has a voice so hot it could melt iron.
A sample of the lyrics:
Now, we will make it, just you, you and me
Soon, we will take it, just you, you and me
Hey, it's cold out there, so come inside
Hey, it's warm in here, so come inside
As soon as I heard "Very," I wanted to hear it blended with "Say Goodbye." Laura's voice with Dave's voice would be an interesting contrast, as would the two styles of music. Alas, I am not a musician, so this mash-up isn't going to occur through any skill of mine. (Plus, there's that thing called copyright that keeps me from going there.)
Labels: crash, dave matthews band, frankensteining the talent pool, FtTP, hotel, laura dawn, moby, say goodbye, very
Friday, October 20, 2006
Playing Favorites
I feel compelled to explain the Seth Godin jag I've been on lately. Whenever I'm impressed with a writer, an artist, a band or musician, I tend to snarfle down whatever I can find by said creative person. I've not gone off my rocker or slipped into some obsessive ga-ga world that I can't get out of, although that's the way it might appear to those living outside my cranium. When my aesthetic has been tickled, I binge with delight until the intensity wears off. And, it WILL wear off. The length of the binge depends upon how much material the artiste has created and how varied that material is. In the past, I've binged on Duran Duran, Ultravox, Enya, Neil Gaiman, Carol Bly, Christopher Moore, U2, Peter Mayer, Queen, INXS, Matchbox 20, Conversations with God, self-help books, Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, unsolved mysteries, Alfred Hitchcock short stories, quilting, beading, ABBA, homeopathy, Depeche Mode, Dave Matthews Band, Moby, marketing, feng shui, astrology . . . the list goes on (and I see that I've also binged on topics, as well as artistes). Once the intensity of my interest subsides, I fast, sometimes deliberately avoiding said artiste or topic for a time. It's at this time that my brain seems to be deciding what I'm going to incorporate into my quirky worldview, and what I'm going to discard as pure bunk or clutter. However, the fondness for past favorites never goes away. When I return to one of them, my thrill returns, but not in its original technicolor splash. Instead, a soft pearlescent affection overcomes me.
Seth, too, shall pass.
Seth, too, shall pass.
Labels: astrology, creativity, dmb, duran duran, moby, music, seth godin, ultravox
Sunday, October 01, 2006
FtTP - Moby + Blue Man Group
Maybe it's just the bald head, but I can picture Moby painting himself blue and working with Blue Man Group. The music might have something to do with it, too.
October 2, 2006 - Update
Well, folks, this one's been done. Moby and Blue Man Group performed together at the 2001 Grammy Awards. There is an interview with Moby and the Blue dudes on YouTube. The Blue dudes aren't saying anything, but check out what they do toward the end of the clip.
Obviously, someone else thought all those bald heads should go together. I only wish that Moby would have taken a dip in the blue paint, too.
You know, maybe I should call my blog "Always late to the party and inappropriately dressed." That, or I should learn to do a search on my Frankensteining the Talent Pool ideas before I post them. Live and learn.
October 2, 2006 - Update
Well, folks, this one's been done. Moby and Blue Man Group performed together at the 2001 Grammy Awards. There is an interview with Moby and the Blue dudes on YouTube. The Blue dudes aren't saying anything, but check out what they do toward the end of the clip.
Obviously, someone else thought all those bald heads should go together. I only wish that Moby would have taken a dip in the blue paint, too.
You know, maybe I should call my blog "Always late to the party and inappropriately dressed." That, or I should learn to do a search on my Frankensteining the Talent Pool ideas before I post them. Live and learn.
Labels: blue man group, frankensteining the talent pool, FtTP, grammy awards, moby, youtube
