Singing the Praises of Web 2.0

I found this fascinating quote today:

You Oughta Know Inbound Marketing If I didn’t already like Hubspot because of Twitter Grader ( an ego check for Twitter users) I would have to love them for this little video lamenting the dilemma of marketers who are caught between the paradigm of their companies and the desire of consumers to have permission based (in Seth Godin’s terms) or Inbound (in Hubspot’s language) Marketing.Singing the Praises of Web 2.0, Dec 2008

You should read the whole article.

A Fine Monday in October

The sun is out, the weather is mild, and I've been up since 6:30 working.

I love days like this.





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For great printing services in the Los Angeles Area

I just had a fine lunch with my friend and colleague Danny Bensimon of Venice Printing and Artist George Kleiman. In addition to great food, I had the opportunity to sit and talk business with two knowledgeable and experienced guys. I highly recommend both of them for all of your art and printing needs.

For those of you with OCD: rejoice!

I have found a website for every person who wonders just how clean their favorite restaurants REALLY are. Of course, this may not be you, but even if it isn't, I would wager that you know a person who wants and needs this service.

Go forth, to http://www.cleanscores.com/ and learn the ugly/beautiful truth about your local eateries.

You're welcome.

Hal Lublin, Holy Man.

Two very dear friends of mine have given me the honor of officiating their wedding. This is what you have to do when you don't have the time to go study at Yeshiva.

Is this real?

"Barack Obama promises to cut taxes for 95% of Americans, but 53% of Americans actually think Obama will raise their taxes. This site uses data from the non-partisan Tax Policy Center to determine whether or not you will receive an Obama Tax Cut."

If this is true, it's pretty cool, unless you are very rich. And from what I've seen, this is real stuff, not campaign fluff. Click the "read more" to try the program out yourself...

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Life as Usual

The last two weeks have been nothing short of bizarre as Jenn and I settle back into L.A. Life keeps marching on, and things here are actually better than they've been in a year in several ways, but I can't seem to really enjoy it. I'm still kind of in a daze, but it has made me more productive in an odd way. Everything is somehow stained.

You know you're still deep into the grieving process when Mummy 3 makes you tear up. Hell, you know you're in bad shape when you go to see Mummy 3.

More hot mics, please!

This is what happens when your sound guy falls asleep at the wheel...

Hillary Clinton's 2008 Democratic National Convention Speech

It does my heart good to see some unity after what transpired over the first half of 2008.

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Thank you

To everyone who has read my previous entry, and to all of those who have called and written and texted and twittered and used all other forms of communication to express their condolences and give their support, thank you. This is a very difficult process, but the knowledge that we have great friends and family lets us know not only how loved we are, but how loved my Mother was, and how much she meant to everyone.

I'll soon return to more entertaining entries, but for now, please know how much all of you mean to me, and how comforting you've been.

On the pain of loss

My mother passed away almost two weeks ago. It was an embolism, which struck without warning, as embolisms do. No tearful goodbye on a death bed, no time to brace myself, Just a day earlier I had seen my mother via a skype conversation. She showed me the bandage from her recent foot surgery, and had a smile plastered on her face that I will remember as the dominant theme of her life: no matter what hardships she endured, what challenges she faced, she held herself with a dignity and a positivity that couldn't help but inspire everyone she knew, whether they were lifelong friends or someone she had met during a chance encounter. She was my source of strength for so many years, and during a tragedy like this, she is the one I would have turned to for solace or a talk.

There's a strange thing that happens when someone so close to you passes away. Vivid moments from the first week of her death flash in my mind like a strobe light, pounding away at me: getting the phone call and the shock and uncontrollable shaking that accompanied it. Selecting a coffin. Losing it over and over again. The viewing. The Funeral, which was beautiful, and yet played out with every cliché of weak legs and eyes blurred by tears that I thought were machinations of television and film. The tsunami of love and support from friends and relatives. Then, there are other things that I cannot remember, like her laugh. A laugh I heard so many times that I took it for granted. The Rabbi mentioned her laugh during the eulogy and countless people talked about it during the course of sitting shiva, and I can't remember it.

I've never felt guiltier about something in my life than I do about forgetting my mother's laugh.

People talk about the 5 stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression & Acceptance, as if they are a slow march towards healing that can be measured as you reach each specific feeling. While I'm sure the concept has validity, I have been experiencing all of these emotions at once, although perhaps the fact that I am overwhelmingly mired in a depression right now means there's a light at the end of the tunnel. However, I still bargain, I still deny, and I still get angry.


In the end, we move on because we have to. You slowly move into line with the rest of the world, and although there is a hole in your heart, you live with the pain, and allow your mind to hold on to what was precious about your relationship so you can draw a vibrant picture for those who never had the pleasure of knowing her. And ultimately, you realize that when you continue with your life, in some bizarre way, you're keeping her alive.

I love you mom.

On the heat

If you read my post from yesterday, you've no doubt gleaned that it's hot in Los Angeles right now. Of course, being a beach dweller I have the advantage of experiencing temperatures that are a good ten degrees lower than those living in L.A. proper; however, I also live in an apartment with high, uncovered windows, direct exposure to sunlight for extended periods of the day, and no central air. We do have an R2D2-sized AC unit, but it is most efficent when you crounch in front of it - we're asking a lot if we want our entire living room cooled.

As I lay in bed this morning, sweating from the heat I had slept through, I found myself wondering: would I rather be too cold or too warm?

First, let me establish that I have experience with both extremes. I've traveled to Israel in the summer, driven through Arizona and Texas with temperatures well into the 100s and lived through my share of heat waves back east. I also attended Syracuse University, whose climate resembles the ice planet Hoth for 7 months of the year. Having compared both situations, I came up with this list of pros and cons for each:

HEAT/SUMMER

Pros:
- Don't have to put on so much damn clothing
- Can swim in an outdoor pool without risk of hypothermia
- Ice Cream now an acceptible substitute for a nutritious lunch
- 4th of July provides a great opportunity to overeat, get drunk AND play with dangerous, flammable objects

Cons:
- Constant sweating causes body odor issues, makes you stick to all leather furniture.
- That one dance song you hate will become a teen anthem, and you will hear it everywhere, since school's out.
- 4 words: Fat People in Swimsuits.
- Disneyland now crowded EVERYDAY.

COLD/WINTER

Pros:
- The ethereal glow of moonlight on fresh fallen snow
- You're SUPPOSED to be fat right now - it's how the body insulates against the cold
- It's ok for adults to wear pajamas - even footies
- Disneyland less crowded during schooldays

Cons:
- The unbearable walk to and from your car when you must park outside
- Shrinkage
- The patch of black ice that YOUR dumb ass will slip on
- It's fucking FREEZING out there!

In the end, I find it really hard to pick one: when it's hot, I wish it were cold; when it's chilly, I long for the heat of summer. I do know this: living in Southern California seriously warps your sense of temperature.

Man...

It's killer hot this morning. I thought I could run for longer than I could, but I haven't been training enough in between the big Sunday runs to be in proper shape, and I'm forcing myself to get on the ball here. Still, it feels good to have worked hard, and as an added bonus Jenn and I found a beautiful path that runs along a cliffside and gives us an unobstructed view of the whole city.

Tonight: up to Valencia to hang with Damian and see The Incredible Hulk. Again.

If you haven't seen Hulk yet, I highly recommend it - this film is far superior to Ang Lee's adaptation a few years back, which completely missed the entire point of the Hulk by giving the property to a director who is not suited to it.

They got it right. Again. I've been remarking to anyone who will listen that I think it's really cool to have two comic book films that are pitch perfect AND part of the same universe.

And for Hulk, you don't have to sit through the credits.

What I'm up to these days.

A short list:

I hunt for work. I worry about work that I was supposed to have but didn't. I get up REALLY early and go to bed before the sun (almost). I apply for several jobs but get no response. I wonder if ANYONE gets work off of Monster. Or Careerbuilder. Or Craigslist (although it has yielded the best results for me). I wonder if my money will run out before my luck. I wonder if I'm just banging my head against the wall. I train for a Marathon and get inspired by people in much more difficult situations than I who deal with life in a more graceful manner than I. I end statements with I. I get let down by childhood icons and pleasantly surprised by icons I barely ever knew. I fall in love with music again while falling out of love with TV. I wait for it to get hot. I hold it in until my brain hurts. I cough uncontrollably. I smile when I look at my sleeping wife. I make myself proud by doing things I've never done before, and disappoint myself by failing when I believe I should succeed. I wait my turn while noticing the line isn't getting any shorter. I read. I raise funds for something wonderful. I believe that people are basically good, despite a thousand examples to the contrary. I am doing OK, all things considered.

I end this blog.

I know, it's been a while...

But I will have some updates and thoughts to share VERY soon - I promise.

Is there anything better...

...than having a clean house with all your laundry put away?

I don't think so either.

Workflow Management Programs

Do they really work? I have a lot on my plate right now, and I would love to have a robot dole out my schedule in easy to digest pieces.

I suppose I could just create a punch list every day, but I'd love to enter a bunch of tasks, answer some key questions and have some sort of workflow distribution.

Does this even exist?

Help!

The Primary

I've started to get sick of the Democratic Primary.

While I still hold the opinion that the historic nature of this election, both in the "unorthodox" candidates and the extensive involvement of new media has re-energized the voting populus, I wish it was over already. In a campaign season where the dominant theme is "change," the race is being prolonged due to the run-of-the-mill smear campaigns that have become the norm.

And I can't stand it.

I want to like both Hillary and Barack. I want them to run a civil campaign in which the voters make thir decision based on the merit of one candidate over another rather than who screwed up less in the news cycles leading up to their state's caucus or primary.

If you can't win a fair fight, maybe you shouldn't be fighting in the first place.

Wow.

And to think this happened in MY hometown...

John Adams

Is crazy good. Makes me wish I had been more passionate about history back when I was studying it, but then again, people didn't care about making Sega Genesis games realistically portraying the battles of Concord and Lexington, so maybe I never had a chance. Also, I miss living in a city where the American history predates Cowboys.

If you did see it, you can catch when it HBO airs it for the 85th time this week.

That's all.

Great Band Names

While I have some time to kill, here are some potential names for the great rock band I'm not starting - hence, you can use them as the name for YOUR great rock band:

- Dogface All-Stars
- Urgent Bladder Syndrome
- Prada Feet
- Gloryhumpers
- Dr. Harmony's Funtime Jug Band

You can use those, but I'm keeping "The Dyspeptic Rash Fighters."

Thanks, entrepreneurship!

This is what happens when people from 15 years ago get a hold of a time machine and start a business today - this is current:

So...

I recently perused the few "user comments" I've received from the readers of this blog, and aside from one or two genuine comments (which were greatly appreciated), the rest were comprised of spam, offering me the opportunity to get free porn or telling me how interesting my blog was and that I should read THEIR blog.

Frankly, I don't know whether to be annoyed that they've sent spam bots to attack my little blog or hopeful that the robots gave it a read before lifting their cyber-leg and doing their business all over the comments section.

Seriously

Recently, I found myself on Santa Monica's 3rd Street Promenade with some time to kill. After a little browsing, I found myself doing what most people in their lives have done at one point or another: I moseyed into the Brookstone to use one of their massage chairs for way too long.

Let me back up a second. I think the free Brookstone massage is one of the greatest things the modern mall has to offer, and I love forgetting about my cares and letting myself drift away while the hyperactive ten-year-old directly behind me plays with a mechanical dragon that dances to iPod music. Brookstone itself is the greatest, because not one item that it sells is something you need. If you purchase something from Brookstone, congratulations - you've briefly become a wasteful rich person!

Anyway, as I sat there, enjoying the benefits of a luxury item I had no intention of buying, in walks the lost member of Color Me Badd, he euro hair pulled back into a ponytail, wearing a blazer and round sunglasses with the ever-cool blue tint. He's listing to music via his wrap-around-behind-the-head earphones. He slips into the chair next to mine after removing his suede moccasins. He smells. He hums along to his music. He is a burden.

And I realize: this is where he goes for his regular massage.

Suddenly, I hate myself for sitting in the chair in the first place. I do NOT want to be that guy.

Quick update

I'm finally getting a haircut this morning - my first since before I was married 4 months ago. Jealous yet?

Me neither.

Morning has broken...

...literally. I don't sleep well anymore. The length of the sleep and the place where it takes place are of zero consequence. I truly can't remember the last time I went to bed at a reasonable hour, woke up the next morning and felt refreshed. I'm beginning to think I'm some sort of freak who leaks rest like a sieve. I wish I could remember when it happened so I could do something about it, and here's the kicker: if I nap in the middle of the day, it gets worse.

I don't know how my wife does it - she gets by on minimal sleep while essentially juggling 3 careers and can still walk and from complete sentences on her days off. She's the little engine that could, while I move in a zombie like state from obligation to obligation, mustering energy in bursts, just enough to get me through and do the best job I can. I would prefer to have energy during the day.

Now that I consider it more, there are likely two chief culprits:

1. My diet is shitty, and in now way engineered to fuel my body. It really isn't engineered
at all.

2. I lack regular physical activity. There was a time where I was semi-regularly playing racquetball, basketball, and other sports. That felt good. I need to do more of that.

Is anybody else out there experiencing the same thing?