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Archives for August 2012

Behind Every Blog Is A Person

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Yesterday, I permitted my fears (unfounded or not) to come directly to these pages for all the world to see. I asked for a hug, and you came out in my support. You also came out to whoop me upside the head and say “snap out of it already.”

Yes, I needed that and thank you.  I also needed to be a person, a human with fears and emotions, and needs. I needed to know if there was comfort in my future or uncertainty? I needed to vent the unsettledness that ruled me yesterday and the days prior to clear the way for the get-up-and-go ‘tude you all have come to expect from me.

Did you read The Jack B today? I just did before I sat down to crank out this post. He’s certainly sharing some thoughtful, personal, frightening, raw thoughts because he is a person behind his blog — real, fighting for his family’s future and his own.

We learned of the passing of someone’s child via a blog post recently, and this threw everyone into a tailspin. We heard of another losing his job with four children at home, and that provoked support and encouragement. We learned that a Twitter pal had found love and employment, and that has put him on a path of happiness.

You see, each of us has to be human at some point or another. Without that kind of persona occasionally peeking through, a blog would be merely mechanical and cold.

I want to say that your comments from yesterday’s post assured me we’re all in this together, regardless of whether we live in Costa Rica, Canada or Sweden. When someone is going through a rough spot, and seeks a bit of acknowledgment that it’s all going to be okay, a community becomes more than family. It becomes a hug.

So, while I allowed myself to show a bit of unusual behavior recently (stemming from a financial decision I made that has me fearful and positive), you saw a human behind this blog.

Thank you, kind family.

Life Stress Interferes With Blogging

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Eat Chocolate! By Jayme Soulati

For nearly a week blog fodder mojo has stymied me. I have been paralyzed due to my disgust for the state of affairs in this world that profoundly affects my psyche and healthy outlook for my future. I wasn’t planning on writing about it until just now when the August 28, 2012 Wall Street Journal Health & Wellness section caught my eye. It seems fortuitous that I can validate my thinking and my blog posts with a national story that only enhances the fact that I am a worrywart.

The story, “Tricks from the Elderly to Stop Worrying; People Learn to Put Aside Negative Emotions and Focus on the Present, Which Leads to Healthy Aging,” makes a bold statement I hope to emulate when I’m older but it won’t help me today:

“The elderly learn to disentangle themselves from feelings of negativity and seem to focus more on present situations that bring pleasure, rather than on the future, researchers say.  They also tend to process negative information less deeply than positive information.”

And, there’s a great chart that says people in midlife tend to worry the most from about age 40 to early 50s, after which feelings of worry decrease. Talk about validation! There you have it; my paralysis of fear and worry corroborated by the Wall Street Journal!

So, I’ll get all these things off my chest and on to yours, and I’m hoping I’ll feel so much the better when I’m double nickels:

  • Mr. Akin running for U.S. Senate is disturbing. As a woman, as a mother, as voter, as a citizen of a free and progressive country where the fight for equality, the right to vote and the right to make choices I expect more from U.S. “leaders” who want to run this country and who insist on making ignorant statements. Does he have a daughter, a wife, a granddaughter?
  • The daily news of killings and shootings of innocent people attending religious institutions, movie theaters, schools, and retail establishments is out of control. I am seriously contemplating learning how to manage and carry a weapon of self-defense.
  • The cost of consumer goods and services continues to skyrocket yet no consumer or family is earning more income to support the ability to pay more at the cash register and fuel pump (today’s gas per gallon in my region is $3.95). American families are being gouged; something has to give.
  •  The medical and health care system in this country is in utter disarray. Hospitals are buying physician practices and charging triple the amount for the same MRI a person had three months ago. Insurance premiums go up annually (I have a $4500 deductible and so does my daughter; yet, I now pay $400/month for health insurance we can’t use, and I pay cash for dental.)
  • States are fighting down party lines against and for Affordable Health Care; what about the residents in those states who align with the new health care act who want those benefits but can’t due to governors who are blocking programs? What about those in the states who don’t want to buy health insurance but have to?
  • How can I afford to help pay for my child’s college when tuition and text books are skyrocketing annually with no end in sight?
  • Can I retire ever knowing I never had a corporate job to begin socking money into retirement early and knowing I will never have enough to be comfortable when I’m old?
  • If I out live the Medicare program and Social Security runs dry (as I expect it to), how will my golden years be supplemented with the money I’ve paid in since I was a13-year-old corn detassler?
  • People in this country hate each other so much, and I hear frequently how some wouldn’t mind seeing a few politicians lose more than an election. The anger is palpable and it’s harmful to positive attitude, and caring for human kind.
  • There’s been a swarm of earthquakes 130 miles east of San Diego over several days. Is the big one coming? There is drought in the U.S. racking up prices for grain, beef and other commodities. Rain and tropical storms are pummeling coastlines and the European continent. How can any of us prepare for eventual catastrophe?

Our children’s future is bleak. My future is pressurized by the need to provide for my child and ensure that I, as an aging parent with aging parents and a 10-year-old, am NOT a burden to my family.

There’s a lot on my plate and on yours (feel free to add your stressors below; it feels better).

On occasion I have to dump it all upside down and see where the balls land. I have to do a better job managing the stress, and I have to do it with exercise, proper nutrition and love.

May I have a hug, please?

 

 

When Public Apology Falls Short

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I’m noticing seriously short blog posts being published by one A-lister in particular and wondered, seriously, why I didn’t indulge in that practice just to keep the pump primed and everyone on the edge of their chair wondering what she’s gonna write about next.

That’s, seriously, the issue of late — the time I recouped since kidlet got back to school a week ago today already, has been seriously eaten up trying to catch up. No can do; cannot get ahead, cannot complete projects, cannot find the time to do serious writing. (How many times did I use that word in a few short sentences? That is your morning quiz!)

So, this seriously short blog post (due entirely to the last sentence as my excuse) is about this:

  • I am disgusted with the alleged role models in this country running for public office and or in public office.
  • I am disgusted with the fact that tax-payer-funded political junkets result in “booze-fueled skinny dipping” in Israel’s Sea of Galilee (done late one night in summer 2011 and just now coming to light).
  • I’m even more disgusted when a man running for Senate states and believes rape is “legitimate” and that women’s bodies can reject that kind of pregnancy.
  • I am disgusted with former Rep. Anthony Weiner who last year didn’t wow us with images of his package sent to women by text across the country.

You see, it doesn’t matter whether these men are Republican or Democrat. Each of them has had lapses in judgment; I have my view on which boils me more. And, there are so many more to add to this list.

What happens next, as President Clinton knows so well, is the public apology. Deb Weinstein writes about here relating it more to brand apologies. I commented and gave her an earful, and this is what inspired this post; my passion for a sincere apology and who’s going to regard it from the heart. If you want to read about brands apologizing, please do visit Deb’s blog, called Strategic Objectives; it’s an excellent read and I skirted her content entirely and went off on apologies in general. Thanks, Deb!

I dunno…this is what happens when my mind percolates without release and writing therapy.  Anyone want to toss in an opinion or two?

Creative Thermostats, Called Nest, Apple Style

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Credit: Nest.com

This post originally appeared Nov. 30, 2011 and is being resurrected in honor of Apple becoming the largest U.S. company ever, surpassing Microsoft, according to this morning’s Wall Street Journal.

In my favorite ‘zine, Fast Company, in its “Next” series, and within that there’s a story about a cool, coming-soon new thermostat inspired by the iPod’s first developer Tony Fadell. Tony used to work at Apple; made 17 versions of the iPod, then departed and is now all creative with a thermostat.

This story is a great next segment in my creativity series–about how you take a product every single house has one or two of and turn it into something innovative, interesting, worthy of notice, and trendy.

Fadell’s Nest–Learning Thermostat costs $250, and it’s differentiator is that it learns your preferences as you dial your temperature up or down. After about 10 or 20 twists of the shiny, artsy dial, the thermostat regulates your home’s temperature on its own. No more adjustments or forgets; automatic temperature control.

>>Attraction #1: I’ve tried to program my thermostat for morning, day and night, but it was too complex and was never reliable. I resort to manual programming about three times daily.

In the article, these interesting tidbits corroborate what I just said:

>>10 million thermostats are sold annually; only 11% of users actively program them.

>>Thermostats are “treated like a light switch, with people manually adjusting them 1,500 times per year,” said Fadell.

Fadell has plans to add his thermostat to other devices networked throughout the home, but he learned at Apple to build slowly, let people learn about the device, get excited, and then introduce new concepts.

Attraction #2: If my thermostat could tell me the weather in the morning at school bus time, that would be incredible. If the potential is there at some point, that’s cool. With the knowledge we have about Apple products and devices speaking to each other wirelessly, it’s not too far fetched for a thermostat to be included in the mix. And, it’s not a device I ever expected to think about; at all.

Fadell designed his product with one function — a dial that turns the temperature up or down. He took this from the iPod which has a scrolling dial to allow music logs to move up and down the screen.

Attraction #3: Not too many dials, controls, instructions, or complexity. Keep it simple for the masses.

Here’s where creativity really comes into play — in the packaging. Fadell’s iPod was packaged neatly and really cool. (I still have the acrylic boxes mine all came in.) He put his thermostat within packaging that includes a custom-manufactured screwdriver and a level indicator at back so people know if it hangs level on the wall. While this isn’t cheap,  Fadell says the “unboxing experience” contributes to ease of installation.

Attraction #4: When I bought my house, I installed my own digital thermostat with help from dad. I read the complicated instructions and told dad what to do with the color-coded wires. It was an ordeal and made me nervous because I’d never done that before. In fact, how many of you have? If I know Nest is plug and play for real, then I a) want one and b) become an automatic grassroots champion. (Ooh, just read that Nest offers a professional concierge service for installation!!)

Lastly, design. Like most things Apple that are techy, modern and cool, the Nest is also one neat device to look at. Silver edge, black inner circle with ocean blue inner circle and bold white, large numerals; not overly large. Fadell says he wanted a “symbol of hipness intended to be shown off like a badge and a jewel on the wall.”

Attraction #5: Take a look at your thermostat; is it a design element or eye sore in your home? When I remodeled my living room, I wished I had a more contemporary thermostat instead of the beige box I have now.

How is all this creative?

Look at all the steps Fadell and his team needed to strategize how to sell something no one replaces that often (albeit 10 million are sold annually). They really thought, creatively, about how to take a mundane product and turn it into something trendy, hip, green, and eco.

Those are a few reasons why you gotta appreciate Apple and all its offshoots who continue to bring us innovation in really creative ways.

Bloggers, Please Add Comment Luv Plug In

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By Jayme Soulati

I’m a serious blogger. I like to visit others’ blogs with some basic plug-ins and comment systems that allow me to share my latest blog post. I love the blogs I visit with LiveFyre and Comment Luv or another similar plug in that links back to my latest post.

The primary reasons are twofold:

  • I am visiting your house to give you some love; might you give me some love back?
  • I want to know the latest blog post of others who comment so I can zip over to a new blog and see what’s happening.

I’ve gotten pretty pressed for time these days and find it nearly impossible to visit blogs as much as I used to. I feel badly about this and understand that many a blogger has a tit-for-tat mentality — I won’t come to your house unless you come to mine. I wish there was a check box somewhere with a plug-in called Kilroy Was Here so I can cross off my name in case I don’t want to leave a comment. Maybe you have Clicky and you can see my IP address showing up on your visitor analytics and you know I’ve stopped in. But, that’s asking a lot.

And, so, on this Saturday if or when you might read this, would you perhaps consider adding a plug in that features latest blog posts so we can give one another a bit of love?

Just askin’…thanks!

(Photo Note: This photo has absolutely nothing to do with this blog post, but I have to show off my poppy from my garden; that’s big love!)