Now this is absolutely cute...
I don't know if I can keep this up, but I'll try...
Thursday, January 25, 2007
SNOW!!!
I saw snow!
Not flurries, like actual snow. Like powder snow. Pretty snow.
It snowed the entire time I was in Ann Arbor. Five freaking days straight. And normally I hate snow -- here in New York, it's pretty for first 15 minutes and then it becomes a nuisance. Then the streets gets salted and the snow gets pushed around, and it becomes ugly.
But in Ann Arbor, the snow fell gently. Miniscule snowballs of powder, versus the downpour slush flakes that I'm used to. Even after the streets there were salted, the snow remained white. The sullied snow vanished, it seemed, into thin air.
Maybe it's that lake effect stuff I always here them mention on the news, or maybe it's the fact that I'll tolerate snow in Ann Arbor because I really like Ann Arbor. It reminds me of Georgetown, without the money and the pretentiousness. And without the closed campus.
Unfortunately, I'll probably never live there. I found out last weekend that the University doesn't really hire it's own graduates, so there's no way the boyfriend will get a job there after he graduates. Oddly enough, he mentioned the possibility of wanting to go back to Georgetown to teach.
It's funny how things come full circle.
SNOW!!
Not flurries, like actual snow. Like powder snow. Pretty snow.
It snowed the entire time I was in Ann Arbor. Five freaking days straight. And normally I hate snow -- here in New York, it's pretty for first 15 minutes and then it becomes a nuisance. Then the streets gets salted and the snow gets pushed around, and it becomes ugly.
But in Ann Arbor, the snow fell gently. Miniscule snowballs of powder, versus the downpour slush flakes that I'm used to. Even after the streets there were salted, the snow remained white. The sullied snow vanished, it seemed, into thin air.
Maybe it's that lake effect stuff I always here them mention on the news, or maybe it's the fact that I'll tolerate snow in Ann Arbor because I really like Ann Arbor. It reminds me of Georgetown, without the money and the pretentiousness. And without the closed campus.
Unfortunately, I'll probably never live there. I found out last weekend that the University doesn't really hire it's own graduates, so there's no way the boyfriend will get a job there after he graduates. Oddly enough, he mentioned the possibility of wanting to go back to Georgetown to teach.
It's funny how things come full circle.
SNOW!!
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Cute Kid Of The Week, Volume 1
I've been on a "Shoes" kick all day, so it was a pleasure to find this on You Tube:
So cute, right?
And by the way, I do think he totally said "pooh on my hand, boy." But that makes it so much more adorable.
So cute, right?
And by the way, I do think he totally said "pooh on my hand, boy." But that makes it so much more adorable.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Rosie vs. The Donald -- Brand Management Gone Awry?
Happy New Year, folks! Here's the 2007 being a lot more fruitful than 2006...
Now let's get down to the business.
Have you heard about the continuing feud between Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump? O.K., you'd have to live on Mars to NOT hear about it. It's been in the news, on the TV, everywhere on the web and it will be preserved for posterity in libraries across the country that archive mags like People and US Weekly (and there are some libraries that do.)
A quick re-cap: The Donald decided to let Miss USA keep her crown. Rosie pooh-poohed The Donald's decision (by the way, everytime I put 'The' before 'Donald' I feel as if I'm writing about a mob boss) on The View. Donald comes back on the attack, Rosie blogs about it, Donald hits again and drags Barbara Walters into it, and poor Barbara has to "clear things up" and declare neutrality. Then Donald sends a lovely letter to Rosie, telling her that Barbara is lying to the both of them. NY newspapers then say Rosie blew up at Barbara backstage at The View, prompting this exchange meant to show that everyone's okay. Donald retorts once more, calling Barbara a "pathetic puppet" and insinuating that Rosie is steamrolling The View. Maybe they've reached a detente, because I haven't seen anything more about it in the news.
Hyped up by the hysterics of the feud, the press and TV's talking heads missed some things. First, Rosie's a comic. What's the fuss about her opening monologue? She told him to "sit and spin" and she mentions his bankruptcies. She dislikes him. She makes it funny. She predicts that he would respond with a lawsuit.
So Donald responds because she attacked him personally, but did you expect anything else? He had to respond because that's what The Donald would do. The Donald is a brand, and his aggressiveness -- both in his personal and professional dealings -- is part of it.
I bring up the brand because I, too, disagree with the decision to let Miss USA keep her crown, but for reasons that differ from Rosie's.
The fact that Donald would let her keep her crown seems to go against everything they teach in Brand Management 101 (or that I think would be taught in such a class. Sorry, I did not go to the B-School.) Isn't Miss USA a brand, one that Mr. Trump and NBC have ownership of? You'd think they'd work harder to protect the brand and the image from getting tarnished, and stories like this and this seem like they would do more harm than good. I mean, it's the stories and the rumors and photos that prompted pageant organizers to look into decrowning their Miss in the first place.
Big red flag? The girl could have been arrested for underage drinking and if the stories are true she could have been caught doing coke. (The underage drinking and admission to clubs is well documented.) Do you honestly want someone who's a liability reppin' your brand? I think not. And now, the poor girl will be the infamous "rehabbed" Miss USA. Tarnished image much?
Some would say I'm being too harsh. I mean, underage drinking and partying is to be expected on college campuses and in cities and towns across the country. I did it, my friends did it, G. Dub's twins did it, and (scarily) my baby sister will probably do it, too.
And then there's the fact that the reckoning happened only days before she turned 21. Uncanny timing, huh? Is all the hubbub for naught?
So it's not as if Tara Conner's behavior -- and that of her 18-year old Trump Towers roommate, Miss Teen USA -- is unexpected or unforgivable. But if you choose someone to represent a brand, to fulfill an image, then you better damn well make sure that person is someone to be respected, who will raise the profile of your brand in a positive way (and spawning Celeb Feud '06 does not count).
Especially if you are holding her out to be a role model for young women across the country.
Just my two cents.
Now let's get down to the business.
Have you heard about the continuing feud between Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump? O.K., you'd have to live on Mars to NOT hear about it. It's been in the news, on the TV, everywhere on the web and it will be preserved for posterity in libraries across the country that archive mags like People and US Weekly (and there are some libraries that do.)
A quick re-cap: The Donald decided to let Miss USA keep her crown. Rosie pooh-poohed The Donald's decision (by the way, everytime I put 'The' before 'Donald' I feel as if I'm writing about a mob boss) on The View. Donald comes back on the attack, Rosie blogs about it, Donald hits again and drags Barbara Walters into it, and poor Barbara has to "clear things up" and declare neutrality. Then Donald sends a lovely letter to Rosie, telling her that Barbara is lying to the both of them. NY newspapers then say Rosie blew up at Barbara backstage at The View, prompting this exchange meant to show that everyone's okay. Donald retorts once more, calling Barbara a "pathetic puppet" and insinuating that Rosie is steamrolling The View. Maybe they've reached a detente, because I haven't seen anything more about it in the news.
Hyped up by the hysterics of the feud, the press and TV's talking heads missed some things. First, Rosie's a comic. What's the fuss about her opening monologue? She told him to "sit and spin" and she mentions his bankruptcies. She dislikes him. She makes it funny. She predicts that he would respond with a lawsuit.
So Donald responds because she attacked him personally, but did you expect anything else? He had to respond because that's what The Donald would do. The Donald is a brand, and his aggressiveness -- both in his personal and professional dealings -- is part of it.
I bring up the brand because I, too, disagree with the decision to let Miss USA keep her crown, but for reasons that differ from Rosie's.
The fact that Donald would let her keep her crown seems to go against everything they teach in Brand Management 101 (or that I think would be taught in such a class. Sorry, I did not go to the B-School.) Isn't Miss USA a brand, one that Mr. Trump and NBC have ownership of? You'd think they'd work harder to protect the brand and the image from getting tarnished, and stories like this and this seem like they would do more harm than good. I mean, it's the stories and the rumors and photos that prompted pageant organizers to look into decrowning their Miss in the first place.
Big red flag? The girl could have been arrested for underage drinking and if the stories are true she could have been caught doing coke. (The underage drinking and admission to clubs is well documented.) Do you honestly want someone who's a liability reppin' your brand? I think not. And now, the poor girl will be the infamous "rehabbed" Miss USA. Tarnished image much?
Some would say I'm being too harsh. I mean, underage drinking and partying is to be expected on college campuses and in cities and towns across the country. I did it, my friends did it, G. Dub's twins did it, and (scarily) my baby sister will probably do it, too.
And then there's the fact that the reckoning happened only days before she turned 21. Uncanny timing, huh? Is all the hubbub for naught?
So it's not as if Tara Conner's behavior -- and that of her 18-year old Trump Towers roommate, Miss Teen USA -- is unexpected or unforgivable. But if you choose someone to represent a brand, to fulfill an image, then you better damn well make sure that person is someone to be respected, who will raise the profile of your brand in a positive way (and spawning Celeb Feud '06 does not count).
Especially if you are holding her out to be a role model for young women across the country.
Just my two cents.
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