What's your guilty pleasure(s)?

One of my idols, Ms. Grace, recently asked folks to state what their guilty pleasures are/were.

Never one to miss an opportunity to totally embarrass myself, I noted a few things in her comments, then realized I need to do this list justice. So, this is the condensed, yet somehow expanded, version of my guilty pleasures list:

BANDS I LOVE, BUT WOULD NOT SPEND $$ TO SEE IN CONCERT

1. Journey - put any of the Steve Perry song's on the radio, I will sing it. Loudly.
   
2. Backstreet Boys - used to (like only five years ago) drive down the street with their music blaring as I danced behind the wheel. Yeah, I know. I only do this in private now.
   
3. New Kids on the Block - Jordan was such a hottie
4. Go Go's - they had the beat...way back when.
5. Barbra Streisand - all my mom's fault
   
6. Hall & Oates - close race between Maneater and Kiss on my list as my favorites from them
   
7. Britney Spears - can't help it...she puts good dance tracks.
   

SONGS THAT STILL GET ME MOVING WHEN THEY COME ON THE RADIO (which sadly, does not happen enough in my eyes)

1. I've been waiting for a girl like you - Foreigner
2. Careless Whisper - George Michael
   
3. Turn the beat around - Gloria Estefan
4. Lover girl - Teena Marie
5. Round and Round - Ratt
   
6. Friends in low places - Garth Brooks
7. Achey breaky heart - Billy Ray Cyrus (remember him? Yeah, didn't think so)
8. Relax - Frankie goes to Hollywood
9. I'm too sexy - Right said Fred (come on, you dance to this one too...)
10. Straight Up - Paula Abdul
11. Poison - Bel Biv Devoe
12. Come go with me - Cover Girls
    

TV SHOWS

1. American Idol - and I watch ALL the audition footage
   
2. Bridezillas - I am totally addicted. And you might as well throw in Platinum Weddings into the mix too. Though I don't watch that Bride -vs- Bride show. I do have standards you know, though I will admit they are not high.
   
3. Project Runway - Heidi rocks.
   
4. Real World - I *was* a junkie for this show, but I have spent the last four years getting it out my system. So no longer on the current list, but think it deserves an honorable mention.
   
5. WWE - same as Real World. Had to move on though I wish to thank Ricky the Dragon Steamboat for all the memories. And it does make me cringe to think I used to walk up to my friends and yell 'SUCK IT' which crossing my arms in an 'X' in front of my crotch. Oh Lord. Did I really just admit that?
   

FOOD

1. Funyuns
   
2. Hamburger Helper
3. Cheetos - they have these new flavored sticks out which are so damn good.
   

MISCELLANEOUS

1. Leg warmers - I have been secretly wishing that look would stick
2. Cruising - yes, cruising. Drop the convertible top, plug in your favorite mix tape and cruise up and down main street with 100's of other people. Don't think anyone does this anymore, but it was how we spent our typical Saturday night growing up and was so much fun. Concord, Antioch, Walnut Creek, Santa Cruz, Salinas, and Monterey were some of our top destinations.
   
3. Blogging.
   
   I am sure there are many more, but they are escaping me now so this list will have to suffice.
   
   I also think the time has come to own these simply as pleasures, not guilty ones. One of the ladies in Grace's s comments summed it best when she said...'My little secret is that I am not guilty about any of my pleasures anymore. Life is short and often difficult...and if one can find harmless pleasure in cheesy music or bad TV or decadent ice cream, I say hooray and pass the Chunky Monkey'.
   
   Exactly. No harm. No foul. Just good plain fun.
   
   Photo credit: Sean Rowely
   
   Technorati tags: guiltypleasures pleasures funstuff thingsilove bands tvshows food accessories
   

Need a laugh? Try blaugh.

Chris turned me onto a great cartoon site that is the brainchild of those crazy kids, Brad Kitpatrick and Chris Pirillo.

They have an innate way of capturing some of the silliness that seems to swirl through this Web world of ours, so check them out as it is sure to put a smile on your face - or hopefully put you in check if you happen to be the one getting parodied.

And while you are at it...be sure to add Gaping Void (brilliant) and Valleywag (snarky goodness) on your daily watch list too.

Technorati tags: comics comedy blaugh gapingvoid valleywag snarky

Happy One Web Day

One Web Day is a global holiday to celebrate the Internet. Modeled after Earth Day, One Web Day is a day to reflect on the impact of the Internet on our lives, businesses and the world around us. Across the globe people will be joining together on and offline to participate, post, converse, and share in a multitude of small (and big) ways their personal stories.


In celebration of OneWebDay, my buddy Shannon Clark is helping to organize two events here in San Francisco TODAY:

• 8:30am - downtown San Francisco outside of One Market Street (plaza across from the Ferry Building). They will be handing out flyers, stickers and buttons, taking photos and shooting video asking people about the impact the Web has had on their lives, businesses and communities.
• 12pm (noon) - in Union Square. They will gather and hold a series of conversations, outside, in small groups to explore and celebrate the Web and it's impact. This will be a mix of a "camp" format and my MeshWalk format (a mini conference held outside, possibly in motion).

I have a post coming that will speak to what impact the Internet has had on my life (some positive, some negative) and hope to have that finished shortly. Right now it is 3:59am and I need to go to bed. (Note: Shannon, I will miss the 8:30am gathering but will be there at noon)

Technorati tags: onewebday web internet celebrate sfevents

Time to send me to the glue factory...

I have had a few health issues the past couple of years, and it seems each one likes to taunt the other.

First it was my knees. I suffered a pretty bad injury playing softball about seven years ago that took me completely out of the sport. Out of all sports really. No softball. No skiing. No biking. No hiking. Then the weight started adding on. Which of course, puts more pressure on the knee and makes it harder to do anything. Anything at all.

Tired of feeling so old at such a young age, I finally realized it was not going to self correct and in July of 2004, I went in for surgery. They scraped a few chunks of cartilage here and shaved down another area there and fixed me up pretty good (mostly).


My right knee felt great, but shortly after the anethesia wore off, my left knee started acting up as I guess I had overcompensated with it for so long that it finally fired back at me. Choosing physical therapy over surgery, I have spent the last two years trying to get the weight off and get my knee back in working order. Frustrated I wasn't making any headway with the weight, my doctor suggested swimming as it was a really low impact that should give me great results.

So into the pool I jumped.

Then, being the smart multi-tasking girl I can be, I figured no better time than the present to get my scuba diving certificate as I had a trip to St. Thomas/St. John and a trip to Jamaica in 2005 and both are known as lovely dive spots. So I strapped the tanks on, added a few weights to my belt and dropped to six feet.

Pop. Hey, what was that? Hello? Can anyone hear me? Hello? What are you saying? I can't hear you...


Yes, it seems this dumbass (that would be me) was taking diving lessons while still battling a sinus infection. This is not recommended. Actually, it is downright discouraged. Plugged head and water pressure do not mix and eardrums tend to rupture. %*(#@&%(*&#%!!!

Fast forward 1-1/2 years. Unable to run/bike/hike/swim I have put on a massive amount of weight. In fact, I never ever expected to be this big even at nine months pregnancy. Good Lord that is a lot of pounds. And I am not happy about it. And I whine about it occasionaly.

My eardrum has finally healed (though my ear still feels clogged all the time) and I am now able to get in the pool without crying, but my left knee needs to be worked on. So, I headed over to my doctor's office yesteday for an xray (or two), and we confirmed what I have been thinking for the last year.

Yep...I am going under the knife again. November 13th. I am actually excited as I have been trying to diet for the last eight months and I have not succeeded in my attempts. We like to eat out. We like wine. We love beer (well, I do anyway). And I can go to the gym, but that one day agitates my knee so bad that I stay away for three. So it will be nice to be able to work out consistently and hopefully retrieve my body back from the grasps of mother gravity.

But in the meantime, I will try to be good. Losing weight before the surgery will make my recovery a lot easier and I need all the help I can get. So I will swim. And I will not drink beer. And no pasta after 6pm. These should help jumpstart my metabolism, but I can't wait to buy a new pair of running shoes.


Technorati tags: gettingold gettingolder kneeinjury sinusinfection fatgirl losingweight nomoreexcuses

Well, at least I didn't set the house on fire...

So what happens when you leave a small amount of soup 'cooking' on the stove for six hours. Yep, you guessed it. It eventually evaporates. And then when there is nothing left in the pot to burn, the heat starts to eat the coating off the bottom of the pan.


And did I mention the smell? Lord help me. Where is the ocean breeze when I need it the most?

I think the phone rang while I was pouring my soup into a bowl, I got to chatting, then I walked away with my bowl in hand and forgot to turn the burner off. Whoops. Of course, it is on low, so I don't notice it when I go back into the kichen and then I go out and by the time I come home...well, I have this.

I am so going to get my ass kicked. And if I do stuff like this now...what am I going to be like when I am 80?

I guess all in all my consort should be happy that all we lost was a pot. I mean, at least he still has a house to come home too. :()


Technorati tags: overcooked burned burnedpot stupidgirl

Bloglines - the ultimate time killer.

So what I thought would be a time saver has turned into a time killer for me.


You see, I have gone the last year without using any kind of blog aggregator. For those deep in the trenches I know this must be hard to fathom. For my buddies who spend more time outdoors than in, it basically means I hand type in the 7-8 url's of the websites I liked to read when I had the time to read them. Sometimes it was every day, more times than not, it was a weeks worth of reading all at once. It was not a long list so it wasn't really a big deal.

Then I realized how much I was 'missing'. I meet so many interesting people that I would like to keep up with, that I finally realized the power of Bloglines. If they blog/vlog/podcast, I just add their url into my Bloglines account and whalaa - every time they enter a new post I get an overview - all in one spot. This is great!

Until I realized that over the last week I have averaged about 1/3 of my day reading other people's blogs. Holy crap. This is not good for productivity. Sure it helps keep me in the loop of some of the burnings issues out there, but I must figure out a way to not allow it to interfere with my other work.

I guess one small change I can make is only look at it once a day. Right now I leave the window open and refer back to it every hour or so when I need a break from my other tasks. Then of course, I get sucked in. Yeah, maybe that will make a difference - only check it out once a day and do a scan for anything that might pop out at me. Ok, I shall try that.

But I do love it. It is the type of tool that can be ever so helpful as long as you learn to manage it well. Just funny it took me a year to realize that.

Technorati tags: bloglines blogaggregator killingtime timekiller studying unproductivegettowork

I need to lick 17,500 stamps...

...to get where I want (need) to be.

Crap.





I think we all remember what happened to Susan...so maybe it would be smarter for me to just get my ass back into the gym as it has been a while.


Technorati tags: lickingstamps snapple trivia seinfeld burncalories bottlecap

Meet lonelygirl67

Cross posted. Please note this will be my last post on the Social Media Club ('SMC') on my personal blog. For news and happenings on the SMC, please check out that site directly as there is some really cool stuff happening there.


Here is Ana getting caught trying to sneak into daddy's suitcase. Sorry baby. I already tried. Unfortunately these bags are not meant for us 'big girls'.

Oh and Jackie - this spoils your surprise, but a big bag of Crystal Light 'On The Go' packets are coming your way. Got everything I could off the shelf so you have a variety of flavors...


This morning I shipped Chris off for two weeks to help launch the local chapters of Social Media Club in London, New York, Miami and Los Angeles. These four cities are the first in (hopefully) many with Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, and Boston to follow shortly thereafter.

Event details are as follows:

London, September 15th at 5:30pm to 7:30pm
Fleishman Hillard offices located at 40 Long Acre, Covent Garden, London

Registration: As of this post I do not have anyone officially signed up though several have verbally commited to attend. We would appreciate your signing up on the Mollyguard site so we can prepare the security guard at the front desk for your arrival.

Need additional details? Please contact Chris Heuer at chris@brainjams.org.

-------------------

New York, September 18th at 6pm to 8pm
The Business Wire offices at 40 East 52nd Street, New York, NY

Registration: As of this posting we have 18 people registered – Chris Heuer, Howard Greenstein, Laura Sturaitis, Eric Nehrlich, John Hui, David Bradfield, Christina Koukkos, Annette Krame, Kaarli Tasso, Robert Tolmach, Toby Cohen, Laura Allen, Jen Gherardi, Steve Eisenberg, Ed Costello, Colin Ruane, Nate Westheimer, Sherri Weiss.

Need additional details? Please contact Howard Greenstein at Howard@socialmediaclub.org.

-------------------

Miami, September 25th from 6pm to 8pm
PLEASE NOTE THERE WAS A LOCATION CHANGE:

The WeblogWire Offices located at 3550 Biscayne Blvd., Miami Beach, FL

Registration: Chris Heuer, Jason Baptiste

Need additional details? Please contact Jason Baptiste at jason@theweblogwire.com or (305)576-1171 x13

-------------------

Los Angeles, September 28th from 4:30pm – 6:30pm
The Press-feed offices at 6767 Forest Lawn Drive, Suite 212, Los Angeles, CA

Registration: Chris Heuer, Sally Falkow, Dawn Wilcox, Allan Weiss, Robert Niles

Need additional details? Please contact Sally Falkow at sally@press-feed.com.

-------------------

We hope you will join us at one or several of the meetings where you will meet other folks in your own ‘backyard’ interested in Social Media.

Technorati tags: socialmediaclub smc launch london newyork miami losangeles socialmedia hrelease pressrelease socialmediarelease

My 'pen pal' finally said he was sorry.

I know it is kind of hard to read the image so I will help you out here...

It says 'Hay i am sorry that i was cussing @ u and i learnd my leson not to cuss at people i dont know or just to cuss and now i cant talk to *** so i am just trying to say sorry'.

Seems my little friend got his butt chewed out for being a little turd and now is having to make amends. He has also been told to keep away from my girlfriend's daughter which kills him as I think he had a crush on her. Good. I also hope his mouth was washed out with soap and he was banned from video games for a month. Yeah, I wish all that on a 12 year old. Bite me.


Technorati tags: bully emailpenpal penpal pottymouth

Make Film. Win award. Just like that.

Well ok, maybe there are a few more steps that need to be wedged in there - but nonetheless...

The 50th San Francisco International Film Festival will be rolling into town April 26th - May 10th (2007) and they have just put out a call for documentaries, shorts, animation, experimental, youth-produced, and work for television for their Golden Gate Awards Competition.

Cash prizes abound, but you need to act fast. The primary deadline for submissions is November 10th, 2006 and the final deadline is December 8th.

Get your 15+ minutes of fame people and submit those films!

Technorati tags: sffs filmfestival sanfranciscofilmfestival goldengateawards filmawardsfilmcompetition

There is no medicine to cure hatred

All I ask is '...we not become the evil we deplore.'

Partial quote from Rev. Nathan Baxter's speech on September 14, 2001

Photo credit: Linus Gelber

You know it's a party when *you* take the keg home...

Last night we (the Social Media Club / BrainJams crew) co-hosted an open house with our buddies from BuzzLogic at our new digs in the Looksmart building on Second Street.


The building is secured tighter than Fort Knox, so we had to limit our get together to the folks on the 3rd and 4th floors and a handful of outside guests (they would have opened up the entire building if we had given them more notice) - but we still had a nice turnout (about 40 people) and met some really good folks. Chris even got in a foosball game or two so I know he was a happy camper.

The party ended with the keg still about 1/3 full, so Chris and I decided to bring it home so the folks coming over on Sunday for the Web 2point2 planning party have something to help wash down the pizza with. I think it always makes planning a little easier when you have a heat on, right? :()

Technorati tags: socialmediaclub smc buzzlogic looksmart newdigs officepartyopenhouse

'Tis the conference season...

...but really, when is it not?

I need to import my Upcoming calendar into this blog, but true to form...Blogger is acting up on me. (I know, I know. I have been trying to move to Wordpress for three months now. Whatever.) For now we will do it the old fashioned way.

Here is a sampling of where I will be over the next couple of months. Of course, there are 100's of smaller events whittled inbetween these, but I figured you can go to Upcoming and see the rest.

• The Future of Web Apps: September 13th and 14th
• STIRR: September 13th in San Francisco
• Silicon Valley CodeCamp: October 7th and 8th at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills
• Office 2.0: October 11th and 12th
• The Vloggies: November 4th in San Francisco
• Web 2point2: November 9th and 10th in San Francisco

There are also some events I wish I could attend, but can't due to scheduling conflicts, such as Blogger Meetup, Lunch 2.0 'Web Expo' Blowout, BlogOrlando, Social Media Club London, Social Media Club New York, Social Media Club Miami, Social Media Club Los Angeles, WoolfCamp, and Blogs Wikis & Social Media.

They say the beauty of living in Silicon Valley is there is always something going on. They also say the negative side of the valley is there is always something going on.

Technorati tags: events calendar conference unconference busygirl

I'll take a Social Media Club - 'To Go' Please

Next Tuesday, Chris leaves for a quick trek to London, New York, Miami, and Los Angeles to launch the Social Media Club chapters, and I get to stay home to make sure the cats don't set the house on fire.



Seriously, there were things that needed to be done here (in SF) and I also thought it unwise to spend that much cash right now just so I could see the London Bridge. Sure I could have thrown caution to the wind and put it on the credit card, but there will be other times for me to go, so I decided to 'take one for the team' so to speak. See daddy, I DO listen to your advice every once in a while...

Anyhoo, their are some wonderful people involved in getting the local chapters off the ground and I wish to thank them from the bottom of my heart for their support. Your input on the organization itself, and on the projects we will collaborate on, is vital to our success. So, 'thank you'. 'Thank you' for believing in us. In all of us.


Technorati tags: socialmediaclub smc london newyork miami losangeles roadwarrior travel launch

Looking for a few good mates.

Cabin mates that is.


Chris and I have been renting a ski house in North Lake Tahoe (Truckee) the last couple of years that puts us within 20 minutes from our favorite places - Squaw, Alpine and Northstar. There are usually 10 members involved in the house which makes the fees pretty reasonable, especially when you factor in what a hotel would cost us for the season with as much as my little snow bunny likes to go up there (I hope to hit the slopes hard this year too - if my knee holds up that is). Note to self...get in and see the knee doctor ASAP.

The same core group of have been together the last three years, but it seems injuries, weddings and babies has a few of us needing to skip this little piece of heaven this season. Bummer for us, but life goes on they say.

So we are now looking for a few good mates. Five to be exact. We are a group of 'professionals' in our 30's and 40's, social drinkers who like to cook, but who are just as likely to head out to dinner together as well. We all help to keep the house clean and believe no one should have to clean up after someone elses mess.

Think along the lines of Friends, not Animal House. We would like you to be the same. Not too tall of an order is it? Oh. And you need to have $1,500. Muy importante. Part of this amount includes a deposit that we will hopefully see at the end of the season if we are good boys and girls.

As of right now there are four boys and one girl signed up. While I personally like those odds, I wouldn't turn down another blast of estrogen or two in the house. But, if it ends up just being me and nine boys...well, somehow...I will make it through the season.

So is anyone interested in joining us, or do you know someone else who might be? Drop me a line at kristie [at] brainjams [dot] org. Unfortunately, time is of the essence, so we need to make a decision quick (by Monday, 9/11/06) as homes up there are being gobbled up quickly.


Technorati tags: northlaketahoe tahoe tahoeskihouse tahoeskilease skilease skirentalcabinmates vacationrental

Do you have a great Social Media story to tell?

Well then, here is your chance to show off your mad skills - but you have to act quickly!

My buddies over at SNCR are looking for case studies that highlight excellence in the use of Social Media (i.e. blogs, wikis, podcasts, collaborative tools and other forms of participatory communications).

Winners will be announced at the inaugural SNCR Research Symposium & Awards Gala in Boston, MA and the award-winning case studies will be published in the New Communications Review. Talk about getting 15+ minutes of fame!

Submit your case study now as the deadline is Monday, September 15th.


Technorati tags: sncr societyfornewcommunicationsresearch sncrawardssocialmedia socialmediacasestudies

Get paid to blog

Do you have an extensive knowledge base of pop culture?

Do you blog?

Do you have a good sense of humor?

Do you like money?

Well then, contact my buddy Jackie as she is looking for you! But do it quick as I think she is making a decision next week.

P.S. I'd put in my own application, but evidently I am not funny enough or she would have thought of me immediately. :()


Technorati tags: blogger payperpost getpaidtoblog gettingpaidtoblog popculture popcultureblogblogging makingmoney