Laundry scattered on burber carpet.
Dishes sticky and stacked on counter.
Personal email dogpiled in inbox.
Four weeks of recycling doing trapeze show under sink.
I started working on a longer post, but after an extraordinarily too-short weekend of interstellar fun, I must retire at 8:15pm. This will have to suffice for now.
Dancing in a kimono is even funner.
This is an op-ed / obit from the brilliant (and incredibly well-read) writer/composer Ian Gray on the recently departed J.D. Salinger. If any of you are a fan of Salinger, the true Salinger, in all of his “Teddy”, “F&Z”, “Carpenters”, “Banana Fish,” “Down at the Dinghy” glory — then you will enjoy:
Yes, yes — so everyone knows Apple’s new baby sounds like a personalized feminine product –
And as a “Professional Namer” (and as a plain old consumer) — no. I don’t love the name, I don’t even like it. And yet — I don’t think it was a stupid move, either.
Now, first of all — I know what they were thinking. They were focused on brand consistency, and nice streamlined naming architecture, and wanted to keep it all in the ‘iP—’ family: iPhone, iPod… iPad (although, I would argue, the initial ‘i’ serves that purpose just swimmingly: iMac, iBook, etc.)
But, intentionally or not, this move will not be a deal killer (user experience will be) and, in fact, the name that everyone is touting as only one step away from “iTampon” might even work to their advantage.
Don’t forget the ridicule of Wii when it first came out:
“Sounds like someone needs to be potty trained!”
or even of Google:
“how do you SAY that… man, that’s a mouth full… it has nothing to DO with search!”–
The process of coming up with a name is important. Really important: it determines how to communicate positioning, audience, description, functionality, benefits, evocative “lifestyle” qualities. It also pays my rent.
But a name can not carry a product completely, and it certainly is never meant to live in isolation from the brand.
Which brings me to my next point: the iPad is under the Apple brand. Never, ever, underestimate the value of viral buzz (“No PR is bad PR”) and if you are Apple: you, like Google, get brand PR by scratching your nose.
And when it comes to naming the next anything in Apple’s product line, you must always remember that their marketing strategy is banking on their #1 commodity: coolness.
The first time in awhile that I’ve just taken a day to do nothing, I had high hopes to get in some good b.log, journal and script writing today. Alas, it was not in store.
But had I spent a very long, thoughtful time crafting a b.log post to make up for the somewhat off-the-cuff posts of late (having committed to one post a day, I have surrendered to quantity over quality…), perhaps I would have said something like this:
Posting 1, 2, 1, 2… Posting, one. Two. Three.
God bless mothers.
The past two days I’ve been achy with chills and a depleated soul, working from home but wanting to crawl into a hole.
My dear mom, retired from teaching but never from mothering, drove down this afternoon and, while I slaved away at the computer, she slaved away in my kitchen… cooking up a big ole pot of chicken soup. Read more…
Also using:
(how did we live before cell phones?!)
Ah. The sweet smell of In-ter-net.
Finally, after THREE WEEKS of being without web access on my laptop, the ole DSL goes up. What’s that you say? Why in the hell does she have DSL? Because I was told that there was no cable offered in my area. And I believed them. And that was wrong.
So after Bruce, the very nice technician, came to my house and noticed that my apartment’s 90-year-old wiring was not set up for speeding across the World Wide Web, I accepted the bad news and thanked my lucky starts that at least I could post a friendly b.log without thumb-tapping on my iPhone. Just no big video downloads for me.
But instead of feeling frustrated that I was not moving forward with the pace of technology, I decided that I’m going to move backward. As in, I’m going Tech Retro:
And yes, I was tempted to get one of these:
[ from fonejackerhacker.co.uk ]
Forgot to post!
Friend in town!
Projects at work!
Car broke down!
Rain!
All excuses, none of them good!
A sure way to fail at New Year’s resolutions: make them.
Wow.
This vow is harder than I thought; and easier; and more effective. Oh, the opportunity to self-learn is excruciating.
Do you know how liberating it is to go out clubbing in ratty jeans, an over-sized t-shirt, and sneakers bought in Vietnam that now have worn holes on the toes while everyone else is in spandex?
Very.
But do you know the kind of response you get when you bust a move to Bel Biv Devoe in downtown Oakland while not giving two licks what you look like?
Pretty positive.
And please don’t mention to anyone that you are on a vow of celibacy / flirting or dating haitus; trust me, they will take it as a bona fide challenge, and it doesn’t help.
Thankfully, I made it home un-satisfied.
1. My loyalty to ATT (still typing on iPhone… Stupid “U-verse”
2. Coffee at 4pm
3. Attempting to make risotto in under 10 minutes
4. Telling new coworkers I write a blog
Rain.
Pasta.
Orchids.
Tea.
Exhausted, but happy.
For the early retirement into pajamas this evening.
For loving my job and loving this change, however unexpected.
For new adventures, so close to home.
For the comfort of words and poetry; of pause and silence.
For a wealth of amazing people that have crossed my path over my lifetime…every single one I love.
For the streetlamp’s reflection upon the still of the lake, thin wobblings of light.
For my wide-mouthed bay windows, a panorama to enjoy over tea.
For centeredness.
For clarity.
For aloneness feeling different than lonliness.
Oh! You mean “working full time” means I have to work a full week AND return again the next Monday?!
One week down, a lifetime to go.
(thank you A., W., M., & F. For the magic, baklava and inspiration of today. You gave me faith I can have it all.)
Tripitaka,
Amen.
(my new crush)
Just because I took a vow of celibacy / flirting haitus / bizarre interpersonal experiment that I’m starting to question– doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to spend some quality time alone with a man I love: so, tonight I had me a reading date with Walt Whitman
(shhh. Don’t tell anyone, but Virgina Woolf watched)
Here’s a little excerpt from our rendezvous, for good voyaristic measure:
“There was never any more inception than there is now,
Nor any more youth or age than there is now,
And will never be any more perfection than there is now,
Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.
Urge and urge and urge,
Always the procreant urge of the world.
Out of the dimness opposite equals advance, always substance and
increase, always sex,
Always a knit of identity, always distinction, always a breed of life.
To elaborate is no avail, learn’d and unlearn’d feel that it is so.
Sure as the most certain sure, plumb in the uprights, well
entretied, braced in the beams,
Stout as a horse, affectionate, haughty, electrical,
I and this mystery here we stand. “
- WW, Leaves of Grass [Song of Myself]