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New Year’s Resolutions

Published
by
s000z
 on January 3, 2010
. 3 Comments

This Place is so Insanely Beautiful

I’m on top of a mountain in Malibu. Skies are blue, blue, blue. What else needs to be said?  Well, its the beginning of 2010 and so lotsa stuff, actually…

Malibu Blue

New Year’s Resolution 2010 Biblio

I realize process of making and keeping New Year’s Resolutions is (or should be, at any rate) quite obvious.  It doesn’t hurt to start by Google-ing up a refresher or two, though.

Also worth mentioning nothing what the top New Year’s Resolutions are and what overall stats are for keeping them.  There’s a ton out there on the topic — everything from New Year’s Resolutions statistics, making New Year’s Resolutions, funny New Year’s Resolutions, New Year’s Resolutions for Kids, Broken New Year’s Resolutions, Green New Year’s Resolutions…

I created the following list by eliminating articles from sites trying to sell charts and virtual coaching software subscriptions.  This is what I ended up with:

The Top New Year’s Resolutions, according to a US Government Poll — yr tax paying dollars at work, presumably

Psychology Today New Year’s Resolution advice

New Year’s Resolutions for NYC — Freakin’ hilarious NYTimes article (doubtful these will be of general interest, tho)

WebMD New Year’s Resolution advice

New Year’s Resolutions are for Dorkazoids

And in case you haven’t already figure this out — I’m into making New Year’s Resolutions. I’m even into keeping them. I realize I’m a total dork for taking New Year’s Resolutions so seriously.  Fortunately, my dorkazoid status has little to no impact on my ability to make and maintain New Year’s Resolutions.  Solipsism is, after all, part of the dorkazoid credo.

Acceptance of the Dorkazoid Credo

Dorkazoid credo acceptance also helps me get over the fact that making New Year’s Resolutions means admitting to the deepest, darkest storm clouds of shame, failure and self-loathing.  For this brief moment in time, I will not allow these clouds to come between me and this clear day in Malibu.

What Happened With My 2009 New Year’s Resolution

Five hours a day of writing.  Believe it or not, I met my goal.  Only problem was that I didn’t connect my writing goals with financial goals.

Fact is, despite those few and far between entrepreneurial success stories, it is not easy to earn a living by creating online content.  Even content published on insanely high traffic blogs like the Huffington Post doesn’t pay.

Although I published over 100 articles only a small percent of my words connected to market pay.  Most of the paid gigs were for print publications.  Print publications also provide a lot more editorial feedback and vital resources such as fact checkers, art directors and regularly accessible Editor-in-Chiefs.

Not that I, in any way, regret last year’s resolution.  Seeing Politiku featured in Huffpo and then syndicated by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek was, of course, rewarding.  I continue to Politiku.  Just not as frequently.  Same with other online publications I contribute to.

Hopefully my 2010 resolutions will protect me from neglecting my longer term and more substantial aspirations such as screenwriting, playwriting, publishing more articles in print magazines and continuing to create optimized web content for clients who can afford to pay market rates for my talent, education and expertise.

2010 New Year’s Resolutions

Resolution #1 - Don’t allow the number of pro-bono or even below market rate assignments to exceed paid ones. Unfortunately, Huffpo bloggers don’t get paid.  Am therefore trying to figure out how to maintain my beloved Politiku column on the level I’m currently maintaining it on without having to sacrifice self-sufficiency.

Resolution #2 - Arrive five minutes early whenever possible
Best technique I can think of for improving punctuality.

Resolution #3 - Two days a week working out at the gym. Incredibly trite, compared to what some people do. Never been much of a gym rat, though but again, the key to succeeding is making resolutions that can be realistically maintained.

Resolution #4 - Full-time, long-term ‘dayjob’ - Having this stability will vastly increase my effectiveness in all other areas.  It will enable me to pick and choose freelance gigs, rather than simply trying to be ubiquitously published.  It will also enable me to refocus on screenplays.  Hopefully, acting wont have to be entirely sacrificed since it’s something I love and will continue to need to always be doing, and always be needing to do, in some capacity.

Resolution #5 - I haven’t figured out the fifth one yet. I prefer odd numbers to even so I’ve decided to leave it as ’standby’. Suggestions?

Between Now and 2011

There are other things that I need to do or am planning on doing. I’ll need to trust myself to do those other things –breaking them down into smaller steps and setting deadlines for those steps– without a resolution.  Again, keeping resolutions realistic, mundane and ultimately doable increases the likelihood of its actually getting maintained through 2011.

How did things go with your 2009 resolutions?

What are your New Year’s Resolutions for 2010?

If you’d like to read my Huffington Post Politiku Neuroeconomics for New Years click here.

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The Little Drummer Boy

Published
by
s000z
 on December 25, 2009
. 5 Comments

Not Knowing What I’m Missing — For the Most Part

How can I miss it if I never lost it in the first place.  It being that the shimmer and bling of seasonal wonderland retail display windows, supermarket muzak tracks, and the fact that I’ve never practiced the religion held by the majority of the United States.

Goy Envy

Here’s the thing, though.  I’m only human. I’m only human and because I’m only human, how in the world could I not have just a little bit of goy envy in me?  Here’s how it works.  The majority of the carols could melt like Frosty and I wouldn’t be any worse off. Exception being The Little Drummer Boy.

The Little Drummer Boy

The Little Drummer boy is different.  It is a song that is so humbling, so majestic, so pacifying and utterly humanizing that no matter where I am and what I am doing, it is a song that freezes time.

Collection of Little Drummer Boy Covers So You Can Hear What I’m Talking About For Yourself

(This one is my personal fav)

In the meantime, I’m posting a picture of mom’s Hanukkah display to assure her that I haven’t lost my mind — I mean, my identity.

HanukkahAtMoms

Craving more holiday covers? Click here for my Auld Lang Syne collection.

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Thanksgiving Road Trip With My Cat

Published
by
s000z
 on November 26, 2009
. 3 Comments

Having mastered all the DIY pet-friendly travel methodologies pertinent to the Chinatown Express, United Airlines and the New York Subway system, my orange, tiger-striped tabby cat, Kee-hap and I are now Cali bound.

We are now driving those crazy-ass canyon zig-zag roads that wind through the rockies.  Occasionally I pull over to give Kee-hap some stretch time out of her carrying case (assuming Kee-hap Houdini hasn’t already taken the initiative on that one, herself) and water to drink (which she never does) and kitty treats (which she sometimes takes) before stepping out of the car myself, taking in the inky skies, dark enough to reveal galaxy clusters.

Listening to The Teaching Company’s Black Holes and Fall of the Roman Empire lectures on CD as I drive.  Had forgotten how much I love gunning the limits of time and space via the interstate.

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New Moon - What I’m Just Not Getting About The Twilight Saga

Published
by
s000z
 on November 21, 2009
. 2 Comments

What I do Get -or- Ontology of Swoonie Films That Actually Work for Me

Okay, so starting with what I do get about it.  I get the Romeo and Juliet scenario.  It’s clever.  A teen vampire movie would, in fact, have the swoonability to pull it of, most likely.  Would, being the operative word here.

See, the Luhrmann film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet is actually an all time fav of mine.  Symbolic imagery rose to meet the language.  They fell in love cause of an Ecstasy trip.  It somehow all made sense to me.  Enough willing suspension of disbelief to justify a self-contained world of heightenedness.

Felt the same way bout the swimmingly deliriously romantic Richard Linklater Before Sunrise film as well as its decade later follow, up Before Sunset. It’s instalove pulsebeat that drives you there whether you wanna be swooshed in or not.

Romantic love is legitimately discovered, fought for and successfully and believably secured in the form of loyalty and lifetime commitment over the course of Richard Linklater’s two films and this is exactly that those two Twilight movies are striving to obtain through swooshy surprises and twists of fate.  The swooshes of Twilight Saga: New Moon, however, are just not hitting me.

Sickly, Unworthy Bloodsucker vs Buff, Worthy Wolf Dude

Edward’s entire persona literally pales in comparison with buff wolf dude.   Like his Biblical namesake, Jacob is the Bella’s perpetual beta-contender.  Nothing he can do, in fact, will ever win him Edward’s place in Bella’s heart.  And he’s soooo much more compelling –not to mention worthy– on all fronts.

Love the connection w/ Pacific Northwest landscape and of the Earth and what girl wouldn’t love having a pack o’ Native American wolves protecting her.  And yes, I realize that part of the intrigue as exploited by Twilight franchise launched branding –I mean beverage– campaign.

Now that I think about it, Jacob as embodiment of Native American spirituality, jeans, pick up truck/motorcycle repair and perpetual Pacific Northwest drizzle and the clangs of his Vampire clashes is the movie’s only salvation.

Why Would Edward or Anyone Else Want to Read Bella’s Mind?

There’s no way I’ve been the only one wondering this. And its been going on since the first Twilight movie when Edward got all emphatically hot and bothered about it during science class.  Only this time, it’s the Vampire Vatican getting all miffed and ruffled about not being able to read Bella’s mind.  So what, though!  So what if they can’t use their mind reading powers on her!  Only thing she’ll be thinking about is Edward, anyway.  At least, that’s all she seemed to be thinking about last I checked.

New Moon - The Twilight Saga Politiku

She’s uninteresting.
Who cares what she is thinking. 
Did I miss something?

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Neuroeconomics Politiku

Published
by
s000z
 on November 17, 2009
. 6 Comments

politiku background

The topic of the December Politiku was Neuroeconomics -or- the science of what happens to our brains when we shop.  I ended

If you’d like to read my Huffington Post Politiku Neuroeconomics for New Years click here.

What is Neuroeconomics?

To really get something of a sense of what this is about, I suggest you read what others have to say about it:

Tim Hartford’s Slate.com article on Neuroeconomics

Sharon Begley’s Newsweek article on Neuroeconomics

Elizabeth Eaves’ Forbes article on Neuroeconomics

Paul B. Farrell’s Market Watch article on Neuroeconomics

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Delineator Dance

Published
by
s000z
 on November 14, 2009
. 0 Comments

Snow-1-pola

Snow-pola

Snow-2-pola

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Mad Men Politiku on The Huffington Post and The Huffington Post on Blog Love

Published
by
s000z
 on November 12, 2009
. 1 Comment

Mad Men Politiku is now up on Huffpo

Took the column in a slightly new direction this time round.  Please, click in and and share your thoughts.  When I say “share your thoughts,” here’s what I mean:

The Huffington Post on Bloglove

Arianna, supportively, urges us to shamelessly solicit blog love in all its manifestations.  Manifestations can include anything from diggs, tweets, wall posts, buzz-ups, and de.li.cious,’ to links and Huffpo commentary — which she places particular importance on, for obvious reasons:-)

She encourages us to tap our colleagues, competitors, clients, prospective clients, friends, friends of friends, frenenemies, umfriends (well, she doesn’t actually go that far, actually) and so here is what I’m getting at:

Part of me will always be squeamish and somewhat apprehensive about asking readers, who are being so generous with their time and attention already to go to the added trouble of posting responses.  Blogging however necessitates that I be continually proactive in my efforts to reach wider audiences.

Thanks to everyone for the commentary you’ve been posting on this blog as well as on my Huffington column this entire time and thanks in advance for whatever commentary you might post in the future — your blog love rocks my world!

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Why Googletrends Hates Screensavers and What the Declining Numbers Indicate You Might be Missing Out on

Published
by
s000z
 on November 9, 2009
. 1 Comment

I asked my friend, Cathy, to tell me why Googletrends reports a steady drop in screensaver searches.  The decline dates from 2004 to the present.  Cathy,  a friend I’ve known since Hampshire College days,  is a Screensaver Auteur.

Idle Time Software

In 2008, Cathy’s company produced “Holding Pattern” a screensaver that simulates the experience of intermittently  gazing out of an airplane window and snoozing.  Apple praised  the work for its creativity and lauded Idle Time Software for its programming integrity.  Eventually David Byrne bought a copy from Cathy’s website and invited her collaborate with him on a photography project using the original software she developed to create Holding Pattern.

Cathy1
Cathy Creating Idletime’s Sunset 23
Photo by, Susanna Speier

Deluge of the Anti-gadget

The reason people hate screensavers, Cathy explained, is because skanky software scumbags load them with spyware, adware and viruses.  Screensavers –especially those free screensaver downloads people get online — are often the epitome of skank.

The Great Google Has Spoken

I went to GoogleAdWords to figure out what screensaver keywords have surged over the internet  last month.

1,220,000 users  trawled the internet using the word “screensaver” and the same number searched for the plural form.   “Free screensavers,” came in third, and “Halloween screensavers” was right after at 135,000.

There was no data available for look-ups of “search engine scam,” and fewer than 1,000 were savvy enough to specifically search  for “screensaver spyware.”  Legit as the fear of bogus downloads may be, the search patterns indicate that the fear is based more on conjecture than research and analyses.

Figuring Out Whether or Not Screensaver = Oxymoron

Cathy takes pride in Idle Time’s technical integrity.  She does not sell ad space or generate income through site referral, and she even posts a personal disclaimer officiating the fact she does that she does not add spyware.

And in case you’ve been wondering, the reason Cathy  could spend a year developing a technically, creatively and conceptually sophisticated screensaver  is revenue generated from the deluxe versions of her free software enables her to do so.  Cubicle Flood was therefore made possible by Holding Pattern’s success.

Despite Cathy’s disclaimers, getting people to trust a free screensaver  download  is increasingly challenging.  Could the Googletrends be winning?

Cubicle Flood - The Waters are Rising

The generic grey cubicle office where Cathy used to work inspired the brand new screensaver, “Cubicle Flood.” “It was an emotional response to the deadening work environment,” she says.  “You see a workspace that’s been generated for you by a Human Resources Department.”

Cathy’s Katrina survivor friends do not like the feeling that the  new screensaver evokes.  “Water is incredibly strong and it creeps in,” Cathy says.  The office depicted in Cubicle Flood, however, “isn’t affected the way a real space would be. Cubicle Flood is a dream of a flood and not a real flood.”

Daniel Alcheh’s Soundtrack

Daniel Alcheh, masterfully composed the original soundtrack of Cubicle Flood.  His music complements the flood’s progression over time without overpowering the visual elements.

One wouldn’t think that a disasterscape like a hurricane, tsunami or flood– with rising waters and rising music– would have a tranquil and meditative effect, but in Cubicle Flood, that peacefulness prevails as water and music gradually fills an otherwise sterile and impersonal office environment.

IMG_0942_2

Composer, Daniel Alcheh in His Studio
Photo by, Susanna Speier

The music and the water move through time together.  The collaborative success is evident in the  fact that sound and image inform one another without imposing narrative and context.

Transcendance

“Its a really transcendent environment, but I see it as a beautiful state, a transcendence over what the office looked like previously,” Cathy says.

The soon to be released deluxe version of this production will fill your screen at different speeds and in different office environments.  You can flood an office several times a day or spend an entire day, flooding one.

Talk to Me - Fodder for Your Commentary

What sort of screensaver do you use?
Where did it come from?
How do you know whether or not a screensaver is safe?

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Mad Men Politiku Call for Submissions

Published
by
s000z
 on November 6, 2009
. 7 Comments

After the penultimate episode of Mad Men’s Season 3 last week, I realized the show’s dramatic genius lay in the micro collisions, as opposed to the macro historical aspects.

After tonight’s Season Three Finale, please Politiku on the subtleties of Mad Men.  I would especially like to read your 17 syllable observations on the fine line between persuasion & manipulation; attraction & repulsion; desire & delusion; reflection & representation.

The deadline for submissions is already passed, however you can…

Click here to read the Mad Men Politiku post on Huffington

Click here for reviews of other blogs following Mad Men Season Three

Click here for a babbley but well intended (was new to blogging and didn’t get how spacing for the web and headers worked) and comprehensive description of my experience working as a featured background performer on the Mad Men, Season 2 episodes Three Sundays and Six Month Leave.

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Mad Men Season 3 - Episode 12 “The Grown Ups” - chronologizing other people’s memories of the Kennedy assassination

Published
by
s000z
 on November 3, 2009
. 2 Comments
From Blog Archive

The Fog of Chronology

What year was Kennedy assassinated? After tossing and turning over the fog of chronology half the night, I needed to know.

Lay awake thinking after finding out. 1963.  That was 20 years after the end of World War II — the same distance between now and the first Gulf War.

Will distances between historical events preceding my existence always seem greater than distances between historical events I can recollect?

The Demographics of AMC’s Character Driven Mad Men

I’m actually not sure what the Mad Men demographics are but going by the disproportionate percentage of air time devoted to Lipitor, Viagra and Clorox, I’ll guess that the majority of Mad Men watchers remember where they were when Kennedy was assassinated.

“The Grown Ups,”  Mad Men’s Kennedy assassination episode

Sunday, November 1st, Mad Med episode, The Grown Ups, was the penultimate finale of Season Three and I can’t help wonder how next Sunday’s season finale will get anywhere close.

We have the satisfaction of knowing the historic outcome and significance of Mad Men’s chronological collisions in advance of the characters knowing.  This gives us access to their losses and their misunderstandings.  Their discoveries and their disconnects.

I just can’t get enough David Carbonara’s music, by the way.  Those melliflous counterpoint that begin a pause and a heartbeat after a clipped stream of dialog ends.  Why isn’t more television like this?

The Mad Men show I watch is different from the Mad Men show that Mom watches

Mom insisted on replaying the two Mad Men Season 2 episodes that I was featured and uncredited in –Three Sundays and Six Month Leave– over and over in a way that only a mom can.

Mad Men is the black and white television screen I never had

Mad Men is the corridor to those custom framed, soft toned hand painted photographs on the wall of the guest room that my Bubby once had.  Mad Men is a photo album full of square shaped black and white snapshots of my newlywed collegiate parents holding a simese cat.

From

From Susannaspeier.com
Mad Men is the font of the copper colored “flour,” “tea” and “sugar” canisters that once lined my Buby’s kitchen countertop and now lines the countertop of my mom’s kitchen.

Mom insists television receptions were not all that bad.  In fact, all her friends seem to agree they were actually quite sharp.  Does the distortion came from Mad Men creator and writer, Michael Weiner’s own fog of chronology, then?

Click here if you’d like to submit a Mad Men Politiku to my Huffington Post column

Click here for reviews of other blogs following Mad Men Season Three

Click here for a babbley but well intended (was new to blogging and didn’t get how spacing for the web and headers worked) and comprehensive description of my experience working as a featured background performer on the Mad Men, Season 2 episodes Three Sundays and Six Month Leave.

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