Friday, October 29, 2004

It's been a blog day's night

Wow, I can't believe I've let my blog go for this long! I could blame it on the fact that I've been getting over a cold for the last week. Or that I've been very busy at work. Or plenty of other things. But I won't, because I'm a responsibility taker. My blog-less week has been of my own doing--or rather, my own lack of doing.

But it's not like I've been doing nothing. The Planning Shop has been buzzing all week! We've been working on our editorial calendar, which can be excrutiating. We're a small group of people with huge ambitions, so the actual planning process is always tough. Tough and necessary. We always work our way through the process and come out of it stronger, more motivated and more focused that before. It's therapeutic.

I've also been preparing for 2 conferences that I'll be attending in the next couple of weeks. The Executive MBA Council is holding its 2004 annual conference in San Francisco this weekend, and Rhonda and I will be there. It's a fantastic opportunity to meet many of the professors who teach classes using our books, and to hear about their experiences first hand. Also, it gives me a great opportunity to do some market research: find out what's missing from our customers' curriculum, what they would like to see more of, things like that. I think it's really important to remember who your customers are, and to make the time to speak with them. Even more important: listen to them when they speak. If you're fortunate enough to have access to the people who support your company, and they're considerate enough to share their thoughts and opinions with you, the worst mistake you can make is to take that for granted. Attending entrepreneurship educators' conferences allows me to do my job well and to serve my customers in the most appropriate and effective manner. Plus, I get to travel. Next month, I'm headed to San Antonio, TX for the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education's annual forum. Oh, and there will some Alamo to be had, as well.

Rhonda knows all about the fringe travel benefits like the Alamo. When you spend a few days in a different city, you often get to see things like the Space Needle or the John Hancock Building...or an alligator. Sure, there may be time for sight-seeing in between speeches (if you're Rhonda) or educational sessions (if you're Deborah), but traveling is tough and tiring and time consuming. And sometimes you miss out wonderful things that happen back home. Rhonda experienced this loss first hand this past Monday when she was giving a keynote speech in Jackson, MS. Sure, she may have had the opportunity to visit The Eudora Welty House, but she missed out on the arrival and inaugural playing of my Ethel Merman Disco Album. Poor Rhonda!

Friday, October 22, 2004

Please keep Marge away from extreme temperatures and out of direct sunlight, don't cha know!

It's here, it's finally here! The Fargo snowglobe that I won in an eBay auction 2 weeks ago is here and sitting on my desk for all to enjoy. Well, at least for me to enjoy. And I'm pretty sure that Brian is enjoying it as well. You can read more about this particular obsession here.

Monday, October 18, 2004

A Day in the Life of The Planning Shop, Part 1

Who among us hasn't wondered what happens behind the scenes at The Planning Shop? To quench your collective thirst for knowledge, please enjoy the following photographic representation of a typical-ish day at The Planning Shop (granted, this was last week when the weather was still stellar.):



This is our beautiful building in downtown Palo Alto. The changing colors of the ivy is amazing; no picture could do it justice. Throughout the day, we get 2 kinds of visitors: the kind who bring boxes and take boxes away, and the kind who ask, "Is this the Chamber of Commerce?" It was once the Chamber of Commerce, but hasn't been for a while. This is now the Chamber of Commerce. Between the people asking for maps, the people thinking they're arriving at a meeting, and the random crazy person, sometimes it makes me want to keep the front door closed. But the sunlight and fresh air are totally worth the interruptions.



Hunter-gatherers, each and every one of us. At approximately 4:00 pm, everyday, one of us will walk the block and a half to Long's to procure chocolate and diet soda for everyone. Nanna likes to come along, of course, especially when the street is ripe with squirels. And lately, it's been super ripe.

I'll post part 2 eventually. I can't say when, but I can say with some amount of certainty that it will feature our fax machine, my snowglobe collection, the halloween decorations, and Arthur's famous pig-in-a-pencil-gripper sculpture. So don't touch that dial!

Sunday, October 17, 2004

The last two weeks before daylight savings time ends

Well, after what seemed like a year-long summer in San Francisco, the yucky weather has arrived. It started raining today, and it isn't supposed to stop for at least a couple of weeks. Bleh! And come Halloween, there will be even less light in which we can attempt to enjoy being outside. Aw, nuts.

Of course, just as the it starts to rain, I got some pictures back from last weekend, during which we drove the new convertible across the Golden Gate Bridge and up into the hills by Stinson Beach. So now, as I glance out the window at the darkened and overcast sky, I can turn fondly to my blog for comforting images of dogs and people frolicking, and of massive landmarks shining in the sun against a brilliant blue sky...and you can, too!




Ah, the glory and majesty of the Golden Gate!



Ah, the glory and majesty of Ozzy's head sticking out of the convertible roof.

Friday, October 15, 2004

The new kid on the block



Mmmm, toasty...they got a pepper bar! (If you never saw that wonderful commercial, you can play it in this article. Wonderful.)

Thursday, October 14, 2004

Safety Fashion

When Ozzy rides in the convertible, he needs to protect his poor little eyes from rocks and debris and what not. Hence the ultimate cuteness ahead:

Thursday, October 07, 2004

I'm a travelin' man...er, lady...

Two of my best friends moved to Minneapolis, MN last month. Yes, I'm heartbroken. Yes, I'm so totally lonely. And yes, when I go visit them, you'd better beleive I'll be stopping here.

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

My alternate personality gets no respect

Two things have been bugging me all day. The first was learning that Rodney Dangerfield died yesterday (also, learning that he was born Jacob Cohen was mildly off-putting). The really strange thing, though, is that in this article about Mr. Dangerfield's passing, there's a quote from Teller of Penn & Teller. That's just not right.

The other thing that's been bugging me all day is the whole Chris Gaines thing. What was Garth Brooks thinking? I mean, come on now. A soul patch? Seriously.

One thing that so totally has not been bugging me today: "Has Been," William Shatner's new album. But it's been buggin the hell out of Rhonda, I tell you what!

Monday, October 04, 2004

Someone's in the kitchen

I don't cook much. I like to bake, but not so much with the cooking. That's why it was a super big deal when Leor and I cooked dinner last night for 5 members of our familes (his folks, my folks, and my brother Paul who was in town from Brooklyn to watch the A's lose.). Among other things, we cooked this Wasabi Chicken, oh my lord it was tasty. So if you're feeling kitchen happy, and you're looking for an excuse to open the sake you got as a housewarming gift nearly a year ago, this may be the recipe for you!

Friday, October 01, 2004

Screw the wizard; let's get frogurt

So we went to see Bill Gates give a talk at the Computer History Museum this afternoon. Except for that our invitations neglected to mention that instead of actually seeing Bill Gates, we would be sitting a room down the hall from where Bill Gates would be speaking, and we would be watching him on a TV monitor. A black and white monitor, with bad focus. Feh!

After unsuccessfully trying to convince one of the Microsoft secret service guys that we should be in the other room, the one that actually had Bill Gates in it, we went out to the parking lot and vandalized all of the Prowlers and Ferraris. Then we went for frogurt to pacify Arthur who was beginning to cry.

We're off to see the wizard...

this is an audio post - click to play