I love San Francisco. Honestly, I can't pinpoint exactly why I feel such an affinity for that city, but I feel very much at home there. I loved the little boutique hotel we stayed at near Union Square and all of the holiday decorations. It helped me to at least start feeling the holiday spirit. San Diego makes it hard to feel "Christmasy".
I just got back from a trip there to participate in a pitch to another data storage company. It went incredibly well and I hope we get the business. However, it's an interesting fact that I actually had to ask to be able to participate in this presentation. Our VP of Strategy and the sales guy needed to include my functional area in the presentation, but some reason they initially wanted to present my stuff remotely via WebEx, while both the SEO and Creative team would be presenting in person. I wrote a pointed email to the sales guy to ask him why I was being excluded from the in-person presentation. He didn't have a good explanation and actually apologized for excluding me. I don't think there was anything deliberate in his exclusion of me, but I'm glad I spoke up to nip this kind of thing in the bud.
More travel to San Jose next week. I'm certainly looking forward to the holidays and going back to Utah to see my family.
It seems like lately whenever I speak with Boni on the phone, the first thing out of his mouth is "Congratulations!" and when I ask him why he's saying that he says "Well, you always have so many good things happening for you lately, that I thought I would congratulate you first and THEN ask what I should be congratulating you for." He's so right.
A few of the many things that I have to be grateful for lately are:
1) I received a promotion at work along with a substantial pay raise.
2) It was my 2 year anniversary at work and I received an incredibly thoughtful note from the CEO along with an iPod Shuffle.
3) The last time I went to the casino, I walked away $5,000 richer!
4) I have family and friends who love and care about me.
5) I have a calling at Church that I love, being the Gospel Doctrine teacher.
6) I have Boni in my life.
I hope I always cultivate this "attitude of gratitude" in my life. I've been richly blessed.
I always enjoy learning a new turn of phrase that isn't in popular usage, but when you describe what it is, people understand immediately what you're talking about.
Now cringe isn't a word that people are unfamiliar with. Everyone has probably had a cringe inducing moment that they wish would end. However Cringe (with a capital C) as an event is something different. Cringe is an open-mic night that occurs in a Brooklyn bar once a month where people get up on stage and read their most embarassing entries from their teenage diaries, journals, poetry and the like. Have you recently re-read things that you wrote as a young teenager? I have, and the overwrought emotions and excrutiating hyperbole was truly blush enducing. So why would anyone subject themselves to that kind of remembered humilation? Because it's funny. Damn funny. And to hear someone else say exactly what you were thinking as a 14-year-old is somehow liberating too. I recommend checking out the new book by Sarah Brown (the creator of Cringe) when it's published this summer.
Now on to photobombing. Photobombing is the fine art of ruining other people's photographs. You've seen them. You're on vacation at Disneyland trying to get a nice family group shot in front of It's A Small World and sure enough when you get the prints back, there's some anonymous teenage boy directly behind your mother giving the peace sign. THAT is photobombing. You see it pretty much constantly in any live crowd shot from a sporting event, but that's not nearly as fun as being somewhere somewhat less obvious and seeing a creative use of photobombing. Here's one of my favorites:
Yesterday there was a conference session given by a couple of guys from the New York Times. The session had something to do with multi-channel data integration or some such thing and it had some really good ideas.
Here's the important thing, though. The presenter was movie-star handsome.
I don't mean cute, cuddly teen-girl crush handsome. I'm talking for an adult woman, drop-dead, drop your panties handsome. Patrick-Dempsey-with-a-sprinkle-of-gray-in-the hair-and-beard, handsome
After the presentation, I joined the crush of female groupies, er attendees, pushing and shoving their way to give the man their business card. Only in a setting like this can a woman remotely get away with a "here's my number, we need to talk again SOON", and not look like a total slut.
In actuality what I wanted was a copy of the man's presentation so can I sound as smart as he is. When it was my turn to introduce myself, I swear to you this actually occured.
Me: "Hi there, my name is Kim Howard and I'm with Geary Interactive, an interactive advertising agency in San Diego and I'd love to get a copy of your presentation. Here's my business card."
GHONYTML (Gorgeous Hunk of New York Times Man Love), looking deeply into my eyes as he takes the card: "You look really familiar. Have we met before?"
Me (in my head): "You don't remember? The hot, steamy summer on the Cape? The cool, crisp autumn days in New York? I'm crushed you don't remember me!"
Me (out loud): "Um, no I'm sure I would remember if we had met before. I just have one of those faces that looks like your roommates best friend from college. You know what I mean?"
GHONYTML (laughing gently): "Yes, I know what you mean, but I feel like we've met before. I think the presentations from the entire conference will be made available online afterwards, but I'll be sure to send you a copy."
Me: "Thank you, I'd really appreciate it."
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As I drift off to sleep last night, I'm rewriting that conversation a million different ways in my head. Too bad I don't think as quickly on my feet as I do on the verge of sleep. Cie la vie.
I'm currently in San Francisco on business and I must say that I absolutely adore being back in this city again. I'm so glad that past memories of being here no longer haunt me and instead I can focus on why I loved being here so much in the first place.
However, my heart is no longer here. It is at home in San Diego with Boni. I miss him and can't wait to see him...
...might be time to think about taking down the Christmas tree.
NPR broke the news this morning that Kraft Foods actually ceased production of the hot grain beverage Postum last fall because of low demand. I wonder what Inez is going to do when the supply dwindles to the point that the only way to get some is to bid $100 for a jar on eBay? Maybe Pero will become the new drink of choice. Didn't Grandpa have a jar of this hidden in the back of his cupboard? I think he tried to pass it off to Uncle Sherman as instant coffee once. As if roasted grain tastes anything like roasted coffee!
I'm sad that something that is part of my cultural past doesn't exist anymore, but I have to admit that I would never drink it. To my way of thinking if you want something that is coffee-like, just have coffee. I would.
I have a few things that I want to get off of my mind -
1) I LOVE the smell of coffee and it's the one thing that as a card-carrying Mormon I struggle with staying away from (especially since the office started stocking Dunkin' Donuts coffee instead of just plain ol' Folgers). For some reason alcohol is no temptation at all, but coffee...mmmmmmm, coffee...
2) I bought a gift card to Starbucks for a friend for Christmas, but didn't give it to them. I'm now using it to buy myself blueberry muffins every morning for breakfast! Me bad?
3) I usually don't prepare my Sunday School lessons until Saturday, yet everyone thinks I spend tons of time on them. Do I need to set them straight?
4) My Christmas tree is still up and decorated. I find it odd that none of my friends mention this rather obvious fact to me.
5) I secretly hope that the new condos on the corner don't sell just because they're ugly and I hope the developer who tore down the lovely little bungalow that used to be there takes a financial beating as a result.
6) I used the coin toss method in deciding how to vote for the ballot initiatives during the primary election here.
7) I use caller id to screen my calls (yes, I'm avoiding you).
Not exactly a scandalous list is it?
