Harvey + Petron + Truth or Dare =
Showing posts with label The Band. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Band. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Band Silliness at 331
Great time with the Band last night: cocktails at the Peacock Lounge, dinner at Erte, a fantastic Zenon dance show (music by Handel, Joy Division, Lyle Lovett, Chopin and Jelly Roll Morton) at the Ritz Theater, then a bit of the Twin Cities Ukelele Orchestra (their cover of "Hey Ya!" was really fun) at the 331 Club.
After the photo below, ETC asked, "I tried to look really angry. Did I look angry?"
After the photo below, ETC asked, "I tried to look really angry. Did I look angry?"
Monday, January 26, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
“Do the Thing You Can’t Not Do”
There was a time, not that long ago, when I was convinced I wanted out of Communications. (Not the department, but rather the function or field or job description or whatever. Financial services is my industry; Communications is my job.) When I left the Corporate Communications Department (with no job lined up) in 2006, the reason I gave was that I wanted to do something different. My then-boss sent out a lovely e-mail announcement with the subject line, “Laura S. Embarks on New Adventure.”
And God knows I wanted to. I was researching vet tech school and thinking about a job at a gardening center. Various people were encouraging me to write a book. A friend thought she could get me an audition as a cage dancer in a club I liked. I was up for something, anything!, different because I was sick to death of how others’ perceived my job and -- this was the kicker -- got in my face (and my work) about it.
After years of being a professional writer (good writing is necessary but not sufficient for effective communications), I was both insulted and wearied by the near-ubiquitous attitude others had towards the job, which is, in sum: the vast majority of adults think they can write. Because they send e-mails on the job, or have a blog (cough, cough), or got decent grades on papers in college, or because they regularly write letters to friends or family, or maybe because they just like it: people think they can write. And worse, they seem to see nothing odd about telling a professional writer how to do her job.
Think about what that means for someone who has spent decades (I count three of ‘em: I was word-crazy from the get-go -- thanks, Mom and Dad!) honing her craft. I wouldn’t dream of telling a programmer how to code or arguing with a financial analyst about the content of earnings reports. Yet, day after day in my role as a senior communicator, I encountered (and still do, sometimes) folks who acted like they could do my job as well as I could -- or at least, well enough.
These are the people who would call to say, “Why did you change my article?” Why? Because you don’t know the difference between “effect” and “affect.” Because you have no concept of where commas go when there’s a day and date in the middle of a sentence. Because the poor syntax you employed made the sentence factually inaccurate. I got lots of reasons -- you want ‘em all?
Sometimes, I could shut those folks up with a reference to rules they didn’t know: “I made the punctuation changes to comply with Associated Press guidelines, which dictate our usage protocols except when overridden by our internal style guide. This is standard in both corporate communications and journalism; I can direct you to more information if you’d like.” This was usually met with confusion or silence, but almost always made folks back off.
That kind of thing takes a toll. You hear yourself snapping at people who question your (far more informed -- on matters of punctuation, at least) judgment. You find that you feel angry about and unappreciated for your work -- and we Type As generally derive a lot of pride (and perhaps an unhealthy portion of our identities) from the work we do.
So then what? Well, I didn’t quit my job 2006 to get out of Comm; I quit because I couldn’t take the ever-mounting stresses of the department I was in and the impending horrors of a certain merger/conversion (which, as it turns out, wouldn’t happen for another two years). But still, it seemed like an ideal time for a change, to get away from fixing bad grammar and having to defend my efforts.
Except, I couldn’t turn it off, any more than I could when I was employed. I’d drive down Lake Street and wince at the missing hyphens or superfluous quotation marks in stores’ signage. I’d mentally copy-edit restaurant menus -- every one I saw. I’d debate myself about whether to follow AP style in my personal e-mails. I’d mutter corrections under my breath when I heard “that/which” errors.
Two years later, I’m back here, in Communications. Same firm, no less -- although a very different department. And while few things still piss me off more than “How come you changed the headline before you posted?,” I’m a little more philosophical about it than I used to be.
This is partly because I’m surrounded by a team of people who really are grateful for my contributions (and frankly, a lot of them are good writers for being non-writers, you know?). But I’m also a little older and wiser about myself. I know that I can’t stop trying to fix the world’s word messes, even if it’s only in my head, so I may as well do it where I’ll get paid, add value, and have a boss who is thrilled by my ability to nit-pick bad grammar into submission.
Long post! Why now? Two things:
First, I was in a meeting yesterday with Aeric, who started out a coworker and is now a friend (Aeric is not to be confused with coworker-friend Eric aka ETC from The Band). Darcy, also in the meeting, passed out a sample letter that one of our vendors has been using for some time. When I saw “… requests will be handled on a Best Efforts Basis [sic] …” and groaned out loud, Darcy looked at me quizzically, perhaps thinking I was unhappy with something she said.
“She’s just copy-editing; she can’t turn it off,” Aeric volunteered and smiled at me.
Second, this morning, I read an interview on Slate’s new Happiness Project blog that included this exchange:
Q: Is there a happiness mantra or motto that you’ve found very helpful?
A: Actually, it’s something that was shared with me by the soon-to-be former editor of Lifehacker, Gina Trapani. When I was interviewing her for my book, Career Renegade, at one point she said, “You do the thing you can’t not do.”
And God knows I wanted to. I was researching vet tech school and thinking about a job at a gardening center. Various people were encouraging me to write a book. A friend thought she could get me an audition as a cage dancer in a club I liked. I was up for something, anything!, different because I was sick to death of how others’ perceived my job and -- this was the kicker -- got in my face (and my work) about it.
After years of being a professional writer (good writing is necessary but not sufficient for effective communications), I was both insulted and wearied by the near-ubiquitous attitude others had towards the job, which is, in sum: the vast majority of adults think they can write. Because they send e-mails on the job, or have a blog (cough, cough), or got decent grades on papers in college, or because they regularly write letters to friends or family, or maybe because they just like it: people think they can write. And worse, they seem to see nothing odd about telling a professional writer how to do her job.
Think about what that means for someone who has spent decades (I count three of ‘em: I was word-crazy from the get-go -- thanks, Mom and Dad!) honing her craft. I wouldn’t dream of telling a programmer how to code or arguing with a financial analyst about the content of earnings reports. Yet, day after day in my role as a senior communicator, I encountered (and still do, sometimes) folks who acted like they could do my job as well as I could -- or at least, well enough.
These are the people who would call to say, “Why did you change my article?” Why? Because you don’t know the difference between “effect” and “affect.” Because you have no concept of where commas go when there’s a day and date in the middle of a sentence. Because the poor syntax you employed made the sentence factually inaccurate. I got lots of reasons -- you want ‘em all?
Sometimes, I could shut those folks up with a reference to rules they didn’t know: “I made the punctuation changes to comply with Associated Press guidelines, which dictate our usage protocols except when overridden by our internal style guide. This is standard in both corporate communications and journalism; I can direct you to more information if you’d like.” This was usually met with confusion or silence, but almost always made folks back off.
That kind of thing takes a toll. You hear yourself snapping at people who question your (far more informed -- on matters of punctuation, at least) judgment. You find that you feel angry about and unappreciated for your work -- and we Type As generally derive a lot of pride (and perhaps an unhealthy portion of our identities) from the work we do.
So then what? Well, I didn’t quit my job 2006 to get out of Comm; I quit because I couldn’t take the ever-mounting stresses of the department I was in and the impending horrors of a certain merger/conversion (which, as it turns out, wouldn’t happen for another two years). But still, it seemed like an ideal time for a change, to get away from fixing bad grammar and having to defend my efforts.
Except, I couldn’t turn it off, any more than I could when I was employed. I’d drive down Lake Street and wince at the missing hyphens or superfluous quotation marks in stores’ signage. I’d mentally copy-edit restaurant menus -- every one I saw. I’d debate myself about whether to follow AP style in my personal e-mails. I’d mutter corrections under my breath when I heard “that/which” errors.
Two years later, I’m back here, in Communications. Same firm, no less -- although a very different department. And while few things still piss me off more than “How come you changed the headline before you posted?,” I’m a little more philosophical about it than I used to be.
This is partly because I’m surrounded by a team of people who really are grateful for my contributions (and frankly, a lot of them are good writers for being non-writers, you know?). But I’m also a little older and wiser about myself. I know that I can’t stop trying to fix the world’s word messes, even if it’s only in my head, so I may as well do it where I’ll get paid, add value, and have a boss who is thrilled by my ability to nit-pick bad grammar into submission.
Long post! Why now? Two things:
First, I was in a meeting yesterday with Aeric, who started out a coworker and is now a friend (Aeric is not to be confused with coworker-friend Eric aka ETC from The Band). Darcy, also in the meeting, passed out a sample letter that one of our vendors has been using for some time. When I saw “… requests will be handled on a Best Efforts Basis [sic] …” and groaned out loud, Darcy looked at me quizzically, perhaps thinking I was unhappy with something she said.
“She’s just copy-editing; she can’t turn it off,” Aeric volunteered and smiled at me.
Second, this morning, I read an interview on Slate’s new Happiness Project blog that included this exchange:
Q: Is there a happiness mantra or motto that you’ve found very helpful?
A: Actually, it’s something that was shared with me by the soon-to-be former editor of Lifehacker, Gina Trapani. When I was interviewing her for my book, Career Renegade, at one point she said, “You do the thing you can’t not do.”
Friday, December 19, 2008
Birthday!
Had a terrific birthday this year, including a fun happy hour with The Band, dinner at the new posh sushi place in downtown (which was beautiful, but the sushi was just "meh") and some great prezzies!
Dad and Bunny got me another Bachman's gift card (YAY!! it's so nice to dream about gardening with the weather so cold), which came with tons of balloons ...
... so I tied them to furniture all around the house. :)
Dad and Bunny got me another Bachman's gift card (YAY!! it's so nice to dream about gardening with the weather so cold), which came with tons of balloons ...
... so I tied them to furniture all around the house. :)
Mom and Bill, along with Mike and Laura (who had already given me an awesome Cupcake Royale tee to match Addie's) gave me lots of sheet music for the piano!! In addition to the staff paper (so I can transcribe things into different keys or score out stuff by ear, which I've been doing a bit) from Mom, I also got:
- Radiohead's Kid A ("Everything in its Place" seems perfect for piano);
- The U2 Piano Collection (ditto "Sweetest Thing"); and
- The Beatles' Best, an "easy piano" collection of Beatles songs (really nice because the "real" version of "You Never Give Me Your Money" was making me pull my hair out!).
Thanks, everyone! :)
Monday, August 4, 2008
Cathy and Harvey Get Married
It's a band wedding!
The beautiful bride gets ready for her big stroll down the aisle.
Cathy and Harvey looked really happy throughout the ceremony.
Outside the chapel (on the University of St. Thomas campus) after the ceremony.
ETC, Jen, and Jason came back to our place between the ceremony and reception for some cocktails and snacks. (It was such a beautiful day!) We then took the light rail downtown to City Hall for the reception.
Jen and I, not satisfied with how our hair looked in a previous photo, primp a bit.
We bumped into Cathy in a hallway and attempted to take our own photo with some silly results.
A kind passerby offered to take the photo that we couldn't quite manage.
The Band, all together. :)
Congrats, Catdog and Harvey!
The beautiful bride gets ready for her big stroll down the aisle.
Cathy and Harvey looked really happy throughout the ceremony.
Outside the chapel (on the University of St. Thomas campus) after the ceremony.
ETC, Jen, and Jason came back to our place between the ceremony and reception for some cocktails and snacks. (It was such a beautiful day!) We then took the light rail downtown to City Hall for the reception.
Jen and I, not satisfied with how our hair looked in a previous photo, primp a bit.
We bumped into Cathy in a hallway and attempted to take our own photo with some silly results.
A kind passerby offered to take the photo that we couldn't quite manage.
The Band, all together. :)
Congrats, Catdog and Harvey!
Monday, August 20, 2007
Engagement Party for CatDog and Harvey
Found it (OK, M found it) just in time for a little get-together at our place to celebrate Cathy and Harvey's engagement. :)
Our friend Jen made a wonderful salsa called "cowboy caviar" about which everyone raved, so she graciously shared the recipe.
Cowboy Caviar
Boil 1/2 cup cider vinegar and 1/2 cup olive oil. Take off burner and add 1/2 cup sugar. Stir until dissolved. Cool completely.
Mix the liquid with:
Thanks, Jen!
Our friend Jen made a wonderful salsa called "cowboy caviar" about which everyone raved, so she graciously shared the recipe.Cowboy Caviar
Boil 1/2 cup cider vinegar and 1/2 cup olive oil. Take off burner and add 1/2 cup sugar. Stir until dissolved. Cool completely.
Mix the liquid with:
- 1 diced red pepper
- 1 diced yellow pepper
- 1 diced green pepper
- 1 diced onion
- diced jalapeños to your taste
- 1 can whole kernel corn with most of liquid
- 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
Thanks, Jen!
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