5 for Friday

To help spread some good links today, here are 5 for Friday:

1 - great summary on what you should think about before you actually do it

The 5 Essential Pillars of a Social Media Campaign

from Social Media Examiner by Jason Falls

2 -  a recent post on politeness generated some conversation in Tim's comments and leads this post

Another Thought On Politeness In Job Search. When To Say Thank You.

from Spin Strategy - Blog by Tim Tyrell-Smith

3 - This one is close to home in the sense that I did go back to my former employer on a short term contract position hoping for an extension or a move to full time.

After Landing a Job, Continuing to Network

from WSJ.com: Laid Off And Looking by Kevin Hudson

4 - My networking will not stop not that I am into it. I would still like to land a full time position. To that end, my community activities are also continuing.


I will be at the Welcome desk for NewBcamp this Saturday and I am lead organizer for the LaidOff Camp coming November 7th. We'll take the unconference to the unemployed. 



5 - Patti Digh has a series for "poetry wednesday" and this time features Naomi Shehab Nye reading a poem at the Dodge Poetry Festival. I was in the audience when this was recorded.

The Dodge is a biannual festival and although it was scheduled for 2010, word from the Dodge Foundation was that it would not be held. Alas the hue and cry of poetry lovers around rose and they have reconsidered. It will be held in Newark, NJ with details still to be provided. But it will be held in 2010. I plan on being there.

Will you join me for this festival of words?

Inside or out?

‘ … perhaps true beauty is something that draws our attention at second glance, once the judgment of a first glance has realized it’s mistake.’

Wonderful insights from a truly wonderful person, David Roche. Only 8 minutes.

'the second glance' from Nic Askew on Vimeo.

When you look in the mirror do you see beauty on the outside or on the inside?


Many thanks to Patti Digh for sharing this.

job search notes: going viral

From Patti Digh writing at 37Days comes this wonderful video of a crowd in a train station dancing to Do-Ri-Me:





Was this staged?
It seems to have "just happened" until the last couple of dance moves which are so coordinated it must have been "staged".

Was it effective?
I would judge by the faces of the bystanders. Most of whom really were enjoying the performance, taking pictures, etc.

Will this be viral like the Susan Boyle video?
Time will tell. You can help by spreading the word.
If it is good enough, it will be viral. If it is not good enough to go viral, it will still be good.

job search notes: encouragement 2

I should have included this yesterday's posting on encouragement. Patti Digh is truly a wonderful person. Her book, "Life is a Verb" is well worth getting and reading. It is not one you need to do cover to cover. You can cruise through picking a chapter at a time and still get great value from it. Each essay stands on its own.

She has just started a 37 days challenge, the first is here:
http://37days.typepad.com/37days/2009/03/if-today-is-day-zero-then-tomorrow-must-be-day-one.html

For more background on Patti, including an audio interview I did with her last year, you can check here:
http://steves2cents.blogspot.com/2008/09/this-week-with-patti-digh-life-is-verb.html

"great change is communal"

“We live in such an individualist culture today,” she said, “but great change is communal. The power of song is a vast instrument to draw people together and deliver a message. I think we need to take out our iPod earphones and begin to sing together again.”

Click trough to read the full essay at Patti Digh's 37Days here

desire line

One of the take away points from Patti Digh's book Life Is A Verb, is the human factor of desire lines. While developers and designers can put in cross walks, sidewalks and defined paths of crossing from point to point, people tend to make their own path. These paths are called "desire lines".

Pictured here, the corner of Summer St and King St in Franklin. The sidewalk shown in the distance curves around to the right. This desire line makes the long side of the triangle and cuts the corner.




Have you found desire lines?

Where?

I am curious to know, drop me a comment or an email (shersteve at gmail dot com).

Simply the best of 2008

What was the best posting I did here this year?

I'd have to say the interview with Patti Digh as part of her "Life is a Verb" blog tour in September.

Why?

This post is simply the best because finally talking with Patti on the phone after correspondence for years was a delight (why did I wait so long?). I also learned a lot making the recording.

If you happened to miss the interview, you can listen to it here.

You can also check out the sherku that were created from the book "Life is a Verb" here

Good fortune - Life is a verb

How is this for good fortune? Out for a family dinner to celebrate Dolores' birthday to PagoPago in nearby Milford.

It was Allison's good fortune to get this one!

Patti, I did not realize your book tour had extended so far! Way to go!

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Dodge Poetry Festival 9/25 - 9/28

Festival planning who is
Reading what, when, where
Do I go to swim in words?

What is a sherku?

I haven't recently posted my poetry here, usually it is over at quiet poet. Since I am challenging myself to write in response to Patti Digh's wonderful Life Is a Verb, I decided to post this here.

If you want more sherku on or from or about Life is a Verb, you have my permission to click on over and read.

Patti Digh: down memory lane in my archives

Once upon a time, as part of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Blogosphere, I found an wrote about Patti Digh and 37 Days back in June 2005. At that time, her posting "Redefining Normal" had caught my attention. It would be the first of many.

Her one line bio gets to the point:
Whatever else I am or do, my most important job is being a mother to my two daughters.

Unfortunately, the link to the original "Redefining Normal" is broken. She did update it as "N is for Normal". The most current version is included in Life is a Verb.

In December 2005, Patti wrote "Monogram your pancakes." What started as a comment on her posting ended up more fully polished as my own post: Monogram pancakes

In March 2006, I took up one of her 37 Days Challenges. At the time, she was challenging to write short posts. As I was already writing short posts, I turn the challenge to write longer posts, to spend the time crafting the writing before publishing.

Later that month, one of my longer writings made a guest post appearance at Ronni Bennett's As Time Goes By.

In April 2006, Patti wrote about bubbles.

In May 2006, she wrote about Ocham's Razor.

In August 2006, she wrote about joint birthdays and later that month about portfolios.

In September 2006, she wrote about opening doors.

In December 2006, she wrote about holding penguins dear.

In March 2007, she wrote about Pippi Longstocking

In June 2007, she had a license plate to share


How about that for a sampling of Patti's wonderful writing? Thank you, Patti!


Do you have a favorite writing of hers to share?

Interview with Patti Digh, "Life is a Verb"

Two great events are occurring this month:

1. The theme of "Citizen publisher" is being explored at the Joyful Jubilant Learning blog
2. Patti Digh is celebrating the publication of Life is a Verb

How cool is it that they are related?

Patti Digh, the wonderful writer of 37 Days, found her intention with the unfortunate passing of her step-father. That intention, leaving a legacy for her daughters, sparked the essays of 37 Days and has also spawned a book, Life is a Verb. I believe this is one of the better examples of defining your intention, focusing your attention, and developing a community.

I was very fortunate to spending some time talking with Patti recently. Over the course of a couple of phone calls I managed to obtain a good recording of our conversation. A couple? Yes, there was some learning involved. I needed to figure out the configuration settings for the software I was using.

The first time, it kept stopping after 2 minutes. The free version only allows two minutes of a recording but I had upgraded to the paid version. Alas, I also needed to restart the application. It was not smart enough to know it had already obtained the license key.

The second time, the conversation proceeded smoothly. Patti and I had a wonderful talk. As I exported the file to an MP3, the synchronization of our two voices got messed up. It sounded like we were stepping on each others voices eager to get our words in. This was far from reality. I couldn't publish this. It did not do justice to our conversation! Into the FAQ section, I delved only to find that in my eagerness to not miss a single word of our conversation, I had started recording too early. You needed to start recording during the conversation so it could learn and synchronize the voices. Duh!

The third time was the charm, Now with practice for our questions and answers, the conversation began yet again and this time, with some minor exceptions, our voices were recorded and play back appropriately. In those spots where the overlap occurs, I think the real discussion still comes through.

Note: there is one part where I calculate it would 8 years to do all the 37 days exercises. That is a miscalculation. It is really just over 3 years, still a long time but not quite so long as recorded.

How many connections do Patti and I have? There are quite a few.

• Her stepfather passed away at 53. My mother was the same age when she passed away in 1983.
• Patti has two daughters. So do I.
• She writes haiku book reviews. This was one of the inspirations for my own development of sherku.
• Patti's stepfather passed away on October 24, 2003. Is it just a coincidence that October 24th is my wife's birthday?

We did not even get time to discuss some of these in our conversation. There will be other conversations and time to explore our connections.

So without further ado, please click to listen to Patti and I as she talks about her writing on 37 Days, how Life as a Verb came to be, and what the future holds.

I hope you enjoy the conversation!

-------------------

A recorded phone conversation with Patti Digh, author of 37 Days and her new book, "Life is a Verb". There are some minor synchronization issues but hopefully these will not detract from the overall discussion. We were not stepping on each other as we talked, the recording occaisionally makes it appear that way.

Time: 30 minutes, 42 seconds



MP3 File


----------------

The musical intro and closing highlights Jon Schmidt from the PodSafe Music Network where he has made available Game Day, one of his Powerful Exhilarating Piano Music pieces. I choose this particular piece to help provide a Scottish background to the conversation. One of Patti's wishes is for a Scottish accent. :-)

This week with Patti Digh: "Life is a Verb"

This week I will help to celebrate the publication of Patti Digh's new book: Life is a Verb.

On Monday, I will publish the phone interview I conducted recently with Patti.

• The interview

On Wednesday, I will dig into the archives of my prior writing about Patti and 37 Days.

• From the archives

On Friday, I will summarize the sherku created thus far.

• Sherku inspired by "Life is a Verb"

If you have not had the opportunity to read 37 Days, I encourage you to do so.

If you have not had an opportunity to obtain your own copy of Life is a Verb, I encourage you to do so.

In the meantime, you can find out who else is on this month's blog tour for Life is a Verb.


-------------
Note: This endorsement is freely provided. There is NO monetary remuneration involved. It is inspired by my heart, head, and soul which has been encouraged by the Patti's wonderful writing.

What are you doing for lunch today?

A special conference call will be conducted today. The call will help celebrate the launch of Patti Digh's book, "Life is a Verb".

Tune in at noontime, Eastern to participate.

• Thought-Leader: Patti Digh
• Date: Tuesday, September 2nd 2008
• Time: 9:00AM PST
• Call-In Number: 1-419-400-0203
• Conference ID: 918878#

For those in Eastern time, what a way to spend the noontime hour.

Eat your lunch and listen in!

Rapid Fire Learning - 8 for August

Since I was one who boldly suggested that instead of 5, we go for 8 rapid fire learnings this month, to continue the theme of 8 for this month at JJL, I need to follow through.

I say, better a little late than not at all. Learning did occur all through the month so here we go.

1 - My new favorite quote:

"I think daydreaming is a distinctive mode of cognition especially well suited to the complex, 'fuzzy' problems that characterize a more turbulent business environment. ... Daydreaming is an effective way of coping with complexity. When a problem has a high degree of complexity, the level of detail can be overwhelming. The more one focuses on the details, the more one risks being lost in them. ... Every child knows how to daydream. But many, perhaps most, lose the capacity as they grow up. ..." Dov Frohman - Leadership the Hard Way

I found the quote. It caused me to find the book. I did receive the book this week and am almost through it already. It is a good and quick read. You'll hear more about this one from me after I finish it.

2 - Patience or the devil is in the details. I had the opportunity to talk with Patti Digh this week to prepare my entry in her Blog Book Tour coming up in September. She will be celebrating the publication of her book "Life is a Verb". I recorded our conversation. The conversation was wonderful, it flowed magically and we covered a lot of ground in about 25 minutes. As I listened to the recording, I was horrified to find that the software had not synchronized the conversation properly and it sounded like we were stepping over each others words. Some digging through the online support guide, revealed this was a known problem. Turns out you should only sart recording after the conversation has started. I, eager to record and not miss a single word, had started with the first ring of the phone. Patti was so gracious to do another take. This one you'll be able to listen to beginning Sep 15. Unfortunately, this one is still not perfect. The synch problem returns during the last few minutes. With a caution up front, I believe most folks will enjoy the conversation and chuckle at the unsynched closing. That is my hope! We'll see.

3 - The Superintendent of the Franklin School Department resigned this week. His resignation is effective June 30, 2009. This would be completing the third year of his five year contract. He cited the failed override as the major reason for his notice. Some town folks have called him a quiter. I do not agree with them. I understand where he is coming from. He has a choice where to work. He made his choice to come here. We were a high performing district. Now, he is making his choice to leave. His move is quite courageous and generous. He will work through this year. Provide Franklin time to find someone new. Provide time for himself to find something new. The Frankln voters unfortunately do not understand what is required to fund our school system. Maybe his move will be a wake up call.

Articles from Franklin Matters covering this topic:

• an average of $65,000 to $135,000 annually per pri...
• "We're entering some tough times"
• SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT TO RESIGN EFFECTIVE JUNE 30,...
• Supt. Ogden resigns

4 - The Joyal Family held a reunion early this month. It rained on us but that did not stop a whole lot of good conversations. This is my mother's side of the family. We need to keep this event happening. The family had been spending time getting together for funerals (Nov 07, Apr 08) and unfortunately, 2 weeks after the reunion gathered for a 3rd funeral. Pictures of the reunion can be found on Jerry's Story.

5 - Dolores and I spent several days exploring and learning about Gettysburg. The importance of controlling the high ground. The importance of having good artillery. The importance of good communications. All these points were made clear during the week.

To summarize, a sherku: Gettysburg 2008

seven score and five years
later these hallowed grounds
still yield awesome stories

originally posted on quiet poet

6 - I have always wanted to go to the end of the rainbow, if not over the rainbow. Yes, this takes me back to the Wizard of Oz and those glorious memories. Well coming home from Gettysburg, I not only got a picture of the end of a rainbow (actually Dolores took it for us), but we drove through the rainbow!

7 - I can't go through 8 without acknowledging all the wonderful learning that has taken place on the Joyful Jubilant Learning blog as we explored 8 this month. Have you gone to visit yet? Good. I am glad. What? You haven't yet. Well, you have permission to click right over there now and start learning about 8.

8 - And last but not least, a reminder to tune in at noontime on Tuesday Sep 2nd to help celebrate the launch of Patti Digh's book, "Life is a Verb".


This is really a place holder for other items I did learn during the conversation Patti and I had this week but you'll need to wait until Sep 15th to listen for yourself.

Sorry. In the meantime, please practice patience.


What did you learn this month?

My Life as a Verb - Patti Digh

What is better than starting a day in the fog and ending it with sunshine?

What is better than a good day at work?

What is better than starting to run again?


One thing at least is better - it's here - "My Life as a Verb" arrived today

I will have the honor of talking with Patti later this month and then being part of the "book launch blog tour" in September. Stay tuned for more info on this wonderful author and her special book.


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What is a sherku?

The concept/idea for sherku came to fruition during the 2006 Dodge Poetry Festival at Waterloo Village. There were multiple threads that managed to weave themselves together during those four eventful days.

I knew Patti Digh had done book reviews in haiku. One of my favorite writers, she is a great writing inspiration. She was unable to attend the Festival but was on my mind as I looked for an opportunity to obtain an autograph from Billy Collins for her. Fortunately, I did manage to do that and she was most pleased.

Billy Collins told the story of his creation of a new type of poem, the paradelle. It was done in fun as a parody of the villanelle and when published referenced a note giving it "some historical authenticity". Billy was surprised when some time later, he got a call from someone looking to put together an anthology of paradelles.

As a blogger, one of the early lessons I had picked up along the way was to find a term that defined you, that you could own. This term could help drive the search engines your way. I have struggled with this effort to define the singular me. What would that word be? Steve's 2 Cents reflected 'the value add' I attempt to apply. What could I do with that?

During the Festival, I met and had a wonderful talk with the wandering poet, Edmund Charles Baranowski. He had challenged me during the discussion to recite a poem that I knew by heart. I did manage to recall one of my originals (Orange numbers). When I met up with him the next day I surprised him with a sherku that I had written for him.

Yes, sometime during that day, after the talk with Edmund, it all came together. The festival music had something to do with it.

Then I tried explaining what a sherku was. I started with:

What is sherku?
A new variation on haiku.

Why a new variation?
Hey, why not. I just took the classical form of haiku and made it my own.

What do you mean to accomplish?
Writing on difficult things by focusing, by boiling down to the essence of the fewest words.

What is so different from haiku?
There are conventions that haiku follow, I will deviate as necessary.

So what will you write about?
Well, sherku will be the catchall. My running will be ruku. My work related will be busku. My educational will be edku. My hitchhiking will be hitchku. And there may be other variations on this but I think you get the idea.

I think you are crazy.
You are entitled to your opinion.

Do you have any written yet?
Yes. One, two, three.

While the extensions (booku, ruku, edku, etc.) sounded like fun... I did not proceed that way. The singularity of sherku was going to be what I needed.

I expanded the explanation to:

I introduced sherku earlier and need to respond to an inquiring mind. Instead of burying my response in a comment (which I did) I also decided that there might be value to put it out in the open as well.

The question was:
Well, I'm not good at poetry. Not to mention haiku. But, really, will you write more in-depth about this sherku of yours -- and how it related with haiku -- for a very novice kinda guy? I'd like to learn about it.

The initial answer is:
Well, it is somewhat "tongue in cheek" but very much like haiku. It differs in that is my spin on creation. I add my "2 cents worth" to it. I follow the standard form and convention somewhat and deviate as necessary.

For example, while convention calls for 17 syllables, I prefer to recommend 19.
Why 19?
Well, 17 is confining, 19 provides more (recall 2 cents). 19 is also a number from a card game called "Cribbage" where 19 is an impossible score to achieve.

Trying to condense a feeling, an image to some number (19 in this case) is an impossible task (recall Cribbage score) to try but try we must.

Or as Yoda says: "Do, or not do, there is no 'try'".


I then created some instructions:

Sherku Instructions

It is easy enough to start
You are out somewhere
Wherever something catches your eye
You take a picture
Frame it in your mind’s eye
Then begin the
Linguistic gymnastics
You have trained for since birth
Take your pen
Dip it into the dictionary
Find the word
Just that shade
Just that luster
Just that sound
So that when they open the book
Turn to this page
Read these words aloud
They step into the frame
Feel the breeze on their arm
In the shade of the hemlock grove
Hear the hissing along the trail
And stop
To see the snapping turtle


I defined sherku in sherku format:

seventeen is not enough but
two more makes nineteen
still an impossible goal

and then most recently:

focus your writing, say it
all concentrated in just
nineteen syllables

You can find my sherku and other poetry at quiet poet

Shadow - heart struck

Shadow - heart struck
Originally uploaded by shersteve

Could be the Harry Potter slither.

Could almost be the Harry Potter scar.

Except it is headed or originating from my chest.

What is your shadow doing today?

Quotes & Links

From Roy H Williams writing at The MondayMorningMemo:

Advertising isn't working like it did a few years ago. You've noticed this, right?

Most advertisers are convinced that technology is to blame.

TV advertisers will tell you that TiVo and her sister Digital Video Recorders are blocking their television ads. But according to a recent report released by Leichtman Research Group, only 12 percent of American households own a DVR.

But TV ad results are down far more than 12 percent.

Read the full memo to find out more about "The Faded Color of Empty Words"


From Patti Digh writing at 37Days

"Reading Pippi Longstocking when I was seven gave me a new lease on life. I felt pretty homely and different, and Pippi was so out there, with her freckles and upside-down braids, one black sock and one brown. She was so feisty and hilarious and powerful. I wanted her to be my best friend, and I also knew that she lived inside me. That was such a great secret--that inside me I was okay if Pippi was. I wanted to grow up and tell stories like hers, about girls who kicked butt."

Some may remember my own identification with Pippi. Redheaded and all, I once stood vigil in Stockholm outside the aging and ailing author's home, Astrid Lundgren.

I think it's abundantly clear--Anne Lamott is stalking me.

I am finally reading "Bird by Bird" and do recognize a great deal of similarity between Patti and Anne. If you have not discovered Patti, please click through to read more of "Claim your inner Pippi".

From the wonderful Christine Kane writing on her blog

The biggest lesson I get from the Neil Young concert is about taking chances, and being alive, and tossing your ideas out in the world. The problem is not so much in the “how you say it” or “what you say” stuff. The problem is the expectation that the response even should be hollering and whooping all the time. If you were always going for the sure thing and the woo-hoo’s, then you’d be the Beach Boys in any city on any night in July.

No one knows what was in Neil Young’s head as he performed that night. But every performer knows the temptation to try and get that screaming intensity on every song. Probably there’s a similar toxic pressure in the marketing world.

Read more of what Christine has to say about the Neal Young video clip that Seth Godin started the conversation on earlier this week.

Enjoy!