Time Management
Oct 1st
I haven’t posted in awhile, and that’s because I’ve been very busy.
This is the breakdown of my average weekday:
Factoring in weekends, it means I spend about 34% of my week doing things that have to do with work. I sleep 37% of the time. And I have 29% of my time free to do as I please. This time will be spent doing things like showering, eating, laundry, cleaning, and social networking.
Then considering Rob’s schedule, with him working on Saturdays for a bit, it means we have about 44 hours to spend together each week assuming he’s around and not in band practice – that’s about 26% of my time.
Why do we have to sleep so much?
Bad Music
Sep 5th
I’ve been busy the last few weeks doing all sorts of cool things – like going to music festivals.
Two weeks ago, along with the Bob boys and girls, I went to V Festival. Of course, everyone knows that Oasis canceled. What else is new? I’m not a big fan of Snow Patrol, so not too bothered that we missed it, but it would have been nice just to see the crowd and the show. Biggest regret is missing Elbow.
The James show was really great and the most fun I’ve ever had at a concert, probably because the company means everything to me. The experience of listening to music that you love and is significant to you, while with your best friend ever and in a big crowd is fantastic. The reason I probably never felt that way at a Counting Crows concert is because they’ve all been sit-down gigs. You can’t really get into gigs like that. I think the best thing was me and Rob both knowing the words. At Counting Crows he wouldn’t know the words.
Next up was Reading Festival last weekend. Never before did I realize exactly how much BAD music is out there. Sure, lots of people have garage bands that aren’t very good, but these are bands that people actually like, that are making a lot of money, but are doing nothing new. And I just don’t get how people enjoy it. We were only there for Saturday, so have a look at the lineup and you’ll see a lot of metal. It was hard to enjoy the music most of the time. And the age group was teens – only teens.
We saw the Prodigy, and yes Prodigy is brilliant, but the show didn’t have the magical effect. You can’t jump the whole way through. It’s too rollercoaster. Then someone dumped an entire pint on my head. I was already cold. Who does that though? You paid for the pint, it cost you £4, why oh why do you throw it and/or dump it on someone’s head?
After the dumping, we went to see Punch and the Apostles who were so much better than I remember them being the last time. They put on a fantastic show. If they’re in your area, go see them because they’re not a bad metal band for teens.
The headliner was Arctic Monkeys and boy was that a boring show, especially for a headliner. Couldn’t be bothered to sit through the whole thing, so we left. I think it’s a goal to go to Glastonbury next year because there’s a good chance we’ll hear some great stuff.
Douglas Coupland
Aug 10th
Due to my morning and evening commute on the sweaty London Underground, my daily intake of the printed word has increased. I recently read Generation X by Douglas Coupland and it was a really fantastic book.
Click here to have a look at it.
Tahnee got me into Douglas Coupland, and the first book I read by him was Girlfriend in a Coma. Needless to say, I will read more. I much preferred Generation X, especially since it takes place in the Palm Springs area, where my family used to live.
Rob and I are currently trying to read the same books at the same time. We are reading The Missing by Tim Gautreaux and we will also be reading the classic Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.
Good times.
Bureaucracy = Inefficiency
Aug 4th
Companies today face a big challenge and that thing is staying organised, staying in touch, and staying sane.
1. Staying organised – Some people thrive on mess. They produce their best work in a messy place. But a messy place is no place for admin. Staying organised saves a lot of time and hassle.
2. Staying in touch – Big companies are the worst for this. And especially government organisations. Different departments don’t talk to each other. For example, I have some student loans being serviced by the U.S. Department of Education, and I’m trying to consolidate all my loans through the U.S. Department of Education. But apparently, that’s two different departments, and they don’t talk to each other. It’s also becoming increasingly clear that the section servicing my loan is actually two different sections, who also don’t talk to each other. Oh the complexity! Anyway, keep your departments talking, and you’re on your way.
3. Staying sane – It’s very easy to get caught up in your world and your company’s world and forget that a world exists outside it. Not everyone on the plant is excited about what you have to say. Companies need a dose of sanity, so they can realise that it’s a big pond, and even if you’re a big fish, people still don’t care, they might care even less.
That’s it for today.
Social Networking
Jul 26th
Social networks are great because they help me keep in touch with people. But sometimes I loathe them. And that particular instance is when you find out about a breakup through them – especially when it’s the breakup of people that you care a lot about.
Why does having an ocean between you automatically mean that calls and texts are expensive? It’s not fair. I don’t think these boundaries should exist. Why do I have to rely on the Internet to keep in touch with the people in my life?
I crave easy communication that’s more personal than typing.
Too much plastic
Jul 24th
Haringey council recently added some more recycling options to our street. We can now recycle plastic and food waste, which I happen to find ridiculously exciting. Now we don’t have a pile of plastic containers in the kitchen, building up until we can take it to a separate recycling facility.
So there’s one less mess. The other fantastic part is recycling food waste. The reason it SO fantastic is because all the smelly stuff goes into one small container with a bag that is replaced often enough for it not to trigger a gag reflex everytime I need to throw something in the bin.
This means that our main bin consists almost entirely of plastic wrapping. Even cardboard and paper get recycled, so it magnifies how much plastic we actually throw away each week.
Everytime we go to the grocery store, tomatoes, lettuce, apples, pears, bananas, peppers, carrots, and more all in plastic bags, sometimes with plastic trays as well (but those are recyclable). Why do we need our apples to be in plastic bags? Are people catching swine flu from apples?
I know we can reduce our plastic use by doing things the old-fashioned way, selecting fruits by hand. Perhaps the grocery store can provide a special part of the shopping cart that is meant only for fruit and veg, and we can get those re-usable bags and just move them right into those.
What about cereal? Do we really need a box AND a bag? Meats and cheeses are perhaps another large use of wrappings. This one is a tough one. Let’s use wrappings that decompose. I know this type of plastic exists. Why aren’t we using it?
I think it’s really important that the government provide us easy ways to recycle. I never would have gathered food waste for composting if Haringey hadn’t made it simple. I’m glad my council tax is going toward a good cause.
Things about the web that need to change
Jul 22nd
Day in and day out, I find myself asking, ‘When is this going to change?’ Perhaps my view of the web can be a bit amplified because my job involves being immersed in it all day long.
Since I’ve started my new job as a trainee social media planner, my daily intake of social networking profiles, Youtube videos, Flickr photos, forums, and blogs has increased dramatically. I thought I was addicted to the Internet before. I had no idea it could be this bad.
I sometimes find myself coming home from a long day at the office and choosing to avoid the computer. But sometimes, like right now, the first thing I do when I get home after getting something to eat, is sit down in front of my laptop.
So, the big question that haunts me is
What ever happened to treating other people the way you want to be treated?
Why the web makes me ask this question:
1. Pop-up ads – Thanks to the makers of Internet browsers, these stay hidden nowadays. I have no idea if the number has actually decreased or if it’s just the power of the browser. But every now and then, one pops up. Why? Everyone hates pop-up ads. There’s a reason we block them. Why would you even bother to make them? Let alone purchase the media space. Or sell the media space. Or choose to have it on your site. Who are these people that are still trying to get us with pop-ups?
2. Excessive banner ads – Truth be told, sometimes I like banner ads. I don’t often click on them, but there’s sometimes the occasion where the ad is relevant, or I’ve actually been looking for what it’s selling, or I’m really curious. And there are plenty of times when I don’t click, but that information goes into my head, and it’s valuable to me. A good example is ads for new movies coming out. I don’t have to find out when Harry Potter will be in theaters. I know it’s July 15th because of the ads I see everywhere – online, on television, outdoors. But some sites have so many banner ads that you can’t find the content. I think the actual physical area used by the screen ought to have a sensible ratio of content to ad. Like 5:1 seems reasonable. No more than that.
3. Spam – Why oh why oh why oh why does spam still exist?! Everyone hates it. It most likely doesn’t have text that makes any sense, especially if it’s email. Email filters it out. On sites, it’s annoying. Who is still sending me all this junk mail? It hasn’t changed over time, just the same amount. It’s like one guy out there spends his day spamming me for the sheer joy of it. I don’t see the business benefit. And someone out there made the decision for it to happen and keep on happening. Who in their right mind does that?
4. Applications that force you to invite people before you can get the full benefit – This is the main reason why I almost never use applications on social networking sites. I absolutely hate receiving invites. If a friend tells me I should try it, I might. If I get an automated invite, I definitely won’t. If you want me to play a game with you, ask me. Or at least customize the invite. Otherwise, I don’t care. And usually, these invites don’t come from my close friends, they come from people I haven’t talked to in years, which convinces me even more that they just do it to get extra functionality. It’s spam. I know there’s a business behind it, but it’s spam. And everyone hates spam. This is the key reason I have stopped using applications that I like. I don’t want to spam my friends because I don’t want them to hate me.
5. Unethical business practices – Believe or not, companies still tell their employees to go online and pretend to be satisfied customers. Unethical. Illegal. It leaves the company worse off. No decent employer ever makes a business move that would make liars out if its employees. If I were an employee there, I would absolutely refuse to do the work, quit, and call the local news station. Unfortunately, in this economy, I’m sure the employees didn’t want to lose their jobs, so they did it anyway. Or maybe they’re just shitty people. But I’d like to think that the majority of people aren’t bad, that it’s just a few bad seeds that end up in charge of the apple. I’d also like to believe that if enough people had the balls and the intelligence to go to the boss and say ‘That’s a bad idea and it could really hurt the company. How about we try this instead,’ it might have saved the company. By the way, another example is Habitat, the UK furniture store that piggybacked promotional messages on Twitter trending topics. Not illegal, but in my opinion, unethical.
It’s my personal belief that it’s more important to create something of high value to a small number of people than to create something of low value to a large number of people. And no matter what you do, keep the golden rule in mind.
A shoutout to Mary Hausch for teaching media ethics at UNLV, where I got my bachelor’s in journalism and media studies. I personally think ethics should be a required course for any degree.
Epiphanies
Jun 27th
Sometimes I have these epiphanies where something suddenly just makes sense because I’ve looked at it differently, or I’ve learned something since the last time I looked at it.
I remember my very first epiphany. When I was young, not in my teens yet, I liked 7up. And whenever I looked at a bottle or can of 7up, I saw the word “Zoup.”
Look here for some historical 7up can designs.
For years I thought that the drink was Zoup, and 7up was its nickname. Basically, I thought the big red dot was supposed to be the letter O and that the strategic placement of the letter O covered up the tail of the Z. I guess I read in to things too much. But one fine day, I looked at a can of 7up when I hadn’t looked at one in awhile, and suddenly I saw it without the O and I realized that the Z was in fact the number 7, and they must call it 7up because it is 7up.
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Flickr
LinkedIn
Delicious
Digg