Kitty's Scratch Pad

Pulitzer Prize

Grab your tissues...  I could write for days about how much work it is to raise a child with ADHD.  It really isn't fair.  Especially when you see so many kids that seem so "easy".  My child bursts into inexplicable fits of rage, cannot sit still for more than a minute and while he is insanely smart and articulate, he cannot seem to write better than a 1st grader.

A friend sent this to me today and I felt compelled to save it.  It is a dreadful reminder that no matter how hard I think I have it dealing with all of my own problems, nothing could be worse than this...

I gave up...

I wanted so badly to be creative and make my own calling cards but alas...  I gave in and ordered them off of the Crane Website.  They have a very decent selection of tasteful options.  I went with the Limon Green square ones but I also really like both the Espresso Vertical and the Cambridge Blue.

do you have a card?

My friend Andrea inspired me...  I found some great looking calling cards on Crane but I just couldn't swallow paying that much for something I didn't do.  I like to be crafty but sometimes it can be my downfall.  Why pay for something when you can just make it.  The problem is, I don't have a ton of time.  Good thing I got rid of my sewing machine or else we would be in real trouble. 

I got to work on Publisher and came up with some designs I liked.  I am still not thrilled with the "logo" but I will keep working on it.  At least for now, my purse is not empty and I won't have to "borrow" someones cocktail napkin to write down my information.  The real problem I am having is paper.  It is darn hard to find two color paper.  The color scheme I want is this:

What I didn't realize is that it is next to impossible to find thick two color cardstock you can print yourself.  I am hoping I won't have to order 1,000 in order to get what I want...  For now here are the samples:

gold star in professionalism

We were standing in line at Starbucks close to the entrance of the Mandalay Convention Center in Vegas.  Three kids and one adult came running up and asked the guy behind us for his picture.  Okay...  I figured out he was famous but after glancing up (he was over 6'5" at least - I am 5'2") I couldn't place him.  This isn't surprising for me.  I try hard to keep up on my UsWeekly, People and Star Magazine but I do limit my smut to the hair salon and plane rides.  Either way, I don't think this guy would be found in either.  I turned around and asked him who he was and apologized for not knowing.  I grabbed his VIP pass and turned it around to check out his photo and name - it was at eye level for me so I figured why not.  I introduced myself and shook his hand.  His name was Tait and his VIP pass said promoter.  Right after that, another kid came up and asked for another photo.  He said sure and kneeled down to smile for the camera.  Okay - at this point I am pretty sure he isn't just a promoter.  His friends then jest that they had no idea how famous he was.  We order our drinks, pay and move to the "pick up" line on the other side of the bar.  There is a couple waiting at the end of the bar for him to come our way.  They pull out their camera and ask for his photo.  Then two more kids come over for autographs.  All the while he continues to smile and remain sincere and kind to every person who has interrupted his coffee break.  I finally leaned over and gave him the gold star for professionalism.  It turns out that he is a previous prize Ultimate Fighter.  There was a match that evening - he was not fighting.  His name is Tait Fletcher.

I assume he is only a celebrity in his own circle and audience.  Alex gave the example that if Jim Allchin walked through a super geek conference, everyone would know him too.  I thought that was sort of funny but he did make a good point.  What I cannot imagine what life might be like for celebrities that almost everyone has seen or heard of on television or the big screen.  Are they as incredibly sweet and sincere as Tait was towards their fans?  The part I found the coolest was that he is this super huge, tattooed, pierced, prize fighter who one might assume could be a total ass.  Instead he was gentle and kind.  I guess the other side is that I could not imagine interrupting someones coffee break no matter who they are...  Either way, I thought it was cool.

Magnanimous

"I love my country...  But I think we should start seeing other people."

That is the bumper sticker that I saw today while driving home after listening to Bill Clinton speak at a Maria Cantwell event this evening.  It sort of made me laugh.  I have to admit that my expectations were kept at minimum.  I have never seen him speak in person but have always heard the best.  I did see him on the White House lawn one time playing with Buddy but that is the closest I have ever been.  He certainly lights up a room.  Tonight was great.  The speech started off well and he immediately addressed the ever popular complaint that Democrats don't actually stand for anything.  After mentioning his phone call to Hillary and her laundry list of Maria's Senate achievements, he then focused on each one.  Bill was eloquent, confident, comfortable and at times he even made himself chuckle.  While he was determined to keep things "more serious" tonight, he still managed to keep everyone entertained.  He recognized his own success a number of times and also mentioned his belief that although he is very fortunate, it is his life's focus to give back what he has earned.  He very politely and sincerely made sure to shake the hand of the sign language interpreter which I found especially thoughtful.  I could go on...  The one thing I was super disappointed about was the fact that he was whisked away to Jim McDermott's event and we didn't get a chance to have our picture taken with him :(  I will have pictures soon...

Try this exercise...

The whole thing stems from this recent and infamous chain of emails now referred to as "bla, bla, bla."  In our weekly meeting today, my supervisor had a great exercise in understanding the do's and dont's of email.  This works well in a group - have a different person read each sentence.

Say these sentences out loud and adjust the emphasis each time:

I didn't say he stole the money.

I didn't say he stole the money.

I didn't say he stole the money.

I didn't say he stole the money.

I didn't say he stole the money.

I didn't say he stole the money.

I didn't say he stole the money.

You get the idea...  Guy Kawasaki had a recent post that did a great job of listing useful suggestions for effective email that is worth checking out.

The final take away from my supervisor was, "when in doubt, pick up the phone and call."

Pet Peeves

I might be taking a huge risk posting this type of stuff but after my recent restroom experience at SFO, I feel compelled to make a list of all the things that drive me insane...

Don't you hate it when the automatic flush mechanism prematurely flushes the toilet?  Isn't it just pleasant to have toilet water splashing your tush in the middle of finishing your business?

I was raised by an English Major.  I spent my entire childhood being scolded about my grammar.  Every time I abused the English language I was corrected.  It didn't usually matter where we were either - at the dinner table, in public - it didn't matter.  I swore I would never do this as an adult to my own child.  Now that I am all growed up, I find myself constantly correcting Fen...  It doesn't annoy him yet and I think it has really helped.  He has great verbal skills.  What I am forever cursed with is the rest of the population.  It is so dumb and so frustrating and I blame it all on my mother but...  When I am having a conversation with someone and they butcher a sentence, I find myself only thinking about how to say what they just said correctly.  I completely lose track of the conversation and focus only on that.  I understand that the rest of the world didn't have the pleasure of growing up with my mother.  I try to forgive them and find my my way back to the point in the conversation where I lost myself.  The one thing I can never let go of is this:  I hate it when people respond to the question, "how are you?", with, "good".  I mean really!  Who raised you?!  Now I get not landing each I, we or me in the correct place but come on people.  "I'm good".  How about, "I am doing well, thanks". 

"Jibba Jabba" - I am not a fan of buzz words.  As a matter of fact, I just found my bible.  I bought "Why Business People Speak Like Idiots" last week.  It is well written.  Short & Sweet.  It does a good job of explaining how to remove all the idiot speak and get to the point.  We did a personality test a year or so ago and your results would reveal a series of sentences or phrases that would describe a. how you want to be spoken to and b. how you speak to others.  The idea being that others read this and understand where you are coming from.  I found my business motto from this exercise.  "Be brief, be bright, be gone."  Get to the point and don't waste time with all the other crap.  I don't care what color the hair is of the guy at the bus stop who told you the time before getting on the number 12 so you could get to your house before your date where you met this guy that was horrible.  Even worse is when people drop useless information that is strategically placed in order to impress the listener.  For example, I asked a co-worker how she lost her wallet and had a large sum of money stolen from her credit cards.  Her answer goes something like this, "I was at the Sonics game.  We had court-side tickets, and you know there are tables right?  So I had my purse with me under this table, you know on the court-side...  I was sitting next to celebrity A and celebrity B.  My girlfriends and I decided to load up in my friends brand new Range Rover and go get drinks in this private VIP room.  I just thought my wallet fell out of my Louis Vuitton bag so I didn't worry about it.  When I asked my girlfriend to check her brand new Range Rover parked in her driveway in Medina, she couldn't find it.  So I ended up calling on Monday."  Give me a break!!!!

I digress...  This post could last for days but that would only give me more reason to avoid what I should be doing - studying!