Poor little Catholic girl

Magnet #1157 - Unleash your joy

I wanted something non-denominational for this Easter Sunday, and figured this Kelly Rae Roberts inspirational magnet fits the bill.

Unleash your joy
Embrace your truth
Pick more wild flowers
Leap fearlessly
Collect moments of kindness

Lovely.

So, today, I learned something about Easter.

Last night, I saw so many Tweets about parents getting drunk and hiding Easter eggs for their kids, and was totally confused.

Ya'll, I kid you not that until this morning, when several friends posted FB pictures of their kids finding the eggs, I didn't realize that parents actually hid Easter eggs around their own house for their kids to find on Easter morning.

I've never done an Easter egg hunt at my house. Ever. In fact, I don't think my parents have ever bought those plastic eggs. Besides that, a friend pointed that that it might be we do public hunts down here, that maybe it's just a Southern thing - that our hunts are generally held in parks or churches.

I wouldn't know, really - I mean, I can seriously count on one hand how many egg hunts I've been on. And that's counting taking my baby cousins to Central Park for their egg pick-up hunt just a few years ago.

It's crazy, I know. I mean, I always knew about the Easter baskets and I've had pictures taken with the Easter bunny, but I've never known about the morning egg hunts around the house.

For as long as I can remember, though, I've always been superjealous of kids with their Easter baskets and eggs and chocolate bunnies. Once when I was little, I made the mistake of asking why I didn't get a basket or candy.

Totally got the religious lecture about Easter, and that they would never understand the tradition of bunnies and candy, and that therefore, no, we would not have baskets or candy in our house. Ever. I was crushed.

One visit to the Philippines during Easter week proved how serious they take this holiday, with procession after procession, men carrying actual crosses in the streets and being whipped, men getting tied to crosses, a giant Judas being burned in effigy to the jeers of large crowds, kissing of someone's feet (note: I did not go to this, so I dunno if it was real feet, or a statue), novena after novena, stations after stations of the cross, mass after mass. After mass after mass.

It was non-stop.

So yeah, no basket or candy for me. Ever.

Poor little Catholic girl, I know.

Oiy. Thank goodness they never had a problem with Santa.


eta:
Update. Would you look at that. Still absolutely no remorse from my mommy for not giving me baskets and candy over the years.

eta2:
Clarification. I should mention that it really was just my parents - there are plenty of lucky Filipino kids whose parents embraced the bunny and all his accouterments. Sigh. But this post notwithstanding, no, I'm not bitter at all.

Slow down, you Tweet too fast

Magnet #1053 - Tweeting about Tweeting

Or, in this case, magnetblogging about Tweeting...again.

I've both extolled and reviled the virtues and vices of Twitter before, but when I saw yesterday that someone told Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran that he was Tweeting too much (he's not, by the way), I knew I had use this Cafe Press magnet! (Incidentally, Simon and my first crush John Taylor are both on Twitter. #FF!!!)

I decided a while ago that, despite my earlier hate-on for Twitter, (and you know this if you're following me) that I was just gonna Tweet when I feel like it. Unfortunately for you guys...it's a lot.

But it's fun telling and Twitpic'ing people where I am, what I'm doing, where I'm headed, what I'm thinking, what I'm watching.

If you want to know, great, if you don't, unfollow or hide me.

I like helping get the word out for certain exhibitions, museums, buildings and random places to visit. I like showing you my city and the things I'm seeing. I like sharing my random thoughts about current and not-so-current movies and tv shows (and cuteboys in them, let's not forget about cuteboys). Besides, it's not like I'm Tweeting about laundry or other chores (although I have), what I'm having for lunch (although I have), or what my hair looks like (although I have). (Oh, Rationalization, you are SO my friend. Are you following me?)

Ok. I do Tweet a lot, which is why I get so annoyed when someone doesn't know what's going on with me. No. Seriously. I do. Most of my Tweets feed right to Facebook. So, if you don't know what's going on with me, I really do look at you with a blank stare when you ask. (But, I suppose that's another magnetpost altogether.)

Speaking of news...my breaking news also comes via Twitter/TweetDeck lately - sometimes for the good, sometimes for the bad (see my incredibly erroneous and shameful RT of someone reporting on the demise of a very much alive Morgan Freeman - won't do that again!). Earthquake in Cali? Got it. Snow days in NC? Got it. David Tennant & Catherine Tate in Much Ado About Nothing? Got it. And every time (well, maybe not for that Much Ado thing), you can almost count the minutes going by before it makes it to CNN on TV. It's nuts.

Oh. That Much Ado announcement? Totally bought my tickets within hours. Someone once called me the busiest unemployed person they know...mostly because even though I've lived in NYC since 1995, there's still stuff to do here. And it just so happens that a lot of the activities added to my calendar are taken directly from Twitter.

Does it seem like Twitter's too much to deal with? Yeah, it is. And frankly speaking, even when I'm employed, I'll always have time for Tweeting. It's 140 characters, who doesn't have time for that? I'll allow that keeping up with all the folks I follow is a bit of a pain, but that's where handy-dandy TweetDeck comes in.

I use TD because it's allowed me to find, follow and connect with fun random new people all over the world. The lists columns help me follow my favorite actors and TV critics. The cool search function also lets me follow hashtagged threads of certain shows (Hawaii Five-O, Downton Abbey) and events (SDCC, Much Ado, TCA)...which in turn helps me find and follow random new people who have common interests.

For example, last night's #downtonPBS thread was insane. The TweetDeck pop-up box should have just stayed up, because within seconds of Laura Linney's intro, 400 hashtagged Tweets popped up...and still hasn't stopped popping, even though the episode ended last night at 10:30.

While I was able to find new people with interesting things to say, the obvious downside of the incessant chatter, is that I was too busy giggling at what people had to say about the show, rather than actually watching the show. That's a slight problem, of course.

I have this same issue each week during #bulletproofvesttime on Hawaii Five-0. Which is ok, because I always rewatch that show anyway. (What? Didn't you see? #Bulletproofvesttime!)

I know. I've come a long way from hating Twitter. And it's true that I have a lot of friends who are already bored to death with Twitter. I mean, it's been around for a while, and for some, it's a little past the peak. But, for now, it's a fun diversion and useful tool.

And finally, speaking of tools...The folks over at Edelman have created this fantastic little thing called a TweetLevel, to measure your Twitter relevance across four different factors:

• Influence - something about followers and if they're ReTweeting you
• Popularity - based on how many people follow you and number of lists you're on
• Engagement - how you're engaging with certain communities, based on @replies
• Trust - how/if people are ReTweeting what you have to say

It's supposedly still in beta, according to their site, and they haven't yet solved the "Twitter influence" (Twinfluence?) question, but this tool helps gauge your own activity for better or worse.

Of course, I'm sure they're pointing and larfing at how often I check my own TweetLevel (it's a bit like ego surfing, it is), but it really is interesting to see how the numbers fluctuate based on your Twitter activity.

Goodness. Let us hope they don't create one for Facebook.

Too thinky! Tooooo thinky!!!

Magnet #897 - Albert Einstein

I picked this Albert Einstein magnet from Pomegranate for today, because I think he would have had a heyday with Inception. He'd probably talk for hours about the layered realities and dreams, the inherent quantum time and physics of each layer, and of course, the relativity of it all.

But, here's the thing. He'd have to go discuss it with someone else.

I hate movies that make me think too much. There. I said it.

There's a reason I go to movies, and that's to go into a darken theatre and forget about the world at large for a couple of hours.

Yes, there's an argument to be made for a movie to challenge your thinking about what you know to be truth and reality.

There's an argument to be made for a movie to expand your horizons, to teach you something.

There's even an argument for a movie to scare the living daylights out of you.

But, you know what? I hate being mindf*cked. Hate it. So any movie that exists solely to make me think about it days later makes me crazy.

On top of that, I also hate nonlinear storytelling, which is why I also didn't get through Christopher Nolan's Memento. And, yes, I know that's quite an unpopular, if pedestrian, opinion. I don't care.

The story line, screwy though it was, does keep you engaged (unless you were that idiot girl child in front on me on her Blackberry for the last 30 minutes of the movie. It would have been different if she were saving lives on email, but she was on Facebook. Tagging pictures. Of her and her boyfriend. Kissing. Several pictures. And her and her girlfriends. Not kissing. Dudes. Tagging pictures. I get that you're too dumb to understand what was happening, but seriously? Dim the freakin' BB display then! /endrant), and the ending is open ended enough to make the entire room (except dumbass Facebook girl) grunt. (Admittedly, I also hate open-ended endings, for the same reason I hate unsolved mysteries.)

Now. On the flip side? Inception was gorgeous. The direction was phenomenal, the cinematography was beautiful, the effects were amazing, the multiple locations were fabulous, the architecture was awesome, the score was terrific, and the pretty people were, well, pretty.

So, I guess that leaves me on the fence about Inception. I hated the mindf*ck, but loved the production as a whole.

And, I dunno what dreams may come tonight, but the movie kinda made me realize that the vivid, violent and unhappy dreams I was having earlier this summer have all but gone away in this last week of freedom.

It's kinda nice to have my good sleeps back.

Now, I just gotta find me a totem.

It's all about the Roosevelts

Magnet #509 - The Roosevelts

Ok. Having magnetblogged two pretty thorough posts on Franklin and Eleanor already, I feel ok about using this pin magnet for this post.

Last night, as I was watching my regular slate of not all that great television, I had my TweetDeck up as usual. Lately, I've found myself mesmerized by the trending topic tag cloud on TwitScoop. Seriously. It's starting to scare me.

That's how I found out about the Getty being evac'd last week. It's how I found out about Kim Jong Il this week. It's how I found out about the creepy Observer from Fringe being at the All-Star Game last night.

So when #commercial popped up and I didn't have a clue why, I clicked on it, being the good adgirl that I am. From what I gathered, Taco Bell (whose colors I've been wrestling with all day at work) ran a TV spot during the MLB All-Star Game, featuring rappers in an SNL'ish parody called "It's all about the Roosevelts" (the dimes, versus the $100s).

It garnered mixed reactions, but either way, within the first two minutes of me being on TwitScoop, 33 new Tweets chirped, mostly about this ad (300 since I started this post). Trending topic tags popped up for #Roosevelts, #Taco, #Bell, #taco bell, etc.

It's insane. No, seriously. See?

But, even more, were the redirects and Tweets sending people to the TB YouTube channel for the ad itself, where the lyrics are readily accessible, and the link to the ringtone's included, not to mention where there are more than 300 comments, and more than 266k views (2,000 since I started this post). Mind you, I didn't do a pre- and post- comparison of views, but good grief, I bet it's an immediate spike.

Annnnnd, you've gotten me to Tweet about it, FB it, and now magnetblog it. Dannnnng.

Well played, Taco Bell, well played.

Picture pages, picture pages

Magnet #419 - Hershey's Times Square

This is the other half of my Hershey's Times Square store magnet. I've just never found a good picture of me in Times Square to put in it.

I'm glad, because have I got a not-so-sweet rant for you today!

One quick search for Facebook on this site will reveal my love/hate relationship with it. One day I love it, because I've connected with a friend I've lost touch with. The next day I hate it, because I see someone do something utterly stupid on it.

To wit:

One of the first workplace rules I was taught: if you're at a work party, and someone's aiming a camera your way, and you've got a drink or a beer bottle in your hands - lower it.

It's something that's always stuck in my head, and not just cuz I had a silly crush on the coworker guy who told me. I think I'm still the only one who does it.

That's why it boggles the mind some of the party and bedroom pictures that get posted to Facebook. People! Doesn't matter how many settings you set, how many privacy levels you allow - at some point, potential or current coworkers, bosses and even HR folks see this stuff. Never mind that - family sees this stuff.

This bogglization probably extends to untoward Facebook statuses about the guy you went home with the night before, or the hookah you were hookah-ing the night before, or the mary janes you were eyeing the night before...or basically anything that gives away anything that you were doing the night before that you don't want your mom to know about. But, when there's actual pictorial proof of what you were doing the night before that you don't want your mom to know about, that's a good indicator that you may want to think twice about uploading it.

Yes. Once again, I'm railing at another rule that I was taught but didn't get taught to a different generation. Once again, I sound like I'm 90 years old, a tight-ass and a prude...but to be brutally honest, I don't need to see anyone's teenage cousin kissing on their boyfriend in bed. Even if she's in college.

Family. On Facebook. Countless cousins, one sister, and one aunt. An aunt related to your mom.

Psst, I know I just said that it doesn't matter how many privacy levels you allow, but for the love of Pete (literally), keep that junk between you and your boyfriend. Shocker! You actually can set it that way. Dummy.

Also?

Ewwwww. Thank you. Now I have to go bleach my eyes.

eta, in bold, because it's fairly more important than my standard etas:
Dudes. So, while I chose to write the above rant, lambasting those who upload untoward pictures...my other cousin came through with this Ad Council vid, a far more eloquent, astounding and totally creepy PSA: Everyone knows Sarah.

eta2:
Mind you, I could be accused of the same practices, here on joy magnetism. But aside from some pictures with Ponch and me - in a work context - I try to be a little more vigilant.

Never trust a nun with a gun. Especially one who's a cat.*

Magnet #368 - Novice Hame

This is a novice. This is a cat. And of course, you'd only know Novice Hame if you watched Doctor Who.

I'm using her for today because first, I just had to go check my FB friends list to see if I've inadvertently friended a cat. No. I'm serious.

Folks. They have those pets-only social networking sites. Go use those. Don't be suggesting me to be Facebook friends with a cat. Seriously.

Second, I'm going to need the patience of Job to get through the next several weeks at work. And, somehow I'm going to have to channel the grace of God to keep my temper in check. Seriously.

Wish me luck.

*And, yes, I totally botched the DW quote in my magnetpost title. Mea culpa.

joy magnetism's first blogiversary extravaganza of knowledge weekend

Magnet #365 - Circles of joy

So, about a year ago, I started this thing because I was about to create a spreadsheet to catalog my magnet collection, because I was about to go on a big trip around the US and was afraid I'd repeat a magnet in my collection.

And, when I realized how dorky that sounded, I figured, well, what could be dorkier: A blog to share my magnet collection with the world!

Well, I never went on that roadtrip, but, joy magnetism has truly grown into a fun little project for me - both personally and professionally.

Personally, I've been able to share fond memories, odd opinions, half-a-fact facts for the fact fans, and the occasional random thought and/or rant. Professionally, it's given me more interactive insight in a year, than I've learned in the past five, since we became a more digitally-focused agency.

Today, I thought I'd share just a random (but by no means exhaustive) list of what I've learned:

- Writing. People have always asked me if I was ever going to write a romance novel of my own. I guess it was a natural thing to ask an avid romance reader and a romance editor back in the day. My pat answer was usually, "Are you kidding me? No way, man." Writing tends to come easily to me, always has...but I've never been tempted to write long form. Well, not quite true, there were a couple of attempted script sides for General Hospital in 7th grade and maybe a YA novel started here and there, but nothing as an "adult." But, I've enjoyed writing my little magnetposts. And editing them. And rewriting them. And going back to old ones to correct things. It's great fun. (And way better than those sides I mailed to ABC.)

- Time consuming. My goodness. I do one magnetpost a day. That's hard. Generally, it's the last thing I do before I hit the lights and let the tv lull me to sleep. So, it's no biggie to jot down a quick story for a fun magnet. But man, whenever I find a topic that interests me - I have to research it. At least a little. Or sometimes I go hardcore. Just so I can share. I can't even imagine multiposting during the day with a regular job to hold down. Hats off to ya, though.

- Networking. Well, I'll be. Blogging as a social networking tool apparently works! Whether it's the rather nomadic Goldengait over at The GoldenGait Bridge, Scotsman Cameron over at Stuff on TV, Jace over at Televisionary over on the west coast, they're all bloggers that I've run across online and interact with...here, on their blogs and on Facebook as well. Is that weird? Maybe a little. But, it's great fun discussing shows that some folks I know IRL haven't even heard of.

I really love that joy magnetism has also introduced me to a little community of folks in town who care about the same NYC stuff that I do. I didn't even know they existed. Ephemeral NY tells me about my adopted city's past, while Lost City and EV Grieve show me places we're about to lose. Scouting NY and Greenwich Village Daily Photo shows me fun things I've never seen before, right here in town. Thanks!

- Real-life Friends. I love sharing fun stories of trips and people, and knowing that those friends will get the same giggles remembering fun times. But, I have to admit, I wasn't at all prepared for how annoyed I get when actual friends ask me what's new in my life...when it's pretty much plastered all over joy magnetism. Oh, I am totally getting over myself, because I know that's such an all about me conceit. But, think about it. I've got people I've never met before reading my magnetposts, but there are people I've known for years who don't. It's weird.

- Cursing. Not everyone likes to see shit, damn or the other one in print. Cotter put it well in this blogpost about his stance on profanity - he writes like he speaks. I tend to do the same. It's my blog, and I'll curse if I want to. That being said, after a concerned phone call from mom, from one of her patients complaining that I curse a lot here (I totally don't, btw), I did acquiesce to putting a parental note for those parents who aren't monitoring what their kids are reading online...before they read it. It's a magnet blog, folks. I know it looks like Disneyworld up in here, but just cuz it's pretty, don't mean it's pristine.

- Reactions. While it's awesome that they're reading my blog, people get mad when you shoot your mouth off. To wit: Check out this Anonymous comment about my SAG strike rant. It was a rant, written just when I found out that SAG was thinking of putting it to a vote. NO, I didn't do all of my research on how it effects your industry. Because it was a RANT. Who researches a RANT. And P.S., SnarkyAnon, stupid cocktail waitresses aside, George Clooney walks on water. Don't mess with him. And P.P.S., SnarkyAnon, I hoping to respond to your comment, but was waiting to see what the outcome would be, re: a real strike, but looks like that they still can't get it together. But thanks for reading. Mwah!

And speaking of thanks for reading...thank you for dropping by to read about a magnet or two. I really do appreciate your visits, your comments, your fellowship (hm, when did fellowship get such a religious connotation), and the insight you guys have given me - insight to me (which is what the above mostly was) and insight to you (which some of which tomorrow's magnetpost will reveal).

Let's be honest

Magnet #363 - SoapNet Liar

This is the perfect magnet to talk about two shows that I've been following, Trust Me and Lie to Me. I haven't checked the ratings for either, and it's been a while since I read any reviews on them. So it's absolutely possible that I'm the only one in America still watching them.

Trust Me is that "not-like-Mad-Men-at-all, trust-me" TNT show with Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh as Chicago ad guys, with Monica Potter and a host of lesser-knowns rounding out their Creative group.

The bulk of Trust Me is just stereotypical advertising agency roles and situations. You can almost tell that the ad guy creators come from the Creative side - all the clients are unreasonable, all the account people are idiots and exist just to gum up the works, and the Creatives are running around going to extreme measures just to live up to some high-stakes overpromise they've made to the clients. And they don't care about the media or production groups as evidenced by the amount of mentions they've been given in the last several episodes.

If you're not in the ad business, I haven't a clue why you'd even watch this bunch of neurotic crazy folk trying to solve their usually self-inflicted ad agency problem of the week. To tell you the truth, I don't know why I'm still watching - though I'm guessing I'm just a glutton for punishment while I sit and watch plenty of my real world agita get acted out (in hyperbole, of course) on screen.

But I haven't really been made to care about any of the characters, and I think that's where the show is lacking. Were it not for my fondness for Eric and Tom, and how well they play off each other, I'd have given up several episodes ago. As it is, part of the reason I keep coming back is the part where they show me previews where it looks like Monica Potter leaves the show. And I get disappointed every time. She's not sympathetic - no matter how much they make her cry - I could give a hoot about her. Plus, speaking of stereotypes, I keep thinking her quite annoying character reads more like an account person, than copywriter. (Full disclosure, I'm an account person.)

But, there must be something there, because I still spend my 44 minutes alternatively laughing my ass off and yelling at the screen. (Yes, I fast-forward - three arrows - through the commercials, too, but didn't manage to escape last week's Dove product placement or this week's Facebook product placement.) And on that sad fact...moving on.

Lie to Me is that FOX show with Tim Roth (being allowed to use his accent - yay!) and Kelli Williams as the team that people bring in to figure out when people are lying or not.

I'm not going to lie, I really love this show. A lot of the body language stuff I've heard before from books and documentaries and stuff, and it's true, at some point, I'll probably get tired of them expositioning every. single. microexpression. for every. single. situation.

But for now, the show, with its odd characters (most notably, the boyfriend from ABC Family's Middleman, Brendan Hines - yay, new gig! - who has taken a vow of truth), and dialogue that makes me giggle from the cute (though probably wasn't meant to be), keeps me entertained. A caveat - I'm not entirely sure where they're going with the characters, and their relationships to each other, but they've dropped a few nuances along the way to keep me tuning in.

I am a little worried, because there's a part of me that wonders if everyone in the world will start watching the show, and learn how to lie effectively, without getting caught. The other part of me wants to write down and/or commit to memory every trick that they tell me, because some of that stuff has already been helpful.

Oh, there's even a small part of me that worries for their clearances guy - someone has to clear all that editorial footage they keep using - I haven't looked at who they're crediting at the end, but dang, you have to wonder how Bill Clinton feels when they bring up that Monica footage constantly.

Anyway, check out both shows - I'd be interested to see what other folks think. Honestly.

Seeing this thing through

Magnet #334 - Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site

Whew! Big day yesterday, huh.

Amidst a flurry of Facebook statuses that were all over the place - from extreme jubilation and awe, to hand-wringing and portents of doom (No surprise, since my FB friends are pretty much evenly divided between New York and North Carolina.) - one status stuck out for me:

"____ ____ says whether you voted for Obama or not, you cannot and must not dismiss the historical significance of yesterday's events."

Too true.

To wit: The inclusion of the Tuskegee Airmen.

Apparently, the Obama campaign invited the surviving members of the Tuskegee Airmen to the inauguration. And about 200 accepted. Which makes me even happier that my sister and her fiance went to visit this national historic site, and brought me back this magnet.

You can learn a lot more here, or by watching the movie, but if you don't know, the Tuskegee Airmen were the only all-black fighter group to fly in WWII. The then-segregated military was under pressure to expand the role of African Americans in the war effort. And so the Army Air Corps began their great "military experiment" at a small black college - Tuskegee Institute, founded by Booker T. Washington - in Alabama.

They already had a civilian flight program in place, but in the end, the Tuskegee Airmen included the airmen (pilots, navigators, bombardiers), their instructors, and maintenance and support staff. These men and women trailblazed their way through history, trying to overcome segregation and prejudice, and proving themselves one of the most respected fighter groups in the War.

And, in July 1948, President Harry Truman issued Executive Order No. 9981 which provided for "equality of treatment and opportunity in the armed forces without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin." This order marked the first time a president used an executive order to implement civil rights principles, widely considered a major victory for civil rights advocates.

Flashforward 60 years, where a man by the name of Spann Watson, from Westbury, NY, and several of his fighter group, journeyed to DC to see Barack Obama become president. Mr. Watson's 92 years old! And flew in formation for Harry Truman's inauguration ceremonies!

C'mon. How amazing is that?

His "Invitation to History" was captured in this NYTimes video.

Bring tissue.

Café con joy

Magnet #119 - Columbia Restaurant

Writing this post as I've just polished off my second café con leche to help me power through the night...

I may never drink Starbucks again, folks. The Cuban Roast Coffee from Columbia is probably the best coffee I've ever had - and that includes the fanTASTic coffee with brown sugar I had in Toronto. Good gravy. It's just freakin' awesome.

This magnet was given to me by a friend who just recently visited from Tampa - she and I recently reconnected on Facebook (hmmm, I seriously need a FB magnet). We spent quite a bit of time together growing up down in Salisbury, NC. Then her family moved, and though our parents kept in touch, us kids didn't.

So how great is it, that even though we hadn't spoken since 1987, we were still able to spend two hours on the phone, just gabbing away and catching up. And, after spending a couple days hanging around NYC, we realized that even though she moved a few states away - we still shared many of the same experiences - with our parents, our sisters, our cultures and our upbringing in small Southern towns.

They say no one knows you better than family...but I guess it's really family - plus those who knew you when...