Someone please sign me up for a design class because I am severely failing on a layout for my blog and Twitter page.
"Just stick with the templates, Meg. Just stick with the templates."
Ugh! But that is so boring!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
After a somewhat depressing topic last week, I would like to return to the lighter/everyone-is-talking-about-it-so-I-have-to-talk-about-it-as-well side of life...
Alright. Give me just a second to collect myself. Alright. I think I am ready now:
HI MY NAME IS MEG AND I AM A TWITTER ADDICT.
Yes, it is true. I have been on Twitter for about a year now (@nelson_meg) and I definitely am drinking the Twitter Kool-Aid.
With all the new media buzz about Twitter, I wanted to take the time to explain why I am so excited about it and then to explain why I think that Twitter is not for everyone.
For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past two years, Twitter is, well, kind of a big deal. You can find tweets on major news channels like CNN and Fox. Even Oprah has a tweet account, as if that is supposed to mean anything to anyone.
Anyway, Twitter is a micro-blogging community, where users Tweet(post comments) in real-time on their thoughts, news or activities. I am not going to go into the details but the site was first started so that family members and friends could have real-life insight into the activities of the other members. Essentially the site was founded on the question, "What are you doing?".
Well, just for everyone's information, this is not what the site is used for anymore. Yeah, there is still the occasional "I am eating Cheerios for breakfast." but (and this depends on who you follow) more and more Tweets are providing information as opposed to simply taking up space. One of the biggest examples of this and the impact of Twitter is the Iranian election. If you are not sure about Twitter, go read the posts coming up for the hashtag (a kind of calling card) #IranElections. This event and the reaction to it on Twitter is proof that Twitter is a valuable tool for finding real-time information on current events.
So why do I love it? Well, I work in the Social Media industry and that means that most of my collegues are online, participating in these social mediums, i.e. facebook, pathables, twitter, linkedin, etc. These people tweet about events happening in our community, information that pertains to our industry and about the general outlook of social media. They invest a large amount of time in this medium and therefore, I am able to get value from it!
Secondly, the reason on love social media is because I love seeing what kind of connections can be built and maintained online (I think this has a large part to do with that fact that so many of my friends are far, far away). Be that friend to friend. Stranger to stranger. Company to customer. I think it is amazing how the online space allows us to find and form connections with people of similar interest. And even more amazing, is when those connection online become connections in real life! Great examples of this include BarCamp, Match.com, CouchSurfing, etc.
Alright so that is why I love it. But not everyone needs to drink the Twitter Kool-Aid and here is why:
TWITTER USES UP A LOT OF YOUR TIME!
If you find people to follow, have people following you, or feel a need to constantly reorganize your Tweetdeck like I do (I will leave for another discussion), then you will spend a lot of time on Twitter. You know how you vowed that you would never spend as much time on Facebook as you do now.... well multiply facebook by wikipedia hyperlinks and then you will understand the time drain that is Twitter. I get lost for hours going through the articles and information that my peer group is tweeting about, most of the times forgeting why I turned on the computer to begin with!
So that's my somewhat quick overview of Twitter, why I love it and why you might not want to even delve into it (all though there are more reasons than just time but that is all I want to write about for now... lazy). Let me know what you think! Why you choose to be on Twitter or why you would never touch the site in a million years!
Alright. Give me just a second to collect myself. Alright. I think I am ready now:
HI MY NAME IS MEG AND I AM A TWITTER ADDICT.
Yes, it is true. I have been on Twitter for about a year now (@nelson_meg) and I definitely am drinking the Twitter Kool-Aid.
With all the new media buzz about Twitter, I wanted to take the time to explain why I am so excited about it and then to explain why I think that Twitter is not for everyone.
For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past two years, Twitter is, well, kind of a big deal. You can find tweets on major news channels like CNN and Fox. Even Oprah has a tweet account, as if that is supposed to mean anything to anyone.
Anyway, Twitter is a micro-blogging community, where users Tweet(post comments) in real-time on their thoughts, news or activities. I am not going to go into the details but the site was first started so that family members and friends could have real-life insight into the activities of the other members. Essentially the site was founded on the question, "What are you doing?".
Well, just for everyone's information, this is not what the site is used for anymore. Yeah, there is still the occasional "I am eating Cheerios for breakfast." but (and this depends on who you follow) more and more Tweets are providing information as opposed to simply taking up space. One of the biggest examples of this and the impact of Twitter is the Iranian election. If you are not sure about Twitter, go read the posts coming up for the hashtag (a kind of calling card) #IranElections. This event and the reaction to it on Twitter is proof that Twitter is a valuable tool for finding real-time information on current events.
So why do I love it? Well, I work in the Social Media industry and that means that most of my collegues are online, participating in these social mediums, i.e. facebook, pathables, twitter, linkedin, etc. These people tweet about events happening in our community, information that pertains to our industry and about the general outlook of social media. They invest a large amount of time in this medium and therefore, I am able to get value from it!
Secondly, the reason on love social media is because I love seeing what kind of connections can be built and maintained online (I think this has a large part to do with that fact that so many of my friends are far, far away). Be that friend to friend. Stranger to stranger. Company to customer. I think it is amazing how the online space allows us to find and form connections with people of similar interest. And even more amazing, is when those connection online become connections in real life! Great examples of this include BarCamp, Match.com, CouchSurfing, etc.
Alright so that is why I love it. But not everyone needs to drink the Twitter Kool-Aid and here is why:
TWITTER USES UP A LOT OF YOUR TIME!
If you find people to follow, have people following you, or feel a need to constantly reorganize your Tweetdeck like I do (I will leave for another discussion), then you will spend a lot of time on Twitter. You know how you vowed that you would never spend as much time on Facebook as you do now.... well multiply facebook by wikipedia hyperlinks and then you will understand the time drain that is Twitter. I get lost for hours going through the articles and information that my peer group is tweeting about, most of the times forgeting why I turned on the computer to begin with!
So that's my somewhat quick overview of Twitter, why I love it and why you might not want to even delve into it (all though there are more reasons than just time but that is all I want to write about for now... lazy). Let me know what you think! Why you choose to be on Twitter or why you would never touch the site in a million years!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
A tragic situation talked about online
My friend from high school recently got married. Within a year or two his wife got pregnant.
He and his wife lost the baby. 26 weeks into the pregnancy. They dealt with their grief in two ways (that I have seen). First, my friend got a tattoo to commemorate his child. Second, and much more shocking to me, the wife blogged about her experiences delivering a stillborn.
Awful. Horrifying. Disturbing. Those were the only words that I had to describe the blog. An account of an event that in my mind should have been personal and private. It made me wonder, was this normal? Should this be online? What was private anymore?
It wasn't until tonight that I got my answer. A close friend of mine, who is currently studying medicine, told me that only 40% of pregnancies result in healthy deliveries. 40%. Even if that number is slightly off (given the place of birth and/or circumstance), the fact is that every healthy birth is a miracle and more woman will have miscarriages than I had originally thought.
This changed my whole entire perception of the blog and how I felt about keeping a situation like that "private". It made me realize that I was more likely to have a miscarriage than popular culture had prepared me to be. Does that make sense? I mean how many TV shows, movies or songs have dealt with miscarriages?
Even though at the time I cringed and cried reading about carrying and delivering a child who's heart no longer beat, I now feel incredibly grateful to the woman who was able to verbalize the event at all. She made me realize how precious pregnancy is and how prevalent miscarriages are. They happen and somehow or another we have to move on and continue living. This was the way she dealt with her pain and I must respect that. Given a similar circumstance, who knows what I would do. I can't even begin to speculate.
Thank you Chelsey for sharing with us. I am so very sorry for your loose and I cannot even begin to imagine the difficulties you are going through at the moment. But I know that there are other women out there who are going through or have gone through similar situations that have found comfort in your accounts of your situation. And as for me, I am just grateful that now I am more aware and able to appreciate the miracle that pregnancy and birth are. So thank you.
If any of you would like to see Chelsey's blog, it is here. Please be warned it is graphic and tragic but that said, I think it is good for us to be reminded of our own and others immortality, as well, as how we, as individuals or as groups, can over come such events and still believe in the beauty that life has to offer us.
He and his wife lost the baby. 26 weeks into the pregnancy. They dealt with their grief in two ways (that I have seen). First, my friend got a tattoo to commemorate his child. Second, and much more shocking to me, the wife blogged about her experiences delivering a stillborn.
Awful. Horrifying. Disturbing. Those were the only words that I had to describe the blog. An account of an event that in my mind should have been personal and private. It made me wonder, was this normal? Should this be online? What was private anymore?
It wasn't until tonight that I got my answer. A close friend of mine, who is currently studying medicine, told me that only 40% of pregnancies result in healthy deliveries. 40%. Even if that number is slightly off (given the place of birth and/or circumstance), the fact is that every healthy birth is a miracle and more woman will have miscarriages than I had originally thought.
This changed my whole entire perception of the blog and how I felt about keeping a situation like that "private". It made me realize that I was more likely to have a miscarriage than popular culture had prepared me to be. Does that make sense? I mean how many TV shows, movies or songs have dealt with miscarriages?
Even though at the time I cringed and cried reading about carrying and delivering a child who's heart no longer beat, I now feel incredibly grateful to the woman who was able to verbalize the event at all. She made me realize how precious pregnancy is and how prevalent miscarriages are. They happen and somehow or another we have to move on and continue living. This was the way she dealt with her pain and I must respect that. Given a similar circumstance, who knows what I would do. I can't even begin to speculate.
Thank you Chelsey for sharing with us. I am so very sorry for your loose and I cannot even begin to imagine the difficulties you are going through at the moment. But I know that there are other women out there who are going through or have gone through similar situations that have found comfort in your accounts of your situation. And as for me, I am just grateful that now I am more aware and able to appreciate the miracle that pregnancy and birth are. So thank you.
If any of you would like to see Chelsey's blog, it is here. Please be warned it is graphic and tragic but that said, I think it is good for us to be reminded of our own and others immortality, as well, as how we, as individuals or as groups, can over come such events and still believe in the beauty that life has to offer us.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
And then there was job #2
I know, Kerri. I know. It has been awhile. But what's new with that one? :)
Alright... so... I have a new job. I know you all might be thinking, "Wait, didn't Meg just start a new job less than a year ago?". And yes, it is true! I had another job. However, fate smiled upon me and the company decided to cut half of my department (and that included me as well). Over the next two months.... oh alright Cole.... over the next three months, I sat around the house, contemplating life, setting up informational interviews (a.k.a coffee and lunch dates) and half-heartedly applying for positions that didn't really excite me.
Finally, I got a lead I was excited about! Ray's Boathouse is a well-known Seattle restaurant that sits on a pier in Shilshole overlooking the Puget Sound. They had openings for their summer staff and lucky for me, decided to hire me! So now I work at Ray's Boathouse in the evening as a server and I could not be happier.
The job is a perfect fit for me! The people at Ray's are warm and welcoming. The atmosphere is supportive and cozy and the guests couldn't be more excited to get a taste of Seattle and the PNW. I am truly blessed to have found such a great team to be apart of and look forward to watching all the beautiful sunsets this summer!
Alright... so... I have a new job. I know you all might be thinking, "Wait, didn't Meg just start a new job less than a year ago?". And yes, it is true! I had another job. However, fate smiled upon me and the company decided to cut half of my department (and that included me as well). Over the next two months.... oh alright Cole.... over the next three months, I sat around the house, contemplating life, setting up informational interviews (a.k.a coffee and lunch dates) and half-heartedly applying for positions that didn't really excite me.
Finally, I got a lead I was excited about! Ray's Boathouse is a well-known Seattle restaurant that sits on a pier in Shilshole overlooking the Puget Sound. They had openings for their summer staff and lucky for me, decided to hire me! So now I work at Ray's Boathouse in the evening as a server and I could not be happier.
The job is a perfect fit for me! The people at Ray's are warm and welcoming. The atmosphere is supportive and cozy and the guests couldn't be more excited to get a taste of Seattle and the PNW. I am truly blessed to have found such a great team to be apart of and look forward to watching all the beautiful sunsets this summer!
Friday, March 27, 2009
I gave you my 90 minutes!!!
Last week I went to the inaugural game of the Seattle Sounders F.C.. They played the New York Red Bulls (yeah, I know, damn Americans and their advertising!) and three goals later the Sounders had won their first official MLS match!
Now if you want a recap of the game, there are many other places that will provide more detail for you than I can.
What I want to address is the 32,523 people that came out to see the new MLS team play.
When the MLS initially decided to add a team in Seattle, many debated on the future of the MLS. Would the US ever embrace the sport they way the Europeans did? Could Seattle be the American capital for soccer? How could they create a team and an atmosphere around the Sounders that resembled the European leagues but still be genuine to Seattle with its own American flare?
Tough questions. But the Sounder management moved forward, holding a statewide vote on the team name, creating a Members Association called the Alliance (where the members can vote to fire the general manager), advertising in a typically American fashion (I have never seen commercials or billboards for European teams abroad), creating the Sound Wave (the team's marching band) and placing free scarves all over the city to get people excited about the first game.
Well, the effort worked and the entire lower bowl of Qwest field was packed. Here is a video of what it was like being down at the stadium. Check it out and I will be adding a few of my own pics and videos later on:
Now if you want a recap of the game, there are many other places that will provide more detail for you than I can.
What I want to address is the 32,523 people that came out to see the new MLS team play.
When the MLS initially decided to add a team in Seattle, many debated on the future of the MLS. Would the US ever embrace the sport they way the Europeans did? Could Seattle be the American capital for soccer? How could they create a team and an atmosphere around the Sounders that resembled the European leagues but still be genuine to Seattle with its own American flare?
Tough questions. But the Sounder management moved forward, holding a statewide vote on the team name, creating a Members Association called the Alliance (where the members can vote to fire the general manager), advertising in a typically American fashion (I have never seen commercials or billboards for European teams abroad), creating the Sound Wave (the team's marching band) and placing free scarves all over the city to get people excited about the first game.
Well, the effort worked and the entire lower bowl of Qwest field was packed. Here is a video of what it was like being down at the stadium. Check it out and I will be adding a few of my own pics and videos later on:
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Birthdays! Birthdays! All around!
I celebrated my (gulp) 25th birthday last weekend. Along with Cole's 28th birthday and my dad's... well let's just keep you guessing on that number.... birthday.
But the best part of the evening ended up being opening the presents. Go figure. But it's not what you think at all! Let me explain....
My mom had a couple clothing size presents for myself and my dad. You know the clothing boxes that are oh so obvious. All of a sudden, my brother gets all worked up.
"No you didn't. Mom, that better not be what I think it is! Because you know that's what I want. I want it. Mom, you know that is what I have been wanting for ages."
I am obviously confused but continued to open the present and this is what I found.... along with my brother's reaction:
Now while I promised my brother I would not put this video on youtube, he never said anything about my blog. :) I heart you, bro!
And to give my bro a little more credit, he thought I was getting a Sounders FC jersey! I would have reacted the same way if I thought he was getting one!
The day after my sickness, Cole and I traveled up to Vancouver for a birthday getaway. We had a lovely time. Relaxing. Walking through Stanley Park. And eating till our hearts content!
If you want to hear more about my trip and the most intense experience I have had in awhile, call me and just ask me about E Hasting Street.
And to give my bro a little more credit, he thought I was getting a Sounders FC jersey! I would have reacted the same way if I thought he was getting one!
The day after my sickness, Cole and I traveled up to Vancouver for a birthday getaway. We had a lovely time. Relaxing. Walking through Stanley Park. And eating till our hearts content!
If you want to hear more about my trip and the most intense experience I have had in awhile, call me and just ask me about E Hasting Street.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
New Year's Resolution
Not to be so cynical.....
The earth is a beautiful place.
People are genuinely good.
Love and compassion are abundant.
And life is a blessing.
I often forget how lucky I am.
The earth is a beautiful place.
People are genuinely good.
Love and compassion are abundant.
And life is a blessing.
I often forget how lucky I am.
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