The River

Thought this Ohio Beacon Journal story was interesting, sort of along the lines of my Red States/Blue States and Business Culture post earlier (which has been surprisingly popular, according to FeedBurner).

I’m from Texas where hunting is just a part of the culture. My father and brother’s idea of bonding with my new husband is to take him out deer hunting. I’m not a hunter myself, nor do I encourage it, but I’m aware there are a whole lot of people out there that do engage in this “sport.” (Some of my favorite family members are hunters ;-)) Still, we don’t often hear about it in the news except where it concerns presidential candidate photo-ops or terrible horror stories.

(Though while surfing Google looking for a link, I did come upon this great headline in the San Jose Mercury News: Hunters almost never deliberately shoot others. Good to know!)

I was talking to a woman the other day in the course of my work, discussing a viral online marketing effort. She is a newbie to the online world, but was enthusiastic in sharing her hopes for the project. She suggested it might get attention from the press “and all those (pause) I hesitate to call them (pause) ‘bloggers.'” Apparently in her usual circles, “blogger” is a pejorative term, so she didn’t want to use it.

I assured her that, in fact, bloggers even proudly use the term to describe themselves. She was quite relieved 😉

Interesting culture clash and insight into how bloggers (and the term blogger) are perceived in some non-techie circles.

I wrote a nice big entry (munched by Blogger) about this great Marketplace feature on the introduction of the yellow pages to Kabul, Afghanistan. No time to reconstruct it, but suffice it to say the story is a really interesting reminder of the value of local directories, online or off. It’s fascinating to take a step into another local advertising market that’s also changing rapidly, but in an entirely different way than in the U.S.

My brother points me to a Web site where one of his neighbors chronicles how his Griswold-like obsession combines with just enough technological prowess to create… a holiday monstrosity. As if the above static light display isn’t enough, this fellow has developed, in recent years, an animated light show that blinks the lights in time to music.

Video of last year’s animated light show, created to accompany the tune “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” is here. Other tunes that got the light show treatment include the theme from Sponge Bob Square Pants and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s performance of “Sweet Home Alabama.” I can’t wait to visit my brother’s neighborhood this holiday season and see what this guy has in store for 2004.

Yes, yes, I’m here. I know I’ve been quiet, but I’ve been busy… adjusting. Plus unpacking and setting up my wireless network (and computer system) at home. Things are looking pretty good now.

Such a big shake-up (moving from NYC to the Bay Area) is great for getting the cobwebs out of one’s brain. It’s funny how the little things — once accomplished on autopilot — require so much attention. Things like getting to work, figuring out what to wear every day (new weather patterns, new routines, plus clothes all packed up), deciding where and how to shop. Here’s hoping life and work benefit from the fresh perspective.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and took the time to think about what’s worth being thankful for. Being newbies in the area, and without family around, we ate out at One Market in SF (discovered via OpenTable.com). Lots of reasons to give thanks: safe trip cross country, having a wonderful family and friends, etc.

Now, as I set about getting plugged into the biz world around here, I’m planning to attend the Mary Hodder-organized Berkeley Blogger dinner Susan Mernit posted about. Hope to attach faces to names there.

UPDATE: I’m a bad blogger. Didn’t make it to the dinner last night, unfortunately. By the time 7 p.m. rolled around I was mentally exhausted (have been making it into work around 7:30 a.m.). I think a little more adjusting (and a little rest) is in order before I venture out.

Home at last!