It wasn’t too many years ago when they put TV’s in elevators.  I must admit it was a marvel.  I could travel 32 stories straight up in a small box standing shoulder to knee with other New Yorkers and get the latest headlines, stock quotes and weather.  By the time I reached the 17th floor I was completely up to date with  world news.  Apparently that’s not good enough or accessible enough anymore, now we need to be plugged in while we’re visiting the rest room.

Cliché as it sounds, I never thought I’d live to see the day.  Here’s how it happened – I was at a meeting in the Time Warner Building last week, a beautiful structure located directly across from Central Park in New York City. The first several floors of the building have a myriad of shops to delight any business person waiting for their next meeting.  I was 20 minutes early for my appointment so I thought a quick trip to the public restroom to fluff my coiffure and take away the shine was in order.  Imagine my surprise when I stepped up to the wall of sinks and in addition to seeing my reflection in the mirror I saw television screens embedded into the glass.  I’m not talking about an actual TV monitor built into the glass, what I saw was the futuristic technology of a ‘television mirror’.

So astounded was I, that I whipped my camera out and began snapping away.  A total stranger who happened to be standing by the sink thought I was a lunatic to be taking photos in a public restroom. Perhaps she thought I was with the Board of Health instead of the creative person I am seizing an opportunity to share too much information on my blog.  In any event, I’m not sure my description or my photos do this technological wonder justice (where’s Ted Fisher when you need him), but I couldn’t resist capturing the moment.

After my wonderment faded (3 minutes later) I shook my head, tsk, tsked to myself and asked the question – Do we really need television in public restrooms? There are some places that should remain quiet and private without being bombarded by any sort of information.  Unless the planet is about to disappear into the ozone layer, I say leave that room public or private alone and free of distractions except for the occasional scented candle.

What about you – do you need news updates every single minute of your life?

Got a video recording device?  Congratulations you’re a journalist.  YouTube announced the launch of YouTube Direct, a new tool that allows news and media organizations to request, review, and rebroadcast YouTube clips directly from YouTube users. Let me spell it out for you.  If you have a camera, a phone that records video or a flip device you can record a town hall meeting, a fire, an earthquake, a murder, or take a public opinion poll and upload the clip for use by news organizations.  You needn’t bother learning the craft of journalism, you don’t have to know how to write, it’s not necessary to have ever worked on a video crew before, you just need a recording device that you can point and shoot and you’ve got a story.

What’s right with this picture?
This is the obvious next step in the evolution of using technology to your advantage.  News organizations can now present stories they wouldn’t have had the resources to cover themselves.  It allows them to get breaking news the millisecond it happens without ever sending a reporter or crew to the scene.

What’s wrong with this picture?
If you know me you know I’m not enamored with the news media in general.  You’ll know that I don’t think we receive fair and balanced or even accurate reporting from many ‘respected’ outlets.  You’ll know that news journalist often misquote their sources, and that the more horrifying the headline the better.  What passes for news today in the alphabet soup of 24 hour news stations like CNN, FOX, and MSNBC,  straddles a very thin line between fact and  the ‘host’s’ viewpoint. This is not news; this is cooking up the news.  Its opinion wrapped in a fact or two, with a dash of hubris, a sprinkling of humor, and a smidge of weightiness thrown in for credibility.  Citizen journalist is just the very next step in the evolution of 24 hour news coupled with 21st century technology.

However, I believe citizen journalists may take a step that many journalists wouldn’t– and that’s ‘creating’ the news.  Do I need to remind you of the Balloon Boy fiasco?  His alleged disappearance spread on Twitter faster than you could type 140 characters.  Most people just hit the retweet button.  It was ‘news’ that was spread to hundreds of thousands of people before anyone realized it was TOTALLY MADE UP.   It’s sad, but people do want their fifteen minutes and they want to be heard.  Millions of blogs are proof of that.

As citizen journalists enter the lexicon of our ever increasing all media world – what can we count on to be true?  Considering how far we’ve come from the Walter Cronkite days – how far will we go?  Will we each have our own channel as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook merge?  Will our channels have news we create?  Will I be able to friend someone half way around the world and get their viewpoint of the news, news that is happening in their country?  If so, then we’re creating a world where the news is all about someone’s viewpoint and opinion and not about facts.

We all have opinions, and some of us even have cameras.  It’s a perfect combination for home grown news.  Welcome to the 21st century Citizen Journalist.

What’s your thought?  How do we keep the news from becoming a potpourri of individual opinions? And do you want to?

What’s a brand?  Well look around, they’re everywhere.  From Nike to Xerox and from Lifetime Television for women to ESPN the total sports network.

If you have any connection to the internet everything you say on the web becomes part of your brand.  If you’re on Twitter and you post tweets saying, “Just woke up I think I’ll have some donuts with my coffee” it can and will be Goggled.  That tweet will live longer than your children.  The writings of your daily blog will be etched in stone. We’ve entered a new age and everything you say and do brands you.

The good news is you have the chance to brand yourself the way agency creatives branded Nike, Wendy’s and Coke.

When you create a profile on Linkedin – think brand.  When you tweet – think about the fact that it will follow you to your grave and beyond.  Create a brand that’s smart, different, and interesting.  One that says, I go the extra mile, I think for myself, I’m a player but I also play outside of the lines.  In today’s market, you have to stand out, dare to be dangerous and even a little offbeat  – be a brand, not someone who just woke up and is looking for some donuts with their coffee, pretty much everyone else is doing that.

We’re all learning to be thrifty. And thrifty is a good thing. Maybe it’s something we should have been doing all along. You know, turning off the lights when you leave a room. Not only is it good for your wallet, it’s good for the planet. Maybe you’re combing your local newspaper for coupons. Or maybe you’re just beginning to experience the joys of savings when shopping with coupons.

Personally, I’ve always been into thrift, searching for a bargain or a sale. I do eat leftovers, I don’t let the water run while I’m brushing my teeth, and I will wait for a movie to come to DVD.

However, there are certain indulgences that don’t fall into the category of ‘gotta be thrifty’. When a ridiculously priced pair of shoes screams my name from the store window, you can pretty much forget the words ’savings’ and ‘thrift’. When a book is released that I must, must have and it only exists in hardcover, I will somehow justify the price and make the purchase.

What about you, what indulgences can’t you live without?

I found myself having to travel to five different cities in 10 days. I’m exhausted just thinking about it again. Packing for four different climates is what I consider a true challenge.

My husband has always called me Zsa Zsa Gabor when it comes to packing. I simply cannot live without anything. What if I arrive and I feel like wearing that cute little red top? Well I’d have to have the pants that match, and of course the shoes, and don’t forget the accessories. While we’re talking shoes, each pair of pants is hemmed a different length, I’d have to have at least several pairs of shoes. Of course, there’s the cosmetics’, toiletries, blow dryer, big roll brush – oh it’s just endless. I always begin packing swearing to myself, I’ll travel light this time, its farce, I don’t really understand the meaning of traveling light, in fact I DON’T want to get it.

On those trips when I ‘pretend’ to understand that I cannot travel as a celebrity with an entourage paying extra for more than the allotted luggage rule – I’ll only pack one suitcase – but it’s gigantic. I will shove something into every nook and cranny and pile everything very high so that some incredibly large person will have to sit on it to close it. At the check in counter they always stick that tell tale tag marked “HEAVY”. It’s a dead give away – it screams to the world she’s a LOSER when it comes to packing.

I’m in constant awe of those busy travelers at the airport, all neatly dressed, rolling that one compact suitcase, knowing they’ve somehow managed to get suits, shirts and shoes into what looks like my everyday purse – how do they do it?

So what about you – do you travel light? Heavy? What can’t you live without on a trip?

Sometimes when I’m out with Marisa she’ll have to tell me to “stop staring.” Yes, I’m a ’starer’, particularly in restaurants when I’m not engaged in a conversation with the person I’m sitting with.  My gaze will just wander and I’ll stare over at the next table, completely engrossed in another person’s conversation.  Sometimes I wonder why they just don’t offer me a seat.

My compulsion to stare is the same compulsion I have for reading romance.  It’s all about the relationships  As a reader, I can be the person at the next table and I’m in on every single detail as the relationship progresses from bad to worse, back to bad and then to total bliss.  Damn, I love those stories.  That’s exactly why I fell in love with Nora Roberts.  With Nora, I get a bonus because she usually gives me more than one relationship per book – you get the heroine, hero, the in-laws, the step children and all the secondary characters.

Reading romance is just great - I get to snoop without being caught or told to stop staring!

So, when it comes to romance novels, is it all about the relationships?

If you surround yourself with enough technology – you never have to leave your home. And that is the point – to keep us all compartmentalized in our own little world? A world where people don’t meet unless it’s on-line? Are we getting closer and closer to letting a computer make our decisions?

With a tap, tap, tap of the keyboard and a couple of clicks of the mouse, you can pay your bills , buy groceries, clothes, furniture, toiletries, gifts, automobiles, vacations and meet people you never have to really interact with.

Why pay 10 bucks to see a film? Just, tap, tap, click – you can wait for snail mail – or you can download it instantly.

Want the latest book – tap, tap, click – mail or download — your choice.

But where’s the human contact? Since we don’t need to leave our home for anything – will our future relationships be with the guy who delivers the pizza to our front door?

Do you prefer to go out and do things or do you sit in front of your computer and let technology do it for you?

Driving in traffic

Maria:  Yikes, it’s that time of year again!

Marisa:  What time is that?

Maria:    You know, Spring, new beginnings, thinking about all the things you’re about to change.

Marisa:    Oh yeah,  I’m going to get right on that.  What are you going to change?

Maria:    Right now, I’m going to change lanes..

(Music playing in the background, heads, bopping, fingers snapping, time passing.)

Marisa:    Did you think of anything?

Maria:   I’ll let you know at the next traffic light…

traffic light change

Marisa:    You were saying…

Maria:      About what?

Marisa:    Life altering changes,  the new beginnings, yada, yada, yada.

Maria:     Oh right.  Well for starters.  Deep breaths.

Marisa:   Why, practicing for something?

Maria:     Yeah, I’m going to start training.

Marisa:  Training for what?

Maria:    Going against the tide.