Committees are the secret to a successful Christmas

Merry Christmas!  I'm up at 5:00 waiting for the Cousin Crew to wake up.

Christmas Eve was a blast!

Maybe too much fun for a few.

The night started with a meeting of the Chair Committee.  Followed by a briefing from the Utensil Committee. The Food Committee took over and all went well.

We had our traditional lasagne dinner followed by the stocking stuffers exchange wherein the most coveted and traded gifts included a Chick Fil A card and an autographed photo of Eric Estrada that was clearly regifted.

The least traded gift was a dose of GasX which the original recipient was stuck with. Which was totally appropriate since it was dad.

The evening ended with hugs and kisses and me whispering to dad, "We have a situation brewing."

Yikes! We never formed a Trash Committee. 😧

Crossing the Catawba Again

So I crossed the Catawba again.  Back in my blogging days, when I crossed the Catawba, it meant I was going to see my nana. But now I would have to cross the Jordan in order to see my nana again. So when I cross the Catawba now, I'm either meeting Cousin David for wings or going to visit my mom and dad.

In this case, it was Mom and Dad.

As they approached their eighties, mom and Dad decided to sell the family home and downsize to a condominium. At which point, the grandchildren cried out for one last Christmas at Mimi and Papa's house. Mimi and Papa acquiesced, albeit with fear and trembling.

As Christmas drew near, they wondered more and more how they could possibly host 28 people for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Several under the age of 9 and rather mischievous, slightly brutal to home decor. 

So that's what led me to cross the Catawba three days before Christmas in the difficult year of 2021.

As I dusted the four bedroom home, climbed the rickety 1910 wooden ladder to fix the garage door opener and drizzled chocolate over 61 truffles (but who's counting?), I found myself longing for wings with Cousin David.

And thinking of Cousin David made me want to blog again because my faithful readers have always enjoyed following the life of Cousin David.

It was also a couple of faithful readers who suggested I might start blogging again. And with 28 family members in a four bedroom house for 2 days, what could provide better blogging material??

Drop a comment and tell me how you plan to celebrate christmas.

NASA 2013 in Review

NASA has posted an excellent video that summarizes what they've accomplished this year.  I consider it a privilege that I was able to be there in person for one of these events.  I'm grateful to NASA not only for their advancements, but also for the way they invite social media users to come behind the scenes at various events.
My review of NASA's Mobile Launcher
My tour at the Grand Opening of NASA's SwampWorks Research Lab
My view of The Atlas V Launch
My other NASA Adventures

One Faux Pas Away from Becoming a Meme

Every time you step out your front door, you are just one faux pas away from becoming a meme.

The old school risk of doing something embarrassing only to have the mean girls giggle around the lockers the next day has become a much larger risk.  Over a billion cameras in mobile phones and tablets were shipped in 2012.  2013 will surpass that by far.  It takes a literal minute to snap a photo and put it on the Internet for the entire world to view.  It takes just a few minutes more to upload it to a Meme Generator and slap a snarky remark on it.

The natural next step is hands free photography.

Google's Glass, a wearable camera designed for the public and currently in test mode, should be released in 2014.  Glass is developed to operate via voice commands, head movements and taps on a control panel.

 
Imagine the apps that will be developed for this -- apps that provide travel and historical information about your view, birding apps (Tom!), horticulture info., and yes the inevitable, face recognition apps, which will be great for Aunt Bertha with her dementia.

After app development for Glass, legislation for privacy protection is going to have to come into the picture.   Face recognition could be very damaging in the wrong hands..... creepers, stalkers, abusive husbands. 

Mark Zuckerberg has claimed that privacy is no longer a social norm.  How do you feel about that?

Should You Self Publish Your Book?

Guest Post from Handlebar Publishing, C. Grant & Co.

How to get the book that’s “in you” out to the world

You’ve got a book in you—you’re sure of it. Whether it’s an amazing story, or solid expert advice, you know others would benefit from the book you’re already writing in your head.

So, what is the best way for you to go about getting this book out to the masses? You’ve got a few options; we’ll walk you through them here.

Traditional PublishingGetting your book published has never been tougher—if you go the traditional royalty publisher route. Traditional, or “royalty” publishing, works like this: you (or more accurately, your literary agent) queries a publishing company with a book proposal. If the publisher “buys” your book, they’ll offer you an advance (sometimes) and a small cut of the book sales proceeds. In return, they’ll edit the book, cover the costs of production (including the cover), printing, and so forth. But this also gives them editorial control and more sway in your brand management. The publisher handles distribution—getting your book into stores and online sellers—and book promotion, handling some marketing, but leaving a larger chunk to you than you might expect.

Self-PublishingSelf-publishing is a risk you, the author, take on in full......

Maurice's BBQ: Just Country Folk Cooking Good BBQ

There was a time when you could sell the south's best BBQ in the shadow of the Confederate flag and nobody cared, it was just good BBQ.  Back in the day when ol' Maurice bragged that he only made BBQ from the right side of the hog, never the left.

Those days are gone. When it comes to Maurice's Piggie Park BBQ:  The Next Generation -- there's no looking back.  The black sheep of the family has retired and they're putting all that behind them.  Confederate flag?  What Confederate flag?  The flags have been removed from all eleven of Maurice's BBQ stores in Columbia.

Now?  It's about the food, all about the food.  This generation of Maurice's is a new generation with renewed focus on pit-cooked BBQ, "To serve the best pit-cooked BBQ in South Carolina."  (and they do, trust me)

Maurice's grandchildren are in the cockpit and keeping mum about ol' grandpa.  Maurice, in his early eighties, is "relaxing, enjoying some time off."  That's the most you'll get if you inquire about grandpa.  For all I know, he's got duct tape on his mouth.  He's definitely in the closed chapter of the Maurice's BBQ book.   Google's the only one keeping that chapter open.  And maybe a few really angry people.

The lovely Carolyn Shvetz, social media marketer for Maurice's and Maurice's granddaughter, spoke to the Social Media Club of Columbia Thursday night about handling conflict in social media.   Shvetz runs a Maurice's Twitter, Facebook and Instagram account.  Maurice's is so current, some menu items even appear on the My Fitness Pal app....

Shuttle Atlantis: Meet a Legend

Today's the unveiling of the retired Shuttle Atlantis at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.  I should be there.  I was there during construction of the new Atlantis facility when they had just received the Atlantis and she remained shrink wrapped.  I still ogled.  Shrink wrapped or not, she was magnificent.

Atlantis would not be cleaned up for America, she would be unveiled and on display with all her dings, scratches and smudges.  That would be today.  Today she will be unveiled, the shrink wrap removed and the construction completed.  No hard hats for today's visitors.

(look closely in this photo, you can see Deborah's reflection

Imagine me there next to her.... )

I was invited back for today's grand opening.  I could not afford another trip right now, so I declined.  Many of my fellow space enthusiasts and new friends who were on the hard hat tour with me are down there today, full of excitement, tweeting this and tweeting that.  I sit home, jealous.

The Atlantis Shuttle Exhibit at Kennedy Space Center opens today.  Above is the picture of the exhibit when I saw it, under construction.  Today it is a 90,000 square foot exhibit that shares the story of NASA's 30-year shuttle program.

And I'm sitting home.  Reading the exciting tweets from my space friends who are down there:

"Good Morning tweeps!  It's a great day to meet a legend, isn't it?" - @DeborahHerman

"This is why I backed Grace from Outer Space on kickstarter.  We need stuff for girls, too.  You know that sends a message other than "be pretty." - @KristenFitzpat1

And my fave:  "@VSliker, We will miss you!!" - @KristenFitzpat1

Sadly, I will go about my business today in a town where nobody is interested in the Atlantis or the shuttle program or commercial space flight or an outpost on the moon...... But I'll be checking the tweets all day long!  Send some good pics my way!

Previous Posts:

NASA's Mobile Launcher:  Up close and personal
Atlas V Launch Prep
NASA's New SwampWorks Grand Opening
Emergency on the ISS:  Doug Wheelock
Ron Garan Describes Re-Entry on the Soyuz
Day to Day Life on the ISS

Technology is Great . . . Even When It's Not

You can let faulty technology frustrate you or amuse you, it's entirely up to you -- and maybe your time schedule.  Try to find the humor in it.  If a laugh a day keeps the doctor away, then we should all be pretty healthy these days.

I was playing with my Google Goggles the other day and got thinking about how much fun technology is.  A friend sent me a picture of something he was served at lunch.  He didn't know what it was and didn't want to ask, so he sneaked a photo and texted it to me.  I certainly didn't know what it was, so I ran it through my Google Goggles.  Goggles cranked up and scanned the photo on my phone like some old timey machine, screeching and honking with the blue vertical line scanning back and forth across the page.

A few slurps of my blended coffee beverage and a few minutes later, Goggles reported that it couldn't identify this luncheon object, but it suggested about 100 photos of things similar.  About 70 of the 100 had similar content and seemed to fit while the other 30 were irrational, some even silly.

So we had a lot of fun with the Goggles that day, my friend and I.  It brought back memories of when voice recognition first came to our mobile devices.  Do you remember your first voice activated text?

I was in Florida visiting a friend I hadn't seen since we were teenagers.  We were cruising down the highway when she began speaking into her phone.  Rapidly.  I almost went off the road as I tried to figure out what she was doing.  I didn't know mobile phones had voice recognition for text messages.  She was sending her son in Iraq a text.

After speaking rapidly, she'd pull the phone away, squint to read what it interpreted for her text, throw her head back and laugh outrageously.

Then she'd read it back to me and I, too, would have a hearty laugh.  We did that for the whole drive. Occasionally, she would approve the text and send it.  To Iraq.  Isn't that amazing?  Instant communication all over the world still awes me.

Ever since then, I've been using voice recognition and it's gotten almost flawless with its interpretation, which is helpful, but takes all the fun out of it.

Then I was remembering when Tom first got his iMac and began using the iPhoto Faces feature which lets you tag photos and then it goes out and tries to find photos of that same person.  It was hilarious to watch the people it would bring together as "the same person."

Elvis, Ronald Reagan and Seinfeld's Soup Nazi for instance.  Sure they look a little similar, but do they really look like my brother Steve? 

Faces sure thought they did.

Faulty technology can cost us time and create frustration, but sometimes it's just plain funny.  And who doesn't need a good belly laugh now and then?

2013 Ultimate Blog Party!

The party has started!

The Ultimate Blog Party 2013.

This is my first time participating in the Blog Party hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom.  This is primarily a way for bloggers to meet and get to know each other and maybe, possibly, win some great prizes.

Let me introduce myself to you fellow bloggers.... I have been blogging since forever and writing since I was born.  I have to write.  Almost every day.  This blog is about anything, but contains a lot of travel advice, and book, movie and music reviews.

I am a mom of three, two of which married in the same year -- 2011 -- which proves I can do anything!  I am a grandma who is called "Pookie" instead of "Grandma."  My first grandchild, Eva, chose that name and it stuck.  Hence, Pookie's Planet.

I work with Broadstreet Consulting, providing content development in the creation of websites for small business.  I oversee the social media marketing department which includes emails, social media accounts and individual blogs.

But mostly? I just ramble on in my personal blog, right here on Pookie's Planet.  Stroll through your favorite categories on my right sidebar.  You can use the search, but it rarely works well.  Someday soon I will re-organize my site to make navigation much easier.  Until then, good luck.

I can't wait to meet new bloggers!  Leave a comment and introduce yourself!

Connect on:
Twitter
LinkedIn

Small Business Employees Need the Power and Ability to Think

"I always saw what others did not see and never saw what others did see." - Salvador Dali

I saw this sign today, a little something Eva put together. 

A hypnotized person.

She looks reasonably happy.

My first thought was to post it on our business facebook page and say "This is the kind of employee we always hope to find."  I-Will-Do-Whatever-You-Say-Master kind of employee.

The more I thought about it, I realized that's exactly NOT the kind of person we want to hire.

We want people who can think.  People who aspire, inquire, conceptualize, design, create and invent.  People who push the envelope and ask "why?" 

I've run across hypnotized employees before and it was never a good experience.  If the clerk can't figure my change without the computer, she's hypnotized and the sale is paralyzed if the power goes out. I leave stupefied and beg not to return.

I saw an employee one time refuse to give a large drink for the price of a medium when he had run out of medium cups.  He repeated this during a busy lunch hour, creating many angry customers who left thirsty or ripped off and probably won't return.  Losing customers over fifty cents? (and we know the markup on fountain drinks to begin with)  That employee is hypnotized.

Besides hiring people who can think, you need managers who foster thinking as well.  If your managers are hypnotized, you're in big trouble.  I'd think about retiring.  You might not have what it takes to run a business in this century.

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Atlas V Rocket Prepares for Launch Tonight

The ULA (@ulalaunch) Atlas V rocket, carrying the TDRS-K satellite, has been rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 in Florida and is ready for this evening's scheduled launch.

I know this because . . .

I am standing here looking at it!

Not many people get this close to the launch pad.

And when it launches tonight,

I'll have to back up a bit.

Or get toasted.

Which might be worth it.

I digress.

NASA, in their ever hip, ever cool way has invited 60 of us to spend two days at the Merritt Island Cape Canaveral Kennedy Space Center area, tour their facilities, hear the latest news from various departments, then watch the launch in person.  This is called a NASA Social (@NASASocial).  In your social media, use the hashtag #NASASocial and #NASASocial #TDRS to find out more.

I've been perplexed lately to hear the public outcry over NASA ending the shuttle program.  To me, it has always been a matter of growth......

Blog Review and Summary

I've been blogging 4 1/2 years, 1431 posts, 90,828 page views. Man, I wish I had said something useful in all that.  I thought you might enjoy some of the stats, maybe devise a trivia game to play around the dining room table tonight or something.

One thing the stats prove:  You guys really, really love my cupcake reviews. (speaking of which, I have one I haven't written yet:  strawberry waffle.  Hint:  I ate the whole thing without sharing)

The all-time most popular:  Dick's Last Resort
The other popular posts are organically listed on my front page.  Not listed, but a favorite among many was Astronaut Ron Garan's description of re-entry.  That one was a lot of fun to write.  Astronaut Doug Wheelock's Emergency on the ISS garnered a lot of attention, as well as that whole series on him.

The only post that elicited controversial comments.....

Compassion Fueled -vs- Anger Fueled

"How will we as a body make a difference in our community by embracing our responsibility to rise up as co-laborers?" ~ @DavidRogers814, @CrossPointeVal

 A Place of Sending   Matt. 9:35-38

Despite waking in sunny Florida, I was having a rough Sunday morning.  A breath-taking, spirit-quenching, anger-filled morning as we found the church and pulled into the parking place.

I slipped on my anger pack with the fifteen-minute IV drip and entered the former grocery store, feeling all eyes turn to me under my cloud of gloom and doom.

• Resisting the urge to throw my shoe across the room.
• Praying for the cloud to evaporate.
• The lights dimmed, my cloud blended in, sweet relief, anger management 101.
• Trying to turn in the anger drip for the compassion drip.
• Not gonna happen.
• Gripping my pen, otherwise I am going to throw it.

Matthew chapter 9 -Jesus did preaching and healing, back and forth, neither one without the other.

Until verse 35.  He pauses and checks to see if the disciples understand.  They have to go out and do this. Take action.  It's the idea of whether you are just participating in religion or actually being used by God.  The number seated in our church should be less than the number sent out.

But in my anger filled cloud, I was distracted by the compassion Jesus demonstrated as he preached and healed. 

"But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were distressed and scattered, as sheep not having a shepherd."

I was moved by anger, not compassion....

Change Starts Now, Blissdom 2012

Blissdom12 has ended.

The pampering is over.

The hard work begins.

Perhaps the Bliss Chicks create the pampering

to ease the difficult message that slips in through the sessions:

 Quality is hard work.

Change is hard work.

Being the Best You is hard work.

Integrity is hard work.

I have a gift.

Not everybody can do what I do.

- the triumphant @jeffgoins

There is an inverse relationship between creating and reacting.

In the 80/20 reality of life, I don't want reacting to be the 80%.

I want to be creating 80%.

Reacting 20%.

- @jeffgoins

“In six words, what does your creative heart look like right now?”

-  the serene Ananda Leeke, @digitalsisterhd

Straightline on a hospital monitor, silent.

- the depleted Me, @vsliker

Sometimes we don't see what our actions will set into motions.

Your dream is big.

Just take some steps into it.

- the magnificent @jonacuff

Blissdom 2012: Jon Acuff, Keynote

"When someone tells you what you can't be, they are predicting a future they don't control."

"We are The I'm...But... generation.

I'm a teacher, but I really want to paint.

I'm a _______, but I really want to be a _______."

"Finding your passion, your dream is not an act of discovery, it's an act of recovery.

• Something you lost.
• Something you got too busy for and set down.
• Something someone criticized you for and you quit."

As usual, the Blissdom Conference Keynote speaker was 100% awesome.  Jon Acuff's enthusiasm, passion, energy and love is contagious.  What a joy to hear this guy speak.  Acuff encourages the 98% female bloggers in the audience to pursue our passion and, most importantly, not to neglect our families while we do it.  Ouch.  Something his young daughter taught him with this note on a napkin she placed over his iPhone after she had been trying to talk to him.

Daddy, Pay Atenshon!

Acuff was young enough to learn that lesson in good time. It also helps that he works on the Dave Ramsey team - can you imagine soaking in all that Dave Ramsey aura day after day?!  *jealous*

I was too smitten with Jon Acuff to take many great notes, but here are some super pointers:

1. Use your time deliberately.  Be selfish at 5:00 a.m. or maybe for you it's 11:00 p.m.  Use time that nobody else is using.  Focus on the things that count. Social media never sleeps. You'll never wipe your hands and say “I'm finished. I finished twitter today.”  My wife has never said “Enough about me. Go tweet something.” 
2. Learn to disappoint the right people.  You're going to disappoint people. "As a people pleaser, that makes me want to throw up."
3. Ignore the external and internal voices. Critics math formula: 1 insult + one thousand compliments = 1 insult.  "My wife said for every one insult I respond to, I first have to respond to 100 compliments."

The meeting concluded in grand Oprah-like style.  With great abandon, Acuff pointed his finger to the crowd on the left, "You get a free book!"  Then he pointed to the right, "You get a free book!"   Arms opened wide:  "Everyone gets a free book!!  Free books for all!!!"  Great applause and laughter at the Oprah impersonation.  And guess what?  Each book was autographed.

Jon Acuff

Author of Stuff Christians Like and Quitters.

Blogger.

Husband.

Dad.

Astronaut Ron Garan Describes Re-Entry on the Soyuz Space Capsule

Others said you'll feel like you're tumbling when you hit the ground.

I thought, "No, I'm pretty sure we ARE tumbling."

- Astronaut Ron Garan

In their ongoing superb use of Social Media, NASA offered another TweetUp at the NASA Headquarters in Washington DC and I was fortunate enough to be invited. Speaking with a crowd of 134 twitter followers, NASA Astronaut Ron Garan (@Astro_Ron) gave this amazing description of his trip home from the ISS aboard the Russian Soyuz:

"There is a big difference between the United States Space Shuttle and the Russian Soyuz.  The shuttle is a massive powerful vehicle you are inside, a very violent ride into space.  The Soyuz, on the other hand, as opposed to riding in it, I felt like I was wearing it.  It's so small, everything is right there, every valve that opens, every pump that turns on -- you feel it.  It is a remarkable spacecraft. 

The launch into space on the Soyuz..... 

Blissdom 2011 Take-Away

My Take-Away from Blissdom 2011

Scott Stratten from UnMarketing

-
And, no, I don't have any photos.  I met him, I listened to him, I quoted him, I learned from him, but still . . . no photos.  Scott on Twitter.  Scott's epithet.  UnMarketing.com.  You can find plenty of photos online somewhere.  Especially some of Scott UnDancing at our Girls Night In.
-

My take-aways from Blissdom2011:

• Be Awesome.  Write Awesome.  Awesome goes viral.  Nobody reads a post where you've said, “I don't have anything to say! But it's thursday, I have to blog!”  People don't spread "meh," they spread "awesome."
• Marketing is not a job, a task or a "to-do" item, everytime you talk to someone, you are marketing.
• Don't over SEO stuff. Don't write stuff that's good for SEO and not good for readers. Nobody says “this article stinks, but the headline is so SEO rich, I'm gonna tweet it.”
• When you ask the world to come, the world will come, including those on day-passes.  Learn to take criticism, how to react (one-to-one, not on twitter), don't use comment moderation to control.  For the day-passers, the complete jerks, use the delete key, for all else, deal with it, respond  reasonably, learn. The more you give your currency to trolls, the less you have to give to people who matter.
• Make it easily mobile.  Have a mobile-enabled site.  The best part?  Scott pronounces mobile "mo-bile."
• Only 1-3% of your readers will comment, don't be discouraged.
• Corporations don't help people, people help people.  People don't care about your business until they know you care about them.  Interact, Engage, Build.
• Twitter should be nearly 75% @ replies.

Blissdom 2012

In exactly one week from today I will be heading to Nashville again for the Blissdom 2012 Blogging Conference.   Last year, at Blissdom 2011, I was on a quest to see Who Put the Bliss in Blissdom.

Was it These Ladies?

Was it The Master himself?
Was it The Awesome Sponsors?
Was it One Enchanted Evening?

Was it the inCourage Prayer Breakfast?

it's an ongoing debate, really,

I've been around a time or two.....

My Office

Self-Employed

earning one's living in one's own business or through freelance work, rather than as the employee of another

working for yourself - out-of-house

My office changes daily:

I know I've been going on and on and on about how much I love my job and fist-pump my job every day.... pardon me just one other tidbit.  I can work from anywhere.  Such as Europe when Marj and I flashpack across Europe..... such as Starbucks in anytown, USA . ... such as.... dare I say it?  The beach.....

Social Media Marketing Success: Take One

In social media marketing and content development, timing is everything. When something happens, it's on twitter and gets around the world within seconds. Your goal is to be breaking or viral -- breaking news or something that spreads like wildfire.... like..... oh....say.....  free donut day at Krispy Kreme.

When I plan my day, I always know it'll change on a dime if I stumble across something breaking (like last year's school shut-down) or something viral (like free donut day).  I have to be able to drop everything and attend to something else. I've learned to be prepared -- carry around pencil, paper, voice recorder ("note to self: pick up bread and milk"), laptop, camera, etc.  Even on my "fun" days (& they are plenty), I'm ready at the drop of a hat.

Like the other day......