Writing is to Bleeding as Happiness is to Manchego

"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." - Hemingway

that's all. move along. nothing to see here. oh wait, i lied. just finished The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank. Perhaps one of my favorites ever? Or maybe, just a relevant time to read about a wise woman's struggles at love and work. The narration is both quiet and seductive- almost uncomfortable at times but always well-written. One of my favorite lines: "You see yourself through his eyes, as THE GENERIC WOMAN, the skirted symbol on the ladies' room door." In any event, if you're a twenty or thirty-something lady with career aspirations and a penchant for finding the one you actually didn't believe you wanted to find, then this one's for you. I laughed out loud plenty of times.

At a Loss for Words

For somebody who thrives on finding the best way to articulate ideas, I sometimes can’t even come up with one good thing to say. It’s funny, because success in PR is built on words- written, spoken, implied, words not said. And yet, there are times when I just can’t think of one thing to say. I always know when it’s happening- I almost whimper. There’s a semi-stutter, an audible frustration, and a mini-growl (completely un-lady like). It ultimately ends with “ I don’t know how to articulate this.” It’s not debilitating, show stopping, heart throbbing. It’s muted, but it definitely happens. Writers, full-time speakers, creative brethren, etc. please do tell me how you deal with this. I suppose it’s called a “block.” And so I ask- how do you get those juices flowing again?

even suburbs have moments of greatness

If you know me at all, you know the flutter of comfort that washes over me everytime the train pulls into 30th St. Station in Philadelphia (or when the Chinatown bus pulls into 10th and Arch, or greyhound at Filbert- you get the idea). Today, my dad came to pick me up and asked if I minded if we swung by Wegmans to pick up a few groceries (weird but true: my parents' shopping list nowadays consist solely of yogurt, turkey slices, apple sauce, and pita chips). Wegmans really excites me. Not only for the veritable cornucopia of samples (brie with walnuts, crab dip, and organic marinara all in one supermarket fantasy land? yes please), but also because of the fresh produce, passionate employees, and excessive candy isle. It's a wonderland. It doesn't evoke the same feelings as my old Philadelphia apartment on Pine Street- rather- Wegmans produces feelings of a not-so-tragic suburbia. With Gala apples as perfectly pink-red as this, who needs xanex. For all of those soccer moms stuck in various forms of drug-induced happiness, I imagine that Wegmans provides a substance-free wonderland of perfection. Me? I'm just in it for the samples and the delectable cheese and olive bar.

A Tizzy of A Wednesday for the Hacks and the Flacks

Three things happened today in PR vs. Blogger world. I'm happy to report all three with a little commentary.

1) TechCrunch Calls a Death to the Embargo and says that "PR firms are out of control. Today we are taking a radical step towards fighting the chaos. From this point on we will break every embargo we agree to." Hrrm. Well, okay. I'm not sure why this comes as such a shock, as Arrington and his team are often NOT happy with PR folks and our smarmy practices. That being said, I am all for open and direct communication between PR folks and journalists. TechCrunch, today was very, very clear about how they will proceed and how they'd like to be pitched regarding embargoes (go ahead and send embargoed information, we will break it). The best comment, by far, was made by a PR person who politely asked Arrington how she should be pitching to TC to build a relationship with the writers- to which Arrington replied- Go Away. The link: http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/17/death-to-the-embargo/

2) John Byrne, editor in chief of BusinessWeek.com, posted all of the BusinessWeek Twitter addresses on his blog. In order to support his "Ideas from BusinessWeek readers" engagement tactic, he said that "a good many of us at BusinessWeek have been having great success and fun with Twitter, the hot micro-blogging site that allows users to blog in 140 characters or less." All I've got to say about this one is great, he gets it. Steve Baker gets it too. Heather Green, she gets it. Twitter is a public forum. If a journalist wishes not to engage, then a journalist doesn't have to engage. It's.that.simple.

3) In more hilarious news, a flack challenged a journo to a boxing match. According to Gizmodo, this particular event all started with a blogger asked politely to be removed from an email distribution list because they don't cover the products the firm was pitching. Fair enough. Well no, not fair enough according to the firm's president. Go check out the president's response: http://gizmodo.com/5112457/how-not-to-treat-people-when-pitching-them-stories#c9535804.

So that's it. Those are the big three from today. I've chosen an exciting career, i tell you. Although the endless blogger vs. pr dramz gets tiring, it certainly reinvigorates open discussion about the present and future of the industry i love so much. For now, i'll just keep doing my job the best I know how. And you know what? i'm willing to learn how to do it better.

confession: interesting people invigorate me

So, I was at a party on Saturday evening and while admittedly indulging on perhaps excessive amounts of charles shaw trader joe's finest, i had an epiphany. Interesting people invigorate me. I met this couple who completely impressed me- not just because they are seemingly perfect together (a meshing of the minds and equal passion for day-to-day life) but because they have a talent. THEY ARE UKULELE PLAYERS! And they are funny! So funny, in fact, that they were recently guests on Dave Attell's The Gong. I just want the world to know how great they are. Oddly enough, I suppose that's why I am in public relations. Discovering something/somebody so interesting and tenaciously urging the world to notice- that's the essence of it all. In any event, below, find a sampling of The War Ponies and also visit their site here: http://www.dianaalutto.com/Diana_Alutto/The_War_Ponies.html. All of that being said, i'm pretty sure you'll see them popping up in various media soon enough- if anybody can create mainstream demand for the uke, it's these two:

it's more than a cheesesteak

As I sit here, at The Last Drop, in Philadelphia, a sense of calm sort of reverberates off of me- for this city feels so comfortable to me (like that uber soft tshirt you've had for way too many years). Breakfast at my favorite spot, the pour house, where the the same waiter as last time brings my turkey bacon to the little round table. I walked past both of the philadelphia apartments I lived in- sort of dreamily gazing for a few moments outside of each. The streets all make sense, and I know just how long it will take me to walk across town. This city evokes a sense of calm in me, and I think it always will. Philadelphia is home.