Posts filed under 'Coffee break'
I’ve entered the twenty-first century. I now have my very own MySpace page, which I created for the sole purpose of being able to email Tina Fey (who by the way, is my younger sister’s age, proving that I am indeed the oldest person on MySpace without a criminal record).
I don’t plan to blog on MySpace because I like to blog here. But if you want to help me spread the anti 9-to-5 love, you could visit me on MySpace and help me build up my friends list. Then you could rub virtual elbows with some of the authors and indie publishers I know. The addy is http://www.myspace.com/anti9to5guide. See you there!
January 3rd, 2007
Before the holidays, Charlene Prince Birkeland of Crazed Parent tagged me for a virtual cocktail party. In order to play, I’m supposed to reveal five things you probably don’t know about me, so here goes…
1. My first teenage job (other than babysitting) was working as a supermarket checker in New Jersey. That year, the store got this nifty new piece of technology some of you may have heard of — I believe they call it a Price Scanner. Bad news for me because now they could accurately track who was the slowest cashier on staff. You guessed it: moi.
2. About ten years ago, my credit card debt was greater than my annual income. And I’m not talking consumer debt — this was purely cost of living expenses I’d managed to rack up. Granted, I could have been less stubborn and gotten a roommate. Or lived in a studio apartment instead of a one-bedroom. Or gotten a job to supplement my paltry freelance income. But noooooo, I had to do things my own damn impractical way because I was — ahem — An Entrepreneur. Eventually I wised up and moved from San Francisco to Seattle for a lucrative high-tech temp gig. While I hated office life and the commute that came with it, I paid off my Big Scary Debt in just a year (easy to do when you double your income), made some stellar freelance contacts, and met my sweetie.
3. During my years of Sprawling Debt, I took a freelance job ghostwriting some audiotapes for this woman.
4. Although I’ve edited dozens of computer programming books and written piles of marketing copy about all sorts of software products, I am a complete and utter Luddite. In fact, I couldn’t be less interested in “optimizing” my computer or shopping for a new one, even though I desperately need to do both right about now. I would rather make 250 cold calls to potential new customers than figure out what type of computer to get. Seriously.
5. This has nothing to do with work, but… I heart musicals. Like freaking crazy. Oklahoma, My Fair Lady, West Side Story, The King and I, The Wiz, Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell, Fiddler on the Roof, you name it. Last night I went to see the movie version of Dreamgirls and was happier than a little pink piggie in a vat of farm poop. Jennifer Hudson rocked it. Hard. I wept every time she opened her mouth to sing. Eddie Murphy kicked booty too. (Really.) If you love schlock and camp and Beyonce’s sweet butt (and don’t mind a whole lotta watered-down vanilla in your Motown), race to the nearest theater. I’m not promising you a great movie. But if you like this kind of cheese, expect to be wonderfully, mindlessly entertained.
But enough about me. To keep this virtual cocktail party going, I’ve also been charged with tagging five bloggers I’d love to ring in the new year with. So herewith, a handful of women whose careers I suspect I’d never tire of hearing about. Time to dish, ladies…
Also, I’d love to learn five things I don’t know about you, dear reader, seeing that TIME magazine named you Person of the Year. So c’mon and join this lil’ virtual champagne toast. Gimme the links to your own Five Things posts in the comments section below. You know you wanna.
Oh, and happy 2007.
December 30th, 2006
In yesterday’s Washington Post, fashion reporter Robin Givhan wrote that although office attire for women has become more casual and dresses are selling like hotcakes, nothing screams “take me seriously” like a good old-fashioned power suit.
I quote:
Mostly, though, even if the dress is tweed, gray flannel or glen plaid, it doesn’t resonate like a suit, which makes an unequivocal statement of authority. It designates who’s in charge. It says listen to me and obey. It says give me your money and your votes.
A suit can be sexy and feminine, but both characteristics are inexorably linked to its power. A dress can exude confidence. But fundamentally, it’s an expression of femininity.
Givhan is quick to point out that this unspoken dress code doesn’t suit all careers. So if you’re not a senator, lawyer, or the secretary of state you may be off the hook. Since I have always shied away from industries that require I fold any sort of drycleaning or ironing into my weekly routine, it’s hard for me to comment objectively on whether I prefer a power suit to a one-piece frock. (Truth be told, I prefer jeans and pretty T-shirt.)
How about you? In high-power career settings, do you prefer a sexy pantsuit or a sharp skirt-and-jacket ensemble or a smart ‘n sassy dress? What do you prefer to see on your CEO? Your state senator? And do you think “sexy” has any business in the workplace at all?
Discuss amongst yourselves. And happy holidays.
December 23rd, 2006
RIP, pantyhose. BusinessWeek says your sales are sagging, thanks to increasingly casual work environments and the fact that twentysomethings know a fashion dinosaur when they see one.
Try this excerpt on for size:
“The casualization of the workplace, it is not as strict as before,” said Romaine Sargent, vice president and general manager of marketing for hosiery at Hanesbrands. “Women have more options and some are choosing to wear sheer hosiery less.”
According to the company, women ages 25 to 54 wear pantyhose an average of 1.8 times a week, down from 3.5 times a week a decade ago….
As someone who included the line “To me, the devil doesn’t wear Prada — the devil wears pantyhose” in the first 200 words of her book, this news tickles me to no end.
December 11th, 2006
Jessica Simpson’s been slated to star in another abomination of the silver screen, one that’s being hailed as a modern-day “Working Girl.” Just what we need, another dopey pin-up girl tainting the image of hard-working women everywhere. Though, to its credit, 1988’s “Working Girl” does serve as a vehicle for Melanie Griffith to utter this kickass line, which I put at the front of my book:
I’m not gonna spend the rest of my life working my ass off and getting nowhere just because I followed rules that I had nothing to do with setting up.
November 29th, 2006
Since I’m busy reviewing my final page proofs for the book today and yesterday’s post was so agenda-heavy, here’s a little light reading for you: a Mad Libs letter of resignation by humorist Rob Bloom from the online version of Monkeybicycle, a fun lit journal I read periodically.
In case you’re not currently looking to tell your boss where she or he can stick it, Rob has thoughtfully provided other prefab letters (also written in the helpful Mad Libs style) you can use to dump your high-school flame, drop out of school, or ditch your fiance.
(Also, please vote Tuesday. And please help convince others to do so if you have the time.)
November 3rd, 2006
Your company gives you $300 to pimp your cube any way you want. No permission slip required. What would you do? A Simpsons memorabilia museum? An Out of Africa theme? A soothing seascape?
Here’s what the folks at a Fort Worth ad agency came up with. If I worked at this place, I’d probably go for an EMP-inspired rock-memorabilia theme. Or maybe, in honor of Jersey’s same-sex marriage ruling, I’d go with a Garden State rocker theme. (For more Jersey Girl pride, see my homestate sister Judy McGuire.)
It’s worth noting that the cube dwellers given $300 to pimp their pods any way they pleased say they like coming to work more, which I guess makes their management pretty dang schmart.
October 29th, 2006
Just had to share this tidbit from Zap2It.com:
CBS has enlisted Alan Thicke to host the network’s “American Idol meets The Office” reality show “The Singing Office.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “The Singing Office” is based on a popular Dutch format. In each episode, producers choose two companies and force the employees to do vocal auditions. The five best singers from each office are sent to Hollywood for a quick round of styling and training. Then they sing in front of an audience. Then the audience votes. The most gifted office wins a cash prize.
Whee…
This almost makes me wish I was still temping so my short-time cohorts and I could talk about last night’s episode ’round the color copier. Almost.
October 10th, 2006
It’s the weekend, so rather than post some dire stats about how women make roughly 75% of what their male counterparts make as I’d intended (believe me, I have a nice stack of reports and articles I could draw from), I thought I’d post these more entertaining reminders that not all workers are created equal:
1. Batgirl vs. the wage gap - A charming little YouTube vid. (”Holy act of Congress, Batman!”)
2. “A Career in Business Isn’t for Every Gender” - The Onion’s hilarious take on the glass ceiling. Almost knocks the Forbes “Don’t Marry Career Woman” piece down to size. Almost.
Thanks to Salon.com’s Broadsheet for clueing me in to both. More dire stats to come in a future post. Feel free to share any you come across too via email or comments.
September 30th, 2006
OK, this is so high school/MySpace/dorktastic of me, but I couldn’t resist posting this vid, an homage to all the tech developers and project managers in my life.
White and Nerdy
Got the tip off from Mike Ryan, who says, “Okay, normally I’m not a huge fan of Weird Al Yankovic, but this is frikkin’ brilliant. And the video is hilarious. Bonus points for having Donny Osmond and Seth Green in it, too.”
Hear, hear! Plus, I heart the mayo shot.
September 28th, 2006
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