DSM plus a pinch of sugar cooked for 10 minutes at 85 degrees makes some DIN

micquelle: hey stranger

Amie: howd you get online? does the corp have a hole in the ole fire wall?

micquelle: oh we don't care about that shiz here

micquelle: i have everything

micquelle: rhapsody, pandora, FB, YIM, trIlion, itunes...

micquelle: however, currently I'm unable to login to the server, can't print to the color machine and have to reboot to fix a license recovery bug in my INDD. Nice.

Amie: huh? that is why you're never on IM?

Amie: i never see you

micquelle: i'm on every day

micquelle: s. and i use it here in the office

micquelle: it auto boots when i turn on my machine

Amie: so why don't i ever see you? that is weird

Amie: you're not on my list

Amie: micquelle

Amie: do you think i'm insane

micquelle: maybe

micquelle: send me another request

Amie: for sanity

Amie: may I have sanity?

Amie: i think i have you added now

Amie: i meant the insane thing for reals

micquelle: oh, well, i don't know. i bought a DSM over the weekend at an estate sale...we can check

Amie: what is a DSM

Amie: is that a time machine

micquelle: yeah. a time machine. and i'm still here? i don't think so.

Amie: i'm hot today

micquelle: It is the bible of diagnosis for the psychiatric profession

micquelle: me, too. i'm never going to make it through summer. i thought i was going to self-imolate yesterday

Amie: self imolate?

Amie: does the DSM have quizzes

micquelle: how about spontaneously combust? kind a the same thing.

micquelle: no quizzes.

micquelle: that's Psychiatry for Dummies.

Amie: okay, i just looked up self immolate

Amie: i can't breath

Amie: i'm laughing

Amie: too hard

Amie: can't type

micquelle: it wasn't really the right phrase, but you get the idea.

micquelle: hey, wanna be on the PR committee for Juvenile Diabetes Foundation?

Amie: sure

Amie: i like sugar

Amie: it's all i've eaten so far today

Amie: apple sauce and OJ

micquelle: really?

Amie: really

micquelle: i'll let them know.

Amie: about my menu for the day, or that i'll be on the club

micquelle: the club

micquelle: board

micquelle: whatever

Accomplish without a plan - Tao of the day

My favorite part of my job is planning. (She said with wicked sarcasm)

Truth. I am good at *parts* of planning. I love the brainstorming. And I often wish, when things pan out, I was chewing on a cigar so I could say "I love it when a plan comes together."

I am NOT good at the planning parts of planning. Meaning the charts and graphs that show project phases, status updates, and time lines. Just tell me what the due date is, and I will deliver (approximately). To me, a big project is an iterative process that evolves constantly, so once it's on paper, it's old. New ideas enter, or the strategy changes, or it turns into something completely different. Do you want to spend your time updating your plan, or executing on the project so you can get to that cigar?

This works alright when you're employed by a small company of agile individuals willing to trust without knowing the exact details of how, or when they will receive something worth chewing a cigar over. (Well, somewhat willing to trust. I can think of a few that didn't much like my modus operandi. You put up with it though. Thanks.)

Well, darn it. Wouldn't you know that now I am on the receiving end of what it was like to work with me? I can't even do the fun stuff of planning, the researching and brainstorming. I'm in the dark. I wish someone would invent a jump drive that I could plug into a cranium portal, either your ear hole or nostril, you pick (ha ha) and download *the vision.*

"Touche!" my mother would say, "the universe is teaching you a lesson."

Well, the plan is due tomorrow. I'm frustrated with the old me, and thinking, what would I have done if I used to work with the old me? At frustrating times like this, I pull out the pocket Tao te Ching and read the first verse I see when I open it. Check it out:

73
The Tao is always at ease.
It overcomes without competing,
answers without speaking a word,
arrives without being summoned,
accomplishes without a plan.

Its net covers the whole universe.
And though its meshes are wide,
it doesn't let a thing slip through.

Whoa! There's the plan! Now all I need to do is slap this thing onto a PowerPoint presentation with some bullets and I'm good to go with my plan for 2010!

2010 Communications Plan
- Win market awareness by focusing our communications on why we help customers vs. just proving how we are different from our competitors
- Use innovative communication methods to convey how we answer to customer needs
- Let our desire to answer customer needs summon our path, don't let industry noise carve our activities
- Communicate our message to the whole universe - cast a wide net
- If everyone knows about us, nothing can slip by us

Phew, i feel so at ease now!

Tree art - part one

I scanned a painting BSJ did of a tree. The original image is in vivid color, but I find it interesting how my inability to use our snappy new scanner/copier at work made a completely different image from the original.

It just goes to show that art does not emerge from a vacuum. Creativity isn't synonymous with unique. Art comes from one's ability to make interesting combinations.

This is reassuring because there is a lot of pressure for humans to be unique in all the world. We must come up with original ideas to identify ourselves, otherwise we won't stand out, or shine.

True creativity is how clever you are at observing and combining everything around you into something interesting.

For this reason, I am trying to get out of my head more often to have a looksie at what's around. You'd be surprised at the amount of material out there for creating fantastic art.

Laugh for today

New Yorker cartoons span the humor landscape. I reckon a psychologist could do a personality assessment of someone just based on their favorite New Yorker cartoons.

For me, some cartoons are just mediocre, some go right over my head, some are just too silly to be funny, and some are just so damn funny the moment I see them I wonder what is wrong with me.

This cartoon by Sam Gross made me laugh so much I don't need to do ab work at the gym today. And I can't really explain why I think it's so funny. I must get the Custom Boxed Cartoon Note Cards from the New Yorker Store.