It’s a great primer for those just starting in the discipline and reminder for the rest of us to act not just as problem solvers but also change agents.

Crower
(noun, verb)
To cry in your shower because you live in a crowded metropolis and don’t want your roommates/neighbors to hear you. Often after tough meeting, or Oprah.

Ex: Deena had watched “The Notebook” with her roommates before, but it had been a brutal day at work and she needed to crower before dinner.

In case you still don’t understand or need some crower assistance…

As Noah said (and the copy above suggests), it’s pretty simple. Be able to get in (for free), afford drinks, and find an open cab at the end of the night in New York City. It’s the New Year’s Eve-Eve Party without promoters’ names on the top of post-sized cards in Helvetica font…much to the dismay of Eric. I’ll be there, and so will these two clowns.

I was just alerted to Clay’s latest post via Twitter. He sets expectations upfront that it’s introspective, focused on the job of a strategist in the world of communications, and a bit long. I will do the same. This is my initial reaction, also focused on the role of an account planner (another term for strategist), and I have no idea how long it’s going to be.

As I started reading, I found his honesty refreshing and many of themes he touches on relatable—at least to another 27-year-old in the advertising industry. Though I’d imagine much of what he’s offered will be less than foreign to older strategists and anyone looking for professional satisfaction. Anyway, somewhere around his third paragraph, I realized I was going to comment—most likely, “good stuff, brother.” But then when he started tackling his second question—Can strategy be fulfilling?—I started taking notes. (Yes, buddy freehand first – just like your pops taught you.)

I was compelled to write…

You may be surprised (if you haven’t been already) how many people don’t know what to do next, what to do now. Yes, that goes for job searching. However, I’m going talk about marketers. They just aren’t sure what to do for their “brand.” (This is the last time I use the “b” word in this post.) They don’t know what to do say about their companies, its products and/or services. They don’t know how they should be saying it or where. Often, they don’t have know who they should be talking with. A few steps back, they don’t have a clear sense why they want to “communicate” in the first place.

We are problem solvers. And sometimes the most important work we do is helping people (our clients) define the real problem they want to address.

We are storytellers with discipline. And though we don’t create the ads, we can blend strategy and creativity in weaving together a story that’s rooted in a deep understanding of people (our client’s current and/or potential customers) and how we can actually offer value to them.

We, as Denzil Meyers put it, help people find the best way to move forward.

Without us there would be less differentiation, interestingness, and effectiveness. There would probably be less respect for the people many of our clients and co-workers still call “consumers” as if they are waiting around ready to hear about the company’s latest and greatest. Even if now they’re not only sitting on their couches in front of a TV but also at their desks in front of computers, online.

They still need someone to explain the social aspect of communications. Because many have only been broadcasting out for their entire lives as marketers. That worked. It’s all they had to do. They understand the two-way nature of conversations in theory but not necessarily how to practice it. With regards to the respect you brought up and I just mentioned, they are respectful individuals but don’t always practice respectful communications. This respect has to manifest itself online as well as in communications meant for traditional media.

Take the recent Motrin headache. (Yeah, I know hundredth person to go there.) Do you think it matters that it was an online video rather than a TV commercial? Hells no. It’s a piece of communications that showed a lack of understanding of the people they wanted to talk to—moms. To be fair, it’s possible they we’re looking to talk with, or engage, these moms in dialogue. But I’m quite sure this is not the “we get you” takeaway they were hoping for. In short, some moms found the ad to be disrespectful. Yet now they have a community that’s bigger than their yoga class, brunch group, or (insert modern mommy stereotype here), more easily connected, and has a stage to respond. (They weren’t going to buy a TV spot in the past and a strongly worded letter probably would not have made the splash a group of bloggers and Tweeters and YouTubers did.)

Marketers need to understand the expectations of their companies, not just for speed of apology. I feel like it’s more important than ever that they have someone helping them dig down to their essence, truly get to know the people they want to sell to and support, find their voice, and keep them honest while not losing their specialness in communicating with others.

As strategists/planners, this is our job. And while I don’t find it fulfilling every day, on the whole, it’s pretty damn sweet.

Ironically (?) not having written anything on planning in a while has had me feeling less fulfilled. So thank you for putting something out there that made me think and type out more than a half-assed comment.

Also, just so you know, I already consider you a “thinker-doer.” In fact, I have that as a label in G-Mail for convos I have with you, Mike (who you shout-out), Noah, Eric, Chet, Johanna, Amit, Kevin, Leland, Adrian, Paul, and a few others. No joke. I agree I will only be adding more planners and ex-planners to that folder.

And one more thing…Brands! Ah, that felt good.

While the examples are certainly focused on politically-motivated people, I think the same is pretty much true for most organizations. It’s hard to be nimble. It’s scary to launch and learn. It takes a lot of constant monitoring and hands on responding.

This week has been a solid one for Obama Baton. Just over two weeks since the original idea was had, we’re building momentum and an audience of supporters, many of whom are following on Twitter and joined our Facebook groups for New York and Chicago. We’ve also received some really nice shout-outs.

Yet, when it comes to the spreading of an idea, we can’t even compare to “That One”. Within a day of the second Presidential debate—when McCain referred to Senator Obama using the term in quotes—this site was live and selling “That One” gear. They recognized the meme immediately when they heard it, and now their Facebook page already has over 21,000 fans.

My final example (not to be confused with the final countdown – via @lilmissjen) of a person compelled to create by Barack has got to be Mike Cuffe with The Obama Experiment – via @darrylohrt. And though it may have taken longer than the above creations from idea to execution, he has promoted his work with a video of art speed painting.

Lastly, I want to wish good luck to Kevin, who will be running the Chicago Marathon this Sunday with Obama Baton. Thanks everyone for your support. Please continue to pass it on.

To the point. In the now half-year I’ve been working at W+K NY, I’ve met some amazing people (cue violins) and some of those people have blogs. Sure, amazing people does not always mean amazing blogs, but these two are top-notch on and off line. Thus, I’d highly recommend anyone interested in the Internet/Digital Life/Social Media check out:

The Gist of March: Greg March is media guru here with an uncommon understanding of the digital space. I use “uncommon” purposefully as he recently offered some insight into McCain and Obama’s friend situations on Facebook and Myspace. One of my favorite posts of his has to be What Wu-Tang Taught Me About Social Marketing.

Geeky is a way of life: Melissa Sconyers is a search guru here and digital native, passionate and expert. I, of course, have to give her some love for her term-coining abilities based on her Befoogled post (Befoogled = “Not having time to Google somebody before you meet them in real life.”) I was hooked from the first post that I ever read of hers about the work-life balance giving way to the work-life blend (cite: Adrian Ho).

So they’re both worth reading and meeting.

P.S. I am now realizing there’s very little chance that “Wieden” is a double entendre given it’s not a verb in the English dictionary. Racecar. That’s better. Palindromes usually do the trick.

P.P.S. Given I hit up the Tumblr party last night I thought I’d also give a shout-out to three things friends put me onto this morning. I “reblogged” cool things from Chet, Katie and Amit this morning.

Wow. That’s just about the cheesiest way to start off a post whose purpose is to link you to one of the most inspiring reads I’ve had in a while.

My friend, Leland Maschmeyer, now the Director of Strategy at COLLINS: (soon to be Director of Concept Design and Storytelling, I believe, as it is a more appropriate description of his job there) has recently posted “On Life Support: A Transformation Design Speech”.

Let me start off by saying, it is fantastic. And not in a “Man, that Leland is a smart dude…I got through 66% of that post and understood 39% of it and of that 39% approximately 90% was f-ing brilliant” sort of way. I read the whole thing, comprehended all of it (I think) and found it very compelling. And I’ve been trying since our breakfast yesterday morning to figure out a way to expand on his thoughts. But just as Lee feared he’d never post his speech if he waited for every element, I fear I’ll never pass on this link if I take time to build on it.

His observations/examples range from JFK to DJ Dangermouse, from Sao Paolo to Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, from Target to BP to tell the story of transformation design. Which he defines as “the process of developing a system of activity that enables organizations to support or create in individuals the positive change he or she desires.” Because as he posits:

The companies that will thrive…will not be those with a great sales pitch. It will be those with a great support system.

He started out just wanting to make better marketing. But the opportunity seems quite a bit bigger (like changing the world bigger).

Enjoy reading the speech here.

via katie

Brands have grown up using content to communicate.
But do we really need more content? Or are we tense enough as it is?
Perhaps there are other things brands could do, rather than adding to the ever-expanding infinity, to be entertaining or useful. To earn some attention.
Someone has to help alleviate all this tension.
Could the future of brands be in collation, curation, aggregation, dissemination, navigation, catalysation (insert other words that end in -ation of your choice here) – rather than traditional creation?

-faris articulating (or more appropriately, his articulATION of) something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately

via greg

via the silly entertaining Too Much Rod Benson.

via a posting on fire Kevin Rothermel (working link to t-shirt)

via new favorite Kevin Driscoll, though the “Tay Zonday On a Ronald Jenkees Beat” post title was a cruel tease.

This World of Warcraft dancing video has been around for a while, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it. Thanks to Nien for passing along.

This trailer for The Foot Fist Way from Matt has now put this movie on my radar, especially since I’ve yet to see friend-favorite, Kung Pow: Enter the Fist.

And while the Design and the Elastic Mind exhibit keeps getting press, craplinks reminds us not to forget the MoMA’s permanent collection.

Last night I hit up the pre-PSFK-conference drinks thought-up by Noah and Faris. I got to meet F-bomb for the first time (which was a treat), shoot the shit with Jason (which was a treat), chill with some other acquainfriences (I know I’m off my term-coining game) living here, and meet a handful of others. And lots of those introductions and friendships were made and over the past year and a half or so have been developed because of this site right here.

So it’s fair to say, last night I got a reminder that this blog is still a great catalyst for meaningful interactions. For me, the snippets of interestingness may happen over on Tumblr (for now), but the most interesting conversations are still happening in person and good, old-fashion blogging still works wonders for making those connections. Maybe it’s that the blog (unlike Tumblr) allows comments—even if not used, it says I’m open to hearing what you think. Or maybe it’s that bloggers share a mutual respect for the process (the ups and downs, freedom and captivity) that we all go through when writing a post, deciding to post…even deciding to keep posting somewhat regularly. I, for one, don’t necessarily apply “are you just creating more noise?” filter to my Tumbles (or Tweets) like I do here. (Sure, that’s debatable.) And though it may sound weird, I like that this platform is not as easy as it could be and not as conducive to my on-the-move lifestyle. That becomes the proof that I’m committed to it.

Wow, that last part felt like I was on a “Does Blogging Matter?” panel. Jealous that-I’m-not-over-at-the-conference much! Let’s go New York.

An Orphanage in Haiti

If you’re anything like me you’re bored of hearing pleas for help. Well, I’m sorry to say that herein lies one.

In this case it’s something much closer to home. Quite literally actually. The house my mother was raised in, in Port-au-Prince Haiti, has been converted into an orphanage called Enfant Haïtien Mon Frère. My 81 year old grand-uncle has run the entire operation for the past 40 years and helps place kids with families — either safely at home in Haiti or somewhere else abroad.

But here’s the thing. These kids have come from the worst situations imaginable. Some come from extreme poverty, others have fatal diseases like HIV, and others are literally found abandoned in the streets. As you would suspect, Haiti is no home for kids in need.

My brothers, my dad, and I are all going to Haiti in early April. Partly to visit family and the country. And partly to bring some form of help to the orphanage.

So that’s what this is: a simple ask to donate money or stuff to this little Haitian orphanage.

The truth is that money is only one way to help. And often times it’s a tricky thing to ask for. So if there’s anything you can donate (ie, clothes, toiletries, toys, etc.) please do so. Just contact me, keeping in mind that I literally will be delivering things by hand. (My office actually has donated some computers, so that’s cool.)

Please feel free to pass this along. Thanks for even considering this and sorry to bombard email.
Alain

How to send money electronically?
PayPal is the safest and easiest way to send money.
Send whatever you can to alain@sylvain.com.

He lists some other things to send (i.e. children books in French) and his address, but I figured I’d keep that private. If that type of donation appeals to you, leave a comment or shoot him an e-mail. Thanks all.

In July of 2006, Jen decided to run a marathon in memory of her friend, Steven Bouvier (Bouv), who was lost to lymphoma in 2005 at the age of 29. She had never run more than “maybe three miles…with walk breaks,” let alone a marathon. But on January 14, 2007, she ran her first marathon and raised OVER $10,000 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with Team In Training to help fight against blood cancers.

She didn’t stop there. In June 2007, she ran her second marathon in San Diego, mentoring others and helping in their fundraising efforts. And Jen is now training for her third marathon…in Paris! Oui, it’s true. She once again has ambitious goals: 1. to raise $20,000 and 2. to cut 20 minutes off her time. If anyone can do it, Jen can—and that’s why I had to ask her a few questions.

But before I get into that, I urge you to take a look at her running blog, which gives an inside (and fun) look at her past and present training/fund raising, and if you feel compelled, DONATE.

(Note: Rather than “bold” the questions, I used it to highlight some points that I found particularly interesting/insightful. Let me know if you’re not feeling that move. And also, since this is my first time doing one of these blog interviews you may find the questions random or lame or something else not good. Feel free to leave a constructive criticism in the comments as well. It’s a learning process, and thanks Jen for bearing with me!) Okay, now here we go.

—What was your first step (no pun intended) in transforming idea into action?
I guess the first thing for me was research (as boring as that sounds). I got the itch to “do something good”, and I knew I wanted to do something for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, because my friend died as a result of Hodgkin’s. So for me, it ended up being really easy because as soon as I searched the LLS + charity events, I learned about Team in Training. I signed up for an info session intending to participate in a bike ride, and by the end of the session I found myself signing up for a marathon. I remember my friend asking “Aren’t you even going to think about it?” and I answered “If I think about it, I’m going to talk myself out of it” and passed in my paperwork. Thus the running & fundraising madness began.

—Where is your favorite place to run in NYC?
The upper loop of central park in the evening.

—What is the most surprising thing that happened since you’ve been running for a cause?
I think the overwhelming support of both people I know and complete strangers. I would say am not an overly or overtly emotional person, but I would often find myself misty-eyed over a lot of the emails I would get back from people.

Also the impact of a lot of people doing a little – of the $10,000 or so I raised, there were no donations over $200. That was really special to me – how many people had taken the time and effort to be involved.

Finally, that I’m now running my third marathon. I used to hate running and now, well, it still doesn’t come easy, but its something I really enjoy. Oops, that’s three things, isn’t it.

—Totally fine. What’s the song that keeps you going (during running and/or off)?
Sunday Bloody Sunday. It makes me think of bigger things than how much my feet/legs hurt.

—How do you find the time to train, fund raise, do it all?
Honestly, sometimes I’m not sure. I think you have to make the time for things that mean a lot to you, especially living in NYC where there’s always a million things to do. I try to do my solo runs in the morning because that’s really the only way that I can truly assure they get done. Fundraising and blogging happens after hours since I’m a bit of a night owl. I actually do a lot of the thinking about what’s going to be in my emails and other ideas while I’m running. I probably pay the biggest price in sleep.

—How did you decide on this years fund raising goal? Last year’s?
Last year I initially was only going for five. After my first letter I think I raised almost $3,000 and I decided, what the hell, I’ve got 6 more months, let’s go for double digits. As far as this year, I kind of just pulled it out of the air. I probably would have been more prudent sticking with the same or maybe going for $15,000, but I don’t feel like I have anything to lose by aiming high (except for maybe a little blow to my ego). This year is going to be more challenging because people know that I can actually run a marathon so I think that effects the fundraising. But, I’m planning on some other things – more outreach to my hometown local organizations, a few events, and a more organized E-bay bum auction.

—What is the key to maintaining momentum?
Setting up a plan/calendar for whatever you’re doing helps immensely. I send updates roughly every 3-4 weeks or around training and fundraising milestones like big races. If you give yourself little deadlines, it makes it less likely that you’ll find yourself waiting until the last minute.

Also, I really really try to keep my blog enjoyable/fun to read, and not completely focused on “give me your money!” (although that is of course is the end goal). Most of the people I’m writing to are probably never going to run a marathon or similar so I really try to write about things that are inspiring, exciting, frustrating – a genuine account of my experience doing this. Then I hope that people find the stories interesting. I think when that happens, people are more than happy to contribute.

—What do you credit most for your success?
There’s a lot of little things – a self-depreciating sense of humor, a broad email list full of good people, a great charity all have something to do with it. But I’d give the most credit to doing something I’m very passionate about and really believe in. Even though all this began because of something of very sad and painful, the “ripple effect” of good things and how many people have been touched as a result…all the people donating, and reading the blog, helping other people fund raise, makes me very proud. Being the catalyst for all that was something I could personally could do to (for lack of a better term) honor our friendship and helped me deal with Bouv’s death in the best possible way I could.

And where ever he is, I’m sure he gets a good laugh at the sight of me out running every Saturday morning. I usually do.

—Can’t follow that up with anything except, thanks so much Jen!

Probably the first thing I learned was that it was “unrealistic” to use “dreams” as a strict theme for this blog. (Here is my first post. Note my first 4 had that word in the title.) More importantly, I realized I didn’t really want to limit myself that early. At the beginning, I was using this blog as an experiment, as a way to better understand the space (sphere). Learning is still the primary goal but it has now taken different forms, which I’ll touch on later in this post.

The second (in time and second biggest) thing I learned was regardless of theme, it is hard to sustain momentum in posting. At three months I briefly joined the 45% of people that give up on their blog after the initial honeymoon period. See. I think it’s safe to say I burned myself out; I had 27 posts in my first month. That was cut in half in the second month, and by month three I was down to 1 post. April was a complete drought, and then I picked back up in May and June (even changed the color of the site) only to stop blogging for about eight months until March of 2007. (So I guess this post should really be titled, “Having a Blog for Two Years.”) Anyway, since then I’ve been pretty consistent on a month-to-month basis.

I got my start contributing to the blogosphere at Fallon’s Planning Blog. Specifically, I found my niche in that team was presenting links to the videos, articles, and sites that were being passed around my young “professional” group of friends. The Inbox of Immaturity was meant to give people a quick look into the taste level of twenty-something guys and if not that deep, a quick break from work and the heady posts of others in the plannersphere. Posting almost weekly for the IOI helped me get into a rhythm and develop my voice.

It also inspired the renaming of my blog. No, it wasn’t always called El Gaffney. Likely only my parents and a few friends remember the days of Salvador Walleye. My Vonnegut obsession at the time, and the fact that I lived in Minnesota led me there. Man, did I think I was clever! (The renaming post should clarify.)

At this point, I must thank Aki (AKI SYSTEMS 2600) for starting that blog and opening up this world to me as well as being my most helpful teacher of everything Web 2.0. I also must thank Michael for deciding to interview me back then and showing me the potential of blogging for sharing ideas and making friendships.

Honestly when I look back over these couple of years, those have been the two greatest roles my blog has played:

1. A gateway to (trying) new technologies (for ex: twitter, del.icio.us, slideshare)
2. A gateway to (making) new friends (for ex: clay, whom I met in person last week – and confirmed is just as awesome as expected)

I had no idea what a catalyst this blog would become. Blogging has helped me stay interested (and perhaps become more interesting) and get involved in the conversations happening in the advertising industry mostly. And I am proud to have inspired other friends to create blogs.

What excited me most is I realize that I’ve only scratched the surface of what this blog can be and do. I look forward to more experimentation, learning, entertainment, inspiration (both being inspired and hopefully inspiring), and action. So it goes…with a plethora of pinatas!

(Picture from B-Mel on Flickr)

Looking for payday loan?

Yes, I’m a huge wimp – but I also answered honestly and would have a problem picking one of the kids up and using him as a weapon!

So anyway, take the survey and let me know how much more of a bad-ass you are than me. (Or is it “than I”? – Please answer this as well.)

Sticking with the fighting/competing theme… Many of you probably saw this a while back (I actually posted it in an IOI back at Fallon), but since American Gladiators is topical it has made a comeback amongst my buddies. Yes, Malibu is truly amazing – though not as pretty as Titan.

Another not so pretty thing comes from the college sports world. The video actually has a setup card before showing the clip, so I’ll just send you to the Texas Tech “Bell Ringer”.

And lastly, (I guess this one also follows the story’s progression) a link that I frankly don’t find funny at all. I do find it pretty disgusting and putting the Advisory Nasty stamp on it (which will probably make more of you watch than act as a deterrent) But I’m just here to report, and sometimes what you’re sent is this. (I have no idea what it’s for, if anything.)

No, I have not turned into Beeker from the Muppets. A meme is “a cultural unit (an idea or value or pattern of behavior) that is passed from one person to another by non-genetic means (as by imitation). For all I know this tagging experiment may be over by now, and now I’m the guy who is trying to restart a wave after it ran its course a few times. But either way, the question to be answered was do you respect the Mediasnacker (one who consumes content in bit-size pieces) when you blog? Here is the video:

And now for my answer, it depends how much time I have to write. As Winston Churchill said: I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead. For this post I had Thanksgiving weekend. Bye.

Oh, Eric, Mike, Avin, and Misha – you’re it.

Since his passing and my subsequent vacation to Burbank to properly mourn the man, I finally feel compelled – nay, inspired – to pay homage to a great man. A man’s man at that. One who was just as comfortable slapping you across the mouth for your insolence in trying to tear down the biz as he was in a velvet blazer and full turtleneck. I would go so far as to liken him to a real life James Bond without the license to kill. Although, if he were ever palling around with Neil Diamond, he may have been party to some ‘killing drifters for erection’ escapades. Lets look closer at comparison. They both drove cool cars (Aston Martin – Alpha Romeo), they both enjoyed martinis (Diablo – Shaken/not Stirred) and they both had the swagger of a modern day Greek god. Panties dropped at the mere whisper of their name. The only difference is that Mr. Goulet is a living, breathing, frieking Legend.

What makes Goulet so much better than his contemporaries you ask? I’ll tell you. He had the great sense to poke fun at his larger than life voice and persona (probably stemming from his French-Canadian ancestry) starting in the mid 90s with commercials for the worldwide leader (ESPN for you sporting neophytes). It was this ability, not shared by other musical luminaries like the Chairman (Can you say Duets?) and Englerbert Humperdink, that enabled him to stay relevant to his dying day. He continued to stay on our minds through a series of skits on SNL and a wicked interview on Conan O’Brien by the comic stylings of Will Ferrell. Whether he was belting out hit rap songs or providing you with awesome ring tones, Goulet was staying modern. And, most recently he starred in a Super Bowl commercial the likes of which the world has never known. Mr. Goulet’s foray into the nut business this past year will haunt me to my dying day. I will always be cognizant of the spectre of the post lunch food-coma bandit.

Will there be anyone else who can capture the essence of Goulet? In doing so, they would become a marvel for all mankind. My heart hopes so, but my brain says no. The current crop of stars just doesn’t have it. Justin Timberlake is too pretty. He probably waxes his legs. Eddie Vedder is too dirty. The list is as long as Goulet’s resume, and each and every person remains flawed. For those of you out there who dare to mention that devilish, dancing, supernova that is Wayne Newton, heed my warning. He couldn’t carry Goulet’s jockstrap in a suitcase.

What I’m really trying to say is that Mr. Robert Goulet kept himself relevant by constantly reinventing himself and for this, he captured the hearts and minds of the world, not to mention my own.

Single Tear.

Jake Conte
Unabashed Goulet Enthusiast

My favorite happened to come from John Dodds, another planner I have been inspired by. It was: “The Unwell – people going online, erroneously diagnosing themselves with worst case scenarios on the basis of symptoms and no knowledge.” So true. I submitted three and was talking with a few friends on Saturday night about them, and we all seemed to have a different opinion about which we liked most/least. It got a little heated with the Sake bombs flowing, so I thought I’d put it up to vote. (Plus, I like using Vizu polls as some of you know from the Flu Shot one I created – which probably supports The Unwell.)

Here are the descriptions:
Playground Papa’s – think the prom king from little children (movie) or joe from brothers and sisters (tv). Men who embrace being the primary caretaker and man of the house-hold chores but also make sure they stay manly. (This does not require any infidelity though the ex’s suggest it.) Also known as the triple P’s (add Progressive) and/or Soccer Dads.

Diversuburbanites – You won’t find diversity in major cities anymore, you’ll have to go out to the surrounding suburbs. And that’s what many recent grads and young families are going to do to have a more rich and multi-cultural life.

Thru-breds – People who grew up IMing, texting, blogging, etc. but now fail to use proper grammatical English in the traditional world. This slang/shorthand is not just used in emails but also infiltrates presentations, legal documents, and love letters.

I don’t know how much crossover there is between our blogs. But I’m assuming that only a handful of people that come here daily also read him regularly. Even if he’s got me totally covered, you may have not read his contest in time or you may not have had the time to consider or you may have felt you had to say something intelligent in his comment box. Rest assured—and I’m sure most of you know—you don’t have to feel that sort of pressure here. (I’m a couple days away from posting my next Inbox of Immaturity, which amongst other things will have an officer’s awkward pat down of a suspicious character on the street.)

So, if you have some microtrends to add to the mix, I’d love to hear them.

25. Don’t eat Chilean Sea Bass. Here’s a list of the best and worst fish to eat for the environment (and your health).
24. Use coasters made of sandstone, and other absorbent materials so you don’t have to wipe down tables. You’ll save lots of paper.
23. Go to the local farmers’ market. The produce is better and they don’t use fertilizers or pesticides which suck up more than 30% of the energy used to make food.
22. Move to Eugene, Oregon. Hydroelectric and wind power contribute over 85% of Eugene’s power, the city has biodiesel and hybrid fleets, and a really concerted effort and evaluation of all city activities for environmental impact.
21. Get one organic pair of jeans. The chemical process used to create soft, stonewashed jeans contaminates the water in Central Mexico (where more than 700 clothing manufacturers sell jeans to the U.S.).
20. Use ECOTAINERS. If your company or workplace has a kitchen and stocks it with paper cups, check and see how eco-friendly they are. There are cups called ECOTAINERS that are bought in bulk by companies and that are 100% compostable and biodegradable.
19. Seek out bamboo. For furniture, sheets, whatever. It’s a super eco-friendly material, the grass is renewable and very kind to the earth.
18. Buy a digital red bulb thermometer. Avoid the silver mercury bulb ones as mercury is a debilitating nerve toxin for your body and the environment.
17. Offset carbon emissions with Terrapass. It does a lot of other great things too, like funding clean weddings, car stuff, etc.
16. Search with Blackle. Powered by Google, it saves energy with a black screen.
15. Turn your receipts over and use the blank backs for notes. Then recycle.
14. Swap one product this week for a better earth-friendly product. Swap a
toothpaste, dish-washing detergent, or snack (organic licorice weirdly good).
13. Dust the little vents in your a/c, and you’ll save energy and money.
12. Turn your cell phone off when you’re not using it (especially when you go to sleep at night).
11. Try an activity/sport that puts you smack in the dab of mother nature.
10. Plant a tree in someone’s memory.
9. Don’t over-consume. Throwing away 2 aluminum cans wastes more energy than 1,000,000,000 of the world’s poorest people use a day.
8. Recycle more than cans and paper. Recycle your computer/laptop by giving it to charity, instead of throwing it away. The National Cristina Foundation will hook up your old PC or Mac with a nonprofit organization. You can also drop off your old cell phone at your local Staples store as part of a Sierra Club recycling effort.
7. Say bye-bye to junk mail here and save our forests.
6. Pat yourself on the back this week for being a part of this email (or reading this far down the list in this case) and doing your bits to make our world better.
5. When ordering take-out or getting food delivered, request no napkins or plastic utensils, unless you really need them.
4. When traveling, turn off your a/c when you check out of your hotel room.
3. Send potted flowers. Cut flowers dispose quickly. A greener option is to send potted flowers because they last longer, improve indoor air quality and can be self-watering.
2. Eat one less meat meal this week. Animal farming consumes tons of energy and water, is a growing source of pollution and leads to land degradation. Eat some sushi or a veggie burger.
1. Use a front loading washing machine when doing laundry. It uses way less water than a top load.

Even if you only incorporate 5 of these 25 suggestions into your life, you are starting to make environmentally-friendly changes/choices. Little things matter, especially when large amounts of people do them. Pass it on. Thanks Kim.

Sharon is a friend I made in Israel (born and raised and now in the army there) when I went for Birthright trip. She’s one of those people I always admire/am slightly jealous of that has an amazing and magnetic energy around them; that you gravitate toward. So it’s wonderful that I’ve been able to stay in touch with her and other friends I made that trip through the Internet and Facebook, in particular, whose application enabled this thoughtful surprise.

Anyway, there’s my sensitive side after some immaturity and hip hop posting. Happy Jewish New Year to all.