Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Observations on Things Unrelated to Pregnancy

I'm still waiting for any sign of labor, so in between reading non-baby books (just finished "Assassination Vacation" by Sarah Vowell, a great book for history buffs who also love David Sedaris style humor) and staying up on pop culture, I've still managed to have some opinions on the outside world:

Despite not having posted anything to my own Twitter page in weeks (months?), I still get e-mails notifying me that people I have never heard of are now following me. Who are these people? How did they find me? Most importantly, why do they care what I have to "tweet"? There was an article in the Tribune this morning about celebrities having Twitter "feuds" with one another because they post their thoughts before their publicists can filter them. This does not surprise me. Twitter, in my opinion, is all about self-importance, right up the alley of a Spencer Pratt or a Perez Hilton. (At least with a blog, I exercise my writing skills and don't use abbreviations like "r u" instead of "are you.") I started my Twitter page originally so I could stay up on social networking technology while I was trying to find a job. Soon I ran out of things to say so just started sharing interesting news items, but with who? I didn't know 99 percent of my followers, so how do I know what news they want to hear? About two months ago, I signed out and can't remember my password. So be it.

Heidi Klum and Seal had a daughter last Friday. They named her Lou. Not Louise. Not Lucille.

Lou.

I had some success this fall, professionally speaking. I've been doing some volunteer PR work (which I'm trying to train myself to refer to as "pro bono" for when I do start interviewing again) for a local nonprofit, Brickton Art Center. They have a house tour this weekend and next, and I managed to get them into the Tribune's Sunday [lifestyle] section, a brief article and a photo of one of the cooler houses on the tour. I've also got some local papers covering it. I'm told it's the best press they've ever had, especially the Tribune coverage. It's nice for me to have the clippings. Now I just have to figure out how I can start doing this for money and do the work from home a few months from now.

Speaking of being at home, a few weeks ago we got a new mail carrier. She seems like a nice person, but I kind of liked that I knew our last mail carrier, Anita, by name, and as far as mail carriers go, she was good at her job. She put our mail inside the storm door on rainy and snowy days when it wouldn't fit in the mailbox. I felt very "small town" knowing my mail carrier. The other day, I spotted Anita a few blocks from our house and actually gasped, seeing that she was still working in the vicinity. Brian was with me, and he asked, "What?" All I could do was point and say, "That's Anita!" You would have thought I'd caught her at a romantic dinner with one of our married friends, the way I reacted. Just in case you'd thought I no longer had too much time on my hands...now I think I have more time than ever.

1 comment:

  1. Well...what do you know...a fellow pregnant lady has a few observations on your observations!
    1. Lou is my dad's name, although it's Louis. I like the name "Louise," but I too, was baffled by "Lou." Dan and I were trying to think of "family" names to use for the next baby, but, no offense, Lou isn't going to make the cut.
    2. We own that Sarah Vowell book, but I haven't read it yet. Tell me how you like the J Walls book too-I loved The Glass Castle.
    3. One of the only complaints I have about this new place is the fact that we don't have a "regular" mail carrier. Ray, our old carrier, was the best. One day I saw him walking in another part of the neighborhood, and I said, "Ray, you work over here too?" My next thought-"Is there a house for sale on this block?" No such luck. But you're not alone in your fondness for a good mail carrier!
    4. I saw your press in the Trib for the house walk, and I was im"press"ed! It looked great, and the description of the house made it seem very intriguing! I am interested in this event! Good work!

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