"I See A Blackberry in Someone's Future..."

The title of this blog flows from the perhaps prophetic words of my friend Trisha to an earlier post I made about wanting a Bluetooth. She noted I might soon make the technological leap to a Blackberry as well. I've always been quite content with my current paper system but... I'm having twitches of interest toward the little black boxes.

I was in my satellite office yesterday (Panera, Wendover Avenue) meeting with a new client. Fantastic woman full of ideas and energy. She's also high tech, as evidenced by her work and the high-powered laptop she pulled out when we needed to review some web sites. As the meeting drew to a close, I pulled out my beloved "month-at-a-glance" paper calender and for the first time ever, felt slightly foolish.

But why? Isn't it more important that a system works versus what it looks like? I've never missed a deadline or appointment and I like being able to see my month laid out. It helps when scheduling appointments. I know if I'm already driving into Greensboro 3 days a week that even if I h ave a Thursday open for appointments, the last thing I'm going to want to do is to make another drive, and so I know to schedule on a day I'm already in town or for the following week. Can a month or week at a time be viewed on a Blackberry?

I also fear turning into one of those people who have the compulsive need to glance at their Blackberry every five minutes. I find it rude to the nth degree. Either have a conversation with me or don't, but if you are, put the damn box down and focus.  The constant glance under the table where you're holding your Blackberry isn't fooling anyone...

Maybe I'll just cave all at once and get a Bluetooth, Blackberry, and MySpace page.  Then I can hang out with the cool people... as long as it's on a day when I'm already scheduled to come into Greensboro.

Sitting Shiva

A Jewish woman friend of mine lost her father this week and as is the Jewish tradition, is sitting Shiva. I admit to knowing very little about the Jewish faith, so I did some quick reading on sitting Shiva before friends and I visited the woman at her home.

Essentially, shiva is the 7-day mourning period that begins following the funeral of the loved one who died. As is tradition, my friend had all the mirrors in her home covered. I read this used to be done to prevent the spirit of the departed from becoming trapped in the mirror, but now is done more to encourage inner reflection.

From what little I know about sitting shiva, I really like it as a tradition. People coming to visit are encouraged to bring food, as the person sitting shiva doesn't leave the house for the 7-day period. The focus is entirely on the person in mourning. You walk into the house instead of ringing the doorbell, and you encourage the person to talk about their memories of the deceased.  The person sitting shiva is not to "play host/hostess" or worry about assuring visitors that they'll be fine, etc. Again, all the attention is on allowing the person to just sit and be with their mourning and honor their sense of loss for the week.

My friend told us that after the 7-day period is complete, there is a 30-day period where she'll reenter normal life, but she wouldn't go to, say, a party or wedding or anything like that. Then--and this is the part I really like--a community prayer is recited daily for the deceased for the next year. A minyon of at least 10 people is required to recite the prayer.

I find all of this to be very healthy and healing and so very different from what seems to be the standard response to death in our country which is "take 3 days off work for the funeral and paperwork, then come back, hide your emotions and suck it up and do what needs to be done to move through your job and life." And God help you if you're still mourning after 6 months because then you're probably "in denial" and "unable to let go of the past." I think there's something to be gained from honoring an extended time of mourning.

It's been an educational and thought-provoking experience this week.

Get Published! - June Workshop

I'm teaching a June 30th Workshop, "Get Published! The Ins & Outs of Writing For Magazines."  If you know of anyone in the Greensboro area who seeks to have the satisfaction of seeing their name in print, please feel free to forward this flyer to them or have them call me for questions.

I've taught this workshop for several years now and it's my favorite. People typically have a ton of questions, I load them up with information and examples, and it's just a very satisfying class.

I just sent the flyer around to friends and groups last week and already have 9 people signed up. I cap the class at 15, so if you're interested, sign up now!!

The Magical Mail Bin

Our system for sorting mail is that I bring the mail in--immediately tearing open anything that looks like it may contain a check--then toss the rest into a medium-sized basket that sits on our hallway table.  Blair flips through the basket when he gets home--immediately tearing open anything that looks like it may have to do with building a log cabin--letting the rest sit.

Our intention is always to "handle" the rest of the mail later that evening, after we've had a chance to relax. What happens  instead is the mail bin becomes a vortex for unwanted flyers, priority-approved credit card offers, and free panty with purchase cards from Victoria's  Secret.

About once a month, the sides of the basket bulge enough to concern one of us, and we'll undertake to empty out the sludge of scrap papers. I did this yesterday and was, as always, amazed at what I unearthed.

Aside from expired offers or "To: Resident" mail, our mailbox magically breeds pens and loose coins.  Yesterday there were 6 pens in the bin, 2 of which were high caliber, and there was also one capless yellow highlighter. I also scored 63 cents in change and found my missing sunglasses. A client's business card I'd been looking for appeared, as did a grocery list from 2 months ago. Neither Blair nor I recall placing these items in the basket which leads us to the only logical, rational conclusion: mail fairies.

In the hopes of earning more cash and/or being granted new mechanical pencils, we now leave out cookies and milk at night for the magical mail fairies who are the bearer of all things good plus not-to-be-believed below prime credit offers.  We're hoping that by acting now, we'll be able to take advantage of the hot, hot deals these fairies have to offer.

I encourage all of you to support your local mail fairies. And ladies, let's gather up those Victoria Secret cards and I'll meet you at the mall.

Happy shopping.