happykatie :: katie rocks out the interwebs

Katie speaks on Blogging for Business at UH SBDC tonight!

I'm really looking forward to speaking to a great group of business-minded blogger-curious folks tonight at the University of Houston's Small Business Development Center from 7-9pm.  Swing by if you have a chance!

Blogging Basics for your Business - UH Small Business Development Center Internet Marketing Clinic
Katie Laird Strategic Advisor
Schipul - The Web Marketing Company
Wed 11-Jun-08 7:00 PM to Wed 11-Jun-08 9:00 PM

Blogging has risen as an increasingly vital part of a business online marketing plan.  Functioning as a low-cost and direct way to communicate with clients, vendors and industry members, Blogs are powerful tools that give your organization a more human face - but they can be overwhelming at first glance!

With a background in Web and traditional marketing, Katie Laird of Schipul - the Web Marketing Company and www.happykatie.com, will share her insights for using Blogs to grow your organization, expand your online Community and have a smashingly good time.  Expect to learn about Blogging basics, see real companies (large and small) utilizing Blogs as part of their marketing and customer service strategy and discover basic tools and ‘Blog Bling’ to enrich your online conversation experience and track your Blogging success.

For more information on general Schipul Social Media services, you can check out the Social Media Consulting page or attend this session for hands on / in-depth look at one very important aspect of online Social Marketing!

Freebirds Ashley - May you be permanently disfigured in a painful freak tortilla accident

Freebirds - Houston, TX
Originally uploaded by hyku

I read loads of Blogs - not nearly as many as I used to and not nearly as religiously as I used to, but my eyeballs are still there.   Through this reading, I have gotten to know so many voices and virtual storytelling methods.  Bloggers are amazing.

For years I have found myself on the fence of 'howtheheckdoIblog' and 'whatthehellamIreallytryingtosayhere'.  So, for the most part, I've taken the more detached road - safe observations (albeit sometimes slightly snarky) about things I see on the interwebs and the like.

But other more fierce and outspoken Bloggers (can you say Bloggess?) just put it all out there.  They are funny and mildly disturbing and I love them for it. Like really, really love them.

For whatever reason, I typically don't go there.  Typically.  So yesterday's Yelp Freebirds review (and pretty much every other online restaurant review site related to Houston - seriously, look it up I'm all sorts of thorough) post about how they employ disreputable tattooed attempted home wreckers was a bit of a change for me.  And also in this post title, which really says it all doesn't it?  So yeah, even I slip up at times.

So anyway, enough about me and burrito slinging hookers.  I really just wanted to share this great article in the NY Times by Emily Gould.  She talks a lot about her revealing blogging habits and her work at Gawker.  What interests me specifically is the concept of online non-anonymity - the wide-wide-open un-privacy of personal disclosure online.

I've never been that open of a person about my personal life - on or offline.  But in a way I do see how it becomes this little time capsule of your life.  Never before have you been able to Google through your various bad habits, ridiculous relationships and other random life periods. 

No wonder we’re ready to confess our innermost thoughts to everyone: we’re constantly being shown that the surest route to recognition is via humiliation in front of a panel of judges.

But is that really what’s making people blog? After all, online, you’re not even competing for 10 grand and a Kia. I think most people who maintain blogs are doing it for some of the same reasons I do: they like the idea that there’s a place where a record of their existence is kept — a house with an always-open door where people who are looking for you can check on you, compare notes with you and tell you what they think of you. Sometimes that house is messy, sometimes horrifyingly so. In real life, we wouldn’t invite any passing stranger into these situations, but the remove of the Internet makes it seem O.K.

What are your policies on personal disclosure?  How many blog posts have you ever woken up the next morning and promptly deleted?

Do you feel better when you just let it out there - even if it's little snippets that could be construed completely differently than intended?  Because you know after the last week of personal turmoil...  I think I sure do.  :)  Sometimes online disclosure is magically cathartic.  I'm feeling the magic.

And next time you feel like eating fast food, please do consider Freebirds (specifically the 3745 Greenbriar location) - as you get an extra side of hooch.  For free, or at least at a cost that doesn't come up until later in the Super Sized meal called life.  Ashley is the greatest, really.  Extra guacamole anyone?

Radio radio - happykatie rocks the airwaves with BizTools Advantage Point

I've been told more times than I can count that I have an 'NPR voice' (and no, I try my best not to channel 'schweaty balls' but perhaps that still comes across?).  So it is a distinctive honor to now be a regular on the Clear Channel Business Maker's Radio Show where I have a short segment every week called 'BizTools Advantage Point', sponsored by Administaff.

If you're in Houston, you can tune in every Saturday morning from 8-9am on TalkRadio 950 KPRC - the show is always a great compilation of business advice, interviews and entrepreneurial brain candy.  I am really beyond humbled to be included as a member of this great team, talk about some brilliant minds!  Hopefully through the magical powers of osmosis I too can soak up some of their knowledge and experience :)

You can listen to last week's segment on DIY PR for Businesses on a Budget here.  Of course, if you're uber-geeky you can also subscribe to the Business Makers podcast here so you'll never suffer through the pain of worrying about missing one second of my yoga instructor-esque voice.  Many thanks to my Schipul family for growing my brain and supporting me in all my knowledge sharing endeavors, they are truly the best people in the world to make business with :)

Open source action for online foodies

This weekend brought many interesting events and discoveries - everything from sewing class at Sew Crafty to a giant/swollen knee to fried tofu yumminess to giant cupcakes.  But what I'm most excited about as I blog are 2 new sites I ran into that I'm already using like crazy:

1. Open Source Food (www.opensourcefood.com) - A really gorgeous social networking site centered around recipe sharing, food rating and cooking.  It's a very new site, but is already populated by some really amazing recipes and members. 
   
   Almost better than the food (to me at least) are the terrific photos members post - it is truly a visually pleasing site, which is important to visual learners like me who miss not watching cooking shows to get the true idea of how to create a dish.  The membership base is pretty international, bringing in a variety of different cuisines and new ingredients to try out - really super.
   
2. The Daily Plate (www.thedailyplate.com) - A simple site to help keep track of your caloric intake and exercise regiments.  Have a goal weight by bikini season?  The site guides you through what you should be eating and how you should be active to help you make it there. 
   
   They have different features for paying members, but none of them are really what I need at this point.  The site's super powerful search feature makes it easy to search for restaurant dishes, major brands and other more commonly consumed foods.  If you can't find what you've eaten during the day, it's no problem to add your own item - with calories and fat info required to help other searchers too.

YouTube gives me agua de beber

I have a ridiculous amount of love for a certain song - Agua De Beber (aka:  Water To Drink) - as sung by Astrud and Joao Gilberto.  There are few languages that have that kind of sex appeal like Portuguese and few rhythms as sultry as the Bossa Nova -- and this song showcases both perfectly.

So on that gushy note, I am beside myself to happen upon this cute little Spanish family (Los Foulkes) covering not only Ague De Beber in a most spectacular fashion, but also covering one of my fave Billie Holiday songs:  You're My Thrill.  Everyone with me now, LOVE YOU YOUTUBE!!

And in further YouTube awesomeness, I also managed to score a German guitar teacher's lesson on how to play Agua De Beber and the lyrics (which are in their entirety after the jump - LOVE!).

A sunset for the happykatie Master Cleanse

One of the week's nicest surprises was the addition of video to Flickr - everyone with me now:  woo hoo!

However, this great news certainly did not trump the excitement of completing our Master Cleanse - 12 days of a strict lemonade fast, a mighty mighty challenge.  We came out on the other side very well - much lighter in body and more present in spirit.  Completely 100% worth it - and not just because I can now fit into the beautiful black velvet dress I bought for Dr. Sketchy next week.

If you are interested in doing the Master Cleanse prepare yourself for the following:

1. Detox is an unpleasant thing - When going through the first couple of days on your Cleanse you're going to feel blah.  Some people experience detox symptoms more than others, but I was hit pretty hard with a migraine, fatigue and just all around yuckiness Day 1 and 2.  Here's a great article on the physical effects of detoxing, just to get the point across.
   
   Solution:  Start on the weekend and be ready for a nice couple of days at home to relax.  No social events, no weekend guests, just chill.  And seriously, don't be a wuss and quit if you start feeling rotten as what you've put in your body is the cause of all this.  Suck it up, be good to yourself for once and move onward.  It's all temporary you big sissy.
2. Drinking lemonade for 12 days is boring - I was rarely ever actually hungry while on the cleanse (the one time I was starving was when I hadn't had a glass of lemonade in a while), but the boredom really gets to you especially if you love to cook and love a variety of foods. 
   
   Solution:  This may seem weird, but the fact that we still were cooking for the short person (19 months is obviously not an age to start Master Cleansing :) ) and were in regular contact with food was a huge help.  Washing, prepping, cooking and smelling really good food made me feel less deprived.  Plus an empty refrigerator really depresses me.
3. Let's talk about coatings - I've heard about getting your tongue and teeth coated during fasts when reading some things about Muslims fasting during Ramadan.  Apparently in some cultures, having a tongue coated in white (yah, it's gross) means you're not cheating so it's like a badge of honor. 
   
   While I never exactly displayed this badge publicly, it was interesting to see my tongue go from white-white coating to nearly perfectly healthy pink by the end of my fast.  I'm not sure, but I think this coating has something to do with your colon cleaning out.  Gross but great, but then again I am a mommy now so very little can possibly disgust me that much.
   
   Solution:  Brush your teeth and your tongue regularly - but stick to a nice natural toothpaste if for some reason you're still using Colgate or whatever other foul chemically gross brand your grocery store has suckered you into.  Have you ever read those ingredients?  Shameful.  I like Tom's of Maine natural whitening toothpaste and Ella uses one of their kids gel toothpastes too.  In fact, she likes it so much she tries to eat it every night, but that's another story.
4. Not everybody is going to 'get' what you're doing - If you're like me, there are few people that ever 'get' anything that I do so this wasn't really a problem.  But it is something to think about.  It takes some hardcore willpower to fast for almost 2 weeks and if your environment isn't supportive of your decision you have a whole new set of challenges.
   
   Solution:  If you can, fast with a buddy or (better yet) your significant other or roommate or family member.  You'll need the support and it is incredibly nice to have someone to commiserate with.  PLUS!  it's nice being able to take turns making lemonade during a busy day or being able to split store runs for maple syrup, etc.
   
   As with many other things, knowledge really is power.  If your Uncle Job-Bob (you know, the relative who thinks that dinner without an 80% meat content really isn't a meal?) is getting freaky on you because he thinks you're turning into an anorexic tree hugger, know about the mechanics of what it is that you're doing. 
   
   Be able to explain why you are ingesting the specific lemonade ingredients, what they specifically do for your body and what your overall goal is for the fast.  You probably won't convince him to join you, but hopefully he'll back off - even if it's because you had to mention your colon a few more times than he was comfortable with :)

I had a great experience with the Master Cleanse.  It was probably one of the hardest things I've done in a long time as most of it really is a mental thing.  My goal is to fast this way at least once a year, maybe twice a year if I get a better hang of it.  Juggling personal and work events/meals is tricky -- and sometimes just planning each day's lemonade rations gets a little challenging early in the morning.  But this can all be overcome.

Honestly, I thought I would drop more weight than I did (I think I lost a total of 9 pounds, a number of which will come back quite soon as it was water weight) but I'm not bummed at all as that wasn't really the point.   In fact, I am positive I would have lost more weight had I stuck with the nightly salt water flushes (worth a blog post in themselves, ugh), but I was weak on this point and stuck with my senna tea instead.

So as of today, we have transitioned back into eating 'real' foods again.  I feel good and much more in control of my eating habits and future weight goals - this is a great place to be.  Drop me a line if you're starting - I would love to hear about your adventures.  :)

Also, mad props to Javier as he was very much an inspiration in getting me to do this crazy Cleanse to begin with.  He just completed his second cleanse last week and has some amazing healing stories related to his fasting.  It is phenomenal the waste that we put and keep in our bodies - sometimes you don't even realize all the bad you do yourself through crappy American food and lack of exercise until you get rid of it.  Yay for Japi!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all of you Church going, hat wearing and egg finding lovelies.  It's interesting how a holiday changes according to your life status.  I used to be an excited little girl in a poofy Easter dress going to Church with my family and racing home to find well-hidden Easter baskets.

These days the best thing about any holiday is just waking up and finding the small excited Bunn bouncing in her bed ready to play.  Which in a way makes every single day feel like another holiday, another special occasion.  Life is good.

From today's Writer's Almanac:
Exactly 265 years ago today, George Frederic Handel's oratorio Messiah premiered in London (1743). Handel was born Georg Frederich Handel in Halle, Germany, in 1685. In 1712, he relocated permanently to England after living in Hamburg and Hanover, Germany, and in Italy. His main claim to fame was as an opera composer, and in 1719 he co-founded the Royal Academy of Music in London, through which he tried to introduce English theatergoers to Italian opera. When that goal more or less failed, Handel turned to writing oratorios in the English baroque style. Messiah was written in just three weeks, from August 22 to September 12, 1741 — an amazingly short time for an epic piece of music.

Houston art scene showing the love at Dr. Sketchy!

Houston is a really great city.  We've got amazing food, fun random things to do, fantastic career opportunities and passionate, amazing people (*ahem*: Mo-Mo-Monica, Tasty Tiff and DJ Jaymac). 

But sometimes there just feels like there's something missing and that's where Houston Dr. Sketchy comes in.  A divine combo of life drawing class, performance art, killer beats and well-mixed beverages.

I started the group at the beginning of the year in Houston with the amazing Molly Crabapple's permission in NYC (where the 1st of over 43 Dr. Sketchy international groups started it all).  This March marked our third monthly event and it was the best yet - we packed Avant Garden's 2nd floor to the gills with outstanding artists and sunshiney, smiley folks.

It's a little kitschy, a little cheeky and a lot of fun.  We have a big Houston Dr. Sketchy Art Show in the works for this year and are planning on bringing some actual drawing classes into the mix as well.  Join us sometime if you can!!  We'd love to ogle your drawings and ply you with special Dr. Sketchy cheer. 

Thanks to my Art Goddesses who make every event something look forward to and my Sketchy boys JayMac and Adamito who keep things on track bigtime.  Mad props to Groovehouse, our official photog who always makes us look skinny, and Ed Schipul who lets me use his great shots (like the one above) and is just an all-around great friend.

Hi, my name is...

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Her Eminence the Very Viscountess Katie the Decent of Similar Ealand Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Found via the hilarious Canned Laughter blog, graciously sent to me by my amazingly witty and attractive desk neighbor Jonti The Awesome.

A good start to 2008: tethered-happykatie

So I'm not going to lie, I feel sad that this is the first real post I have written in 2008.  But no worries, this isn't going to be one of the apology lame-a** posts.  Instead, I have some beautiful things to share with you:

** Currently I am quite blissfully happy looking at photos taken at Avant Garden of a beautiful show, NeoFormalism1.  Ed Schipul took some beautiful photos (please see above) that are posted to his Flickr account.  Rose and Olive were there of course and I got to meet painter Terrell James, Jenny-Beck (of Nova Arts Project) and Varina (of Arts Houston), as well as hang out with my fave office neighbor / morning commute stalker pal Jonti.

** Today, not only did I get to hang out with Jenny the Bloggess and Laura (aka: The Queso) but I also got to meet Karen (of Chookooloonks) for the very first time.  She was awesome and is now pretty much Ella's favorite new person :)  I love being with intelligent, fierce Blogging chicas!

** NetSquared is going to be amazing this month on Tuesday, Jan. 8th with Kelly McCann of the AIDS Houston Foundation.  Free booze and amazing conversation - RSVP online here!

**  My cheeky new art club, Houston Dr. Sketchy, is holding its first event next Sunday, January 13th from 2-5pm at Avant Garden.  It's  an awesome art geek gathering with a killer DJ (Low End Theory), fun contests and a different life model every month (this time we get a little Burlesque with Ann Berlin).

** Houston is getting its very first Social Media conference on Jan. 17th with the Got Social Media? event.  There are some great speakers (Ed, Laura, Erica and Kelsey among them!) and is one more awesome way that the Houston tech community is growing in leaps and bounds.

Things have started out crazy-busy, but very good, in 2008 - I'm looking forward to starting at Boston University early this year, Adam is about to move into some great studio space at his ceramics shop and (absolutely, 100% most importantly) Ella/happykiddo is blossoming into an even more beautiful and hilarious little sparklette. 

Hope your year has started out smashingly well :) Drop me a line and let me know what you're up to!