Monday, February 28, 2011

Too Much Talky



Grandy wants to take a moment to say THANK YOU to everybody for their comments on last week's post here. PLEASE NOTE: The above picture is NOT directed at any of you. This picture is solely directed at yours truly.

Really.

I have re-read my post from last week and WOW is it LOOOOOOOOONNNNNGGGGG WINDED. It would appear Grandy's lessons on "less is more" need a little fine-tuning.

The other day I couldn't help but laugh hysterically at a guy notorious for leaving long voicemail messages. He must have spoken for about 3 minutes when the machine cut him off, and I'm not even sure he ever got to his point.

Now...the polite thing for Grandy to do when he asked me "are you laughing at me?" would be to say, "No, not at all. I got a funny instant message." But alas...you readers know I don't roll downhill. What came out was "Heck yeah!! I HATE IT when you leave me messages like that and wish MINE had a time limit."

We laughed about it because he knows how he rambles. But next time (if I think about it) I am going to DEFINITELY just hand him this picture while he's leaving the message. It is TOO classic!!

Good thing he has a sense of humor. YAY FOR GOOD SPORTS!!!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

WTF Wednesday - Because I Can

While Grandy is in the midst of entertaining the idea of initiating a "professional" style blog, I should clarify that THIS is not the blog for THAT. There are about 500 posts that contradict most things of a professional nature in this blog...so why change the way I think NOW?

With that said...I stumbled across the this picture and realized it has been too long since we have shared one of these.

epic fail photos - Billboard Slogan FAIL
see more funny videos

SO WRONG...In SO MANY WAYS!!!

But admit it...when you got it...you giggled.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

HELP: When two worlds collide...

So the last post Grandy got up here was almost 2 months ago. Hmmmph! So much for the motivation. Oh well. Those of you out there looking for me, know I will return.

Funny thing is, there have been several things calling me back to this blog lately. And no, it's not the nagging voices I get from a couple of you out there. Actually, Grandy has been meaning to come back and check in. I only just now realized that my last update to you all was that poor cat stressed out. Here Grandy sits...almost 2 months later...just as stressed. Today's stress level hit a relatively euphoric moment, however. It is what prompted Grandy to come and tell all my fans about it (all two of you that is).

Let's see...I think I told you that in the last year my job has changed, and a new boss. There are all sorts of new expectations, learning curves, goals, pressures, wins, losses (blah blah blah) associated with your work life that it seems all I can do when I log off from a long day is play a game on the laptop. My brain has been MUSH!!

One of the new projects I've launched is a monthly newsletter that is distributed to many law firms in Northern California. I'm pretty proud of this project actually. I formally launched it's premier issue in October, and sans the month of January, I have published a new one each month. The topics are not a rocket science, but there's more to providing quality content to a bunch of attorneys and legal administrators than I am used to. Grandy doesn't get to insert ONE piece of Grandy-isms in there. Oh well...their loss.

In the last couple weeks, the popularity of the newsletter has been increasing even more. I have even received a permission request for the re-publication of one of my newsletters on a national site. Really? Alrighty then.

Keeping up with who to include (or making sure I'm including everybody) is quite the task. Grandy has set a goal to have 500 contacts in her distribution list by the end of 2011, and judging by the hubbub surrounding recent issues, I should be there by June. It will take me just that long to manually get all the data in the system for submissions.

Today there was a suggestion made about how to make the newsletter accessible for anyone to see. Something about increasing my visibility among the industry. Ideas were being tossed around to try to show the benefits of my...um...skills?

Grandy should "start a BLOG".
*blink blink*

Me: Um...no. Can't do that, sorry.
She: Really? You have such a talent for writing!! "So and so" (protecting the innocent) said it would be easy and she could help set you up. You could link all your newsletters there.
Me: Yeah, I know it CAN be done. But I can't do one.
She: WHY?!?
...pause...
Me: I already have a blog.
She: REALLY?!? That's GRRRREEEAAAATTTTT!!!
Me: Um. Not exactly.
She: Oh for goodness sake, why not?
Me: IT'S MY BLOG!! It has nothing to do with professionalism. It's written as me. The real me. Full of Grandy-isms (yes, those moments are also referred to that in the real world too) that may not be my finest moments.
She: I don't understand.
Me: Let's just say that there are some things shared on this blog that are better off not blending with my professional life. While I can assure you that all names have been omitted to protect the not-so-innocent in most cases, I'm just not sure those two worlds should collide.

So while she didn't understand what I was saying, I'm pretty sure this will not be the end of the discussion. In fact, this topic came up at the end of 2010, when I was making progress with the newsletter.

Don't get me wrong, I'm honored they think I'm qualified for such a thing. HOWEVER, there are only a handful of people in my professional life that know this blog exists. Those people that know are FRIENDS and people I trust. Friends and family know of my blog, and several follow it regularly (well, when I'm posting regularly that is).

It would only take ONCE for someone to Google me and they would get directed here first. Not sure I want that. What would become of my "WTF Wednesday"? There's a couple random silly posts I've shared (I'm thinking of "Things you hear at my Desk" posts) that are so much more fun when anonimity can be attached to it.

This blog started as a creative outlet for me 3 1/2 years ago, when I was searching for a place to connect to people. I was terribly ill, on disability, and needing a way to connect to the outside world. In this time I have connected with people in ways I could never explain, nor could I replace. I don't even actively publish about my blog on my Facebook. I'd rather post something completely random like a Bejewled Blitz score, than advertise this blog. This blog is kind of protected ground for me. Like a "home base" when we played tag as kids.

Here's where Grandy is seriously needing some input from my blogging community and friends. Many of you read my blog...but never comment. If ever there was a need for your input, I need it now.

What are your thoughts? HELP!! I need your brilliance!!