Meet The Pressler

Your Weekly Metaphor

2012-01-27T16:40:00.000-05:00

Truth of the Day

2012-01-26T11:25:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Brian for this one...

In Which The Mayoress Bribes La Policia

2012-01-10T20:55:00.000-05:00

Add this one to my negative campaign PR list, opponents!

Yes, it's true - my second mayoral campaign-threatening run-in with the law happened only days into the New Year.

I'm not going to get into the sordid details, but suffice it to say that I was NOT actually participating in any law-breaking activities, that a Mexican policeman can in fact turn out to be quite enjoyable when mimicking his perception of lawbreaking activities in order to illustrate his point, and that a mere 400 pesos can keep you out of handcuffs and give you an excellent blog post to boot. A bargain, I say!

The Mayoress Makes Some Resolutions for 2012

2012-01-10T20:40:00.001-05:00

Can you believe it, dear constituents? It's not only a new year, it's an election year, and will mark the fourth year of Meet the Pressler. How the time does fly, much like a soaring bald eagle in the opening credits of The Colbert Report.

I swore in 2008 that a) if the Republicans won, I would move out of the country for a year, or b) no matter who won, I would be out of here for the 2012 election cycle. I was just too exhausted from the emotion, involvement, and constant news onslaught of '08.

But here we are, it's 2012, and I don't plan on leaving the country (disregard the fact that I am currently out of the country). So, in accordance with keep my sanity and yours as we enter Obama v Romney (prediction!), here are my three 2012 resolutions to you:

1. I'm going to stay more objective. Not because I am - barring any major revelations, I'm voting for Obama, let's just get that out of the way (more on why later). But rather than get emotional about it...

2. I'm going to go all pundit on your ass. Opinions backed up by sorta facts but mostly other opinions! But for serious, if I distance myself a bit in order to evaluate strategic moves, especially when it comes to my specialty of marketing and PR, I'll emerge far less emotionally exhausted. Also, watch for me on CNN or MSNBC or Comedy Central. Don't blink!

3. I'm going to wear my now-vintage Obama tank from '08 more often. I can't resist gold metallic, people. Gold metallic!

Winning.

2011-12-10T10:41:00.002-05:00

In Which The Mayoress Encounters the Chair of the NYC Cultural Affairs Committee

2011-12-02T15:48:00.000-05:00

On the rare occasion, my passionate career in promotion and persistent participation in politics (as well as absolute adoration of alliteration) intersects.

Last Wednesday, my client Fractured Atlas hosted a conversation with NYC 26th District Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer (Long Island City, Astoria, Sunnyside, Woodside), also Chair of the NYC Cultural Affairs Committee.

If you have ever had the privilege of encountering Van Bramer, you undoubtedly share my full-blown political crush. Though it shall remain unrequited (Sorry ladies, he’s gay! Sorry boys, he’s engaged!), I am content, as I am fully in support of any politician who can make me laugh while making me think – and isn’t afraid to drop a few F-bombs and thinly veiled insults along the way.

The Mayoress with the hosts of the evening.

The event had a surprisingly fantastic turnout, and Van Bramer stayed an hour late just to answer every question from the overflowing audience of artists, whether from his district or not. He was candid, cohesive, informative, and passionate. He explained how things work and how any of us can influence that process.

I say “surprisingly” not because it was an FA event – as the nation's largest nonprofit arts services organization, their following is strong, and deservedly so. I was surprised because it is very difficult to get almost any audience – let alone artists who work long hours with full schedules – to take time out to find out about the political system and how it affects their life, work, and funding; and how they can improve the way it all happens. Huge kudos to those who showed up, asked questions, gave input. They were heard.

But if you’ve never been to an event like that, or otherwise been in contact with your elected official, whether City Council, Community Board, City Executives, State Senate, State Assembly, State Executives, U.S. Senate, U.S. Congress, or U.S. Executives (whew!), or if you do not vote, not only in November elections but in primaries, you are not heard.

Your opinions, effectively, do not matter.

Here is where I begin my rant, and reason for writing this post. If you read this blog you’ve heard it before, but I’d rather be a broken record than not pound home the point.

You cannot complain about something happening – or not happening – if you are not willing to do something about it. This is America, you have many avenues toward trying to make a change. You can vote, you can participate, you can write your representatives.

Here’s what I don’t think a lot of the frustrated-while-uninvolved people understand: most people are also frustrated but uninvolved. So if you join the very small ranks of the involved, heard, and counted, you are heard.

Every elected official I have come into contact with beyond a handshake bases his or her decisions heavily on what his or her constituency thinks. How do they know what their constituency thinks? Well, all they can base it on is what their constituents tell them that they want and need. So the very small percentage who bother to do so are the ones who dictate what life will be like for everyone else in their district.

When I attended a city council campaign debate in ’05 while volunteering on a campaign, do you know what topics they covered? Whether bikes should be allowed to ride on the sidewalks and whether they would do something about it.

Are. You. Fucking. Kidding. Me.

But guess what? The people who showed up cared about that. And I won’t mention the neighborhood, but you better believe the Upper East Side had a lot more revenue that next year in the form of tickets to bicycle riders.

If you want things to be a certain way, you have to tell your elected official. Complaining to yourself or the closest person who will listen may be effective for letting off steam, but not for moving the world forward.

I'll be the first to admit: I’m not satisfied with how much I do to make my neighborhood, city, state, or country, the place I’d like it to be. But I do do something, even if it’s not yet at the level I hope. I write this blog so I can sway your opinion. I volunteer periodically. I donate to causes I care about. I write my elected officials when I’m really hot and bothered. (It takes both conditions, you see, because I try to be the former on the daily, what what.)

Van Bramer made allusions to a future run for mayor, but it seems his campaign will be about 15 years before mine, so I graciously nod to his Bramerness and offer my early support.

Why the 99% Should Demand More

2011-11-25T12:21:00.000-05:00

Absolute must-read editorial from my favorite Paul Krugman.

For who are the 0.1 percent? Very few of them are Steve Jobs-type innovators; most of them are corporate bigwigs and financial wheeler-dealers. One recent analysis found that 43 percent of the super-elite are executives at nonfinancial companies, 18 percent are in finance and another 12 percent are lawyers or in real estate. And these are not, to put it mildly, professions in which there is a clear relationship between someone’s income and his economic contribution.

Why The Mayoress Supports the 99%

2011-11-25T12:17:00.000-05:00

Three words: changing the dialogue.

Hey, remember the Tea Party? Though a fringe group and certainly not the majority, they swung the overall American debate on all issues extremely far right. Candidates on the right and some on the left had to start answering the questions they were asking. Some even ran on their platform.

The #Occupy movement stands to do the same for the left, bringing a balance back to the discussion in this all important year before a major election. Their theatrics invite media attention, which means that pundits and candidates have to respond in order to be newsworthy. Perfect.

Yes, it would be nice if there were clear leaders and a well-outlined platform. But you know what? It would probably be less effective at this point. Because now, you and I and most everyone we know are the 99%, and we can see a glimmer of our dissatisfaction with The Way Things Are, the way things are working - and more importantly - not working, in their frustration. And that sympathy makes the movement more widely accessible, and gives it more possibility, at least for now.

So, cheers to everyone who believes in America enough to try to fix it. As always, I admire those who get up and say or do something, even when I don't fully agree, over those who sit on their couches and talk about it.

Ode to Lisa Bloom

2011-11-08T23:15:00.001-05:00

I cannot recommend Lisa Bloom's book Think highly enough. It's one of the most personally influential books I have read this year. Every woman must read it, and men should pick it up too.

The jist of Lisa's book in two words is: read more. The point is that women are still unequal because we give up our power in so many ways, ie caring more about celebrities than current events, giving away our time by allowing spouses/live-in partners to do less of the housework and child rearing, reality TV, errands and chores that just aren't worth our time.

"Women's accomplishments are rarely celebrated in our media unless the 'accomplishment' is in one of these five areas: appearance, romance, marriage, pregnancy, or babies."

This book allowed me to exhale. As a single woman with Patti Stanger yelling in my ear that looking hot is all that matters, it was such a breath of fresh air to remember how wonderful it is to embrace being smart. As you can see from the book cover, Lisa gets that this culture won't allow us to completely dial out of exterior-consciousness, but she candidly shares her own experiences being subject to attractiveness standards (and maintenance!) as a TV personality, and has struck an admirable balance.

I actually got rid of cable after reading Think. I still watch TV online - but it's more likely that I'll also watch a documentary on Netflix than collapse into a Housewives marathon. The amount and quality and frequency of my reading has vastly improved in the past couple months. Not to mention doing more writing - and look! - blogging. And just like when you eat more vegetables and less candy, I just feel better.

My only issue with the book is that it's definitely for people from the middle class or above -- hiring a housekeeper to create more time or buying pre-cut vegetables just isn't going to happen for a single mom struggling at minimum wage. But for the women I know, both peers and those younger who are creating their paths, I truly hope they'll take the time to explore the issues Lisa so smartly explores and brings to light.

You go, girls.

--

Update! The inspiration to finally write this post was that @LisaBloom tweeted she was on a local radio show - I called in and got on! Thanked her for all she's doing and asked about her recommendations for female mentorship. Too awesome. Never would have happened if I was watching Bravo. Just sayin'. ;)

The Herman Cain Thing.

2011-11-08T22:56:00.001-05:00

I don't really care about Herman Cain; from where I stand today, Romney's taking it anyway (more on that later).

I'm really upset - in a throw up my hands and walk away way - that the American public and media is automatically suspicious instead of compassionate when a woman has the courage to come forward about alleged harassment. Who the hell would want to go through all the mess of accusing a famous person of harassment or rape or anything in between, even for a big payday?

We have got to change this culture of victim blaming. We need to take these accusations seriously. We should run any man who treats women poorly out of town, much less elect him to office. We need to create a culture where women are respected - then these things won't happen in the first place.

Truth of the Day

2011-09-18T23:26:00.000-04:00

"Among the echelons of the upper middle class, there is a smug pride often taken in the edgy address, as if poor people existed to lend the better off a veneer of adventurous chic."
- Ginia Bellafante

Full article.

This is a true state of emergency.

2011-09-18T22:57:00.000-04:00

There is a horrific famine happening right now in the horn of Africa. If you have time to read this post, you have time to do something tangible about it: write your rep and/or skip a meal out this week and make even a modest donation - every single one of us can afford it.

mercycorps.org
unicef.org,
writerep.house.gov

Thanks to Nicholas D. Kristof for alerting me to the severity.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/opinion/sunday/kristof-glimpses-of-the-next-great-famine.htm

Ten Years Later

2011-09-11T16:36:00.001-04:00

I'm still processing. I don't have a lot to say right now. I'm having a hard time getting through this article. My Facebook status is about all the thought I can form:

Try as I did, I never could donate the skirt I wore ten years ago today. On the downtown R, to work on Broadway & Spring, in the silent procession uptown, on the L back to Brooklyn, to drink red wine with Tina at Milo's (now, The Metropolitan). I'm glad I kept it. Often, my sentiment is commemorated in the sartorial.

Kind of avoiding the TV documentaries, although I'll probably give in in a bit.

Here's my 9/11 story.

In the past few years I've hoped all the ceremony would die down after so many years, but today, I'm glad that there's something in our society that lends gravitas. I'm so over everything frivolous right now.

Just found this in my journal from September 14, 2001:

My priorities have changed a lot... There's nothing I feel like doing with my time, except to occasionally have a glass of wine and be around a lot of people. I certainly don't want to travel. I don't want to laugh. I want to mourn. But I don't want to feel like this forever. I want to always remember this... this vulnerability, this patriotism, this need for God, this care for people I've never met, this pride in my city and elected officials. But thing can never feel normal again, can they? This is just so strange....

Jobs Part 2: Perseverance, Hope, Second Chances

2011-09-11T16:27:00.000-04:00

Now this is the kind of story that provokes sympathy from me. Frederick Deare was laid off from his factory job and it took months of searching to secure a new - lower-paying - job. Deare experiences the entire jobless range of emotions from fear to hope, and though he definitely had his down days, he seems to have been extremely proactive in his search. He eventually finds a job, but still:

There was only one downside: The work paid $10 an hour, 40 percent less than he had made at Old London. After taxes, his paycheck was even less than the unemployment benefits he had been collecting. But he tried not to dwell on this. “I don’t let it bother me that I’m getting less, because of the simple fact I have something, and a lot of people have nothing,” he said. “You have to crawl before you can walk.” Four and a half months later, he is still on the job.

Some letters in today's Times criticize him, saying that he doesn't deserve a job as an ex-con, or how dare he have a smartphone with bills so tight (I didn't gather from his phone's description that it was a smartphone, but I see the point). As much as I like to get all hard-hearted about job searches and especially sense of entitlement (see previous post), I did not get that from this article at all. And I really, really can't see how a reformed, now hard-working man is a problem in our society.

Jobs Part 1: Apparently Ms. Morales Missed the Memo

2011-09-03T21:38:00.005-04:00

You know, the one about how everyone in the arts waits tables at the beginning of their career?

“We did everything we were supposed to,” said Stephanie Morales, 23, who graduated from Dartmouth College in 2009 with hopes of working in the arts. Instead she ended up waiting tables at a Chart House restaurant in Weehawken, N.J., earning $2.17 an hour plus tips, to pay off her student loans. “What was the point of working so hard for 22 years if there was nothing out there?” said Ms. Morales, who is now a paralegal and plans on attending law school.

It's really not about Morales* specifically - (I suspect she'll be getting plenty of criticism in the comments & other blogs - keep your head up my dear!) - this whole article reeks of entitlement. Kind of like the whole Millennial generation - I count myself on the cusp, so this is self-critical as well.

Bubble Disclaimer**, but these days, isn't having a job at 22/23 a win in itself? Forget four years, what about those out of grad school or with work experience that don't have prospects? And if the job applications I've reviewed this year are any indication, most four-year degrees don't even include basics on how to write a cover letter or construct a resume, so it's difficult to be enthusiastic about getting these people into the workforce.

Suck it up. Usually, on the path to your perfect career, you take many detours. And what you envision yourself doing at 22 is likely not what you'll be doing - or want to be doing - 10 years later. If you have to take an unpaid internship to learn your industry's skill set and build a network, or bartend/barista to make cash while you land an entry-level job, this is not the Universe shitting on you or even a sign that you did the wrong thing. Building a career, like all noble pursuits in life, requires patience, realism, perseverance, and a sense of humor. And above all, awesome friends for the in-between time.

*Side note to Morales and others considering similar options: law school is not a panacea. There is a major problem lately with a glut of talent in law, lack of jobs, etc... sound like any other industry? Be sure you're going for the right reasons and that the price tag is worth it - and not just the financial one.

**My environment is not indicative of mainstream America - like Irene, NYC avoided a lot of the economic turmoil of the last few years, and my circle in particular has been overwhelmingly gainfully employed, and even moving up in their careers. Luck of the draw? Right place right time? We shall see...

Is Howard Schultz Gearing Up for a Run?

2011-09-03T02:15:00.002-04:00

Dear Starbucks Friend and Fellow Citizen:

I love our country. And I am a beneficiary of the promise of America. But today, I am very concerned that at times I do not recognize the America that I love.

Like so many of you, I am deeply disappointed by the pervasive failure of leadership in Washington. And also like you, I am frustrated by our political leaders' steadfast refusal to recognize that, for every day they perpetuate partisan conflict and put ideology over country, America and Americans suffer from the combined effects of paralysis and uncertainty. Americans can't find jobs. Small businesses can't get credit. And the fracturing of consumer confidence continues.

We are better than this.

Three weeks ago, I asked fellow business leaders to join me in urging the President and the Congress to put an end to partisan gridlock and, in its place, to set in motion an upward spiral of confidence. More than 100 business leaders representing American companies - large and small - joined me in signing a two-part pledge:

First, to withhold political campaign contributions until a transparent, comprehensive, bipartisan debt-and-deficit package is reached that honestly, and fairly, sets America on a path to long-term financial health and security. Second, to do all we can to break the cycle of economic uncertainty that grips our country by committing to accelerate investment in jobs and hiring.

In the weeks since then, I have been overwhelmed by the heartfelt stories of Americans from across the country, sharing their anguish over losing hope in the strongest and most galvanizing force of all - the American Dream. Some feel they have no voice. Others feel they no longer matter. And many feel they have been left behind.

We cannot let this stand.

Please join other concerned Americans and me on a national call-in conversation on Tuesday September 6th hosted by "No Labels," a nonpartisan organization dedicated to fostering cooperative and more effective government. To learn more about the forum and the pledges, visit www.upwardspiral2011.org

America is at a fragile and critical moment in its history. We must restore hope in the American Dream. We must celebrate all that America stands for around the world. And while our Founding Fathers recognized the constructive value of political debate, we must send the message to today's elected officials in a civil, respectful voice they hear and understand, that the time to put citizenship ahead of partisanship is now.

Yours is the voice that can help ignite the contagious upward spiral of confidence that our country desperately needs.

With great respect,

Howard Schultz

chief executive officer, Starbucks Coffee Company

Battery Stroll

2011-09-03T01:50:00.000-04:00

Pacific Northwest Whitewash

2011-09-03T01:30:00.002-04:00

"Trying to describe white privilege to white people is like trying to explain water to a fish."

Bonita Appleblog crafted an excellent, thoughtful response to an article in Seattle's alt-weekly, The Stranger, on racism, Seattle-style.

Fact! I used to live in Seattle. I went to college there, and I cannot recall interacting with a single black person outside of the Supersonics, Monday night Seahawks hangout at the jazz club, the 3 guys on our school's basketball team, and the neighborhoods where I volunteered. OUCH.

These days, the first reason I give when asked if I would ever move back to Portland and I say no and they ask why, is that it's not diverse enough. People like to debate this, or act like this is an unreasonable dealbreaker, but when you grow up as a mixed-race kid in a superwhite area, you're not in a big hurry to return to a place where you didn't stand a chance of blending in, being beautiful, encountering others like you.

This explanation is inevitably met with a blank stare, which brings us back to the quote at the top of this post. Rinse, repeat.

"Your life story produces a racial filter," [explains Tali Hairston.] "It might be a lens so thick that everything gets drawn into looking like it's about race, or so thin that when someone says something is racial, you go, oh hell no, it's not. As a white person, you have to own the development of your own racial lens. Because whether you're aware of it or not, you have one."

The Politics of Black Pregnancy

2011-09-02T12:46:00.000-04:00

Hide your kids, hide your wife - Beyonce is pregnant! OMG who cares that she's one of the most talented and accomplished pop performers in American history -- drooooollllllllbbaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbyyyyyyy!!!! Let the tabloids rejoice!

Awesome discussion happening in the comments over at my favorite Jezebel about the ridiculousness of this being a "statement" or example for The Black Community, a lesson for black single mothers on how to do things The Right Way.*

Sigh.

Loved this comment in particular:

Honestly, me and my sister were more surprised that Jay-Z was "doing it the right way". When we read about it, the article said it would be the first child for Jay-Z at 41 years old, and we were amazed that a 41 year old rapper had yet to father children. Sure we knew before that he wasn't toting kids, but to have it laid out like that made it clear to us how unusual it seemed for a black man his age (and income bracket) not to have kids all over the place. We even expected it. Sometimes it can seem that for a black man to have multiple "baby mamas" is a status symbol in itself- it either means that he's got enough cash to support them all, or he's got enough game to get them all in the first place. If I recall correctly, Clutch even wrote an article on the whole "I wanna get you pregnant" phenomenon. So yeah, I'm more surprised that all the hoopla is about Beyonce "doing it the right way" when Jay-Z "doing it the right way" seems like a far better example to be pushing in the black community.

*Be born to ambitious stage parents, have ridiculous talent, achieve fame in teen years, have long career, marry billionaire, become pregnant.

Republicans Raising Taxes?! Oh, Wait.

2011-08-31T11:43:00.000-04:00

In a decade of frenzied tax-cutting for the rich, the Republican Party just happened to lower tax rates for the poor, as well. Now several of the party’s most prominent presidential candidates and lawmakers want to correct that oversight and raise taxes on the poor and the working class, while protecting the rich, of course.

Full article.

New York Needs to Bring It Down a Notch

2011-08-30T02:51:00.000-04:00

I'm glad to have been out of NYC during Irene if only to realize how awfully self-absorbed we/NYC can be.

Instead of snarking that the storm didn't hit the city hard or complaining about lack of transit, everyone should take a minute to reflect on those who weren't so lucky and be humbly grateful.

Start with this slideshow
Or this article

Just because it doesn't happen to New York doesn't mean it doesn't happen. And matter.

Everyone Stop Telling Me To See "The Help"

2011-08-29T19:44:00.001-04:00

I don't want to see that movie. I don't want to read the book. I haven't been articulating why very well, I just get an icky feeling from the commercial with the worn-out types: Sassy Black Maid, Hoity-Toity White Upper Class Lady, Sympathetic White Woman Who Will Turn Out Okay. The white-person-as-hero feel-good flick that glosses over a host of problems that one person ain't solving is not my genre, which is also why I will not waste two hours on The Blind Side, not that I need a reason beyond Sandra Bullock (though Crash was awesome, and imho her only watchable moment).

This op-ed makes a related point:

To suggest that bad people were racist implies that good people were not.

Jim Crow segregation survived long into the 20th century because it was kept alive by white Southerners with value systems and personalities we would applaud. It’s the fallacy of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” a movie that never fails to move me but that advances a troubling falsehood: the notion that well-educated Christian whites were somehow victimized by white trash and forced to live within a social system that exploited and denigrated its black citizens, and that the privileged white upper class was somehow held hostage to these struggling individuals.

But that wasn’t the case...

...Cultures function and persist by consensus. In Jackson and other bastions of the Jim Crow South, the pervasive notion, among poor whites and rich, that blacks were unworthy of full citizenship was as unquestioned as the sanctity of church on Sunday. “The Help” tells a compelling and gripping story, but it fails to tell that one.

Stuck

2011-08-29T19:35:00.001-04:00

So, yes, I blog less when I have more work to do.

But lately, I've also been hesitant to post because I have been reducing my news consumption, which makes me feel less capable of posting a remotely intelligent commentary on anything going on. [insert joke in the vein of "well that never stopped you before!" har har.]

In other words, there have been lots of things I want to bring up but haven't felt like I can form a succinct post/argument/narrative/story. But my thoughts and feelings on the things - political, cultural, etc - that I am pondering are strong, and worth pointing out.

Then I realized: maybe the point is just to raise some questions.

Let's give it a try...

In Which The New York Times Prints That Printable Matter is Unprintable... Again.

2011-07-19T11:13:00.000-04:00

[part where I apologize for being scarce by validate it by explaining once again that this just means I'm busy with work, so it's good thing]

Not once but twice in last Sunday's Arts & Leisure section, the NYTimes repeated my favorite of its ridiculous policies - instead of printing perfectly printable words, ie the title of the marvelous Broadway play The Motherfucker with the Hat (see it!), it censors itself/its interviewee by glazing over whatever was obviously said by saying it's unprintable. Once toward the end of an article about Andrew Lloyd Webber (which should be unprintable since his recent work is unlistenable), and then by calling Cee-Lo's marvelous song "Forget You," which has become the acceptable title, which is stupid.

As I've explained before, this drives me batshit fucking crazy. Because it's untrue. These words can be printed - look! I just did it myself with a free blogging platform! So really it's just their (understandable) policy not to print them. So that's how they should phrase it. Or! Have a New York People Who Can Handle Language version of the paper, and another Ultra Conservative And Worried About Superficial Societal Problems Like "Bad" Words version for whoever is writing in a blog that's the polar opposite of this one.

Also in the Arts section, Justin Timberlake. Love. And I don't even want to make out with him, I just want to go see dance movies together. I mean, it's about time You Got Served had a sequel, amIright???

Apparently, the World is Ending Tomorrow...

2011-05-20T13:07:00.001-04:00

... at 6pm, by the way.

What, you didn't hear?! Oh, it's all over the place, even in the New York Times! Like, see, this guy Harold Camping? He taught himself the Bible? And decided the world would obv start ending Saturday May 21 at 6pm with the rapture of all the Christians and then the rest of us/you would be left to, like, endure five months of plagues and stuff. Gross!

This whole world-ending-tomorrow thing is throwing me for a loop. I mean, I have so many questions that no one is answering!

Am I going to be raptured if I was "saved" or "born again" as a child, but no longer practice Christianity in the traditional sense?
Should I cancel my date for tomorrow night, or at least inform my poor suitor that I may not show up for our 9pm reservation because I'll have floated up to heaven 3 hours prior?
Do I get points for acts of goodness, like the cat I saved from a raccoon trap yesterday? (And by "save" I mean found and told someone else about who did the actual releasing from said trap?)
Do I get extra points for acts of goodness that would probably be considered more Christian by Camping & Co, like when I handed out flyers condemning abortion in 4th grade? Thanks for letting me do that, parents!
What about acts of goodness that hearken back to what the Bible actually talks about Jesus doing and telling people to do, like when I volunteer or donate to those in need, or you know, show love and kindness to people whether I want to or not? Doesn't count because I don't go to church though right?
I'm registered as a Democrat, is that going to hold me up at heaven's security gate?
Should I write a quick will and some goodbye emails or will it just be total chaos anyway, nullifying legal contracts and Google accounts?
If all my dreams come true in heaven, can all my pagan friends join me?

I need answers, people, and for some reason, none of the doomsayers are bothering to tell me!

Because let's be honest: these people do not a) believe the world is ending and that they are really being raptured tomorrow, or, more to my point, b) give a shit about anyone else (the Bible refers to this as loving others as you love yourself; the American Christians often translate this to trying to save non-believers).

Because if a) were the case, they would be going way more crazy and being way less or way more responsible in these final days. If you really, truly thought you had 24 hours left on this earth, what would you be doing with your time? Surely not reading this blog, for starters.

And if b) were the case, they wouldn't be walking past me on the street with just a tee shirt and a smug look. They would be begging, pleading, crying, not sleeping, to save everyone they love and probably everyone else they could possibly talk to from the horrible alternate, permanent fate.

Because, let's be honest: this is all a marketing campaign for FamilyRadio.com. So, as a fellow marketer, I will hand it to Harold Camping for his brilliant strategy to get tons of free advertising and publicity and new audiences. But as far as marketing ethics are concerned, I hope that as of 6pm tomorrow, he's indeed not heard from again.

I Have Read Some Obituaries With Joy...

2011-05-02T10:51:00.002-04:00

Mixed Race on the Brian Lehrer Show

2011-04-08T10:45:00.007-04:00

My favorite radio show is having a call-in right now on being mixed race - I can't get through so I will blog about it instead. Apologies in advance for the stream of consciousness.

Click on multiracial on the tag cloud at right or search "mixed" to see my previous musings on being more than one race.

While I appreciate the guests - an interracial couple, I'd like to hear from a mixed race "expert" instead - but that would defeat the purpose of understanding since any one person's experience can't possibly capture it for us all.

You know where being mixes sucks these days? Dating. White guys are like "I don't date black women." I don't know how someone can say this and not feel they're being racist and vastly generalizing (ahem, John Mayer, whose songs I have deleted from my iTunes after his extremely racist and insensitive comments about interracial dating). And black men do not know what to do with me.

Last week I went to my friend Santana's play reading - she wrote a one-woman show about her experience growing up mixed called "The Other Box." It was brilliant. I didn't expect it to be that good this early in development. But we have some uncommon parallels in our childhood & experience, so it was very hard for me to absorb at points. The show is going up this month, happy to share info, it is so worth seeing -- you'll laugh and cry and get it.

Woman on radio now is talking about how it's more of an issue in New York. This is so true. Of course I was a kid on the West Coast so I may not have been as aware, but I will tell you that in NYC everyone needs to fit everyone else into a box, and it can really suck. Of course, this is true way beyond race: your job, your neighborhood, your money, your family, your alma mater, your marital status, your hobbies, etc etc.

And.... segment over! Seriously, I could explore this all the time. Maybe I will start my own radio show just about being mixed and America from a mixed perspective. Why not, every other racial group has their own media microcosm. Take that, Brian Lehrer!

Liveblogging the Oscars!

2011-02-27T20:12:00.000-05:00

Let's get a few things out of the way:

1. We all know the Awards are under pressure for the lack of nominees of color, so I anticipate completely inappropriate insertions of black people presenting.

2. Let us all pray that Gwyneth Paltrow does use yet another award show as yet another opportunity to sing. #overexposure

3. I've realized it's much more satisfying to watch awards season unfold as a marketer vs as an artist. Everything makes much more sense, highly recommend.

Actually, if I'm going to muse in short, perfunctory sentences, that's more fitting for the Tweeting, don't you think?

#takingthischattertoTwitter

Liveblogging the Oscars: Red Carpet

2011-02-27T19:06:00.012-05:00

(hit refresh to get the latest...)

It's time for everyone's favorite industry-wide public masturbation session, The Academy Awards! Let's get some foreplay going with some fashion & celeb snark, shall we? (We shall, and we shall be referring to the E! Red Carpet for you viewers at home.)

Kevin Spacey and Ryan Seacrest are exemplifying why celebs should usually not talk politics. You can't talk about the power of social media for Tunisian riots in one breath and say you're wearing Gucci in the next without seeming awfully out of touch. Also, funny that Spacey dropped his "theatre company in London" when his theater company's office is on the same floor as mine in Soho. New York City Soho.

Timberlake. YES. And his mom's gown is gorgeous but she needs a fitting. Please ladies, know your bra size.

Michelle Williams looks ridiculous fabulous. So does Florence Welch. More evidence that personal style always wins over trends. Also winning this category: Helena Bonham Carter.

Commercial break! Have you seen Natalie Portman's Chanel ad? Super hot:

Could Helen Mirren be any more gorgeous? If I am half as beautiful at her age - hell, now - I will feel like I won the lottery.

I'm really enjoying the shots of the actors being handled by their publicists. We know who's really running the show.

I am so glad Christian Bale's wife seems cool because I can tell myself my only celebrity crush ever is in good hands and I can move on. *fist bump*

Who is McConaughey's date?! Too gorgeous!

As much as I am not a fan of Celine Dion, she does look fabulous.

Mark Wahlberg is superclassy. He "already won because he has a wonderful family" - that one even won over my cynical heart. He always comes across as humble and grounded. #win

Oh no. No no no. No disrespect to Givenchy, but Cate Blanchett looks like a character from Episode Two Attack of the Clones or something.

Oh no again. Portman looks a) terrified, and b) terrible - maternity or no, that dress just looks cheap and that color isn't doing anything for her. It's a shame because she's going to win. It's also a shame that no one will call out a bad dress on a pregs woman. MIA won the maternity awards show getup pretty much for all time anyway.

So far ScarJo is topping my worst-dressed list. But I can't stand her anyway so it's fitting, much like her wretched burgundy lace number.

Oh to wear gowns as part of your job! Too fabulous. This is my Super Bowl. On to the awards...

HBHM: The Undercover Black Person

2011-02-25T13:51:00.001-05:00

I was overjoyed to find my favorite essay on mixed-ness published in its entirety online - Danzy Senna's The Mulatto Millennium brilliantly captures what it's like, especially for those of us who "look white" and are therefore privy (though I use that term loosely) to all sorts of shades of grey in the chasm between black and white.

White folks were the most uncomfortable with the dissonance between the face they saw and the race they didn't. Upon learning who I was, they grew paralyzed with fear that they might have "slipped up" in my presence, that is, said something racist, not knowing there was a Negro in their midst. Often, they had.

Full article.

On a related note, being the only black and white (and red) person in most of my groups and a big avoider of conflict, I never know what to do when a friend says something I deem racist, whether about one of my races or someone else's. This happens every so often. Yes, I am probably more sensitive than others due to my racial makeup. And yes, classification of racism is hugely subjective. Still, I feel complicit if I don't call it out. So where's the line?

In Which the Mayoress is on the (kind of) News!

2011-02-23T09:29:00.001-05:00

You GUYS! Last week my friend Sarena called and asked if I might like to go on a Washington DC TV show called Let's Talk Live and give some marketing tips. Oh, sigh, I don't know, I'm pretty busy... uh, obvs I hopped the first Bolt south, and yesterday I got to go to a real live news studio in our nation's capital (well, kind of - across the river, but greater metropolitan area, right?).

Hold onto your morning joe, stay-at-home parents and unemployed college grads, and get ready for some marketing tips from The Mayoress!

Obviously this has major implications: I am now kind of a pundit, and kind of an expert, and kind of have the kind of TV experience one would need to run for NYC Mayoress in 18 years. Take that and run with it, exploratory committee*!

Excuse me while I go viral this.

*Or whenever you're done with that cocktail, Babs.

HBHM: President's Day Edition!

2011-02-21T10:21:00.000-05:00

On this fine bank holiday, Meet the Pressler honors multicultural American leadership by listing all of our multiracial or biracial or multicultural or otherwise racially diverse presidents!

Barack Obama

Wasn't that fun? Happy President's Day everyone!

HBHM: On Half-Blackness and Halle Berry

2011-02-18T11:57:00.000-05:00

Half-Black History Month Continues...

I was over the (half) moon to see a well-rounded feature in the Times recently about the decision by many young bi- and multi-racial Americans to define themselves as such.

Many young adults of mixed backgrounds are rejecting the color lines that have defined Americans for generations in favor of a much more fluid sense of identity... “It depends on the day, and it depends on the options.” They are also using the strength in their growing numbers to affirm roots that were once portrayed as tragic or pitiable. “I think it’s really important to acknowledge who you are and everything that makes you that. If someone tries to call me black I say, ‘yes — and white.’ People have the right not to acknowledge everything, but don’t do it because society tells you that you can’t.”

I feel incredibly strongly about this -- unlike Halle Berry (I know, you thought we were exactly the same, but it's really just exterior), I do not buy into the one-drop rule that one black ancestor means I must define myself and my experience as African-American. That's about as genuine as Michelle Obama identifying as white since she has white ancestors; her life experience has probably been lived as a black woman regardless of her genetic history.

One of my clients right now is a transman who has written a rock memoir (yes, that's my term, go marketing!) about his life and transition from female to male. It's been a huge eye-opener for me. I can't imagine being born into the wrong body, an identity that I couldn't embrace... and yet, I identify heavily with his story, as throughout my life I have been, and always will be, confronted by people and situations that want to tell me how I "should" identify, which box I should check. Identity, ideally, should be something that is self-determined, and the rest of the world should accept it and carry on. It feels insincere for me to say I'm black because that ignores a huge part of what has shaped me, but on the other side of the oreo, saying I'm white certainly doesn't tell the whole story either. So it is fine with me if Halle identifies as black, but I hope as time goes on, she lets her (quarter-black) daughter define herself.

The Mayoress Decrees: Half-Black History Month!

2011-02-16T14:16:00.000-05:00

It's February, you know what that means? Tacky Valentine's Day gifts, daydreaming about Spring Break, and feeling guilty you don't know more about black people!

Well, the guilt end now because the Mayoress is decreeing the second half (get it?) of February...

Half-Black History Month!!!

Yesiree racial voyeurs, for the next two weeks I will focus my meandering rants on the issues of multi-race. Because mixed is the new black!

Look forward to contributions from such mixed luminaries as Mariah Carey, Halle Berry, Tiger Woods, and the POTUS himself!*

Questions & suggestions welcome... more to come.

*Subject to change without notice.

You Can't Explain a Revolution in 140 Characters

2011-02-07T11:25:00.000-05:00

I'm just as guilty as every American described in this editorial by Frank Rich -- I have little knowledge of the background and context of what's going on in the Middle East, and I too have lazily made my revolution talking point about the use of social media to organize. But:

“Let’s get a reality check here,” said Jim Clancy, a CNN International anchor, who broke through the bloviation on Jan. 29 by noting that the biggest demonstrations to date occurred on a day when the Internet was down. “There wasn’t any Twitter. There wasn’t any Facebook,” he said. No less exasperated was another knowledgeable on-the-scene journalist, Richard Engel, who set the record straight on MSNBC in a satellite hook-up with Rachel Maddow. “This didn’t have anything to do with Twitter and Facebook,” he said. “This had to do with people’s dignity, people’s pride. People are not able to feed their families.”

And further, on our collective lack of attention to or tolerance of Middle East issues, lately exemplified by what Rich identifies as the American corporate-level blackout of Al Jazeera English:

The consequence of a decade’s worth of indiscriminate demonization of Arabs in America — and of the low quotient of comprehensive adult news coverage that might have helped counter it — is the steady rise in Islamophobia.

OMG Are U Going to the Rally!?!

2011-02-04T14:12:00.001-05:00

Egypt rally today in Times Square at 3:30pm!! What you guys wearing???

But for serious, I think it's fantastic that the people are standing up (and shouting, and marching, and even kicking a few asses*) for their freedom and what they want. How many of us would be willing to put our lives at risk for what we believed to be our country's greater good?

The photos are just amazing. Imagine if this was your city, your street... the thing I've found most striking about the protests in Tunis, Jordan, Egypt, is that it's all men, mostly young men. What would it all look like, how would it all progress, if the women were out there too?

*Except for Anderson Cooper's, that's not cool. But I'm pretty sure the Mubarak side was behind that, so, see? They totes need to be ousted.

Bloomberg on Bloomberg

2011-02-04T14:02:00.002-05:00

In Which Edward, Adam, and Barry Save the Arts

2010-12-06T16:41:00.001-05:00

I spend a lot of time thinking about and talking about sustainability in the arts. Why is the model for most arts projects, productions, organizations, broken? How can we fix it? Is anyone willing to do that work when their ingenuity is much better-rewarded elsewhere?

I got really lucky this year when these musings went from second most-frequent topic over drinks with Flora* to an actual professional project, promoting a wonderful book called 20UNDER40. The book, part of a larger project whose mission is to give emerging arts leaders a voice about where this industry is going, to create a dialogue between arts professionals of all ages, is an anthology of 20 incredibly smart essays about what could, and should, be next. You can get it at www.20UNDER40.org or the usual online book suspects.

An interview with the author/aggregator, Edward Clapp, was posted yesterday on Barry's Blog, which is fantastic for getting the word out to people in our field. He has a lot of wonderful, insightful things to say about the state of the arts and how we might create an environment where young people might want to stick around instead of bailing for a decent paycheck.

That writeup led me to this excellent, excellent interview with Adam Huttler, who runs Fractured Atlas (where I contribute as marketing blogger). Adam not only has smart solutions I wholeheartedly agree with, he's on the ground every day making it happen.

I mean, would you look at this?!:

Some non-profit leaders use mission as an excuse for inaction, inefficiency, or incompetence. In a capitalist society, non-profit organizations exist to provide goods or services that are considered valuable but that can’t survive without subsidy due to some kind of market failure. The word “mission” is ultimately a kind of shorthand for those inherently unprofitable objectives.

and

I’m going to get into trouble here, but my personal belief is that the tension between aesthetic integrity and popular appeal is overblown. All too often this ostensibly irreconcilable conflict serves as a convenient excuse for vapid artistic pretension, incompetent marketing, or both. Shakespeare was the most popular playwright of his day, and he sold a lot of tickets.

Oh no he didn't! Definitely check out the full post for more solid stuff, said better than I ever could.

May we have many more Edwards and Adams. Thanks guys.

*the first most frequently discussed topic is boys, duh.

Jihadists Done Messed With the Wrong Mayoress's Hometown

2010-11-30T14:31:00.002-05:00

At first, I was like - wha? Thwarted terror plot in Portland? That's not cool, jihadists. Not cool. Portland is maj amazing, as anyone who knows me knows I know. Please redirect your anger at Houston or Butte.

Then I read the front page coverage in the NY Times and was more like,

This m*****f***** went to my high school?!?!

And worst of all, while my baby brother was there. In other words, while this kid was indoctrinating himself with jihadist propoganda, he was going to school each day seeing faces of people he thought should be dead including my own brother and other people I personally know and love. And then, a few years later acted on a plot to kill thousands of people in my hometown. This kid grew up a few miles from where I did. His parents probably shop at the same grocery store as my mom. Our paths have undoubtedly crossed.

This hit me in a completely different way than 9/11. It makes me angrier. More incredulous. I suppose because I know exactly how and where this kid grew up. I know who and what he saw each day. I am so infinitely grateful for where I grew up, I can't fathom hating it, let alone the people there.

And on some level I could see the towers as a symbol of things that are not-so-great about America. And no, I didn't have a personal relationship with those who died that day. But even though I was here on 9/11, this attempt, even though everyone is fine and nothing happened, felt far more personal.

Alright, clearly I'm in no place to construct a coherent thought about all of this, or terrorism or homeland security or law enforcement etc., so here's an interesting post from Portland's Donald Miller, an author I like because he wrote the book that beautifully and compassionately explains the problems with contemporary Christianity (but should not become a film, sorry, it shouldn't), and also he's photogenic and attends the only church I think gets what the whole point of what Jesus was about. Anyway, as usual, he breaks it down with enough class to make me overlook his flagrant disregard for appropriately-placed apostrophes*:

I’ve not talked about Islam or terrorism on this site at all. But reading about the young man, and hearing the talking heads discuss the threat on the internet has me wondering what we are really up against. Is it Islam? I don’t think it is. I think it’s extremism. And extremism takes many shapes and forms. For instance, the Mosque in Corvallis, Oregon where the young man worshiped was burned by arsonists two days later, but this was not called terrorism, it was called arson. And a middle-aged white man, angry about high taxes gassed up his plane and flew it into an IRS building in Austin, Texas last year, but the news was quick to report that this was was not a terrorist attack. Really? Sure looked like one to me. Why weren’t tons of middle-aged white guys who have small planes and listen to Glenn Beck sent to Cuba for water boarding?

LOL! Send them all there, Miller, send them all there.

*come on people. it's means it is. its is possessive. please print this on my gravestone, i can't get through to anyone. (climbs back on pedestal)

My Issue With Cathie Black, or, Don't Say I Didn't Warn You

2010-11-30T10:48:00.002-05:00

Well, well, well! A situation where Bloomberg completely disregards the rules and acts like a billionaire businessman whose latest toy is a board game called Who Wants to Run New York City, can you imagine???

Yes, you can, because if you're been reading this blog or clicking on the Bloomberg tag at right, you know I am no fan of my city's current mayor (illegally serving a third term just because he felt like it). And finally a large group of people are calling him out for his typical behavior, most recently manifested in his appointment of Cathie Black to NYC City Schools Chancellor(ess) - a publishing exec with zero education experience.

Am I saying it's impossible for her to be good at this job? Of course not. But when I'm hiring, relevant experience is at least as important as managerial skills. I do think it can be innovative to bring someone in from a different industry, but there has to be a connection. And this connection should not be "industry that is failing miserably with little hope for the future."

But my real issue with Black is the same as my issue with Bloomberg: what, other than ego, is the incentive for her to succeed? Her kids are in private school. She has no ties to public education. And I'm guessing she's taking a big salary cut. So, like Bloomberg, whose livelihood comes not from his city salary of $1 but from private holdings, this can only be a hobby to her. What will drive her when the going gets tough and the solutions aren't as cut-and-dried as a for-profit corporation? How can her thinking, her impulses, her modus operandi, possibly consider the good of the children first and foremost (not to mention teachers, unions, communities, government workers) when her whole career has been about the bottom line?

Where I've Been & Where I Blog

2010-11-30T10:36:00.000-05:00

Hey peeps - sorry I've been away, but it's a good sign when my posts are infrequent, at least for me, as it means my business is doing well. Or Jezebel is killing it with their posts and taking up all my surf time. Also,

this is where I blog on the regular about things professional (rather than political).

On Restoring Sanity

2010-10-30T18:33:00.000-04:00

Watched the highly entertaining Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear today at Brooklyn Bowl (best. venue. ever). If you missed it, definitely catch some clips online (or seeing as Comedy Central is owned by Viacom, maybe they will replay it ad nauseum as is the MTV Awards model).

Jon Stewart's closing remarks summed up what I've been moving toward for awhile now - the need for us all to be more tolerant, patient, gentle with one another; to sensationalize less; to listen more. I get very impatient with those who don't see things the same way I do sometimes, but that isn't logical, it's emotional. So I think it's time to put a bit more effort into sharing this crazy country with my fellow patriots.

This would be a good time to cue that cheesy montage video they show at airport immigration. No? Okay.

GOP Fearmongering Propoganda Film of the Day

2010-10-22T10:33:00.002-04:00

Join me for viBenefit on October 19

2010-10-08T11:39:00.000-04:00

In my series of nail-in-the-coffin moments in my journey from performer to former, one of the most positive was sitting in the audience of a play written & performed by the girls of viBe, which brought my revelation: I'd rather do all I can to support amazing efforts like this.

Co-founded by my friend and former collaborator Chandra Thomas, viBe gives inner-city teenage women a chance to use the performing arts as a way to express themselves. If you're anything like me, you know that the high school years are nearly impossible to navigate without some non-academic outlet... and with the recent attention on the severe lacks in our public schools, most notably explained in the film "Waiting for Superman," we are now understanding how vital it is that we all do something to support the people who decide our future.

So, I'm proud to be on the host committee for the viBenefit, and hope you'll join me. For the cost of a typical night out, you can support the amazing work that viBe is doing in the company of fellow fun NYC young professionals - with drinks & food & gift bags included. There's no reason NOT to!!

See you on October 19th - and if you are otherwise engaged, you're welcome to contribute whatever you can on the donation page at www.vibenefit.org.

"Fair and Balanced" Elections

2010-10-05T10:58:00.000-04:00

I had to read this sentence four times to even begin to get my head around it:

...Every major contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination who isn’t currently holding office and isn’t named Mitt Romney is now a paid contributor to Fox News.

Full article.

I'd Like to Make a Return...

2010-10-05T09:40:00.000-04:00

This post from Daniel Pink's blog is so good I had to repost it verbatim. Too bad the government's return/exchange policy isn't modeled after Nordstrom.

Every once in awhile, you hear of an idea so blindingly obvious and inarguably wise that you wonder why in God’s name it’s still a notion and not a reality.

That happened to me this morning when I heard about the Taxpayer Receipt, the brainchild of the folks at Third Way.

In a brief and readable policy paper, David Kendall and Jim Kessler propose “providing each taxpayer with a receipt that shows them exactly how their money is spent to the penny.” That’s it.

Here’s what the receipt would look like:

Is it Just Me, or is New York Getting More... New York?

2010-09-30T13:31:00.001-04:00

Perhaps its the departure of the original Law & Order franchise, the city feeling the need to cumulatively reassert its badassness, but wouldn't you agree that thing have, as the original Real World posited, stopped being polite and started getting real?

This morning on the Q, this guys just sits down, opens his book, and pops a 20-ounce Coors Light can. No visible judgment from other passengers, which only made me laugh harder. Well, life in NYC ain't easy, and as Anthony points out, it's always 5 o'clock somewhere. (Still, be a gentleman and opt for a coffee stout before noon, it's NY Craft Beer Week for heaven's sake!)

Last night on the Bedford L platform, a fight broke out and my friend B (who will remain anonymous because he probably wants to get laid again someday) got pushed onto the SUBWAY TRACKS. Quel horror! He's okay, a few scrapes, but that's trauma to last a lifetime.

And two nights ago, in N's luxury Manhattan highrise apartment building, a 21-year old resident was shot and killed, possibly a drug-related crime.

Let's be serious: down economy equals hard times equals rise in crime. The whole country is at a weird boiling point, no one seems quite balanced these days. It's bound to keep bubbling over, especially in a city like New York.

Winning Emmy's & Taking Names

2010-09-28T15:00:00.000-04:00

Huzzah! Once again, SVU triumphs, only this time in REAL LIFE! Check it out.

As awful things go, few things trump the fact that thousands of rape kits never go tested. Can you imagine surviving a rape, having the courage to report it right after the fact without even showering before you go to the hospital, and then going through the further torturous, prodding, multi-hour process of a rape kit... and then it never even gets tested? How can law enforcement sleep at night?! Benson and Stabler would never allow this.

In light of the rape kit backlog, it seems fair to ask: Why should we put women through hours of an invasive procedure if we don't follow through and test their kits? The last thing anyone wants is for news of the rape kit backlog to discourage women from coming forward to have a rape kit collected.

And while testing rape kits is important to advance investigations, it also sends an important message: It shows victims that their cases -- and their pain and their anguish -- matter.

Fortunately, the doing-good-in-real-life team at SVU, Executive Producer Neal Baer and the divine Mariska Hargitay (who also runs Joyful Heart, an amazing organization that helps survivors of domestic abuse), is beginning a campaign to help solve this. Now that's using your influence for good.

One More Thing: The Truth About Un- & Under-employment

2010-09-27T17:19:00.001-04:00

Last one in today's multi-post rant, I promise.

Every time I hear a story on the "official" unemployment numbers, usually on WNYC, I want to throw my radio at the wall. It's so rarely mentioned that the monthly percentage hardly reflects the reality of joblessness, declining income, and underemployment.

Consider those whose unemployment ran out.

Consider those whose new jobs pay a fraction of what they were previously making.

Or those who stopped filing because they were contracted for sufficient work... but were never paid for it.

Paul Krugman's editorial today brings up a related point: I can't tell you how many of my still-employed friends are now doing twice or three times the work they were previously doing before their colleagues were laid off and never replaced. Here's where "structural unemployment" is factual: the two full-time jobs I have been courted for in the past several months were not individual jobs at all, but two or three distinct roles packed into one. It was both insulting and deflating that these companies (small businesses where hours and duties are typically already demanding) sought mid- to high-level director and higher positions with expertise in two to three distinct areas. One of the two companies had been looking to fill the role for over a year - no surprise that someone who has senior level experience in sales, publicity, and marketing either doesn't exist or isn't willing to work for small-company-salary. Oh, and they clearly wanted someone under 35. It's as ridiculous as the idea of a woman looking for a husband with a 100-point checklist of perfection. Unless you're Angelina Jolie, or in this case, Google or Goldman, time for a reality check.

Also, The Republicans are Getting Me Down... Again.

2010-09-27T16:53:00.001-04:00

Is anyone buying this Pledge for America bullshit? No, I didn't think so.

If you want a two-minute read on the ludicrous-ness of it all, check out this brief editorial.

If you'd rather do video, here you go:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Postcards From the Pledge

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

In summary:

Wait a minute, that's the same shit we heard before. Your fresh new ideas sound slightly like - I'm sorry, did I say slightly? - I meant, exactly like, your old ideas.
-Jon Stewart

In Which The Mayoress is Once Again Reminded Why She No Longer Attends Church

2010-09-27T16:47:00.000-04:00

Oh guys. I am going through one of those periods where everything I encounter in the news just makes me want to give up on every level. It's all so frustrating and seemingly impossible. So here we go with a few of the most upsetting.

One commenter summed it up quite succinctly:

"Bishop Long can actively shit on women and use "prosperity gospel" to bilk poor people out of their money and no one really gives a fuck.

I strongly suspect that church folks wouldn't be NEARLY as upset if his alleged victims had been female, either. "

Read more: http://jezebel.com/5649005/relationship-advice-from-the-molesting-megachurch-pastor?skyline=true&s=i#ixzz10lTCavXb

On a positive-for-the-American-Christian-church note, I watched the film "Lord Save Us from Your Followers" the other night, and though it was a bit hokey, I thought it was a great treatment on the contemporary PR mess the church has created, and presents the best solution I've seen. No, actually, the best I've seen was put forward a bit more subtly in Blue Like Jazz, but this builds upon it directly. (Go Portland.) Definitely add it to your Amazon cart/Netflix cue.

VOTE TODAY NYC!

2010-09-14T11:15:00.000-04:00

Today's the New York primaries, and as I've said before, many time, it's MORE important for you to vote today than in November. Here's why.

It's gonna be a tough one for me - just moved to a new district, still registered in the old one. Great moment walking to the subway today - guy tries to hand me a candidate's flyer and I deflect, "I'm not registered in this district." Without skipping a beat he says, "I wanna be registered in your district." Hot. Now that's an election-day-appropriate pickup.

Go out there and vote!

In Which The Mayoress Narrowly Avoids a Stabbing

2010-08-31T11:19:00.004-04:00

Oh, the irony.

Perp is seated next to guy in background;
guy in foreground is blocking my view of him.

After nearly six months of searching, I'd finally found an affordable, adorable apartment. I had a few reservations, one of which was its subway stop and distance from the main street I really want to live off of, so last night Nicolle and I went on a "safety walk" to assess my comfort level (not comfortability, that is not a word) in the area after dark.

We were doing okay, all was good, entering the Q train at Church (Caton Ave entrance) we were chatting about how enriched our lives have been having lived in Brooklyn (you can see this coming, can't you?), and we go down to the platform and the train is stopped as if it's stalled, people standing in the doorways and whatnot. And we duck into the first car, ask what's going on, and some guy says there's been a fight. Then we notice a man in the car covered in blood. Um, where are the cops? What happened?

So we walk out of the car and down the platform, clearly we don't need to hang out in the fight car, and about halfway down we spot a seat. I ask the guy next to Nicolle how long the train has been stopped, he's sitting there like a statue, so I ask the girl across from him and she says five minutes or so. Um, blood-covered person, where's the cops? Shouldn't I at least hear sirens by now?

The perp is the guy in the red shirt.
You know, just strolling along!

I'm saying something of the sort, and of course, it's 2010, tweeting it, and my eye catches the guy next to Nicolle - he's kind of hiding his hand behind his bag, and it has this long slice in it, and he's bleeding but trying to cover it up. So I do the eye-signal to Nicolle and nonchalantly say, "Hey, we should just get a cab," and thank god, after 12 years of friendship she picks up on the act and plays along calmly, and we walk out onto the platform, looking for cops so we can point out the perp.

But there are no cops anywhere.

We point out the guy to a few people around, I want to snap a photo with my iPhone but don't want to upset the guy - who knows if he's crazy, has a weapon, etc. - and as the train conductor approaches, we all start silently pointing at the guy. And the guy realizes people have noticed him, and just strolls out of the car into the next car, where no one realizes who he is. And continues to do this all the way to the back of the train, quite casually, until he exits the platform and I assume the station at the Church Ave side. By now it's been 15 minutes, and no NYPD. And unfortunately I didn't get a clear photo.

15 minutes, still no NYPD!

By the time the cops arrive a few minutes later, Nicolle and I realize the train is a crime scene and probably not going anywhere anytime soon, so we exit up at Caton, not all too thrilled about crazy guy on the loose, try to find a cab or car service for at least 10-15 minutes, finally have to walk over to Flatbush, which I've been warned against since starting to apartment-search south of the Park. Finally we get a car and get dropped off at Atlantic Terminal, in the part of BK we're used to. We're not so much shaken or fearful as dazed, just affected by that sketchy energy.

If that's not a sign to resume my apartment search closer to my original target area, I don't know what is.

Bonus question! What race did you automatically picture the people in this story as? I'm not going to tell you, but if you jumped to a conclusion, it's something to consider.

Four million people as of today

2010-08-20T14:46:00.001-04:00

I hope you'll consider donating to help efforts in Pakistan. I'm only able to make a small donation, but I'm sure every bit counts, and if all of us pitched in even $10, that's significant food or shelter for some of the 4 million people - that's half the population of New York City, can you imagine?! - who are currently homeless.
It only took me one minute to fill out the form, and I set up a fundraising page here. Spread the word...

The Mayoress on The Mosque

2010-08-20T14:42:00.001-04:00

Build it. That is all.

In Which The Mayoress Considers What Really Matters

2010-08-09T16:08:00.002-04:00

I was so happy to stumble on this article in yesterday's Times, ironically, as I was having a stoop sale getting rid of my surplus stuff:

On the bright side, the practices that consumers have adopted in response to the economic crisis ultimately could — as a raft of new research suggests — make them happier. New studies of consumption and happiness show, for instance, that people are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of material objects, when they relish what they plan to buy long before they buy it, and when they stop trying to outdo the Joneses.

This has certainly been hitting me lately, during my year of figuring out what matters to me versus what everyone else is doing with their lives.

On Friday at the gym I happen to pay too much for, I caught the hoarder home makeover episode of Oprah and the organizational expert guest put it into just the right words to hit me, hard: "Do you own your stuff or does your stuff own you?" Queue weekend of selling off all those books just gathering dust, clothes I haven't worn in years or just don't feel great wearing, and kitchen items that just take up shelf space. I felt spiritually lighter just pulling stuff out of closets, had a fantastic time simply sitting outside all day Saturday (thanks Pam & Alicia!), and made some money to boot. Funny how when you sell items for a dollar each, each dollar you spend carries more weight. I needed to remember that.

A friend was recently asking my advice on leaving her lucrative job to consult, because she could make more money. Note that this is the friend who makes the most money in my entire social group, and with a relatively low cost of living. I outlined all the less-fun stuff about being a consultant versus a full-time employee, and pointed out, "How much money do you actually need?" Just as it came out of my mouth, I realized I hadn't actually asked myself the same question.

Is making more money in itself a worthy pursuit? What is it affording that is actually, tangibly important to your quality of life? When I imagine someone saying to a group of peers that they want or need more in other material areas, it sounds ridiculous to the point of nauseating. What if we applied this need to increase what's already probably fine in other areas? "I really think I can make it to 80 pairs of shoes by the time I'm 35," or "We only have sex four times a week, I'm really worth seven," or [insert any statement about being thinner than average].

Take my endless apartment hunt. Popular advice is to shell out a few more dollars to live in a nicer area. And I get that. But knowing myself, I'll feel a certain icky-ness if I'm living outside my means, and locked into a lease perpetuating it. I'd rather have the freedom than a couple less subway stops to get home.

In a city like New York, which Eliz Gilbert shrewdly labeled "Ambition" in her describe-the-city-in-one-word game in That Book Whose Movie Is Already Overadvertised and It's Not Even Out Yet, where one encounters the very rich and the very poor on a daily basis, you'd think it would be easier to have perspective. And it should be. But it's also too easy to find new Joneses to keep up with. Your sense of self has to be that much stronger to stay focused and grounded - not always easy, but the worthiest of pursuits.

"And Make Us All More Freer Than We Were Yesterday"

2010-08-05T11:45:00.000-04:00

Have you met Basil Marceaux, candidate for Governor of Tennessee? No?! Well, let me introduce you!

If I Ruled the World...

2010-08-05T11:25:00.001-04:00

Wyclef Jean for Haitian President?! I can get on board with that. Why shouldn't the arts be experience for politics? Reagan... Schwarzenegger... Franken... The Mayoress... yes, performers translate to brilliant (or at least, very good looking) leaders!

Let's consider his resume:

WYCLEF JEAN
+1.917.555.4325
wj@wyclef.com

OBJECTIVE
Serve as president of Haiti

EXPERIENCE
2000s - Present Independent Performing Artist; Producer; Community Activist
- Over 1,000 contacts in entertainment and politics
- Garnered global attention for insightful lyrics and progressive tunes
- Ability to work long and unusual hours, as well as travel extensively
- Comprehensive knowledge of social media
- Blogger for Huffington Post
- Produced mildly successful Fugees spinoff group City High

1990s - 2000s The Fugees Band Leader/Artist
- Worked in collaborative environment
- Grossed millions of dollars in sales
- Toured extensively, gave crowd-moving performances (aka speeches)
- Global recognition for talent, innovation
- Bandmate Pras once went on date with future Mayoress of New York City; it didn't go that well but it's a good story.

SPECIAL SKILLZ
Brilliant oration, good fashion, rhythm, ability to seize unique opportunities.

See? There you go. Clef for Prez!!

God Bless Anthony Weiner

2010-08-04T13:29:00.002-04:00

Mayoral election do-over! How could we have not elected previous candidate, current Congressman Anthony Weiner?! At least there's someone with some degree of sincere passion in the House. Check out his editorial in today's Times.

Seriously. I am so frustrated with the Republicans who are blocking every piece of legislation just to be difficult, under the paper-thin excuse of a given health care, energy, finance bill not being perfect/sufficient/etc. I don't see any of them trying to do anything to solve the real problems the vast majority of Americans face, only securing their big-corporation campaign contributions, creating Fox News soundbites, and making sure the rich stay rich. No, it really is that simple. We have to start somewhere, and the GOP and their brilliant subsidiary tea party is the epitome of every reason things aren't getting better. Or as Weiner puts it:

Instead of engaging in a real debate about how to address the challenges we face, Republicans have turned to obstruction, no matter the issue, and then cry foul after the fact. They claim to want an open legislative process with more consultation and debate, but the truth is they simply don’t want to pass anything. Meanwhile, conservative television and talk radio programs are full of false anger, intended to scare Americans. I think some genuine frustration at this misleading tactic is overdue.

Meet The Pressler

Your Weekly Metaphor

Truth of the Day

In Which The Mayoress Bribes La Policia

The Mayoress Makes Some Resolutions for 2012

Winning.

In Which The Mayoress Encounters the Chair of the NYC Cultural Affairs Committee

Why the 99% Should Demand More

Why The Mayoress Supports the 99%

Ode to Lisa Bloom

The Herman Cain Thing.

Truth of the Day

This is a true state of emergency.

There is a horrific famine happening right now in the horn of Africa. If you have time to read this post, you have time to do something tangible about it: write your rep and/or skip a meal out this week and make even a modest donation - every single one of us can afford it.

mercycorps.orgunicef.org,writerep.house.gov

Thanks to Nicholas D. Kristof for alerting me to the severity.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/opinion/sunday/kristof-glimpses-of-the-next-great-famine.htm

Ten Years Later

Jobs Part 2: Perseverance, Hope, Second Chances

Jobs Part 1: Apparently Ms. Morales Missed the Memo

Is Howard Schultz Gearing Up for a Run?

Battery Stroll

Pacific Northwest Whitewash

The Politics of Black Pregnancy

Republicans Raising Taxes?! Oh, Wait.

New York Needs to Bring It Down a Notch

Everyone Stop Telling Me To See "The Help"

Stuck

In Which The New York Times Prints That Printable Matter is Unprintable... Again.

Apparently, the World is Ending Tomorrow...

I Have Read Some Obituaries With Joy...

Mixed Race on the Brian Lehrer Show

Liveblogging the Oscars!

Liveblogging the Oscars: Red Carpet

HBHM: The Undercover Black Person

In Which the Mayoress is on the (kind of) News!

HBHM: President's Day Edition!

HBHM: On Half-Blackness and Halle Berry

The Mayoress Decrees: Half-Black History Month!

You Can't Explain a Revolution in 140 Characters

OMG Are U Going to the Rally!?!

Bloomberg on Bloomberg

In Which Edward, Adam, and Barry Save the Arts

Jihadists Done Messed With the Wrong Mayoress's Hometown

My Issue With Cathie Black, or, Don't Say I Didn't Warn You

Where I've Been & Where I Blog

On Restoring Sanity

GOP Fearmongering Propoganda Film of the Day

Join me for viBenefit on October 19

"Fair and Balanced" Elections

I'd Like to Make a Return...

Is it Just Me, or is New York Getting More... New York?

Winning Emmy's & Taking Names

One More Thing: The Truth About Un- & Under-employment

Also, The Republicans are Getting Me Down... Again.

In Which The Mayoress is Once Again Reminded Why She No Longer Attends Church

VOTE TODAY NYC!

In Which The Mayoress Narrowly Avoids a Stabbing

Four million people as of today

The Mayoress on The Mosque

In Which The Mayoress Considers What Really Matters

"And Make Us All More Freer Than We Were Yesterday"

If I Ruled the World...

God Bless Anthony Weiner

mercycorps.org
unicef.org,
writerep.house.gov

Thanks to Nicholas D. Kristof for alerting me to the severity.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/opinion/sunday/kristof-glimpses-of-the-next-great-famine.htm