Dear other person besides me who is subscribing to FlackRabbit on the Amazon Kindle,

Thank you! I don’t know if you are actually my mom or granny or Pavis, (I know you aren’t Dave because Dave was super excited to hear about you) but whoever you are–I love you. And I hope you feel you are getting your 99 cents a month worth of public relations, social media and technology ramblings. Read More…

I’m prone to exaggeration, but believe me when I say the Amazon Kindle is about the most amazing piece of technology I’ve ever held in my tiny hands. You must go buy one.

Seriously, do it. You’ll not understand how freaking cool this thing is until you own one. You’ll not be sorry, in fact, you’ll be addicted to reading again.

You know how you go through those phases of constant bookish-ness…then it fades. For me, it was always a matter of instant gratification. When I want a book, I want it now. The Veruca Salt in me is completely satisfied by the Kindle.

The Amazon Kindle is the kind of technology you can cuddle up with–yes, even with a cup of tea. It’s not heavy like all the Harry Potter and Twilight books you’re reading.

More good news: if you are embarrassed to be reading the aforementioned works, your secret is safe on the Kindle. No one can see what you’re reading.  So feel free to consume Eat, Pray, Love for the third time. Read More…

A colleague asked me today for a recommended reading list, I thought I’d share it with you, too. Here are my favs; what are yours?

On getting smarter

Getting Things Done, David Allen (buy it)

Bit Literacy, Mark Hurst (buy it)

Stumbling Upon Happiness, Daniel Gilbert (buy it)

Upgrade Your Life, Gina Trapani (buy it)

Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell (buy it)

On grammar

Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Lynne Truss (buy it)

On social media

Trusts Agents, Chris Brogan/Julien Smith (buy it)

On humanity

Night, by Elie Wiesel (buy it)

Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden (buy it)

For the kid in you

Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling (buy it)

*don’t laugh – it’s the best book EVER.

Her Nashville Geek Graphic, June 2009

There must be something in the water here in DC. Lately, quite a few folks have asked me how to begin getting organized. My first answer is usually: make one huge to-do list.  That’s usually followed up by me loaning you a copy of David Allen’s Getting Things Done. If I’ve not yet made you read it, no worries. It’s coming.

But honestly, making lists and reading great advice isn’t going to help you if you haven’t made a pact with yourself to stick to it. It’s tough because, at first, living an organized, task-driven existence takes a lot of discipline until it becomes an actual habit. And that takes a good month or so.

Here’s how it usually goes down: you’ll be an organization rock star for the first week, but will then find yourself slipping back into post-it notes and double-booked-induced panic attacks by week three. Don’t let that sway you. Just sit down, consolidate all the brain clutter into one master to-do list, and start all over again.

I keep myself on track using tricks from both GTD and Bit Literacy, which is the book that introduced me to Goo To Do. I’m on year two of using this online to-do list; I can’t even tell you how much I love it.

Of course, I totally dig the fact that folks come to me for this sort of advice. Your questions and successes have been great inspiration for my Her Nashville columns; please keep them coming!

What about you? Are you well-organized guy/gal? Share your tips and tricks in the comments!

Image via Wikipedia

The great thing about having your own blog is that you get to just kind of toss out random thoughts and, for some reason, folks will read them. Here goes:

1. Today I was listening to Pandora Radio (the Guster station) and heard a song called Brand New Colony, by The Postal Service. It was a combo of Super Mario Brother’s sounding music and the cool music at the end of the UPS whiteboard commercials. It kind of blew my mind a little.
2. The word “temporary” means something entirely different in Austin, TX than it does in Nashville, TN… like “permanent“: as in this henna on my hand.
3. Toothpaste really does take the red out of blemishes.
4. People really read this blog and it makes me feel so good. You guys are very kind, even when you don’t agree with me.
5. I’m not one to complain about updated technology, but I dislike the new Facebook layout so much I’ve all but stopped visiting the site. Thanks, Facebook! I’m so much more productive now!
6. Team Newman is coming up on our third year of marriage and I’m freaking out because I can’t remember if we agreed to give, or not to give, gifts. Um, Dave? A little help on this one?
7. I guess it’s the economy, but folks look so weary now-a-days. I hate that. People deserve to be happy; wish I could fix it.
8. I’m reading Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss and I’M IN LOVE with this book. Like, I would marry Eats, Shoots & Leaves if I was not already married to a GroovySoup.  I’m a little embarrassed about how many times I’ve laughed out loud (for real) while reading a tiny book about proper grammar usage and the public exploitation of the apostrophe.
9. I’m grateful for being a person who chooses to see the positive; a trait I learned from my momma and granny.
10. Sprite is very good. So is orange juice.

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Santa, who was very good to me this year, left J.K. Rowling’s newest book in my stocking! Yes! Over the weekend I read Tales of Beedle the Bard. I share my thoughts on this good, dark read as my alter ego, Chic Geek, over at Her Nashville. Here’s a sample:

I sailed through the page-turning stories of plagues, death, evil, trickery, and of course, magic! with glee. The stories are Harry Potter-odd, easy to read and offer up some unexpected twists.

Unfortunately, I found myself skipping over the Dumbledore commentary — and I think that part is supposed to be kind of a big deal. For me, it was more of a mind-bending challenge to try and remember what the heck Dumbledore is referring to most of the time. And I grew tired of that. (I even got tired of reading Rowling’s commentary attempting to explain Dumbledore’s commentary.)

Read more here.

Oh! And proceeds from the book go to Rowling’s charity, The Children’s High Level Group, so that’s $12.99 (or less if you buy on Amazon) well spent!

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Check out this well-written tale of uber-hacker Max Butler’s attempt to take over the credit card-stealing cyberworld. You’ll find it in Wired magazine’s January issue.  I particularly enjoyed the way author/Sr. Editor Kevin Poulsen hits all the nerdy high notes without going too tech speak on you. Trust me, I’m geeky but not actually techy – if that makes any sense. Here’s a sample:

The takeover was all business. The stolen-data market had become fractured across too many sites, and they were pocked with snitches and security holes. By taking control of the entire underworld, Butler had created a marketplace he could trust. Even more important, it satisfied his competitive urge. Offline, Butler was a gentle giant with a generous nature and hippie sensibilities. But in the privacy of his hidden redoubt, Iceman pursued his online enterprise with ruthless zeal. He wasn’t after money, not really. He just wanted to prove that he was smarter, bolder, and tougher than everyone else.

Read it in full here.

Seriously, it’s a fascinating story even if you aren’t geek-inclined. I’m surprised Fox hasn’t turned Butler’s life into a TV show yet.

Just finished reading the new Malcolm Gladwell book, Outliers: The Story of Success. And OMG. You need to read it. Like now.

With its steady cadence of take a closer look beyond the individual to the social norm and culture, it is no surprise Gladwell’s book was a real page-turner for me.

I was fully hooked on page 10. The intro. Not even Chapter One!

“They had to understand the culture he or she was a part of, and who their friends and families were, and what town their families came from,” writes Gladwell. “They had to appreciate the idea that the values of the world we inhabit and the people we surround ourselves with have a profound effect on who we are.”

I’m fortunate to work closely with The Urban Child Institute in Memphis. I do a great deal of early childhood brain development writing for them, so I’m sensitive to research based articles that tout the undeniably important role family, community, culture and environment play in your development as a child and potential as an adult.

Weekly, we beat the drum of nature WITH nurture. That none of us are just born knowing how to learn, behave or react to the world, or how to be a good parent for that matter. These are things we are taught through and by our community. And these lessons are handed down from generation to generation.

This “it takes a village” message is mostly applauded by pediatricians and non-profit leaders, which is why it is refreshing to read a “business success book” with the same mantra.

Now, I understand that these change-the-way-you-think-about-life-and-business books aren’t for everyone, so if you are only going to give it a good skim at least read Chapter Seven. You’ll never look at an airplane the same way and you’ll learn a great communications lesson.

I would give you my copy but Dave’s gotta get it back to the library tomorrow. Sorry. If you have read it – what was your take-away? Was it the same as mine? Did you like the book? Was it a pager-turner for you, too?

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Over the holidays I read The Fall of Advertising & The Rise of PR, by Al and Laura Ries. I don’t recommend you buy it and read it; it’s a much better library check out and scan type book.

For one thing, it was published in 2002, which makes reading it’s tales of Segway, Pets.com and The Red Tent pretty boring and stale.

Also, it’s clear the authors are terribly sad to see the age of advertising slip away and do not see a value in PR. I’m not even sure why PR is in the title, honestly. Here’s a gem from Chapter 9, page 85. Emphasis mine:

Perception is the name of the game, and advertising is perceived as the only way to create a better perception. Not true, but that the perception.

And that better alternative is publicity or, as its practitioners like to call it, PR, or public relations.

Whatever you all the function (publicity, PR, or public relations), the objective is the same. Tell your story indirectly through third-party outlets, primarily the media.

There are many disadvantages to PR. You can’t control the content, you can’t control the timing, and you can’t control the visual appearance of your message. You can’t even be sure that any of your messages will be delivered.

But the one advantage of PR makes up for all of its disadvantages. PR has credibility, advertising does not.

Gosh, too bad PR only has ONE advantage. How the heck would ANYONE hope to build up sincere media relationships that will one day help get your message out? If only there was a person one could turn to for media strategy and message control! (sigh).

Clearly, I’m still processing the tone and take-away message of this book. It has been on my read list for a while, which is why I’m sort of bitter about how disappointing the read was.

What about you? Have you read it? What lessons did you learn?

More importantly: Do you agree that PR offers no message control and only boasts ONE advantage, credibility?

Can you believe I actually get paid to promote a cultural institution like the Southern Festival of Books? This is my job: tell folks about how great this festival is and encourage them to write about it.

Not sure how I got so lucky. I really have to pinch myself when I get to do cool stuff like this. It is like when I first heard I was going to be on the team that would do our best to keep the Predators in Nashville… really no words for how freakin cool that opportunity is.

I grew up with this book festival and am excited to be doing my part to help it succeed. If you aren’t familiar with the Southern Festival of Books, I’m sad for you.  Go here and read about it. Then, go here and book your flight to Nashville.

See you on October 12!