KimNovak.me — I am not an actress

My coworker, Richard, is conservation minded. I'll give you an example. I found a typo on one of the web pages he manages. There was an extra word in the sentence. It started "There are a two ways to...." So I notified him. He asked if I had noticed a missing "a" anywhere else on the page because he wasn't sure what to do with it. He didn't want to delete it and waste a perfectly good letter. So we decided the best course of action was to cut and paste it into notepad to save for later when he needed an "a." In our current budget crisis, Richard is a hero for that kind of thinking.

I enjoy Twitter. Lately, I've started following some celebrities which is VERY cool because it feels like I'm hanging out with them in a way. I can't really put it into words. I'm following Ellen Degeneres, Lisa Loeb, Kal Penn, Rob Thomas (from Matchbox 20), Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe from 24), John Larroquette and some of the American Idol contestants. The AI contestants are fun because they're tweeting about rehearsals for their upcoming tour.

One of my frustrations with Twitter is that sometimes I don't check it but once a day. At that point, I have hundreds of tweets to wade through. But wait... that's not the frustration. The frustration is, they're in reverse order. It wears me out to scroll through several pages of tweets to find where I left off and then start going back the other way. I wonder how hard it is for blind people who have to read one and then backtrack to read the next, etc. Or maybe I'm just weird and everyone else is happy reading them backwards.

Today, John Larroquette did something that made me very happy. He tweeted a quote that was too long for one tweet. He tweeted it in reverse so it showed up in order:

Thank you, John Larroquette. The first Twitter client to solve the reverse order annoyance is my new favorite client.

I didn't sleep much last night. Too many things going through my head that won't gel into something cohesive to allow me to get to a better place.

One thing I thought about is why people ask why, and why I get so defensive when they do. I think there are two reasons people ask why:

1. They genuinely want to learn something.
2. They want to gather evidence to mount their defense.

When someone asks me why I do something the way I do or why I'm telling them they need to change the way they do things, I tend to assume it's the second. A patient person would assume the first and go from there.

When people ask the second kind of why, I feel extremely disrespected. I'm not patient when I feel disrespected. They put me on the defensive instead of making me feel accepted.

I think if they said it differently... if they said, "Really? That's interesting. Why should it be done that way?" And then finish it with a reaction of appreciation for the new knowledge. But I can't control people, so that's just a nice dream. I just have to try to learn to not get defensive when I feel disrespected. Or get away from the people.

I'm tired.

One of the buzzes around the Web world is social media. Social media are fun ways to connect with people online. Facebook and Twitter are big ones right now.

I really hate reading articles and blog posts about how to use social media, though. I especially hate reading articles about how companies can use social media to get more customers. As a consumer, I would rather they keep their marketing scheming behind closed doors.

I think in the public eye, they could talk about how to use social media as a customer relations tool... to get feedback... to help solve problems customers are having. That tells the customer that they have their interests at heart. That's what I want to believe. What I don't want is to be spammed.

I was spammed by the Director of Public Relations at Frito Lay the other day on Twitter. His profile said he is a fan of social media. He doesn't get it. Here's what happened.

A friend of mine posted a picture of some Giant Cheetos. I responded, saying I'd never heard of them. He said he was kinda scared to open them. I laughed.

Two days later, I got a message from the Director of Public Relations at Frito Lay telling me I can get a big 7.75 oz bag or a single serve sleeve. I hadn't asked that, and it ticked me off that he butted into the conversation.

I thought about it a minute and decided if he was going to spam me, that I would ask for something in return. I asked if I could have a free sample. The response? Crickets. No response at all. He doesn't get it.

On another note: Dear ABC, Please don't cancel The Unusuals.

On my way to work Tuesday, I saw a big pickup truck knock a girl on a bicycle over. It was the girl's fault... she ran a red light because the sun was in her eyes. The guy in the truck that hit her didn't even get out to check her condition. I was taken aback by that. Once she got up off the pavement and rolled her bike out of his way, he drove off. She did wave to him that she was okay, but still... I think I would have gotten out of my car before she even got up off the pavement. I took down his license plate number just in case it was needed. Then I drove around the block so I could stop my car and ask her if she was okay. She said she was.

I've had a headache off and on for three days straight. I hope tonight's the night it goes away while I sleep. I have an album to finish tomorrow. I really have until Sunday night to finish, but I'd like to be done tomorrow. Then Sunday, I can put up Christmas decorations and stuff.

There's just one house on my street with lights up, and a house on a cross street has lights up. I'd do lights, but I'm too lazy. I'll put a lighted star in the front window again this year, though. That always makes me happy when I come home from work and see that.

Lifehacker helps people who think they need to look sharp.

The truth in my world is, I don't feel comfortable with people who look sharp all the time. Looking sharp for me is like playing dress up. It's not real. Who cares if someone has some pet hair on their coat. Good for them for lovin' up to that critter. Afraid to have your hair a little shaggy because the people around you will think less of you? Maybe you need new people around you.

Reading stuff like that makes me cringe.

Paige smiles, takes my money and asks me how my weekend was at Starbucks. She also has an art car. I picked up a postcard this morning that says she'll have a showing of her Accidental Altars at the Green Muse Cafe during "First Thursday" this month (October 5) at 510 W. Oltorf (near S. 1st). Neat!