September 30, 2010

You know what I'm writing and editing, but what am I reading?

If you've known me for any length of time, you know I love Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas and Others Die. Yes, marketing and finance are my first loves, but psychology is a close second. The Heath brothers perfectly marry marketing and psychology by breaking down complex psychology and marketing concepts to produce simple, real-world action items for business leaders. I am such a fan, I received my very own, unedited version of their new book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard. If you haven't read these and you work in marketing: shame on you. Go read them and then come back and tell me what you think.

If you have, you'll be glad to hear about my latest finds: Brains on Fire and UNMarketing, two books I hope will inspire me to turn my product (editing for marketing and finance) into a movement. Read them already? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Not going to bother to read them? I'll be back with my take (I hope they haven't made any typos, it's bad enough to use an entirely made up word as your book title...

September 24, 2010

Experimenting with Amazon Affiliation!

This should be fun! I've just signed up for Google Adsense & a relationship with Amazon. Soon you'll be able to find great reads on your favorite editing, marketing and finance topics and links to other complementary sites. Let me know what you think! :)

September 22, 2010

Some Things I Wish for My Sons

This is my first blog post not written entirely by me, but I had to share. This is a wonderful poem once read by the great Paul Harvey that always reminds me not to work so darned hard at working, but to spend more time working at being a great Mom. Enjoy!

These Things I Wish For You
| Lee Pitts
We've tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we've made them worse.
For my grandchildren, I'd like better. I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would.

I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated. I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car. And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen. It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep.

I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in. I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother. And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room, but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him. When you want to see a movie and your little brother wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him.

I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely. On rainy days, when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your Mom.

If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books. When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head.

I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes like.

May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole. I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it. And if a friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your friend.

I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandpa and go fishing with your Uncle. May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays. I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand.

These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life.

Written with a pen. Sealed with a kiss. I'm here for you. And if I die before you do, I'll go to heaven and wait for you.

This essay is attributed to Paul Harvey, as it has circled the Internet for some time now. But, Paul Harvey did not write it. The true author, Lee Pitts, published the nostalgic essay in 2000 in the book "Chicken Soup for the Golden Soul." Paul Harvey does use material written by Lee Pitts from time to time, and he did read this particular essay (crediting Pitts, of course) during his September 6, 1997 broadcast.

September 1, 2010

What else have I written?

Here are some oldies but goodies if you're interested in my first love: writing for financial audiences.

OTC Growth Stock Watch


ValueRich Magazine

Enjoy!