Social Media Ramblings

Embracing social media…honestly, it’s a love-hate relationship. Though now, I am more aware and appreciative of how these tools keep me connected with certain people that have moved away or that I just do not get to see as often.

At first, it mostly seemed a little icky that I could know such personal information about folks 

– and frankly, it still does – but now, I’ve accepted the fact that friends, acquaintances, business peers, and the like all use social media for however they deem fit for their lives. So at this point, I can’t completely question, judge, or say what?! to any posts that I might categorize as neurotic or too personal. Below summarizes my love-hate relationship.

Things I love about social media include:

·         Learning about events that are happening in my surrounding area.

·         Getting updates from friends and family (albeit it should really be a phone call or personal interaction).

·         Discovering when one of my favorite bands has a new album or upcoming concert in the area.

·         Humorous and bizarre activities that people capture and share.

·         Supporting others’ businesses, events, or activities by liking, sharing, or following. I really like this sense of being a fan.

Things I hate - well, let's say dislike strongly - about social media include:

·         Learning about awkward, personal relationship statuses

·         Announcement of specific people that are ‘in ones thoughts’ – probably a personal situation that they might not care for you to publicly acknowledge. I don’t know, but regardless it seems like it should be their choice, not yours.

·         Seeing how badly you cut yourself from a freak woodshop accident. Seriously, let’s not take the time to capture those moments and post for all to see.

With the good and bad, I have to just say ‘Yay-ish to social media outlets.’ Let's stay connected!

Neurotic rambling post, out!

Monthly Art Crawl in the 'Ham

Recently, I have been meeting with some great people of Birmingham that share an interest in a monthly art event for the downtown area. We are calling the event the Birmingham Art Crawl in order to not take away from the annual Art Walk in September.

A quick run down of the Art Crawl meetings:

• I first met with the Director of Art Walk, Joy Myers, who was extremely helpful in providing the history of Art Walk and advice for a similar monthly event like Art Crawl.
• I then met with Robert Emerick of REV and Tara Lee of Space One Eleven to further discuss the overall vision for Art Crawl.
• We also had a brief impromptu discussion after our Central City Neighborhood Association meeting.
• And lastly, up until this point, Robert scheduled a meeting where Geoff Langdon, local business owner, Patty Pilkerton, former president of the CCNA and Birmingham Art Association and myself met at the 'local coffee shop office' Urban Standard. I also invited my business partner at CLEAR, Derrick Strong, to attend as well as my husband and managing attorney of Burton and Associates, Richard Burton. The more brain power, the better, right?!

So now, we're on schedule to connect with local business owners and receive feedback to gauge the amount of interest for the Birmingham Art Crawl.

The big picture:

The overall idea of Art Crawl is for local businesses to host artists, musicians, performers, and the like, on a consistent once-a-month basis. Proposed days are the first Tuesday or first Wednesday of the month since these days are somewhat slower nights than others. The goal is a dual promotional effort for the downtown area and the local art community.

Since Birmingham has grown so much within the past few years, it now seems feasible that the community could host such a great event that would benefit so many, and I am so happy that this is moving forward.

Take a peek!

Want a visual for the event? My business partner, Derrick, and I designed an overall image for the event and mock website detailing as much as we could until it comes to full fruition. Check it out, and take the 5 question survey, please!

Extremely excited, out! ~M

Soak it in!

The Birmingham, Alabama area just experienced a torrential downpour Sunday evening into Monday morning. Some areas received as much as eight inches of rain, or probably more, and many residents had to evacuate their homes or abandon their cars. Mother nature can really throw your life for a loop sometimes, and my thoughts are with these individuals and families.

Now I didn't anticipate too much flooding in my area since I live downtown and we have a proper drainage system that carries out excess water. But I did anticipate being stuck inside for a couple of days. So on Sunday morning around 5 am, my husband and I, along with our 15 year old pup, took a long walk through downtown. After that somewhat misty walk, we decided to soak in more somewhat dry outdoor activities before our area became completely soaked by copious amounts of rainfall.

We had not yet been to Greenwood Park since Birmingham Parks and Rec updated the area and playground equipment in 2012. So this was a perfect opportunity to get out and explore the updates.

We were impressed with the park's space and updates, especially since we constantly look for new places to walk our pup. Greenwood has a long walking path lined with several benches alongside a creek. And if you are into watching planes fly overhead, then this park is perfect for you as it is directly in line with the airport. Greenwood also has many playground equipment for young kids, a basketball court, and an open area for kickball or softball.


All in all, it is a great park to explore, especially before becoming stuck inside while a monsoon comes through the area.

Awaiting the sun's return, out. ~M

Losing, helping, finding

So most workings days, a little after midday, I will take my 'lunch break' and go for a run. This is such a release for me after sitting behind a computer researching, designing, developing content, etc. I definitely lose any stress in that moment.

I had been doing a two mile running path, but now that we have fantastically warm weather, I've upped it to a 5k. This longer break also allows me to run through new areas and see different sites, people, and businesses.

Two fun things happened on the run today:

One, I was called a 'nice young girl.' Though well intended, it kind of cracked me up seeing that

I'm 30 years old and this guy was probably the same age. So, I was about to cross an intersection and notice a stalled car in the road. The driver had already gotten out of the car to push and another gentleman stopped to help. And of course since I'm already out running, I jumped in to help move the car through the intersection into a parking spot. Even though it wasn't much, it is still so nice to experience strangers coming together to help.

And two, I found another car decal! As you can see in the picture above, I'm somewhat (kinda, sorta, not really, but yeah, really) collecting car decals, as well as any other interesting found objects like these numbers while wandering downtown. The newest addition is the Mercury emblem.

Pretty eventful running break, eh?

Randomness, out. ~M

Give it 110%

Is it possible to be at 110%? No question if you're working in the numerous design programs offered out there; of course it is! But outside of technology, what about in life?

Now maybe I spend too much time working in these design programs, but in my opinion, it's also possible for you yourself to 'be' at 110% or 'feel' 110%, but maybe only in brevity.

Let's go with a weather example. For days and days in Alabama it has been so terribly cold...out of character for 'Bama cold. But, that one day when the weather instantly switches from brutally cold to shorts and tshirt wearing pleasant weather, that one particular day is the 110%. Other shorts and tshirt days may just be at 100% since you eventually get accustomed to the now pleasant weather.

In other words, 'being' or 'feeling' 110% can only happen on that one day after overcoming horrible weather (in sticking with my example). I could go deeper into personal, non-weather related examples, but who couldn't?!

Bigger picture of this post: being the rarity that they are, these 110% days are something to learn from and hold on to while remembering that these days may not have existed without 'horrible weather.' And that's really the bigger question...

Do you ever really have bright, sunny days without having the cold, bitter ones? Or, rather, should that question also be asked in reverse: Do you really have cold, bitter days without having the bright sunny ones?

To be at 100%, I would say sure. Why would you ever need to feel pain to know what pleasure is? And why would you need to feel pleasure to then know what pain is?

But to experience the 110%, that's when the two extremes meet. That one brief moment when you realize a certain event has capped and it's alternative has begun. That is the limited time to experience being or feeling 110% in life.

-
Dada post, out. ~M