Staten Island//Manhattan

I feel like I've figured out my staples over the last few months. Those things that start as random occurrences, turn into habits, and the next thing you know your coworkers are all, WAIT, you actually have hair?!

Hair in ever-frizzy bun? Check.
Pearl earrings? Check.
Chambray shirt? Check.
My favorite pair of glasses (from Spexclub)? Check.

Clearly it's a lot easier being me than you thought.


Photo of me by him, of course.

Illustrated Grammar

 Poster from The Oatmeal

Yes, please.

Google Demo Slam

I will never think of PowerPoint in the same way. Ever again.

Also, TECHNOLOGY!

iPad, velcro and love

iPad + Velcro from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Web site, website and other items you've never cared about

There were some big announcements made last week. Big enough I made sure to tweet about them. And I think you and I both know I only tweet about very important, pertinent things.

It's not likely to mean anything to you, but the announcement regarding the newest edition of the Associated Press Stylebook is a bit like, well, a bit like an announcement that communication professionals everywhere would get excited about. Yeah, just like that.

The AP Stylebook is called the "journalist's bible," and rightfully so. It gives guidelines on word usage, appropriate writing methods and just about everything in between. Most of the world doesn't even know about AP Style, nor care, but for those who do it's pretty important. It can mean the difference between Seven PM and 7 p.m., fundraiser and fund-raiser and "more than" or "over" (7 p.m.; fund-raiser; "more than" always refers to amounts and "over" to spacial relationships).

You see, for years journalists and writers alike have bickered about words. That's what us communications people do. We communicate. About how much we hate words we use to communicate. It's completely rational, I know. Anyway, we bicker, and there's been one word in particular that a lot of people have been on the fence about: Web site. Or is it Website, or maybe even website?

That's the problem right there. It's a simple difference but those differences are why I think I may be going gray (grey, gray?!) early. Originally Web site was the proper usage for a page on the World Wide Web. But time changes language and no one calls it the World Wide Web anymore, leaving many feeling like they were using an outdated version of the word. So for quite some time there have been rogue writers changing their usage of the word to a one-word, lowercase version and it seems as though it finally caught enough attention to make a change. And applause around the world ensued.

They wouldn't! Would they?

Technologic

Just in case you ever had doubts about technology's ability to amaze and baffle, I present Exhibit A:



Video via: Bryanboy

Oh, Internet

Although my emphasis in school is in public relations, and it's also the profession I'd like to pursue, I was required to take a lot of news writing and journalism classes as core and prerequisite classes. And in these classes, aside from learning stylistic rules and practicing writing, you're also taught a lot about new media and how it has changed the way business is done. Almost everything is Internet-based these days and so much more of our life is published for the world to see. Our lives can truly be completely published on the Internet if we choose. With that in mind, one of the topics taught that I thought was really interesting was regarding ethics and the permanence of what we publish online. In fact, one form of that even has it's own name - Netiquette. Emily Post would be so stinkin' proud.

The Internet is such a free forum for expression and there are many times we forget its content is very public and available to a general audience. And very permanent as well. Whatever we write or say is most likely going to be seen by potential future employers, or really anyone else for that matter. A little creepy but very true.

My church also put out this article on compartmentalization of ethics last month I thought was really neat. It's nothing religious, but just talks about the change in journalism and how those ethics we're taught are being transferred over to life in the information age; how we need to be more aware and conscious of our life online as much as we had to be aware of it in real life in years past.

A MAJOR journalism nerd moment, I know.

Twitter

When you really think about it Twitter is pretty ridiculous, and I can say that because well, I'm on Twitter.

But Twitter-ing in real life? Now that's hilarious.

Nerds have celeb crushes too.

I have a cute sister. Her name is Amy and she lives in California.

She works for this company you might have heard of. They make computer chips or something.

They also recently put out a new video ad for their company. It's hilarious.

Do yourself a favor and watch it.

Poladroid? YES, PLEASE.

Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

With the discontinuance of Polaroid film there's been a lot of talk about the end of an era. I personally lovelove Polaroid film - it's so nostalgic and makes me feel all cozy and artsy on the inside (which I guess would be like going to an art museum in sweats? Yeah, I don't know either).

Luckily for me, I was recently introduced to Poladroid and it's feeding my craving and addiction. Poladroid is a free BETA program that's available for download online and converts normal photos into .jpg Polaroid image versions, complete with the faded, grainy quality and white background. And the best part is that you can watch as the photo "develops," just like real Polaroids. When I showed Amy she seemed to think it was too slow, but I love the trueness of it. The only downside is that it's currently only compatible for Macs, but their site says their working on PC versions for the future.

As you can tell by the mass amounts of photos it's pretty obvious that I've been having entirely too much fun with it. If you have a Mac and want to try it out yourself you can access their site here.

Cocoa Beach, Fl

Mom & Dad (Aren't they the cutest?)

Door handle, Mills Mansion

Bedroom, Mills Mansion

My ADORABLE friend Kylie & I

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

Taryn at the park near

Grace Cathedral, San Francisco

Hotel Huntington, San Francisco

Filoli Gardens, Woodside, California