Blackmail Is My Life

Happy Mother’s Day!, originally uploaded by Blackmail Is My Life.

I know I’m a day early, but I don’t get down to Isgro’s Pastries every day.

I’m still working on turning this blog into something a bit more vital. I’m looking into pulling RSS feeds from my Twitter and Tumblr, as well as Flickr photos, to turn Blackmail Is My Life into a living document of what I’m into from moment to moment. I think it’ll be a great change of pace here since I hardly ever have time to sit down for a long essay, though I intend to write much more frequently once this redesign is finished.

Be back soon. Really!

Another quick update:

• I’m tweeting like a fool here. Even if you think Twitter isn’t for you, you should just give it a try. It won’t hurt you, and it might even be a bit of fun. Really!
• I had a great meeting to discuss the redesign of this very blog last Wednesday. It’s going to be so much simpler, cleaner and easier to read. It may seem silly, but there’s something about working on a site that a lot of people use everyday to change your mind about web design.
• We bought Phillies season tickets. Seventeen games. We’re sitting right behind Pat Burrell in left. It’s going to be exciting as long as the Phils don’t go 0 for April.
• We’re getting stuff done to the house too! We got a quote on pouring concrete in the backyard that was very reasonable. It should be done soon, meaning all kinds of BBQ madness all summer long.
• We’re sharing a full share from Greensgrow with our friends Dan and Marissa. Greensgrow’s just around the corner from us and we’re thrilled to have re-upped with them for another season of great, fresh food. If you want to know more about what they’re up to, watch this video that Phoodie shot recently.
• Also, Memphis Taproom will be open soon!

I was catching up on Valleywag this morning — they have SXSW too, and it’s even nerdier — when I came across this item that caught my eye. Mahalo CEO Jason Calcanis writes:

Don’t buy a phone system. No one will use it. No one at Mahalo has a desk phone except the admin folks. Everyone else is on IRC, chat, and their cell phone. Everyone has a cell phone, folks would rather get calls on it, and 99% of communication is NOT on the phone. Savings? At least $500 a year per person… 50 people over three years? $75-100k [Emphasis mine.]

What I’ve found last week is that if you want something to be done, whether it’s set up a meeting or an interview, it’s still happening on the phone. I can wave all sorts of things at publicists to get their attention, but unless I call and let them know I’m serious, nothing happens. At all.

If you’re not totally Comcastic, you can check out most of my SXSW coverage at Head Games, the official blog of Game Invasion. Hats off to my producer and venerable video team for helping me learn some of the video communication basics. It’s hard to believe that all of our work could be cut down into two minute snippets.

Oh, and I’m still tweeting. ‘Tweeting?’ Really? Really.