Dec 15, 2017 |
by Molly Jo Realy @MollyJoRealy
Frankly, My Dear . . . :Five Things Friday
It happened again. I’m in the middle of doing my other nine thousand things to do, when I realize I’ve yet to write today’s blog post. Well, nothing like waiting til the eleventh hour. Literally.
So, in order to get this done in time to still rightfully claim I wrote a blog post today (Friday), I give you Five Things Friday, The Late Night Edition.
Frankly, My Dear . . . : Five Things Friday
- I love cleaning my house on Friday nights. I know I’m a bit weird that way. But I’ve always loved having all the lights on as I move from room to room and dust, sweep, mop, freshen. Also because then the rest of the weekend belongs to me, and only eight-thousand-ninety-nine things on the To Do list.
- TV. I can crank up the Pandora tunes, put on an old DVD, or watch any show I want. There’s something about starting a binge-watch when you know you still have close to 48 hours to see more. It’s not always a bad thing, staying up til daybreak.
- It’s a time to relax. Even when I have something to do the next day (which is like, almost always) I can still chill on a Friday night with a nice drink and dinner, or cat cuddles and Candy Crush.
- It’s usually open. Because I rarely make plans for a Friday night, I’m available to do whatever I want on a Friday night. Friends call for coffee? Yup. Wanna movie date? I’m your girl. Or, see Items 1, 2, and 3 above.
- It’s Alpha and Omega. The end of the work week (usually) and beginning of the weekend. It gives me that down-time I need to focus and prep for the next week.
And, bonus item: It gives me that last-minute opportunity to do stuff like, oh I dunno. Write a blog post I almost forgot to write.
As long as I’m here, I think I’ll key in tomorrow’s post. Hey, it’s only thirty minutes away . . .
With a stopwatch and strong coffee,
Happy Friday.
~Molly Jo
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
Dec 14, 2017 |
by Molly Jo Realy @MollyJoRealy
Whether you do it yourself, for yourself, for others, or have others do it for you, social media is a great tool to connect you with the world.
But we all know it can take up a bit of time. [I guess that’s why they call it “management”.]
Now, I’m not exactly an expert, but I’m also not-not one either. In my ventures with social media, there are a few things I’ve learned that make it easier.
Frankly, My Dear . . . : Presents for Your Social Media Manager
Scheduling is prob’ly the first thing you need to manage. I recommend a scheduling app like Hootsuite. Hootsuite gives you a variety of options, from posting to all your sites at the same time, to scheduling them separately, to working with a team of contributors. With a range of prices from free to professional (read: not free), and somewhere in between, there are a lot of great reasons to give a year’s subscription to your favorite media ninja.
Frankly, My Dear . . . : Hootsuite for Social Media Management
Another calendaring “app” I recommend is the old fashioned paper and pen system. You know my love for Happy Planners, yes? I have one exclusively for the use of tracking which posts are on which sites, who’s contributing to Frankly, My Dear . . . , and what’s coming up that I need to pay attention to (contests, celebration day, speaking engagements).
Frankly, My Dear . . . : My Blogging Planner
A camera comes in handy, not just for the writer, but for the social media manager as well. Let’s say y’all happen to be at a Christmas party together and one of you hates social media and so has hired the other to do it. Party A wants to take a picture of Party B in their Coolest Ugly Christmas Sweater at the Party C. Y’all best make sure your smart phone has the new awesome camera, or you have a digital at your side. You can also use an instant film camera, and take a smart phone photo of your print photo for a double shot of photographic greatness. If you do this, I recommend a middle-grade camera. Something you can have fun with and trust to give you decent pics. [Dear Santa, the Fujifilm Instax in Pomegranate Red is looking rather delicious. Just sayin’.]
Now, we all know media managers don’t live on internet alone. There’s this life-sustaining thing called coffee that makes the world a better place for everyone. An individual Keurig machine, a gift card to Starbucks, or a can of their favorite brand of beans goes a long way in keeping your manager functioning properly.
Frankly, My Dear . . . : Merry Christmas with Cafe du Monde
And while you’re at it, throw in a gift card to their favorite eatery or two and you’ll sustain them for at least another round of “Why did you put that online?” – “Because you pay me to” dialogue.
Let’s see, what else. Ah. A plethora of research and photo sites. There’s plenty of free stuff available, but if your topic requires a bit more, subscriptions to photo sharing sites or in-depth informational platforms (think online news articles) are a boost.
But wait. There’s more. Plates. Because no matter how much you give your social media ninja to do, if they’re really good at it, they can heap it high and keep it spinning.
Frankly, My Dear . . . : What’s on Your Plate?
Books, magazines, or gift cards for such, anything that helps with research.
If you really want to spoil your social media person, think break time. A day-vay (one-day vacation), tickets to a movie, an evening out with friends. Let your ninja know they’re more than just your internet poster. Let them know you see them as a person, too.
But you know what you can give your social media manager that would mean the most? Your time. Sit with them, hash out your game plan, and work together. Knowing what you want from them, and that you trust them enough to accomplish your mutual goals, is the whipped cream on the pie. [Ooh. Foodie reference. And I didn’t even try!]
Happy Planner Page: Social Media MoJo
With a huge cup of coffee and always-typing fingers,
Happy Media-ing!
~Molly Jo
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
Dec 13, 2017 |
by Molly Jo Realy @MollyJoRealy
PROBING: Harbingers, Cycle Three
I didn’t even mind standing in line at the post office for half an hour. [Ed. Note: totally minded. But it was worth it.]
I knew what the package would be. I knew because the calendar told me it was time for the next Harbingers cycle to arrive. And the calendar is almost never wrong.
As excited as I am to share what I’ve learned so far about the team, this is the part where I tell my mom to stop reading. [Insert sad face here.] No, really. Ma. Back away from the computer. Spoilers coming. All that.
Ready?
Three.
Two.
One.
READ.
The first story in this set is Leviathan by Bill Myers. Told from the perspective of Brenda Barnick, it opens with her and Daniel (remember the quiet ten-year-old she “adopted”) on a turbulent plane, finally landing at LAX and meeting the rest of the team. Insert our peeps into a limo (with a little on-edge action due to their last adventure in The Fog) and we eavesdrop to find out they’re on their way to view a taping of Live Or Die: The Ultimate Reality.
Tank enjoys the sight of the LAX pylons: big, plastic pillars of various sizes that are lit inside with changing colors. He pulls out his phone and pans the limo then the pylons for a neat video.
So. Turns out the influential powers behind The Gate have paid handsomely to have a TV show produced, and for some reason our team is invited to the premiere. The show’s title says it all, and it ain’t no game. It’s a duel to the death on a miniature-sized Colosseum. A young man and woman have a plethora of weapons to attack each other with, and the only rule is the game doesn’t end until one of them dies.
Now, I could go on about the influences of mass media, but I think our own real-world culture is doing a fine job of that at the moment. Our team tries to talk to the producer, but he knows who lines his pockets, and it’s not the good guys. And so, “the show must go on.” Or, “Someone must die.”
Early Spoiler Alert: Tank saves the day. He’s had about enough of this bloodshed and leaps from his seat to stop the final blow. Atta boy, Tank. And with his healing touch, the wounds on the young man are almost all healed. There is no end. There is no death. And the crowd. Is. Mad.
Later, our team finds themselves in the hotel room. Oh, did I forget to mention, during their limo ride, the TV turned itself on and off, showing snippets of movies? So, now Tank (Or “Cowboy,” as Brenda calls him) is trying to watch some football here and the darned TV does the same thing. Movie. Off. Snip. Off. Soundbite. Off. Over and over and over. And the producer, Mr. Anderson [Hey, I wonder if that’s an intended reference to The Matrix?], shows up at the hotel. His cell phone keeps looping a video.
Thing is, the video is the one Tank took in the limo when the TV first started fritzing. And the video’s no longer on Tank’s cell phone. In fact, nothing’s on his phone except one message, in big red letters: Sincerely, S.
And nothing’s on the other peeps’ phones either except the same message. The phones are useless, and the movies keep cycling through.
“Everything’s a pattern. Whether it’s useful or not, there are always patterns.”
But now Andi, my girl who loves to recognize patterns, realizes something. Taking the first letter of each movie, the cycle spells out a word the producer doesn’t understand. But the Team does.
S. R. I. D. H. A. R. Remember him from Cycle One, Book One? The kid who tried to escape The Gate? Boy, this is just getting more and more interesting, isn’t it?
Wait. Forgot to mention something else. Liquid tends to vibrate around Mr. Anderson. #truestory. His Starbuck’s exploded in the TV Media room during the rehearsal. At dinner after his water sloshed out of his glass and onto the floor (but the team’s beverages were untouched). Tank’s soda bubbled up and out just before the producer showed up at the hotel.
Annnnnd I also neglected to tell you, how our team was selected to come to the viewing: Mr. Anderson’s daughter is “like best friends or something” with Helsa, whom we know as Littlefoot from Cycle One.
So our team decides it’s time to clue Anderson in on what they know. He’s not exactly thrilled with what they’re telling him. Puh-leease. Would you?
But then he proffers his own opinion: The plastic, colorful pillars Tank was so thrilled with at the airport are connected to the show. And The Gate.
Well, I’m halfway through the book now, and it’s bedtime so I guess I should leave you hanging. It’s taken me maybe two hours to read and write this and I want would like need to find out what happens before I catch my Zzz’s.
On that happy note, I bid you a fond review.
With a bookmark and a reading light,
Happy reading!
~Molly Jo
And Frankly, My Dear . . . : That’s all she wrote!
