Why do I heart Facebook?

Confession: I am one of Facebook’s 225 million or so active users and one of the 100m who actually logs on at least once a day.

Do you care to know why?:

(1) I have used Facebook as part of the communication strategy on quite a few projects with great success. I love the fact that you have access to demographic information to target your message. Some say it’s pricey, but what I’ve seen is higher conversion rates and ROI than with Adwords.

(2) Links on Facebook are responsible for 95% of my personal blog’s traffic. It makes sense if you think that 19% of hits to Huffington Post blog come from FB links, and that they are also the number one driver of traffic to the Perez Hilton gossip site.

(3) I agree with Hala Gorani from CNN: nobody emails these days! Email is turning into the new snail mail. 80% of my emails are work-related. I don’t need to send an email to my friends to catch up; they can learn what I am hallucinating about from my blog and what I am up to ... on Facebook! (that one works both ways, of course – the 'what are they up to', not the hallucinating part).

Facebook is getting more hits these days than Yahoo, and despite the unexpected rise of ‘rival’ Twitter in the last months, FB’s user numbers keep growing quickly (more than half of the users have signed up in the last year!)

Having said all of the above, I have one complaint: Why is 'Facebook' marked as a spelling mistake every time I type it on anything MS and on Blogger, when the word 'Google' is not?!

Archaeology in the 35th century

As part of a project I am working on, I recently did some research on a particular archaeological site in Cyprus known as the Saranta Kolones castle. The name, which is obviously Greek, means “40 columns” and it comes from the many granite columns that were found scattered around the ruins of what is believed to have been a 7th century fortress.

Nobody really knows exactly when Saranta Kolones was built or what for, but it became a UNESCO World Heritage site; I guess mainly because it is about 1400 years old.

So, that got me thinking...

How will archaeology reports of our times read in the year 3400? I can only guess it would be something like this:

“The Holecene Epoch complex of “2000 seats” is located in a vast plain and is believed to have been surrounded by a series of trading outlets where people use to exchange printed paper for goods. It takes its name from the many seats that were found on the site and which probably once formed part of this ancient place of worship.

The complex is believed to have been built at the end of the 20th century AD to perform some kind of ancient ritual. The building consists of a large structure divided in eight rooms which could accommodate a total of about 2000 seats. All the seats seem to have been facing towards one of the walls. No traces of images have been found on any of these very large walls that were about 6 meters tall x 15 meters wide; so it is speculated that the attendants used to worship The Wall itself during sessions that lasted about 2 hours each.

It seems that there was some kind of classification as to who could worship in which room and at what time of the day. Children were not allowed in some of the rooms at certain times and in some cases the sessions were attended mainly by males or females.

A reception area, common to all rooms, is believed to have been used to sort out the worshipers.

One privileged single person, probably a priest of some sort, could worship from a private room. This room was located at a very high level, opposite The Wall, and had a rather small hole through which the priest would either conduct the worshiping ritual or attend it in privacy.”

Now, try to imagine the future archaeological description of DisneyWorld!

The Krabby Kronicle

I miss doing press work.

That’s probably why I especially enjoyed watching The Krabby Kronicle today.

Yes, you guessed right, anything with the word “krabby” in it for sure has something to do with SpongeBob Squarepants. I’ve written before about my fondness for this cartoon character, and watching him pretend to be a journalist was the ultimate entertainment!

I tried to source the video of the show to share it here but Nickelodeon is very protective of their materials ... so I got a transcript of some of my favorite bits of the show:

Mr Krabs decides to launch his own newspaper when he realizes that the newspaper business “sure is easy money”, so he tells SpongeBob:

- Mr. Krabs: Off of your duff, boy. I expect you to wear two hats. 'Cause along with your usual fry cooking duties, you're my new lead reporter for the new Krabby Kronicle!”

But SpongeBob’s first story does not sell newspapers: he decided to write about Patrick Star watching a pole:

- Mr. Krabs: When you write these stories you've gotta use a little imagination, boy.

- SpongeBob: Imagination!

- Mr. Krabs: Yeah. Maybe instead of Man watches pole, you could say something like... oh... Man marries pole. Then you can alter the photo a little to fit the headline and, see? (Mr. Krabs modified it to look like what he said) Now that's a juicy story!

- SpongeBob: Mr. Krabs, isn't that lying?

- Mr. Krabs: Don't think of it as lying, boy. Think of it as... uh... A practical joke. You know. Something everybody can have a good laugh about. The public expects a little embellishment here and there, so I want you to go out there, and get me a lead story that will sell!

See? This is why I miss doing press work. No offense, but characters as entertaining as the ones above are only found on TV cartoons and in certain media outlets!

TheCatalist

I usually get pretty excited when I am involved in a new project and the latest launch I have been involved in has not been any different; especially since it is about my own country and I had the opportunity to work with a good friend from home.

TheCatalist is a fantastic idea from someone who knows the power of creating possibilities, especially possibilities for a positive change. In this case, the aim is to empower the relation between Mexico and the USA through a change in the existing conversation. As simple as that.

I feel very proud to have been invited to be part of a project which has so much potential. My contribution consisted in doing what I love most: advising on the communications strategy and building up the blog that is the core of the project.

I invite you to take a look and contribute with your ideas and suggestions.

The blog is available in English at TheCatalist.org and in Spanish at ElCatalista.org.

How to annoy people in a lift

Annoying people in a lift? Why on earth would anybody bother to do that if by just saying ‘lift’ you already annoy the entire American population?!

Well, if you are a pre-teen girl this seems to be one of the ‘must-know-how-to-do’ things high on your priority list, right next to ‘how to make your own lip-gloss’ and ‘how to make a candle’. This is according to “The Girls’ Book” that my daughter is currently reading.

So, it got me thinking ... if I really wanted to annoy people in a lift (a.k.a. elevator) I would jump in, press all the buttons and jump out of the lift before the passengers realize that they will be stopping at every single floor on their way to their destination.

But no, this is a pre-teen cute girly book, remember? So instead of depicting acts of mid-age cruelty it actually includes some really funny ideas on how to be annoying to others in a lift, such as:

- Say ‘ding’ at each floor
- Suggest that you all join in a sing-along
- Salute and say ‘welcome aboard’ every time someone gets into the lift

and my favorite

- Open your bag and, while peeing inside, ask “Got enough air in there?!”

I might try one of these at work tomorrow.

Or maybe I should just act my age and try that lip-gloss recipe instead.

Places to avoid when you’ve been drinking

So, it’s finally Friday evening and you are enjoying Happy Hour at your favorite place with a couple of friends. Before you know, the time is almost midnight and you are still sitting at the bar enjoying the company. Not difficult after one too many drinks!

Time to decide where to go next.

You might not know where to go, but whatever you do regardless of the state of your mind (probably very liquid), make sure you avoid any of these three places:

1. Anywhere close to a police station
2. Your boss’ favorite hangout
3. The zoo
   

Yes, the zoo. Think about it. You might end up in jail for drunk-driving or lose your job for making a fool out of yourself, but nothing beats being savaged by a tiger!

Tigers, I am told, cannot stand the smell of alcohol and will devour anyone who has been drinking.

I have also heard that you can buy a tiger cub in the USA for a mere $1,000 and that this is why Texas has the largest population of tigers in the world.

So, if you live in Texas or are planning to visit Texas anytime soon you might want to consider sticking to Diet Coke!

Whatever you do ... cheers to the week-end!

Who talks more: men or women?

A few days ago I had a heated conversation with a male friend on the subject of female vs male communications’ skills. It all started because we disagreed on whether women or men are better at giving a public speech where a controversial key message needs to be delivered.

The whole conversation turned out into an interesting debate around the subject of women talking more than men, and hence, being more capable with oral words (this was my argument and not his, of course). This is a claim that I remember reading somewhere, but could not remember where.

So to prove my point I did some Googling and although I could not find any concrete scientific evidence, it was amusing to see all the different claims available on the subject.

According to an article in Psychology Today, women use about 7,000 words a day, and men use about 2,000. On the other hand, the author of the book Counseling Criminal Justice Offenders, tells us that "Females use an estimated 25,000 words per day and males use an estimated 12,000 words per day." And then, in James Dobson's book Love for a Lifetime, his "research" tells us that God gives a woman 50,000 words a day, while her husband only gets 25,000.

Whatever the case, and even without documented scientific proof, it seems that the general consensus is that women are indeed more communicative than men.

If in doubt, take a look at this video clip of a man speaking to his wife and judge for yourself!

Speaking animal

Did you know that not only humans, but also animals speak in different languages depending on where they happen to live?

The recent Swine Flu scare reminded us all that pigs oink in Mexico, as they do in most of the world. But if the Influenza had started in, for example, Albania, the source of our worries would be happily hunk-hunking away.

Dogs are amazingly multi-lingual.

While you hear them going woof-woof in the USA or the UK, they go guau-guau in Mexico. Catalunian doggies go bup-bup and man's best friend says wang-wang in China.

Slovenian dogs hov-hov, while the Ukranians haf-haf. If you go to Iceland you will hear them go voff, in Indonesia it’s a gong-gong and in Italian a bellisimo bau-bau.

And that leaves me with the annoying gav-gav coming from my neighbour’s yard and which didn’t let me sleep last night.

The little beast’s barking was loud and clearly Greek.

I truly went cuckoo, which, by the way, seems to be the only way a cuckoo goes anywhere in the world.

Is James Bond an alcoholic?

Someone, with obviously not much to do, decided to count every single drink that the famous spy drinks in the entire James Bond books' collection. The result is 317 drinks, meaning one drink every seven pages.

And if you thought that they are all Vodka Martinis, let me tell you that you are wrong. He actually drinks 101 glasses of whiskey (58 bourbons and 38 Scotches to be precise), 38 glasses of Champagne, 37 of Japanese sake, leaving the famous “shaken, not stirred” Martinis at only nineteen.

And this reminds me that I read somewhere that astronomers have recently discovered a great amount of alcohol in our region of the Milky Way. And no, I am not talking about Ireland, but about a giant cloud of methanol that measures almost 470billion kms across! Yes, I know that methanol can poison you, but still, that’s a heck of a lot of alcohol floating about.

So going back to James Bond. Is he, or is he not? Truth is, I don’t know and I really don’t care. As long as they keep casting hunks like Daniel Craig for the movie versions, he can drink the entire Milky Way and I am absolutely fine with it!

Let’s make frog soup

So the French came up with the stupid idea that all flights to Mexico from the European Union should be banned to help curb the spread of swine flu.

Of course all European airlines reacted angrily to this and I join them happily in their revolt against the French request. No, really. Can someone explain to me how exactly imposing such a ban will help stop something that has already spread globally?

Have they not stopped to think for one minute that such a move would leave thousands of European tourists stranded in Mexico? Or are they stupid enough to think that any serious airline in the world would agree to having transatlantic flights with empty aircrafts just to bring back passengers?

I ignore how many Mexicans live in Europe [and how many Europeans live in Mexico], but I assume that we are well into the hundreds of thousands. And believe me; not one single one of us would like to learn that there is no way to reach Mexico and our loved ones in case of need, just because some Bachelot frog woman says so.

Fortunately, EU Health Commissioner, Cypriot Andrulla Vassiliou, said no to the French proposal for a Europe-wide ban and left each member country to impose its own restrictions.

About the only thing Mrs Vassiliou has done right so far, considering that Cyprus’ pharmacies are out of stock of Tamiflu, while we are being reassured by the EU Commission and the Cyprus government that the whole of the European Union is ready for a health emergency.

And last time I checked, Cyprus was part of the EU.

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

I've written before about some of my favorite cartoons of yesteryear, and I have to say that while I still have a good laugh watching The Flintstones or Top Cat with my daughter, there is one 'newcomer' that has made it to the top of the list: SpongeBob SquarePants.

Who could have ever imagined that a bright yellow sponge with an annoying laugh, who lives in a place called "Bikini Bottom", and hangs out with a chubby starfish and a grumpy squid would become so popular?

Did you know that his creator is actually a marine biologist?

And that Johnny Depp voiced a surfer dude in a recent episode? Or that Victoria Beckham is the next celebrity to voice a guest character in the show?

SpongeBob SquarePants is turning 10 this year ... Happy Birthday yellow dude!

And that reminds me of another kid's favorite who is celebrating a milestone soon: Barbie is turning 50.

Madonna's age.

Somehow I'd rather be yellow, square, and ten.

Nothing to do?

If you have nothing to do these days, I have a suggestion for you: Why not spend the afternoon visiting my blog every 1.5 minutes?

Someone out there (a fan perhaps?!) seems to enjoy doing this quite a lot: (click on the image to get a better view)

The secret

A doctor on his morning walk, noticed this older lady sitting on her front step smoking a cigar, so he walked up to her and said, "I couldn't help but notice how happy you look! What is your secret?"

"I smoke ten cigars a day," she said. "Before I go to bed, I smoke a nice big joint. Apart from that, I drink a whole bottle of Jack Daniels every week and eat only junk food. On weekends, I pop pills, get laid, and don't exercise at all."

"That is absolutely amazing! How old are you?"

"Thirty-four," she replied.

Of working with a whiner

I never really liked her.

I remember clearly the day I met her. The first thing I noticed when I first saw her was how insignificant she is. She was the ugliest one in the room, by far. And cheap. She looked cheap.

But I did not really have much choice. I had to work with her, so I decided to make the best out of it. And it was not easy, believe me, mainly because she is a big time whiner. I tend to multi-task and I am used to working quickly. But she just couldn’t keep up with me. She fell behind continuously and had horrendous faults that I had to find a way to patch up.

Did I mention that she is a whiner? Oh yes. She threatened to quit so persistently that once I really thought that she had finally given up and thrown the towel. But no, it was a false alarm, she kept on going as usual: slow, overloaded, overworked and over moaning.

But one good day, not long ago, she had enough. At first I thought I had done something to make her react that way and I felt pretty bad about it. But of course it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with her lack of power and drive.

Looking back, I have to say that I am surprised she lasted that long. And I am grateful she did.

Yes, I am talking about my ugly and cheap Compaq notebook, who's finally called it quits.

She will be missed.

The Greek way

Kosta (father): "I want you to marry a girl of my choice."
Son: "I will choose my own bride!!!"
Kosta: "But the girl is Bill Gates's daughter.."
Son: "Well, in that case... ok"

Next Kosta approaches Bill Gates.
Kosta: "I have a husband for your daughter...."
Bill Gates: "But my daughter is too young to marry!!!!!"
Kosta: "But this young man is a vice-president of the World Bank."
Bill Gates: "Ah, in that case... ok"

Finally Kosta goes to see the president of the World Bank.
Kosta: "I have a young man to be recommended as a vice-president."
President: "But I already have more vice- presidents than I need!"
Kosta: "But this young man is Bill Gates's son-in-law."
President: "Ah, in that case... ok"

And that my friends is how Greeks do business.








ΕΛΛΑΣ ΤΟ ΜΕΓΑΛΕΙΟ ΣΟΥ!!!

The mom song

Because we all are moms, or live with a mom, or have a mom ... this one is a good reminder to all of us of how exciting motherhood can be! ...

Enjoy.




Gracias a Ivette por compartir!

Para las cuarentonas with love

Forty-something.com has been a real source of fun and excitement for me lately. As I've written before this is a very personal project that was born from my own struggle with turning 40 and the truth is that I never expected it to become so successful.

The site is now getting well over 15,000 unique visits a month, there are more than 600 subscribers to its mailing list, the website won an award only one month after its launch, it has reached a Google Page Rank of 5 in only four months and an Alexa Rank of 167,000. I know this must all sound like gibberish to my many lawyer-, economist-, hoteliers and artistic friends ... but trust me: it's good stuff!

So, moving forward, I've decided it's time to go back to my roots and launched Forty-something.com's sister blog in Spanish: www.40ymas.com.

This is an exciting project for me. On one hand I am blogging in Spanish, which is turning out to be a great exercise ... and on the other hand I am enjoying tremendously the interaction with the many Spanish-speaking women that visit the blog and leave comments on it. I am having a blast!

If you speak Spanish, I invite you to visit my new 40ymas baby. And if you have Spanish-speaking female friends over 40, please let them know about this new cyberspace especially created for them.

Chicken a la carte

When the going gets tough it is very easy to forget the thousands of people who live in REALLY difficult conditions and who against all odds have the admiring capacity to find joy within their misery.

This is not about losing a job or not earning a bonus at the end of the year. This is plain and simple about survival!

Please take six minutes to watch this short film and see exactly what I mean:

Y gracias de nuevo a Griselda, co-autora honoraria de este blog, por compartir!

Fly High Inc.

Hillary Clinton is on a two-day visit to Mexico to discuss what the U.S. has now acknowledged as a “common problem”: drug trafficking.

Does this mean that before Obama took office, the problem was seen by the gringos as one strictly confined to anything south of the border? As if once the drugs cross the Rio Grande they magically distribute themselves among the hundreds of thousands of American users, leaving the U.S. authorities free of responsibility for any of the 6,000+ drug-trade related violent acts that occurred in Mexico last year!

Not acknowledging this as a common problem would be as stupid as the persistence of my ex-boss that the only way to stop it is to legalize drugs. This is the typical opinion of those who have no idea of what goes on in the world beyond their noses, and who do not have the vision to see that there is a huge gap between theory and practice. It is also the opinion of your average cokehead.

In theory, through legalization governments would tax and regulate the drug trade and use the money generated from this to educate the public about the risks of drug-taking and to treat addicts. In theory, legalization would push prices down as drugs would become easily available and because reputable pharmaceutical companies would get involved in the development and distribution of safe and cheap alternatives.

Ha ha ha. What I would like to see is the implementation process of this theory.

Let’s say that Mexico decides to legalize drugs and by definition the drug trade. Then what? Mr. Drug Baron, who is already paying hefty bribes on both sides of the border to run his business and has a complicated network that goes all the way from producing to distributing and pushing, agrees with this ‘wonderful’ idea and goes legal?

So he registers “Fumate Un Churro S.A.” in Mexico and “Fly High Inc.” in the U.S.A. Enrolls his gangsters in the IMSS (social security), exchanges their guns for business cards, starts raising invoices, paying taxes and allowing the government to regulate the selling price of this produce? All this to see his revenues and profits plummet because the demand is not there anymore as Pfizer and Novartis are producing safer and cheaper alternatives to good’ol coke and marihuana?

Ha ha ha. Wake up and smell the coffee! Legalizing drugs without getting rid of the drug cartels first will only give users a cheaper ride to lah-lah-land and will increase the violence exponentially.

And unless you have a magic wand to transform all the bad guys into toads, I don’t really see that happening anytime soon.

Addendum 28/03/09: Since I publish this blog on Facebook, that's where I receive a great number of comments to my posts from my closer friends. For this particular post, a good friend made a comment that I found very interesting, and I believe it deserves a place here together with my reply:

JF:

Great!!! Acknowledging that drug trafficking is a common issue is a powerful way of clearing the space for any possible further and joint collaboration between the two countries. Now, what do we want to create on this issue given the clear space we have?

My reply:

How about having the Americans commit to selling to someone else the top-notch weapons that have been empowering the drug cartels? Hey! How about giving those weapons to the Mexican drug squads instead so that they can fight on equal grounds with the gangsters? ... and how about if the Americans lend us their international agents, specialized in finding the really bad guys (the ones that found Sadam Hussein, please, not the ones that are still looking for Osama Bin Laden) to locate the drug barons? This way you leave the 'little guys' headless and under-armed and easier to control ... and then, Hillary can come down with the 3 Black Hawks she so kindly suggests to donate to fight the drug war, and can take some lovely aerial pictures of a safer Mexico.

Lenta y perdida

Después de vivir fuera de México por más de veinte años es obvio que hay muchas cosas de las que me he perdido y en otras en donde ando medio lenta y perdida. Perdida me siento muy seguido con los cambios en el slang mexicano, y lenta definitivamente cuando se trata de torear albures.

Por ejemplo, ahora todo lo que me parece “muy padre” resulta que ya no es “padre” sino “chido”, pero según yo “chido” solo lo decía Luis de Alba (¿o era Alejandro Suárez?) y sonaba mas bien como “¡chiiiiiiidoooo!”

Luego hay otras palabras que yo ya no sé si pasaron de moda o si de plano nunca lo estuvieron pues cada vez que las oigo siento como si alguien me gritara ¡chiiiiiiidoooo! bien fuerte en el oído.

A ver, cuando salíamos del cine hablábamos de los buenos y los malos de la película. ¿O es que recuerdas alguna vez haber usado “héroe” y “villano” o “heroína” y “villana” cuando hablabas de los protagonistas? ¿Verdad que para nada?

¿O es que ya no se dice “para nada”?

Lo siento en el alma, pero la heroína NO es buena y la única villana de la que yo me acuerdo es Catalina Creel. ¡Esa si era bien chida!



De torear albures hablaré en otra ocasión. Y no se apene si tiene alguna pregunta de atrás tiempo no dude en hacer mela saber.

Father and son

The son asked his father if they could participate together in a marathon, and the father said yes. They completed that marathon and participated in many more.

The father always agreed with his son's requests to race together.

Then came the day when the son suggested to do the Iron Man Triathlon together, and the father said yes, as he always did. The Iron Man consists of a 2.4 mile (3.9 km) swim, 112 mile (180 km) bike and 26.2 mile (42.2 km) run.

This is a video with highlights of their effort; it is touching and inspiring! I have to confess that it brought tears to my eyes...




Gracias a Memo por compartir!

It's all Chinese to me

When I was checking my websites and blogs' stats earlier today, I realized that Forty-something.com had two visits from Guangzhou, China this morning. The visitors spent quite some time browsing the site, and what puzzled me is that I could not recognize their referral source.

So, I followed the link that brought these Chinese visitors to site and realized that they had used Google Translate. Although I find this tool's translations very inaccurate it was great fun to see what the site looks like in Chinese. (click on the image to enlarge it)

Conquer the world

Conquering the world has probably been one of the main incentives of many civilizations over the centuries. Ever since Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Persian Empire (which was pretty much all that was known of the world at the time), the rule of the Roman Empire during the Pax Romana, and later the reigns of Spain, France and Britain starting at the end of the 1500s, and all the way to Hitler’s mad wish to take over the world; the thought of being in charge of it all has been a strong motivation to many.

Other than in politics, the concept of "conquering the world" can also be applied, in a smaller scale, to the business world and even at the personal level.

Businesses try to conquer the world within their scope and over their competition. It’s all about the survival of the best. And, just as with Alexander the Great in his time, the winner is always the one with the best strategy.

The problem with many small businesses nowadays is when the boss decides to apply the same world domination strategy within his own organization: the number one symptom of the bad manager.

The easiest way for a manager to make sure that he is always in charge and in control of his own little world is to hire under qualified and inexperienced employees. These workers will always feel grateful for the opportunity and work hard in return executing the boss’ commands. But, these employees have absolutely nothing valuable to contribute since they don’t know any better, and therefore, the entire organization relies on the vision of one individual only.

Not exactly a winning strategy unless you are a genius and the other’s insane.

What is that?

How many times do we need to be shaken by an event to realize the treasure we have in front of us and that we haven’t noticed? How often do we allow trivial things to become the center of our lives and take the place of what is truly meaningful?

An event is the sum of many moments. A significant event is the sum of many significant moments, and this five-minute video clip captures the full essence of the value of appreciating, creating and identifying those significant moments to transform our ordinary (and sometimes hectic) lives into significant events.

Watching this video my first thought is that I wish I had created more meaningful moments with Little Johnny when I had the chance. My quest now is to make sure I don’t get distracted by the petty stuff when I have the opportunity to cherish a special moment with one of my loved ones.

Enjoy the video.



Y gracias de nuevo a Griselda por compartir.

Eleven years tyranny

Back in the 17th Century, King Charles the First decided to rule England without a parliament and pretty much did as he pleased when it came to introducing high taxes and other reforms. This period of ‘personal rule’ lasted between 1629 and 1640, hence it’s known in history as the “Eleven Years Tyranny.”

The reason I am mentioning this history nugget is because tomorrow is my daughter’s 11th birthday, which means that I have been a mother for exactly, yes, eleven years (duh!). And as a single mom in a foreign country and with an only-child I could easily be labeled as a tyrant mom. You know, the absolute dictator, in absolute control of her kid’s life, with no opposition and, of course, with no one other than me to dictate the rules.

Seriously, how do you know if you are doing the right thing when you have no benchmark and no one to discuss your decisions with? You need to be extremely egocentric to believe that every single one of the steps you take is the best one, and on the other hand, you can sometimes feel overwhelmed by the responsibility of it all.

The only way to know is to focus on the output. On whether your actions and decisions to guide your child one way or the other result in the formation of a confident, generous and happy human being.

Whenever I see her, I believe that I see all that and give myself a pat on the back thinking that ‘so far, so good’. But there are still seven years to go - probably the most difficult ones - until the time comes when she will not be under my wing anymore.

I just hope I won’t be writing about my own version of the “Seven Years War” the day before her 18th birthday.

Crisis vs Transition

Someone told me once that the difference between a forty-something man and a forty-something woman is the way they approach middle life. Women go through middle life transitions while men through middle life crises.

I was in my mid-thirties when I was told this, so I remember laughing at the comment and not thinking too much of it. That is until now that I’ve crossed the demographic line that labels me as a middle-aged woman.

So this is the way I see it now:

Women transition into middle age by taking a good careful look at what we have and we then assess it in our own womanly way: “Is this the job I want to do until I retire?” “Is this the man I want to be with until I die?” “Is this the body I want to have?” We reflect, we analyze, we carefully take a decision and then we take action over a reasonable period of time. And this is because we are well aware way beforehand of what is coming with mid-age: our body is changing, our husband is aging and our job, family and relationships' priorities have naturally shifted since we were in our 20s or 30s.

Men, on the other hand, go into crisis mode. Let’s remember first the definition of crisis: “a critical event, usually sudden and unexpected, which if not handled in an appropriate and timely manner (or if not handled at all), may turn into a catastrophe by damaging or threatening the life, reputation or assets of a company, person, country or the environment.”

So, in a few words, men don’t see it coming until it hits them right on the nose! They sail through their 20s and 30s and all of a sudden they find themselves with a beer belly, a job where they are not where they think they should be, and a wife who is not 25 anymore and … they panic!

No need to list all the possible consequences of a man’s midlife crisis … we know the common ones such as suddenly joining a triathlon, or buying a convertible car, or over-flirting with the young blonde assistant … but what about the midlife crisis at work?

I think that greed could be a symptom of it. The level of greed that has seen the collapse of the global economy, maybe? Let's make it clear that I am NOT saying that ALL middle aged men are to be blamed for mishandling the world finances … but what if middle aged women had been in charge of the banking system during all these years, instead?

Maybe instead of a financial crisis we would be living a financial transition.

No money, no honey!

As I read that the state of California is ready to begin today layoff proceedings for 20,000 government workers, I had to take a pause to pick my jaw off the floor.

We all know that the global economy is going through one of the worst crises in decades; but when full countries (Iceland, and apparently now Ireland) and an American state the size of a small country go bankrupt or are on the verge of total financial collapse, I cannot stop wondering what is coming next.

Because this is only the beginning. In some small countries, the symptoms are just starting to be felt. Cypriots, for example, are acting as if nothing can or will ever hit them. They are actually thrilled that shopping trips to London are so cheap these days (!). But wait until the summer comes, when the hotels stay empty from British tourists, and this tourism-oriented economy will then feel the full blow of the situation.

Fortunately, my daughter is still young and with many years to go before she goes to college and then joins the workplace. I trust that the situation will be more than stable when the time comes for her to take that “What shall I study, where shall I work” decision. But, I cannot stop thinking what would I tell a teenager who is going to college this fall about his or her possible future. Yes, one of those kids born in 1991 (nineteen-ninety-one!!!!) who will be enrolling in one university or the other in a few months time, and who in four years will be ready to start a career and making a living out of it.

And what about the kids (not so kids by now) who are graduating from college this summer? Class of 2009 graduates are going to find themselves job-hunting for jobs that don’t exist anymore in industries that are about to crumple.

Forget about high grades and award-winning dissertations. I think that only those who can join their parents in business or who have a great idea and capital to start it will have a head start in this race for the survival of the fittest.

Another good reason to love being in my forties!

Celebrating Valentine's Day?

If I wrote about Friday 13 yesterday, I thought it would only be fair to write a note on February 14 and share my experiences about this so commercialized holiday. Problem is … I have NO experience whatsoever in celebrating this day!

No, really. It’s not as if I hate the idea of Valentine’s Day as one too many of my Grinch friends do. The reason for my lack of knowledge on this holiday is that the men that I have been with in the past have all been pretty useless in the romanticism department. This means that the experience of receiving flowers and sexy underwear, or being taken for a romantic dinner or get-away on February 14, is completely foreign to me.

Despite this, I really don’t think that there is anything bad about having an official day to celebrate Love… even if it is all about giving and receiving gifts.

After all, if you think about it, why do we throw birthday parties? To celebrate that we have been alive and kicking one more year -- and for the presents, right? Why do we organize a party after we get married? To celebrate that we have made official our union with the one we love --- and for the presents, right? Why do we celebrate Christmas? To remember the birth of Jesus Christ --- and for the presents, right? Why do we celebrate Mother’s Day, Teacher’s Day, Father’s Day, Women’s Day, etc.?

So, I wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day … and to my Grinch friends I ask you not to kill Cupid, please … it seems that because of the credit crunch he has been made redundant and is now jobless anyway, the poor thing!

Friday the 13th … chi chi chi ha ha ha

In case you haven’t noticed, today is Friday the 13th … believed to be the unluckiest day of all. I am not superstitious, but I know that every time a Friday falls on the 13th of the month I cannot help but remember the horror movie with the same name.

When I was a teenager back in the 80s I was really into horror films. I am sure I was not alone, I mean, it was the time when some classics of terrible film making were made. And for some strange reason I remember watching many of them at the school’s Physics lab during free periods. I wonder how we used to get away with that one!

Remember “Halloween” or “Poltergeist” or “Nightmare on Elm Street”? I don’t, but I will never forget Jason from "Friday The 13th" and the ending of the movie, which scared the life out of me when I first saw it.

I just found it again and it actually made me laugh - it is pretty pathetic!

Just take a look … and no nightmares please.

No me moleste mosquito!

Bill Gates decided to bring the world’s attention to the problem of malaria in developing countries by pulling out a stunt this week during a tech conference.

"Malaria is spread by mosquitoes”, he reportedly said, “I brought some here. There is no reason only poor people should be infected." And with that he opened a jar full of the bugs, allowing them to fly out into the audience.

While he was quick to inform the shocked crowd that his mosquitoes were malaria-free, his mission was certainly accomplished: the malaria issue made the headlines, at least for the day.

I can think of quite a few other bugs that Bill Gates’ company, Microsoft, has released in the past few years. I am reminded of them every time my laptop freezes and I have to re-boot.

And now I cannot stop wondering if all Windows' bugs are also part of some kind of stunt.

The criminal goat

Last week a goat was held in police custody as a suspect of armed robbery. This happened in Nigeria, where apparently it is common for people to believe in witchcraft and the power to change shapes.

So the goat spent a few days in jail, and since the police cannot prove the charges against it (before becoming a goat it was a man allegedly trying to steal a car – a Mazda to be exact), then the animal will be released.

One million thoughts went through my head as I heard this news on the radio; but the one that keeps me wondering the most is not about police ignorance or animal cruelty or even animal theft (I mean, the goat must belong to someone!). What I truly do not understand is why if anyone has the power to transform himself into another being would he choose to become a goat out of all things?!

Why not a pussy cat and ensure a life of lazy comfort?

Why not an eagle and enjoy the freedom of flying?

Or, why did he not turn himself into a George Clooney lookalike and enjoy … well, do I really have to go into it?

This seriously puzzles me. Any ideas?

De canciones infantiles

Cuando mi hija tenía unos 4 años le compre un CD de Tatiana en una de nuestras visitas a México. Entonces yo recordaba a Tatiana solamente vestida onda Jane de Tarzán en “Kuman”, una obra musical de hace chorromil siglos que estuvo en los Televiteatros - sí, los que se cayeron en el terremoto del ’85.

A mi hija siempre le gusto Tatiana, tanto que hace un par de años cuando tuvo que hacer un proyecto de clase de música, lo hizo de ella. A la maestra le debe de haber parecido muy folklórica una treintona vestida como niña de 7 años, pues ¡escogió el proyecto para publicarlo en el anuario de la escuela!

En fin, que hace unos días el CD apareció en el coche y nos pusimos a oírlo. Mas bien, yo por primera vez en mi vida me puse a ESCUCHARLO, ¡y que divertida me puse!

Lo que concluí después de 45 minutos es que el vocabulario de canciones infantiles mexicanas es más avanzado que el mío. A ver, mi juego favorito cuando era chica era “Doña Blanca” (por razones obvias), pero “¿quien es ese jicotillo que anda en pos de Doña Blanca?” digo, en serio, ¿qué carambas en un jicotillo?

Buscando en Google me encontré con que parece ser que un jicotillo es un gran avispón. ¿Un gran avispón? ¡No, no es posible! Yo cada vez que pienso en un gran avispón me acuerdo de Pistachón ZigZag, y ese, según yo, andaba en pos de Mafafa Musguito (¿o era ese Patas Verdes?) En mi cabeza infantil (y ahora cuarentona) un jicotillo tiene cara de lobo-perro. Lo siento, de esa no me saca nadie.

Otra: ¿qué significa "Sololoy"? Esa fue pregunta de mi hija. Ya sabes la casita a donde te vas cuando toca la marcha y tu pecho llora. Según yo era una casita soleada, ó lo que pasaba es que el cantante era tartamudo. Alguien dice que es sololoy una especie de plástico … ¿será?

¿Y que tal que al niño de “a la rorro” que llora por que perdió una manzana no le darás una, sino dos, pero tiene que ir por ellas a San Juan de Dios? Según yo las buenas manzanas son de Zacatlán, pero claro que mi mamá es Poblana y debo estar un poco influenciada.

Y para concluir este rollo los dejo con un mega-cursi homenaje al Tío Gamboín presentado nada más y nada menos que por ¡Tatiana!

No me fallen amiguitos …

What's with power?

Yesterday I joined the millions of people around the world who watched Obama’s inauguration as 44th president of the USA. I have to say that this is the very first time in my life that I felt any interest at all to watch such an event; and I had so many thoughts while doing so that now I have plenty of material in my head for at least a couple of dozen blog posts!

One of my main thoughts was around the concept of ‘power’. I think that someone who becomes the ‘leader of the free world’ must certainly be stimulated by it, and, hence, could easily be blinded by it. If someone has the drive and ambition to climb so high, what is the REAL motivation? Doing the greater good - only? To serve your country - only? Or does becoming the most ‘powerful’ man on Earth is probably one of the key incentives?

I’ve seen men blinded by the power of being ‘The CEO’ of a teeny company. Someone who starts a business with 10-15 employees, and just because he is the boss he feels that he has the right to manipulate things, situations and people as he pleases.

So, isn’t it the same, or even worse, with politicians? Isn’t this exactly what we saw happening with Bush? So, why will Obama be different?

I am not saying that Obama will NOT be different. But, what is it exactly that sets him apart? That makes him more in touch with reality - if that is really the case? That makes him immune to the effect of power: lots and lots of power?

I don’t know. I have many ideas, but I truly don’t know.

At this point, I can only hope that Obama will not suffer from the teeny-CEO achievement syndrome ... which, I think, is very similar to the Pharaohs' definition of achievement:

Let's go for a drink

Eighty days after starting a debate with myself - and my friends - on the positives (and not) of turning 40, the day finally arrived yesterday. D-day came and left ... and now I am stuck being a forty-something for the next ten years.

Now I am anxiously looking forward to that life that started not even 24 hours ago. You know, that 'life starts at 40' thingy!

And while I settle into my new midage woman personality, here is something that a male friend sent and that really made me laugh ... one of those 'I-know-exactly-what-you-are-talking-about' sort of laughs.

The question is: "WHAT GOES THROUGH YOUR MIND WHEN SOMEONE SAYS LET'S GO FOR A DRINK??"

Forty-something or not, this is one answer where most women fit in. Or not?

Cheers!

Middle Aged Woman

This video is about the other side of being over forty ... the one that was bothering me so much on the first place and made me start the 'forty-something' website idea to convince myself otherwise.

The song is by Lisa Koch, the pictures and cartoons are hilarious, and I don't know who put together the video ... but who cares really... according to the song even if I knew I probably wouldn't remember anyway!

Video: Why you should love being in your forties!

Still excited and full of ideas to bring www.forty-something.com to the next level, I put together a very simple video highlighting the reasons why being over 40 is ... ahem ... so great. I will be using it as a PR tool moving forward.

With only 6 days to go until my own 40th birthday, I have to confess that I am finally starting to believe it!

The song I used is "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera.

Forty-something.com is an Award Winner!

Just before Christmas I was happily surprised to learn that my website http://www.forty-something.com/ was selected as one of the finalists of "The Best of SynthaSite" contest.

A couple of hours ago I found out that it is the Award Winner in the 'personal category' from more than 1,000 entries from around the world ... and I am totally thrilled with the news.

There were two categories in the competition - Business and Personal - and the top 5 finalists in each category were selected by a panel of expert judges who evaluated each site for focused purpose, visual appeal and innovative use of widgets. The winners in each category were voted on and selected by friends and users of SynthaSite.

You can read the press release issued by SynthaSite here.

Thank you very much for your support --- this one is dedicated to all my forty-something friends!!

The ageless CPO

According to Wikipedia CPO may refer to:

• Certified Protection Officer, a certification for security guards from the International Foundation of Protection Officers
• Chief Petty Officer, a military rank
• Chief Privacy Officer, an executive responsible for managing issues of privacy laws and policies
• Chief Process Officer, an executive responsible for defining processes rules and guidelines for an organization to follow
• Chief Procurement Officer, an executive responsible for supply management
• Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
• Capital Punishment Organization, a 1990s rap duo from California
• China Philharmonic Orchestra, in Beijing, China
• Classic Production Osnabrück, a German classical music record label
  

According to Barack Obama, CPO refers to the newly created position of “Chief Performance Officer”. At first sight, I thought this should be the title of the president himself, but no, it is someone who is appointed to work on the federal budget and to reform government, while reporting directly to Obama.

I always thought the first part of the role was that of the Secretary of the Treasury, but actually it seems his department only works on “managing the finances effectively, promoting economic growth and stability, and ensuring the safety, soundness, and security of the U.S. and international financial systems.” Something that, obviously, has not been done that well as of late.

Reforming government is crucial, but should not be that difficult once W and his gang hit the door.

The new CPO will be a woman, Nancy Killefer. She looks young on her pictures, so I tried to find out her age to see if she is a forty-something. I looked everywhere I could think of without success. Her date of birth is nowhere to be found!

So, at least we know that the woman in charge of budget and cleaning up W’s mess is very good at keeping important secrets hidden from the world!

The good side of being a forty-something

So just when I was sure I had not much more to say about being an almost-forty-something, I get an email from a friend with a list of 'perks of being over 40'. Quite funny, especially coming from someone who is about to hit 50!

Here you go:

1. Your supply of brain cells is finally down to manageable size.
2. Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.
3. People call at 9 PM and ask, "Did I wake you?"
4. People no longer view you as a hypochondriac.
5. You get into heated arguments about pension plans.
6. You have a party and the neighbors don't even realize it.
7. You sing along with elevator music.
8. You argue with the TV and you always win.
   
9. You won't be able to remember this list - and you won't care.
   
10. I cannot remember what was #10 on the list - and I don't care.
    

Sounds familiar?

Thanks M for sharing!