Month: April 2012

Manic Monday

/ Erin May / 17 Comments

A silly problem to have: Sometimes, when I go to file an email (woo hoo, inbox ninja!) I put emails meant for my  “friends” file  mistakenly in the “fried” category. Not sure if it’s more telling that I have a file for emailing with my friends, or that the “fried” file has over a dozen emails in there.  #mmmfriedchicken

Inspirational links about life, work and being the best you:

  • Five steps to up your personal dignity quotient via Yes and Yes. This is a well written and frank blog that I’ve recently gotten into- and this particular post appeals to this gal who is awkward and uncouth rather frequently (okay, you caught me. It’s me.)
  • Maintaining work-life balance has gotten a little more difficult now that I’m working part-time on my own. I have too much life! This article from The Braid gave me comfort in my values of not working over 40 hours, enjoying mindless television, and accepting that sometimes I’ll just have to say no for my own sanity.

Hilarious things on the internet: 

  • The lovely Shauna of Jupiter Fame got me the most amazing postcard this weekend at Stumptown Comic Festival- check out the artist’s other work!
  • I’ve been completely absorbed by my copy of Let’s Pretend this Never Happened by The Blogess. Her humor, passion and extreme non-sequiturs keep me laughing, even at the serious content of infertility, the death of a beloved pet, and how messed up a childhood in the country can be. I highly recommend this book.

Happy, productive Monday!

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Weekends.

/ Erin May / 18 Comments

Pretty fantastic.

This weekend, I got my first taste of bar tending. Granted, I just poured wine, but it was still pretty fantastic! I also deeply enjoyed the amazing D20 necklace the amazing Shauna gave me this last week, pictured above. It lights up  and everything.

That’s all for today.

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Special Things with Shelley

/ Erin May / 26 Comments
This post is brought to you by my mom Shelley! She is going to share with you in her own words a few of her special belongings today: 

The Doll Heads. 

  • Where they came from: Each of these heads were purchased at an auction from a doll museum at the coast. 
  • Why it’s special: Because I went to this auction with a good friend, and they’re unique. They’re part of a doll history. Each is different. Plus they creep people out, but not as much as the box of doll parts that I had to get rid of. They take up less room than a bunch of whole dolls. 

The Fat Lady Spoons:

  • Where it came from: My great-grandmother Stoups’ family, Minnie May Stoup. They’re all engraved. 
  • Why it’s special: They’ve been in the family a long time, and they’re really cool. And don’t you think Fat Lady spoons are kind of funny?

The Family Shotgun

  • Where it came from: Your great-grandmother Davis. She had this to kill varmints. 
  • Why it’s special: It’s really cool. Although I think if you tried to shoot it, you’d probably blow your head off. 

Dining Room Table and Chairs

  • Where it came from: This belonged to my Grandma Sophie, one of my favorite people ever. 
  • Why it’s special: We always had great holidays at her house, with all my cousins, and we’d all sit around this table – and I got to put it in my house. 

Great-Great Grandfather’s Cabinet.  

An actual conversation about this cabinet: 

me: what was his name again? 

mom: Something Davis.

me: Thanks.

  • Where it came from: This is passed down to the Davis boy who will keep the Davis name going.
  • Why it’s special: It’s pretty and ornate and it is significant in a line of men who have all been woodworkers. The lineage of carpenters through the generations.

Thank you for reading! And thanks to my Mom Shelley for helping out with this today.

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Personal Branding

/ Erin May / 21 Comments

When you read a lot of online job hunting and interviewing articles, you start seeing the term “personal branding” quite a bit.

As a marketer and a human being, I think this is a funny concept. I understand that generally these sites are encouraging you to be consistent in the look and feel of your documents and the way you present yourself. In my head, though, I always think “isn’t the term ‘personal branding’ just a buzzword for  ‘the way you show your personality'”? 

That being said, I decided to play with a bit of my own personal branding this week. Specifically in customized Facebook Timeline images and “life events.” This is Facebook’s little way of creating milestones on your feed that denote something important – or in my case, something a little silly.

Here are a few of my Life Events:

I branded these using the font and color choice I tend to use on resumes, my Portfolio, and other  Sites. This graph made it very easy to create the appropriate sizes.

Overall, a fun way to generate a little interest in events that happened decades ago, and customize your page a bit more.

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