Perplexing

As much as I like to exercise my meager creative muscle, I can't think of anything except for this latest massacre in Oregon.

In Roseburg, Oregon, at Umpqua Community College, TEN more people have been murdered.  That's TEN more friends, sons, daughters, siblings, cousins, significant others, teammates, mentors. The numbers of people reported killed doesn't tell the whole story. 

Here are some numbers, for those that need to quantify horror. Since 2005 there have been 24 mass shootings. 24, including today's. Including today, 223 people have been killed. That's an average of 9.291666 dead at the hands of people who had access to all sorts of different weapons, including automatic an semi-automatic firearms, as well as mega-clips that can hold somewhere around 30 bullets. The number of people injured in these events is just about equal at 210. That's 433 people whose families, friends, teachers and colleagues whose lives have changed. Thousands of people close to, acquainted with, in classes with, working with or doing business with victims of those with whatever agenda may have driven them to think that killing as many poor souls they can will cure whatever they feel ails their worlds.

 What do we do? How do we attempt to, at the very least, mitigate the inborn terrorism our lack of comprehensive gun control laws has bred? More guns? Arm every man woman and child with a weapon? That seems a tad exaggerated, but one of the most powerful and influential organizations that lobbies our elected "leaders" seems to think that if more people had guns there would be fewer people killed by . . .  guns! I can't even respond to that anymore, for the skewed logic behind that type of thinking is perplexing at best.

It's been proven in numerous American states, and countries around the world, that quite the opposite is true, that FEWER guns yields FEWER people killed by guns. Look it up, these are facts that are readily accessible to anyone with a computer and a desire for the truth.

Thy say that if gun ownership is criminalized, then only criminals will have guns. The end game here is NOT to outlaw gun ownership altogether. It's to create viable legislation that makes it less easy to buy a deadly weapon. Laws that will do realistic background checks, and that will create a database of as many guns as possible that are properly licensed and registered. We do it with cars, we can do it with pistols, shotguns, rifles, assault weapons etc. We can do it at gun shows, gun shops, department stores. Training and testing should be mandatory. We do it with motorcycles. The point is, nobody is looking to ban guns, just ensure as best we can that only those responsible of us can actually own one, or two, or however many they want, but they need to be vetted and tested.

What about the mentally ill? Well, wouldn't you agree that anyone that would perpetrate such horrific acts are, in fact, mentally ill? Not necessarily schizophrenic, not necessarily psychotic, psychopaths or sociopaths, but possibly severely imbued within the black hole of clinical depression. It could be any number of etiologies at play, but the expression "mentally ill" is broad and deep. More stringent regulations will help to keep people suffering in a lonely world of confusion, of feeling as if they don't belong, from potentially acquiring the things they feel will help them show the world they exist, or to make whatever point they feel needs to be made.

Those that point to only mental illness, and claim that, regardless, gun legislation of any kind will not prevent these sorts of things from occurring. Okay, let's assume that's factual. I don't recall any members of congress trying to push through meaningful laws that will help recognize and treat mental illness, so how can anyone take these people seriously when they flap their jaws and spew their nonsensical and politically biased claptrap. 

Let us, all of us, take a look at what is really going on here, and work together to use our common sense and rational intellect to end the madness.

60 to 60

Day 16

Manuel Snitkin October 6, 1919 - February 9, 2015

        Yes, it has been a while since my last post. The last six weeks have been difficult, at best.

As I've posted previously,  my father, at 95, had been in a nursing home, surly and defiant as always. At the beginning of February my niece, Samantha, who was my parents' health proxy due to her RN status, texted my siblings and me to say we needed to go see him, he wasn't doing at all well. I drove up to Suffern that day, and she was right, he was fairly incoherent, barely eating or drinking, mostly unresponsive. That was Monday the 2nd. I went to see him three times that week, and on Sunday the 8th he was the worst I'd seen him, and I knew it was just a matter of hours, or a day or two before he was gone.  The next day, Monday, February 9th, we found out he had passed away.

Without going into details, we had a memorial for him on the 18th. It was a small turnout, but we focused on the positive and remembered him well.

Whenever we lose someone we tend to become philosophical. From the day we are born we train for the future. We learn to talk, walk, read and write. We learn mathematics and about historical events. We engage in some form of athletics, music, art. All of this in order to find ourselves, to figure out what we would be doing as adults to earn a living. Some of us build our bodies, some our minds, some, both.

Our ultimate goal is to leave a legacy, something for our offspring and theirs to retain, to learn from in order to do a little better than their predecessors. Some legacies, however, are more difficult to realize. Sometimes we need to dig a little deeper, look past the outward bluster in order to see the rest of the person. Call me a cockeyed optimist, but in spite of what may seem unforgivable, there is always something redeeming about every human being that walks the Earth.

Well, during all this, my ex-wife's car also died from natural causes. The transmission on her 1999 Audi A4 with over 200,000 miles stopped functioning, and the cost to repair it was way more than it was worth to do so. So I have been Mr. Taximan for her and our daughter. We're attempting to get her a replacement car, but credit issues have been confounding our efforts.

Add to all this schoolwork, which has piled up in an overwhelming fashion, and you can see why I haven't found the time to post anything for the last five weeks.

I may not be able to add to this every day, as I have to catch up on life - schoolwork, housework, and most importantly, a job search! My unemployment runs out in two weeks, and I need to find something, fast! So, anyone reading this who knows of anyone looking for a writer and/or a social media marketer, please let me know! Also, if any small companies you know of are struggling or just getting started, and are in need of someone to work on a consultative basis to get their business moving forward, contact me. My website has a contact form.

www.brooklynboymarketingsolutions.com/contact.html

60 to 60

 Day 48

 First things first. The Super Bowl. What an incredible game, an incredible half-time show, and the most incredibly stupid play with 26 seconds to go at second and goal at the one yard line! Whatever the reason, there was no good reason to risk the seemingly inevitable win.

Okay, I vented. Now, I do want to apologize for being remiss in my remittance. It's been just one of those blocks of time where I couldn't motivate myself enough to accomplish all I would have liked. I'll try to recap the last 10 days as best I can without boring you all with too many unnecessary details.

Since last I wrote, we had the unprecedented BLIZZARD-OF-MAMMOTH-PROPORTIONS 

 

 that turned out to be  . . .  a snowstorm. Instead of digging out from 24 inches, we here in my bucolic part of the world ended up shoveling about 4 inches. Not that I'm complaining. 

The Spring semester began, and so far I like my instructors, but knowing me, that may not last long. In any case, these classes should prove pretty interesting. The unfortunate thing is that, because of a cancelled class, and the fact that I STILL have not been able to pass the Algebra placement exam (Therefore not able to take the required math class!) I won't be graduating in May. I'll need one more semester in order to do so. I was really planning on May, and I'm hating that I couldn't realize my goal. However, the courses I will have under my belt will serve me well regardless, as these are the real core classes I need for my degree.

Unemployment benefits are running out the end of next month, so, as much as I don't like the idea, I do need to get a job pretty soon. The quandary is, what? I've been kind of half-assed looking, but not with any real interest or fervor. It's crunch time though, so I have to turbo boost my efforts.

This Saturday will mark my one year anniversary with my new car, and I've really enjoyed it. I have two years to go on my lease, and I'm predicting a problem-free twenty-four months. I take good care of my cars - I do the maintenance and rotate the tires when I'm supposed to, and I don't abuse the car, even though that would be easy to do, it's such a fun car to drive. My first Benz. I like the European cars. I've owned a Volvo, a VW and an Audi prior, and I have to tell you, there's nothing like driving the European cars. Solid as a rock, well-built, even the Volkswagen, and great handling characteristics. I had driven Infiniti for the six years I worked at the dealership - they give demos, which is unusual these days - and they were great cars as well, but there is a marked difference. The Mercedes is the best of the bunch though. As Ferris Bueller said:

"If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up"

So, I will be turning 60 in seven weeks. The one thing I will hopefully be able to give myself is the weekend at the Beatle Fest in Secaucus March 20-22. I've been wanting to attend this for years. I would have loved to have gone last year, the 50th anniversary of the British Invasion, but, alas . . . 

My father is 95 years old. He's been in a nursing home for two years now, and was doing as okay as could have been expected, but the last month, give or take, he's deteriorated a good amount. He has pneumonia right now, and they're giving him antibiotics, and trying to see that he has some nutrition. However, he's off in some other world of his own. I'm sure he knows on some level when he has us visit, but he is unresponsive. He is, of course, his same stubborn, defiant self! He won't let anyone do anything for him, waving his arms to chase away whoever tries. 

I'll get into a more philosophical bent when I have the time, but, for now, I must go, for I have errands and school. Just, please, take care of yourselves. Eat well, exercise, keep your minds active and maintain a strong network of good friends. You'll appreciate it when you're 95!

 

 

60 to 60

Day 58

  Monday, January 26th was the first day of the new Spring semester. I don't actually have a class on Monday, but I am enrolled in an on-line class, Intro to Graphic Design, which is one of my required classes.  I got up, had my coffee and breakfast, and went to the site to access the first assignment. (Today's image is just a photo I took a week or so ago. It holds no meaning.) The assignment is, self portrait done with newspaper and magazine clippings, all typographical. Very kidnapperesque. I'll post it when I'm done. It should be, at the very least, interesting!

I did some of the required reading, and posted an introduction the professor requested in the student forum. One of the reasons for this countdown exercise is to help me embrace the 60. Yes I made it a noun. Maybe if I see it as an more tangible "thing" it will be easier to allow as a part of me, because as a concept it is hard to conceptualize.

Being on the computer, I did some more Facebook friend searching, and found a few very special people from decades ago. Now, I know the whole looking back thing is a bit counterproductive to my current endeavors, but I'm finding that, as I find friends of yore (yeah yeah . . . ) that my eyes open to a little more about who I am and who I was. That is very helpful for the who I can be.

My eyes began to tire, so I entrenched myslef on the couch and turned on the TV. I watched a bunch of my NCIS reruns, and eventually turned to the news. Being the commie pinko liberal guy I am, I watch MSNBC. I wanted to know what was going on in the world, like what the President had to say about John Boehner's plan to meet with Netanyahu without first clearing it with the White House. However, it turned out to be ALL BLIZZARD, ALL THE TIME! on every channel, so I got caught up in the prognostications predicting doom and gloom and lots of snow everywhere! Seven states all eventually decreed a State Of Emergency, and people from South Jersey to Massachusetts hunkered down for the worst blizzard to hit the Northeast in a million years! 

I finally got bored, and looked to see what was fun and interesting to watch. 2 Broke Girls, Mike and Molly and Scorpion, my typical Monday night fare, were preempted by. . . something, I don't recall what. So I opted to watch this French movie on Turner Classic Movies called "Belle du Jour." It was from 1967 and starred Catherine Deneuve. In 1967 it would never have passed the censorship standards in the United States. By today's standards it was fairly mild, but the story is about a sexually repressed doctor's wife with some pretty kinky fantasies. She eventually becomes a high class call girl and her inhibitions toward sex don't follow her to the apartment where the "brothel" is.  Even with subtitles it was a pretty interesting watch.

When it was over I turned the storm watch back on, and it seemed that my part of the world wasn't going to be hit quite as hard as they thought, for the storm kinda shifted east, and since I live in Northwest New Jersey, they downgraded their snowfall predictions, with the disclaimer that we could still get hit if the storm shifts back.  Finally, I turned on The Daily Show, watched Colbert's replacement, which is okay but not even remotely as good as Colbert, and @Midnight, which is pretty funny most nights.

I went to bed thinking about how much I didn't want to deal with a foot or so of snow the next day.

60 to 60

 Day 59

 Okay, so yesterday was a lazy day and I didn't post. Forgive me. Or don't, that's entirely up to you, but I hope I'm deserving of a little latitude. After all, I am so damned lovable!

Sundays aren't the same, especially living alone. The Sunday papers, bagels, sitting around kibitzing with each other. All I can do lately is joke around with myself, which, in my mind, seems a little "Hey! Get off my lawn!" ish. I guess if I had a lawn . . . 

I did spend some time with friends on Facebook, which I love. I've been able to reconnect with so many of the people who have meant something to me over the span of the last 60 years. The things we all share with one another, the tremendous love and support that comes when life inevitably gives us atomic wedgies, and the genuine joy we derive from the wonderful things that do embrace us all every now and again.

We reminisce, we flashback, we wax nostalgic about the good old days. I love that, but even though I'm about to be a sexagenarian (quitcher snickering) I am looking forward. You see, going to school to pave another career path requires living in the present and looking toward the future, both immediate and distant. So, I do find myself, of course, getting caught up in looking back, for two big reasons. 

One, I love my friends. I do, regardless of whether we've remained friends all this time, or if we lost contact for most of our adult lives and have only just rediscovered one another. True friends are never lost, only misplaced, and Facebook can be considered an emotional attic which we can explore, and ultimately uncover our misplaced treasures we thought were lost and gone forever.

Two, having discovered almost three years ago that I am afflicted with Attention Deficit Disorder, and knowing now how that affects people, I look back and understand why I did things I did, didn't do things I would have liked to have done, and couldn't do a lot of things a fairly bright kid from Brooklyn NY should have been able to do.With this new-found awareness I can - I must - look back at the foolish things I've done and relearn how to best be the best me. It isn't easy, for the patterns of 50+ years are difficult to alter, but I can see that I am making slow but steady process in the metamorphosis.

If you noticed, the image I included for this post is a logo I designed. I will be using it with my soon-to-be created website that (No comments from the TEAnut gallery please! lol) will help raise awareness of the need to promote humanitarian and equal rights programs and legislature. I do understand that some of you are in direct conflict with my position on these issues. I am always willing to have intelligent and factual debates with anyone about most anything, but they can't be arguments, and they need to be backed up by cogent and corroborative facts from neutral, unbiased sources.  Calling President Obama names and saying he's looking to destroy America do not a debate make!  

I have my domain all ready, and will be building the website for launch in about three weeks. If anyone wants to make any CONSTRUCTIVE suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

That all took up most of my day.  I did ride over to Costco to gas up for the (non)storm. I got my laundry done, went to the supermarket to pick up a couple of things, which, considering the fact that SNOWMAGEDDON was on its way, the store was relatively quiet.

I made myself some dinner and settled in to watch Shameless on Showtime. One of the best shows EVER! These people truly are shameless! It's so well written and performed. I recommend it to most of you who aren't readily shocked and offended.  Then House of Lies and Elements.  Showtime has had some incredible shows recently, and it's much cheaper than HBO. Although, when Boardwalk Empire returns so will my subscription to HBO.

MARKETING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

 5 Points to Ponder

How's business? Not bad, right? Getting better? Or are you about to embark upon a journey of self employment? Regardless, chances are your marketing plan isn't quite as complete as it should be. Here are five points that must be addressed in order to compete in the technology age.

1. Website:  You need one. You need a professionally designed website. Yes, there are simple solutions of course, but unless you are so inclined, it is a worthwhile investment, as your website is your virtual storefront. As they say, you only get one chance to make a first impression, and as such your website should be your business putting its best foot forward.   There are certain features you may want to have incorporated. For example, will you  be conducting business on your site? If so, you will need to have an e-commerce function.What about a sign-up or contact form? Will it be something simple, or do you need numerous layers and sub-layers to properly present that which you have to offer? The point is, with the right consultant you're assured of touching on all points and building a website that works and looks great.
2. Meta Tags:  What the hell are meta tags? Simply put, they're code words placed in the website's code to assist the search engines - Google, Chrome, Bing, etc - find your website when someone searches for a business like yours. For example, let's say you have a children's shoe store. Some meta tags might include kids shoes, children's shoes, boys shoes, girls shoes, etc. You can also add your location, surrounding towns, brand names. The more tags you include increase the possibility of someone's search identifying your company.
3. Logo:  Your logo is one of the most important pieces of defining your brand.It is an image that becomes iconic, something someone can see and, without any other information, know the brand, what it offers and what it stands for. Take, for example, the Mercedes Benz three-pointed star. What image does it conjure? Cars. Luxury cars. Well built luxury cars. Wealth, money, high-quality well built products.  What about the Nike "swoosh"? Athletic performance. Running shoes, basketball shoes, sports equipment and clothing, quality.  These images we garner include us. "I would love a Mercedes, I'd look great driving one! Maybe my ex-girlfriend will want to get back together, or, at the very least, kick herself for dumping me!" "I'll get me some Nikes and start training for the New York Marathon, even though I'm 75 pounds overweight and haven't even barely walked any farther than the mailbox in the last couple of years."  The point is, a well-designed logo can go a long way in establishing your brand.
4. Blogs:  By now most people know what a blog is, but not necessarily how to begin and maintain one. Essentially, for those of you that truly have no clue, the word "BLOG" is an amalgam of the expression "web-log." Web logs began as on-line journals, diaries, etc. As more and more people were able to access them these web-logs increased in content, and eventually, because this is what the world is now, it was abbreviated to Blog.  With the shift from traditional to technology-driven advertising and marketing venues, blogging has become a very important aspect of any marketing plan.  You can become the expert just by posting blogs on a regular basis.
5. Social Media:  Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Linkedin, Tumblr . . . Those are some of the most popular, but they don't even begin to tell the social media story.  The predictions are that, in 2020, approximately 70% of the WORLD'S population will have some sort of mobile device, like a smart phone or a tablet. Let's assume there will be about 7,500,000,000 people on Earth by then. That means that about 4,725,000,000 (4 BILLION, 725 MILLION!) people will be sporting a mobile device. What will they be doing, aside from playing Candy Crush? Staying in touch with friends, family and business connections in one social media site or another.  This is the new word-of-mouth. It's instantaneous and so very broad reaching in its scope, and is the future of marketing and advertising.

These five points are not, by any means, the answer to increasing business, but they are the most important. If you are not incorporating these tools in your marketing efforts you are not reaching your maximum potential audience. If you aren't so inclined as to know how best to  make this all work for you, well, that's what Brooklyn Boy Marketing Solutions is here for. Contact us for a free needs assessment at your place of business. At the very least you'll be impressed, and at best you'll help us help you design all you need in order to compete in an internet world!

(c) Brooklyn Boy Marketing Solutions, all rights reserved.

60 to 60: Day 60

60 to 60

Day 60

  In 60 days, including today, I turn 60. Yes, the BIG 60. Over the hill. One foot on a banana peel. (I figured I'd save you all some of the trouble!) Don't forget though, yours will be along shortly as well!

I decided to journal these next couple of months, for no other reason than to do it. Well, this birthday is, to me, a huge milestone, and I felt the need to do something to go gently into that big fright.

I have to admit, it bothers me. Not a lot, but it does bother me. The only other birthdays that had any kind of impact on me were 22 and 31. Allow me to explain.

When I turned 18 it was the age of majority. Living in Brooklyn I was able to get my driver's license and drink legally, the combination of which wasn't quite as frightening 42 years ago. 19 was my last year as a teenager. At 20 I was no longer a teenager. 21 meant I was fully an adult. 22 had absolutely no significance whatsoever, and for some reason that was a bit disconcerting.

When I reached my 30th birthday, I was okay with it. I freaked a little at 31 though, because I wasn't 30, I was IN my 30s! 366 days prior I was in my 20s, and now I'm in my 30s. 

Reaching our 30s we begin to embrace a certain confounding dichotomy where we look back on our three decades prior, as well as our future. Wedged in there is the present. What have I accomplished, where am I now and where will I be looking forward? The competing forces render us into a state of existential confusion.

Now, here comes 60. It made the final turn and is racing down the stretch to March 24th. 60. To me, the beginning of the final third, the last act. My family tends to stick around for a long time. Grandpa Joe died from lung cancer at 88, after having smoked unfiltered Pall Mall cigarettes his entire life. He had part of his lung removed and just kept on going, in and out of the hospital. Finally he succumbed. Grandma Bess was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease at around 85 years of age. She was a wonderful Grandmother with a great sense of humor, and it was sad to see her mind deteriorate. The disease had finally won the battle when she was 95. These were my paternal grandparents. My mother's father died before I was born, and unfortunately I don't remember when Nanny passed away. But Mom, who had lived a sedentary life, and had smoked cigarettes for 43 years, until she was told at 65 that she had to quit because she "had a touch of emphysema" according to her. She was a whole lot tougher than anyone would have guessed. In her mid 80's she had stents implanted in her 95% blocked arteries. A couple of years later, she needed to be re-stented. The surgeon nicked an artery and had to do emergency bypass surgery. Mom survived where the likelihood was low. Finally, a number of years later at 91, Mom passed away, her  mind and body too worn out to fight any longer. And now my father is still kicking at the nursing home at 95 years old. Kind of feeble and extremely hard of hearing, he still recognizes us all and is, for the most part, fairly healthy. When he was 80 he had a heart valve replaced. At 76 they caught his prostate cancer very early, which he fought and won. We Snitkins are a hardy bunch.

Considering the longevity in my genes, deeming this point to be the beginning of the final third can be considered realistic. I'll be around for a good long time more.

I won't bore you with today. I woke up late, shoveled some snow, watched television, cooked and ate dinner and began my journal. I guess I'll be forcing myself to do more interesting things so as not to put you all to sleep reading this!

I do hope you enjoy this, and comments are always welcome. But e-mail them or post them on Facebook, as this site doesn't make it easy to do so.