It’s now been more than a month since this oil rig exploded, killing 11 people and in my mind demonstrating clearly that even the best minds in energy science do not have the equipment or plan in place for responding to the worst-case scenarios in deep-water drilling.

We’re still having a hard time keeping coal mining safe, and that’s been going on for decades. I’m personally shocked that the government would provide permits for drilling in an area where even the government doesn’t have adequate underwater vehicles. It’s apparently just too darn deep.

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On Hardball with Chris Matthews, I saw Sylvia Earle of National Geographic say,

We (the USA) haven‘t made the investment to have a garage filled with submarines, a garage filled with remotely-operated systems, (nor in) the talent to be able to go down independently of industry and respond. (video above)

In other words, the oil industry HAS to fix it because they are the only ones that HAVE THE TOOLS.

That is petrifying.

I am furious because I feel so helpless. I have worked hard to live an environmentally friendly life. But a worse case scenario in the Gulf could potentially ruin my visit to a North Carolina beach. Do you see how huge this thing is? This is right in our backyard, DC. Not cool.

The truth is that together we could have prevented this, and we can prevent another incident like this if we all do our part to get out of the oil slick. Go green. Ask for alternative energies. A wind farm will never cause problems like this. Solar panels don’t even have to change the landscape of your neighborhood. Recycle. Buy from farmers’ markets. Use public transportation. Every little bit helps.

Above all, write your Representative and Senator in Congress and let them know that offshore drilling needs to stop now.

A friend recently lost their fish, a 4-year old beta, and as she struggles to break the news to her kids, I’m reminded of exactly why pets are good.

I have loved — and lost — a number of pets in my life, and although each one wasn’t a life’s companion, they taught me something as they came and went through our family story.

Nothing is free. My parents always spoke first about who was going to clean up after whatever pet we begged them for. Whether it was a fish, a hamster, a cat or dog, we quickly learned that pets equal chores. We never spent a lot of money on our pets, but it was clear that time would be spent taking care of the pets, and our allowance often counted on that.

We are needed. With fish, it was painfully clear that if we didn’t do our cleaning the bowl/feeding chores, the fish died. Of course my parents didn’t let that happen with our cats, but the message had been delivered.

Life is dirty, and sometimes painful. There are litter boxes and hairballs to deal with. Sometimes there is surgery. Sometimes there is a fight. We help the ones we love recuperate.

Death happens. This is probably the most important lesson. When a pet dies, this is tragic. As a young person who has helped a loved pet grow and survive turmoil, it is particularly tragic. We do not expect to lose anyone around us. But learning how to say goodbye is very useful. Grief will be necessary. Learning how to cry is important.

It breaks my heart when I hear people tell my friend to just replace the fish they’ve just lost, that ‘the kids won’t be able to tell the difference.’ First, I think they will be able to tell, and second, I think that a valuable opportunity could be lost. It is so much easier to learn how to grieve first about a fish, then it is about a cat, or a dog, then a grandmother or grandfather.

Pets are important family members for all of these reasons, besides the fact that many furry pets also will be able to tell when you’ve lost someone and need someone warm to sit in your lap.

I’m thankful for all the pets that have come and gone through my life, especially the cats I have right now, Eddie and Nacho (pictured). I recommend everyone who has the space and resources to add a pet in their life check out Petfinder.com and consider adopting a pet.

I find the passion of music people contagious. People in the music biz are in it for the love of music. I also love music, (My personal passion is promotions/marketing, but that’s another story.), and the more time I spend near musicians and music people, the more I love them.

One big irony of the music business is that the more successful you are, the less certain your life can become. Someone with a garage band can plan on Saturday rehearsals with their friends, but if you are in a hugely successful band, your workplace changes each night, and you often sleep in a hotel and hang out in restaurants or backstage at nightclubs. Of course big rock stars make tons of money, which makes this kind of schedule worth it in a way.

But it’s not that easy to make money being a musician. Even selling CDs is getting harder. There are only a handful of artists that get to the top and stay there. More likely even successful artists have only one album that gets some notoriety, and going on tour costs a lot.

Still, musicians keep on rockin. There are songs to be sung, there is music to be made. Musicians do it because they love what they do. I’ve seen bands play in parks, and on stages only three inches above the crowd. Bands give out free CDs and play free shows just so people can hear their music. Musicians stand by each other and support each other. They know full well that there is only a chance in a million that they may get discovered or signed, and yet they keep keepin’ on. [Don't believe me? Watch the Anvil documentary, an excellent story of persistance, passion and rediscovery.]

Just recently, the rock family lost Malcolm MacLaren, who created and managed the Sex Pistols, and we lost Peter Steele, a musician I really enjoyed seeing. He sang for Type O Negative, a metal/goth band that had been around for a long time, and I had the pleasure of meeting him and the rest of the band in person a couple of times. The band often argued amongst themselves, but always came back together even through the very worst of personal tragedies. The music world is showing its support with a number of kind tributes coming out about both Malcolm’s and Peter’s talent and personality.

April 17 is Record Store Day, which was formed “as a celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA, and hundreds of similar stores internationally.” I used to be co-owner of a record store, so it means a lot to me. I’ll be heading to a record store in Baltimore to shop for some of the special releases and enjoy some in-store performances. I encourage you to do the same.

And, on a side note, there will be an awesome retrospective in this week’s Sunday Washington Post Magazine by J.Freedom du Lac on the 9:30 Club, often called the best nightclub on the east coast, and one of my personal favorite places in the world.

I hope that you love what you do. Life is way too short to spend your day doing something you don’t enjoy, and we can’t judge our talents by money alone.

Rock on! \m/

You turn on the television and they are there – beautiful people, with perfect makeup and clothes, saying clever things at just the right time – celebrities.

Movie stars and even our national newscasters seem so out of reach, so otherworldly sometimes. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to say hello, to see them in person, maybe even shake their hand?

Well, it’s possible, my friend – and sometimes it’s easier than you think. Here are a few tips that have helped me satisfy my need for a brush with fame.

Getting started

• Focus: start with a targeted group of celebrities. When they gather, you’ll have a better chance at hitting one of them. For instance, NASCAR drivers or ballet dancers.
• Patience is a virtue: Especially if you have a major celebrity in mind, you may have to wait a long time for the right opportunity, and a long line may be in your future. Accept this fact and wait for the right moment.
• Manners make the man: Realize that if a celebrity has opened that door to a wall of fans dying to meet them, they are being very brave and patient, and they are hoping that each fan is not a psycho. Don’t be that psycho.
• Know your celebrity: What is your idol up to? Are they on a speaking tour for their favorite charity, selling an autobiography or helping a politician they like get elected? Keep informed.
• Out of their element, in with you: When rock stars are writing children’s books, or comedians are giving ’serious’ presentations, they are out of their element. This means the crowd around them is not as large, only true fans or business partners have come to see them, and they are much more grateful for the attention they are getting. This is a golden opportunity to get your photo or an autograph.
• Accept your mission: Autographs? Photos with you and the band? In most cases you will have a split second with the celeb, and no re-takes, so decide ahead of time. Actually, decide now. The band may walk into the restaurant any minute now. However: when they say NO, it’s usually best to accept that. In more cases photos are OK and autographs are not, because celebs know the value of their scribbles.
• How much is your celebrity worth? Yes, you might have to spend some money. Some stars charge for an autograph, whether it’s on a piece of paper or on an 8″ x 10″ glossy photo they are selling you. Or you may have to buy a ticket to a book signing, and even buy their book (again!) Why? Signing 200 photos at $20 each might be this week’s income. Hey, it’s a living.

Places stars hang out

• Charity auctions/benefits
• Book signings
• Film screenings/premieres
• eBay
• Product launches – for their signature perfume, clothing line, sneakers etc.
• Fan conventions – comic book conventions, horror conventions, Star Trek conventions, etcetera. Don’t be surprised if the stars in the autograph tent extend beyond the main theme of the convention, and be prepared at these events to pay for an autograph and/or a glossy photo of your favorite star.
• University campuses. If you graduated from somewhere, put that alumni card to use! If not, poke your nose into the local campus and get on their mailing list.
• Fan newsletters, sports team websites etc. If you are the fan you say you are, suck up every piece of info you can. Buy tickets to any special-access event the day they become available, and get your butt out there and be first in line!
• THEIR WEBSITE – many celebrities are only stars to a small group of people. Try writing an e-mail or the treasured hand-written note. You would be surprised how many people will return the favor.
• Twitter – there are as many real celebs on Twitter as there are fake ones. And there are dozens of lists of “Celebrities on Twitter” to help you decipher the difference. Use those tools before you find yourself following an impostor.

Good luck meeting your idol. And remember, be polite!

(I previously published part of this article on Squidoo.)

I’m looking forward to embarking on a new adventure as a corporate tweeter. As such, I’ve taken a good deal of time accumulating best practices for corporate accounts. Many of these are the same as I would recommend for anyone operating a business Twitter account for themselves:

1. Have a mission/message in mind before you post your first tweet.
2. Your message should also consider your target audience.
3. Twitter directories are a good way to gain some followers initially, but there is no get followers quick solution.
4. Be selective in following. There is no need to follow everyone who follows you.
5. Be careful of your language. This is even more important for corporations than for individuals.
6. Your posts are 100% public. Remember that bad news travels faster than good news and anything your shareholders wouldn’t like will travel out of the Twitterverse and onto TV screens and into newspapers.
7. Corporations need to select a voice. It’s best if one person, or a couple of people, man the account, for consistency, and to be sure there’s no redundancy. Most corporations invoke the royal ‘we.’  Other more customer-service oriented Twitter accounts have used an individual speaking from the first person.
8. A regular stream of content is important to any Twitter feed to maintain followers. Appropriate corporate topics include:

• • respond to follower/customer inquiries
  • retweet satisfied customer tweets
  • link to updated/interesting information on corporate websites/blogs
  • retweet updates from affiliated Twitter accounts
  • Twitter contests
  • advance notice of corporate news
  • Twitter discount codes
  • stimulate Twitter discussions with product-related questions
  • product-related trivia
  • run online surveys
  • photos of corporate events

Have some other ideas? Please share in the comments!

Bird art by Triax Mills.

It’s been nearly a week of snow, snow and more snow. The Washington, D.C. area set records for snowfall and for consecutive days of the Federal government and the D.C. government being closed. My husband and I set records for consecutive days of talking to no one else except each other. How did we survive? Well, the Internet helped a lot. And my husband’s unbelievably huge DVD collection. And the fact that we only lost power for two and a half hours. But there were some other key things that I was really very glad we had with us, and I’d like to make a note to keep this stuff on hand, just in case disaster strikes.

• iPhone – I did not have to worry about whether we had power or not to check Twitter, e-mail and news websites thanks to my iPhone. Oh, and I could post photos of our deep snow to Facebook easily, too. It charges fast and keeps its charge. I’ve got a solar charger, too.
• Battery-operated radio - The radio offers updated information and music. In a power outage, sometimes you just need some tunes to keep you sane. Be sure to keep batteries on hand.
• Dry goods and canned foods - Fresh veggies are the best when you can get them, but when you can’t get out, it is a huge relief to have a good stash of things that are easy to make by just adding water, or by just heating them up. Stuff like ramen noodles, instant soup, canned soup and vegetables, as well as pasta and rice all keep well without refrigeration for long periods.
• LED nightlights that convert to flashlights when the power goes out or a circuit breaker trips. These are very low-energy and we keep one in every room, so when the power went out, these went on. They’re not super powerful, but they are enough to help you find what you need, like the other members of your family.
• Heavy-duty flashlight or camping lantern – It’s useful to have something like this to light up an entire room that isn’t a candle. Because candles are, well, flammable, and dangerous, especially around pets and children.
• Long-burning fireplace logs – If you have a fireplace — which I definitely recommend if you are going to experience a power outage in the cold — stashing a six-pack of these long-burning logs in your basement won’t keep your house toasty, but it will give you some light and comfort with much less work and ash than a wood fire.
• Water filter – Rather than a case of bottled water, which has an expiration date and creates plastic waste, we have chosen a large filter for our refrigerator. This works just fine for two or three people. Larger family groups may want to consider an extra filter or storing one or two large bottles of water for emergencies.
• Candles – Rather than candlesticks, if you have pillar candles or tall votives, these will be much easier to move around your house and safer to leave burning for a length of time. Be sure that you don’t leave any candle burning near drapes or on a tablecloth: use heat-resistant plates to catch any drippings. And never leave a flame unattended.
• Gas stove – This is a long-term decision, along with having a fireplace. Those of us with gas stovetops were able to warm up soup or make pancakes for breakfast even when the electricity went out.
• Matches – Most of our gas stoves have electric lighters now. So without matches or a lighter on hand, our gas stoves, fireplaces and candles would all be useless. Matches are much less popular these days as smoking is being phased out, so be sure you have a handy box of kitchen matches on hand, as well as a long barbeque lighter for those hard-to-get-at places.

P.S. Here’s a great recipe that is a tasty way to use your canned beans. Black & White Bean Primavera Salad

Got some other ideas? Please comment to share the wealth!

It’s the beginning of 2010, and I’ve gotta set my goals! Last year I gave up buying plastic water bottles, and it worked! I recommend it to everyone. We saved lots of money, and got attached to our water bottles and filtering system. It works just fine, and now we’ve got more room in the refrigerator for BEER! ☺

So here are the resolutions:

• More writing: journal every day, on paper. Some stuff didn’t get recorded last year because I didn’t want to share it with the world. So I need to organize my thoughts on paper first.
• More exercise: get in that gym, at least twice a week.
• More travel: including within DC. There are some great exhibits and museums that I need to see. Concerts and shows, too!
• Home improvement: continue to green my lifestyle, purge the junk and organize the good stuff.
• Taco night on Mondays: to simplify menu planning and because we like tacos. ☺

Wish me luck, and I wish you luck with your resolutions… if you’ve made them? If you haven’t yet, I hereby give you til the end of January to come up with some. We’ve got 11 months to go, folks. That’s a lot of time to pick something to improve on or have fun with.

Most importantly,

★  ♪ ♫   Happy New Year! ♪ ♫ ♪ ★