lauren clementine.

my morning... in a puddle.

Wed, 19 May 2010 11:32:09 -0400

homeless man (lying down covered with a blanket but laying in a puddle): miss, that is a very nice raincoat. i used towahavea raincoat JUST lika that rain coats you got on.
me: (awkwardly) oh, thanks. yup, it’s definitley doing the job today - nice and dry. sir, I think you’re laying in a puddle.
homeless man: THINK!? what are you? dumb? of course i’m laying in a puddle! I was dancing in it but I just got too cold and tired so I thought I’d lie down for a bit

early Saturday morning, a water main broke in a Boston suburb -...

Thu, 06 May 2010 13:27:00 -0400

early Saturday morning, a water main broke in a Boston suburb - causing ‘unsafe levels of contamination’ in the city’s drinking water. a ‘boil order’ was put into place which explicitly instructed Bostonians to not wash their hands in the water, not drink the water, refrain from doing laundry/dishes and watering plants and under no circumstance are we supposed to cook with the water or give our pets unsafe water to drink. Basically, showering was allowed and how that’s any different than washing your hands, is beyond me; not to mention, animals (our “pets” are used to drinking out of lakes/ponds/puddles - let’s spoil them with bottled water. genious!) Originally, we were all told it would be weeks before the water could be consumed normally and used without concern - albeit the break in the pipe was nowhere near as bad as officials once thought (surprise surprise). Nontheless, chaos erupted. I should jump in here as well, on a positive note, and add that my hair and skin have NEVER felt so great as they did for those 2 days… if you see a girl bathing in the Charles, don’t ask why. Do we, as human beings, have a built-in trigger that causes excitement over catastrophe? Ready. Set. RUN. Grocery stores and convenience stores became mobbed and people became vicious - like carniverous animals over a dead carcass. I had to laugh because this wasn’t a crisis at all - it was a 2-day time period where it was ‘unsafe’ to consume the drinking water; does anyone have any idea how many parts of this world ‘live’ off contaminated water every day of their lives (and I’m not talking a bit of a leak from the Charles River, I’m talking animal ridden/sewer-used/brown community drinking water). We are all ‘freaking out’ over a water leak that’s being repaired and there is an oil spill disaster in the gulf of mexico that’s wreaking environmental havoc in the US and beyond. Guess what folks? This affects you too - go nuts. I don’t have enough time to sit here and go over the ‘real’ problems in this world but back to my human observation for a moment. Here’s the theory I have come up with: A minor crisis/a state of emergency if you will - causes self-absorption and excitement as panic sets in and people pretend the world is ending to add to their fun game. but a real crisis, a disaster, and a life-threatening occurence would actually bond people closer together… how is it that we get closer as the problem gets bigger? just an observation.

ps. if anyone wants a t-shirt to remember this historical moment in our lives:

http://www.thrillist.com/links/106774

The Rising Stars of Gossip Blogs

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 11:25:25 -0400

The Rising Stars of Gossip Blogs:

frostbites:

The lines between “reporter” and “blogger,” “gossip” and “news” have blurred almost beyond distinction. No longer is blogging something that marginalized editorial wannabes do from home, in a bathrobe, because they haven’t found a “real” job. Blogging now is a career path in its own right, offering visibility, influence and an actual paycheck. As more gossip action in a variety of fields moves online, young writers who might have hungrily chased an editorial assistant job at Condé Nast a few years ago now move to New York with the dream of making it as a blogger — either launching their own blog into the big time, à la Perez Hilton, or getting snapped up by a prominent blog network like Gawker Media or MediaBistro.

When I was quite young and quite small for my size, I met an old...

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:28:06 -0400

When I was quite young and quite small for my size, I met an old man in the Desert of Drize. And he sang me a song I will never forget, at least, well, I haven’t forgotten it yet. He sat in a terribly prickly place, but he sang with a sunny sweet smile on his face…”

“When you think things are bad, when you feel sour and blue, when you start to get mad… You should do what I do! Just tell yourself, Duckie, you’re really quite lucky! Some people are much more…Oh, ever so much more…Oh, muchly much-much more unlucky than you!”

slow motion dog commercial puts pedigree at the top of youtube...

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:34:01 -0500

slow motion dog commercial puts pedigree at the top of youtube views today!

a phantom camera was used in this commercial to show a piece of dog food thrown up in the air and the reaction of multiple dogs. the result of using a 1,000 frame/second camera in this instance? an “underwater-like” quality shot (SUPER SLOW MOTION). Upon researching the clip, there were actually multiple cameras used to create the commercial - one was used to capture the piece of food being thrown up and then one camera on each of the 5 dogs to capture the anticipation of the canine reaction to the food being released. The extreme slow motion shot was able to portray the intenseness and the desire in the eyes and body language of each dog. Such a simple ad made great by the technological advancements of photgraphy. What’s next you ask? Theoretically, the same idea behind the Phantom camera capability could be used in the cinema to increase suspense in thriller/horror/action movies.

chilean earthquake results in...

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:54:19 -0500

The earthquake that killed more than 700 people in Chile probably shifted the Earth’s axis and shortened the day, Bloomberg reported. The day was reduced by 6.8 microseconds and shifted the axis by about 2.3 milliarcseconds.

it’s truly an art to imagine the unimagineable out of...

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:47:04 -0500

it’s truly an art to imagine the unimagineable out of everyday ordinary things.

UberVu launches Compare

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:25:05 -0500

so we all know that google ranks as the #1 most-visited website and surprisingly (or not so surprisingly) - facebook recently snagged the #2 spot (bumping out Yahoo!) but is it fair to continue using website analytic tools like compete.com and alexa to rank popularity based solely on global visitors in a given time frame? from an advertising standpoint, it’s not a fair comparison to go into a client and fight for budget against a social media site. online advertising and driving traffic via social media platforms are two completely different avenues for companies/agencies to consider and advertising dollars need to be split and allocated accordingly. fortunately, for those in my shoes, there’s a new player to bring to the table as uberVu launches Compare…

Small businesses have slowly begun to turn to social media as powerful avenues for gaining exposure for their products/services. Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook or a blog - advertising dollars have kept the most popular social media sites alive. As an Account Executive who’s clients are exploring the online world of branding their company name - it’s often a challenge to to go head to head with someone who is comparing the traffic on a social media platform against their own ROI (return on investment). Obviously, a niche demographic is a huge selling point to any client and while the ‘traffic’ might be less than appealing - it’s the target audience that should be measured but how can we measure a client campaign on a social media site with 3,000,000 unique visitors a day against a local blog with a key audience but only 6,000 visitors a day?

UberVu has just launched Compare.Com which measure a ad campaign (by phrase or campaign message) against all social media platforms to determine relevancy and performance.

Here’s an example I had today: A client is working on a new product which will be used in conjunction with built-in automobile GPS systems. The relevancy of the word “navigation” performed better on certain social media sites than the keyword “GPS” so that the keyword used on each ad campaign - would differ by each platform being used to market the message.

Check it out! http://www.ubervu.com/social-media-comparison/navigation-vs-gps/

Hot on StyleList

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:42:10 -0500

Hot on StyleList

lasagna.

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:38:06 -0500

i’m not usually a big hearty dinner kinda gal but i made lasagna for the first time last week and i think it truly was the best lasagna in this world - hands down :) in case you have a TON of time on your hands and want to impress some dinner guests. here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

1 pound sweet Italian sausage
3/4 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
12 lasagna noodles
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

salesforce.com rolls out Chatter (easy now social media bandits,...

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:46:00 -0500

salesforce.com rolls out Chatter (easy now social media bandits, it’s only in the beta period)

at the november dreamforce conference, salesforce.com announced it’s attempt at jumping into the social media ‘ring’ with Salesforce Chatter - “a facebook for the enterprise”. today, salesforce.com rolled out the beta version of Chatter which will be tested on 100 companies before officially going live later this year. So, we’re all thinking the same thing, right? We’ve seen how many attempts of re-creating the Mark Zuckerberg phenomenon? And why should we believe this attempt to jump on the social networking bandwagon is any different? So here’s what makes Chatter unique: any pre-existing salesforce.com users, the program builds itself into the existing user platform. anyone currently using the Cloud concept (SalesCloud or ServiceCloud) will be able to incorporate chatter into their existing interface… seamlessly. it makes perfect sense for small and large businesses alike to take the facebook technology (which, let’s face it, we’re ALL addicted to) and have it integrated directly into your current crm system (duh?). I found the interface to be extremely user-friendly, albeit without the addicting apps (adios farmville addicts)

(click on the picture for a demo)

listen up, gmail users… Google plans to add filtering...

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:19:00 -0500

listen up, gmail users…

Google plans to add filtering components to Google Buzz.

After a recent intense user-testing was completed for various forms of Buzz - the results are in and according to valuable user feedback (you’re welcome) this product is far from being completed (duh?!?!). No one’s life is private anymore - that’s where we’re all at, right? Between tweets, status updates, away messages, bbm availability, etc - everyone know’s where we are, what we’re doing, who we’re with, and so on an so forth. For those of you being a bit too ‘public’ - I could personally do without the nightly dinner menu rundown or your daily trips to your local coffee establishment; along the same lines, no one probably cares when you are cleaning your dishes or taking your car to get it washed. Nonetheless, our status’ have become addicting and often in an uncontrollable way, especially to the many who search through the facebook newsfeed’s on an hourly basis. Google has realized that not all of our gmail contacts should be privileged to our minute-by-minute thoughts/actions and not everyone we’ve ever sent or received or been cc’d on correspondence with, is our ‘friend’ - hence the new filtering option need and the recent ‘off switch’ to the auto-following feature and auto-link to Reader and Picasa albums. social media enthusiasts are impressed, that goes without saying, but it needs some cleanup and organization from the currently cluttered feel as well as privacy preferred capability. A sneak peak for what’s to roll out next would be the ability to collapse comment threads as one of the priority tweeks. rest assured, google has confirmed the new functionality and platform will be rolled out shortly. what WILL they think of next?

booklamp.org (pandora.com for books??)

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:56:08 -0500

booklamp.org (pandora.com for books??):

CanGoogleHearMe.com introduced the beta version of BookLamp.org back in 2008 and the growth in the past 2 years alone has been quite impressive. This system will match it’s users to books based on a full-text analysis of the novel, like how Pandora matches music. BookLamp offers the capability to measure elements like action, dialog, and description - then graphs them for you scene-by-scene, and uses the end data to find other books that have similar writing style. Although the site has a lot of growing left to do before it’s more widely recognized as ‘valuable’, it does help bring aspiring authors (underdogs of the book world if you will) recognition and accolades.

mohr and mcpherson opens up new cafe this saturday - 2/13/10 -...

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 18:12:00 -0500

mohr and mcpherson opens up new cafe this saturday - 2/13/10 - 460 harrison ave

harrison ave in the south end is known to many as the inspiring artist’s mecca of boston. mohr and mcpherson features a bi-level collage of eclectic and conservative pieces made right here in the city and then more exotic antiques, artifacts and decor scoped out from hidden cities around the globe. any nomadic souls searching for an ancient egyptian camel saddle? this saturday marks the opening of the new cafe on the lower level of the store! come cozy up with a latte and scone or a locally-made MEM TEA (Cambridge, MA). what makes this cafe stand out? i had the privilege of a sneak-preview tour yesterday and can assure you that this will become boston’s coziest little “coffee shop”. the sitting area of the cafe is comprised solely of mohr and mcpherson chairs, stools, tables and cushions; Local artists/decorators and store owners can use the elongated bamboo table in the center of the floor for weekly client meetings/discussions. my favorite perk? all residents that live above 460 harrison ave can simply throw on their slippers and take the elevator down to the first floor for a morning treat… talk about convenience (be on the lookout for an increase in rent!)

love south boston’s rush to save parking spaces…...

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:39:00 -0500

love south boston’s rush to save parking spaces… some space holders noticed on this morning’s commute (have i mentioned that it STILL has not started to snow??)

1. kitchen table

2. kitchen chairs

3. wheelchair

4. can of paint

5. dog bed

6. a 12 pack of bud light - empty bottles in the box

7. a pan/skillet - a nice one too!

8. pack-n-play

… I could go on but you get the idea…

boston's valentine's day events (boston magazine)

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:33:00 -0500

boston's valentine's day events (boston magazine):

quite an assortment for the cost conscious to the uber fancy love birds. some great packages around the city for you to indulge in alone or with your special someone. my favorite would be the ‘guys only’ gourmet cooking class… nothing gets my heart pounding more than delicious food (…and wine).

get on that, boyfriend. ;)

central bottle in cambridge. looking for something...

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:08:00 -0500

central bottle in cambridge.

looking for something ‘new’ to do and LOVE wine and gourmet food? central bottle is a one-of-a-kind wine shop with a heartwarming story of 4 restauranteurs who traveled to italy together, cooked amazing food and sipped on the country’s finest organic wines before returning to the Boston area and sharing their experience with the city. i had the privilege of attending a gourmet ‘guest chef’ class with ‘how2heroes’ yesterday evening; my favorite pairing for this dessert-focused event were the mini chocolate raspberry cupcakes accompanied by a quinta do noval ruby port wine. Some upcoming events that might have your taste buds dancing:

http://www.centralbottle.com/wine/thursday-wine-bar/wine-bar1

love brian andreas and his storypeople art. visit...

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:37:52 -0500

love brian andreas and his storypeople art. visit www.storypeople.com to browse brian’s prints, furniture and other unique gifts. great present for ANYONE. … hmmm? Valentine’s Day is coming up…

searching for my soul…

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:42:54 -0500

searching for my soul…

Seaport Square. southie continues the climb ‘up’ as...

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:52:22 -0500

Seaport Square.

southie continues the climb ‘up’ as a new development project adds some flare and a facelift to the once industrial ‘eye sore’ of boston’s waterfront community. the ~~seaport district~~, or should I say “South Boston Waterfront” (after virulent protests from natives and local politicans) - is set to undergo some major reconstructive surgery starting in 2010. gale international is spearheading a development plan (along with morgan stanley and ws development) which will overtake 23 acres of south boston real estate (currently being used as a 3700 space parking lot - goodbye eyesore). buy now southie devotees, investment opportunity is knocking… the seaport square community is a city in itself proposed as a massive 20-block, 20-building development with 2.65 million square feet of residential space, 1.5 million square feet of offices, 1.25 million square feet of retail stores and restaurants, a half-million square feet of hotels, and 600,000 square feet of cultural, arts, and educational use, including a proposed private Nations Academy School. rest assured green team - you can put away your picket signs!! the proposed plan is not only going to offer over 30,000 jobs but these ‘daily do gooders’ are spending an approximate $25 million on open space and landscaping. Some new ‘book n’ blanket’ options you can look forward to are:
Seaport Square Green, Seaport Hill, Courthouse Square, Seaport Blvd, Harbor Way & Autumn Lane.

how does the ‘older’ generation feel? well, who can help gentrification.