Here Lies Christmas Past...

With my Google alerts primed for any mention of business ethics and bailouts, I caught this amusing article today: Santa Claus Demands Massive Bailout.

Christmas seems different this year. Claus appears to be as murderous as he is demanding. Christmas is seen as a warzone. Don't we have enough warzones already? If enough people call something a battle, I guess that makes it easier to sway diehards to their cause.

I wonder how we will remember this holiday 2008 in years to come - will it be regarded as the death knell for consumerism as we once knew it? Is it the eulogy for the retail dream of the past decade? It's tough to see the resiliency of the American spirit shining through when Americans are so anxious to divide themselves over such basic issues as the right to social equality.

It seems to me, based on the cultural climate, that we're off the beaten path for good.

How Cool!

Let's move past the obvious: It is way, way too cold. Next topic.

As a newcomer to the marketing profession, I get easily excited. Imagine getting to meet a representative from a company you respect/admire - like if you have one of those Wii Fit systems everybody wants for Christmas, and you got a chance to talk to someone in senior management at Nintendo.

Well, that's what I get to do. Aside from meeting people at Nintendo, that is... But my company is a business to business seller, so the clients I talk to are often big organizations. They are also quite cool. A lot like the whether right now.

The forecast only has more in store, so I am looking forward to some awesome snowboarding!

What to write about after the election???

I'll admit that it's a crisis on an existential level - what do I say to my audience of echoes now that the 2008 election is over?

For one thing, I will probably need to clean up my act. You know, go back through the lean archives and make sure everything I've said is compatible with my professional personality.

But I honestly think (hope) a professional personality can blend with a personal personality. I really do. So yes, I will try to steer my topics away from politically, religiously, sports teamly or otherwise unseemly potentially divisive topics and more toward two directions:

1) Things that will be relevant to family, friends; loved ones.
2) Things that deal with my interests - politics, ethics, religion, philosophy, marketing, communication, rhetoric, music, snowboarding et al.

The gist: I basically just said I will continue to say the same things I've said before. Oh well. Candidly: I will try to be a little more objective and neutral in my observations. A little. That's all I can promise.