Apple Is on Top Again!
I just saw an article that caught my eye – World’s Most Valuable Brands.
Apple has topped the list, with Google biting at its heals, although behind by more than $70 billion (and yes, that’s a “b”). This battle is interesting considering the Apple vs. Android war that is raging. Personally, I love my iPhone and iPad. I had a Droid and it didn’t thrill me. I was very happy to leave it for an iPhone. I think Apple is stronger here because their product is consistent, whereas Google has allowed anyone and everyone to build off of their operating system. Both of my kids and Kindles, and it’s confusing. I know there are Android apps available, but they aren’t in Amazon’s store. I just don’t have time to be virtually running all over the place trying to figure it out. With Apple, it’s easy. I like that.
The rest of the brands aren’t very surprising: IBM, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, AT&T, Microsoft, Marlboro (OK, that one surprised me), Visa, and China Mobile (another surprise!). For the most part, these are brands that have dominated for some time.
Are there any surprises for you? Any that you expected to see but are missing?
4 Down, 9 to Go
Yesterday my summer vacation started when I submitted the final paper for my class Audience Insight. This is the first time I’ve taken two classes in a row, and it was rough. 18 weeks of class on top of work and family was difficult for everyone. My kids were just as ready for me to be done as I was.
The good news is that I am really enjoying my classes. So far I’ve taken 4: Introduction to IMC, Digital Storytelling, Marketing Research, and Audience Insight. Each class has been very different and I have learned so much. My only disappointment is that I can’t spend more time with my schoolwork. But so far I have all A’s (I’m waiting for my final grade for Audience Insight, but so far I have an A), so that counts for something!
I am very much looking forward to the summer. I have decided to take a break and won’t start classes again until August. I’m planning on taking 3 classes a year from now on out, one in the fall and two back-to-back in the spring. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned, outside of the classwork, is that I need to go into a session prepared. My house really needs to be in order and I need to plan ahead as much as possible. I had grand plans to get ready for my spring classes over Winter Break, only to spend a week at Children’s Hospital with my daughter for an asthma episode. Right now my house is a complete disaster! Everything has piled up, from paperwork to clothes to dust. We’ve managed to do *just* enough to get by, and it shows! People often say to me “I don’t know how you do it.” Well, the secret is a patient husband and a messy house.
I look forward to having time to blog again (I just get wiped out between so much reading and writing during classes). I plan to back-post some bigger events (such as our stint in Children’s Hospital) so keep an eye out for those! I also plan to share some insights gained from my classes. It’s going to be a great summer!
A Walking Dead Thanksgiving
The Walking Dead Cast, Image from AMC at http://blogs.amctv.com/the-walking-dead/photo-galleries/
I realize it’s pretty standard fodder to write about what you’re thankful for during the fourth week of November, but that’s why we have Thanksgiving, isn’t it? To reflect on what we have and give thanks for those blessings?
On of my new favorite shows is AMC’s The Walking Dead. I had heard the buzz surrounding it, but since I can only watch grown-up shows after the kids go to bed, I avoid the nightmare-inducing ones. My husband started watching it during the marathon before the second half of the second season, and I was hooked. I did have nightmares for a few nights (still do, sometimes), but the show is so good I don’t even care anymore.
As in any zombie apocalypse, the survivors are simply doing that – surviving. Usually we see this scenario in a film, with less than two hours to tell the entire story. And that’s what makes this show so great, they get to tell the whole story. What happens the day after? The week? Month? Year? How do you survive when, at every turn, something is trying to kill you? How do you raise a family when you’re simply trying not to die?
The show, in it’s third season, has gotten much grittier and more desperate. The main characters have taken shelter in a prison because it’s the safest place, meant to keep people in – and by proxy, out. But can you imagine what living in a prison does to your psychie? It’s a place we spend out whole lives trying to stay out of, yet these people find their sanctuary there.
Watching this show, imagining what it would be like trying to live in that world with my family, makes me very grateful for the life I do live in. I may get stressed juggling a career, two active kids, a marriage, graduate school, family, friends… the list goes on. But I’m not holed up in a prison hoping we can find enough food to keep from starving to death, always on guard because around every corner could be death waiting to literally eat you alive. That’s the kind of stress I can do without.
I have more to be thankful for than I could possibly write. We may not be the richest family around, our house isn’t where we want it to be and we’re much busier than I prefer, but I’m thankful just the same.
Happy Halloween!
Halloween trick-or-treating was delayed this year due to Superstorn Sandy, but the kids had a blast. It was chilly, which is why Spider-Girl is sporting a princess look as well. We’ve been going with our neighbors for years, and while it was cold, it was great to see them.
Now, to taste test some candy…
A Crafty Halloween – Spider-Girl
Source: mobile.twitter.com via Dana on Pinterest
I know exactly what I wanted Sass to be for Halloween – Goldilocks. I have a dress my mom made be when I was about her age that is blue with a white apron, and it was perfect. Which of course meant that she wanted to be anything but Goldilocks. One of these days I’ll learn that when I want her to do something, I should tell her I don’t want her to. Instead, I keep hoping she’ll agree with me. You can see how well that’s going…
We looked on Pinterest for costume ideas, and she settled on this Spider-Girl costume:
I honestly didn’t mind too much, because it’s not too “girly.” I liked that she picked something that’s actually a boy’s costume, with a girly twist. Ironically, with all of the costumes Buddy has had over the years, he never had a Spider-Man costume, so I hit Facebook and found a friend with a costume his boys had outgrown. A few bucks for some tulle, and viola! Spider-Girl!
Everyone loved her tutu and it was super easy to make. There’s lots of tutorials all over the web. I wish I’d had bought some more tulle to make it fuller, but Sass loved it just the same.
