Mad Hatter's Tea

Mad Hatter's Tea:
1 part 7up
1 part White Cranberry Juice
1 part White Wine
1 part Apple Pucker
1/2 part Blue Curaso
2 parts Absolut Vodka
Mix all together and Chill for 1 to 2 hours and serve shaken in martini shaker with ice: straight-up in martini glasses.
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Social Media and the Death of the RSVP

How do you feel when you invite someone to an event, via Evite, FaceBook events or by DM or "feed" on Twitter, and then the person does not respond?

Quite unintentionally, I did a little experiment in this realm only to realize that people do like me but are overwhelmed by social media.

I was throwing an Earth Hour fundraiser to benefit Climate Cycle, a Chicago bike ride that puts solar power in Chicago schools. So, like any social "media experts," I tweeted regularly, to alert the media. I emailed the PSA's to the proper media. And I changed my FaceBook picture to the national Earth Hour logo and sent out a detailed Event invite to FaceBook friends whom I specifically wanted to attend this $10 lights-out with-flashlights event at an art gallery. Also sent were 4o Evites via email to my nearest and dearest as well as 300 emails which probably overlapped all of the above.

Do you know how many RSVP's I got the first week? Two.

Of course, I thought I had booked my event on the same night as a bigger better event in Chicago. Or maybe the cost was too high? Maybe my friends hated me? Or worse: my social media "influence" was so low that anything I did was not going to be important enough to attend or mention.

Upon investigation, the media people could only put me on a calendar because there were so many other Earth Hour events going on in the city of Chicago. Yeah for green Chicago! So my feeling were not hurt there. And when I began to message my friends on FaceBook who did not respond, most of them said they had been busy and didn't even notice the event or that they were waiting to respond to see if they could come.

Of the emailed and Evited, I began to make personal calls. And that is when my event booked up. Of all of my verbal RSVP's on the phone, all of them said they felt overwhelmed by Emails and Evites and Facebook events. And most everyone had just shut down, looked down, and pretended that hadn't seen any invites or posts from anyone. Not just mine. They were just overloaded and most all of them appreciated my personal call.

Now, I'm not saying that I'm going to call everyone the next time I have another event or party. But I think I'm going to look at snail-mail and phoning to, at least, the most important friends that I want to come to my next party.

It's sad that social media is overloading people so much that they are not responding at all.

I get it. Many of those invitations are directs sells to something. And we are all victims of being one of many people using social media for personal use-which also makes us targets, publicly exposed to marketers and other social media experts, like me, who have something that we want you to buy or attend.

If I have any advice at all on this subject, it is to respond. Yeah or nay. On Facebook and Evite, feel free to decline. Your invitor needs a head count. I like to add that the "event sounds great but that I have previous engagement." No feelings will get hurt, and you will keep getting invited--maybe to an event that you would like and can attend. On Twitter, go ahead and retweet or DM your twit-friend and say "what a cool event"-you can also say that you would go but you cannot. To me, Twitter is still a personal conversation with many and we do need each other. Maybe not now, but we are all building up "followings."

To all those who don't respond: Don't worry about it. If the person who invited you wanted you to come so bad, they could have sent a real (old fashioned) invite in the mail or (gasp) called you.

My last comment is an apology to all those whom I had not responded to in the past. I promise to let you know if I can or cannot attend your event. Your event is important to you and I respect that you would like me to throw you some love. I can do that, if not in person, then in a two sentence response.

Sincerely,

Jon-David

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Pet Psychic

Okay, here's a neat one: An animal communicator who has helped a client and her pets.

My client Barbara is a church going gal who was previously not too keen on metaphysics. But when she and her two cats moved in with her new husband and his hound, Elvis; Elvis began to howl every night and he began to shed profusely as well as chew his own cheek. Being a compassionate woman, Barbara instinctually knew that that the dog was having adjustment problems to the new additions to the household.
She and her husband took the dog to the vet which resulted in giving Elvis "doggy-Valium." Her husband also changed the dog's diet and took the dog on longer walks. All to no avail. Elvis still howled, shed and chewed.
So, on they sly (not telling her husband), Barbara decided to call and scheduled an over-the-phone session with a pet psychic: Someone who had also worked wonders with a neighbor's pet. Barbara said, when they psychic answered and got on the line with her, her two cats and the nervous dog came running into the kitchen, where she was on the phone, and the three all sat down and stared at Barbara on the phone.
Weird-kewl, right?
The psychic then preceded to tell Barbara that the dog was freaked out because the husband had been paying more attention to his new bride and had not been paying as much attention to the Elvis. (Which seems normal for a new marriage-if you know what I mean--but devastating to the man's prior best friend.) The Psychic also stated that Elvis had noticed that his master also let the cats up on the furniture which was something that he had never been allowed to do. The dog also"told" the psychic that he feared that his owner liked Barbara and the cats more than him, and that he was waiting for the day that the husband was going to get rid of him.
Poor Elvis!
The advice to Barbara from the psychic was to just notice how the dog looked every time she was at home sitting on the couch with her husband. Were the cats allowed on the couch? Did she and her husband acknowledge the dog? Also, because of the dog's shedding and his nervous tics, the psychic bet that the husband did indeed resent the behavior of his older pooch and truly had been tending to ignore him--which Barbara admitted that he did and was.
After the session, Barbara changed the way she was around the dog and also "led" her husband to pay attention to the dog without telling him her behavior was a direct result of calling a pet psychic--which she never told him anyway.
Long story short: Dog is happy. No howling. Stopped shedding. No more Doggy Valium; but they kept the good new diet for the dog. Husband and Elvis are happy and best friends again.
I've recommended this woman to many of my clients. She's good at what she does. Use her if you have a problem to solve with your pet, or if you think your pet is depressed or needs help that you cannot figure out.
Here's the Animal Communicator's current information:Carol Shultz, Animal Communicator
P.O. Box 577
Pekin, IL 61555

Carol@carolschultz.com
http://www.carolschultz.com/index.htm

As of 8/31/2010, I have not used Carol's services. Today, I emailed her with payment: My dog Junebug (Yorkie) has taken to peeing on my roomate's dog's eating area (Tina the pug) and I cannot get her to stop. I'll let you know how it goes.



I'd also like to mention that Carol is mentioned on the wall on FaceBook Animal Ministry page. She helps animal and owner rights in Illinois. Join her cause and the Animal Ministry.
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Dark Circles/Puffy Eyes & Irritated Acne Skin

Dark Circles and puffy eyes are due to a build up of toxins under the thin skin around and under the eyes. Some peeps suffer from this build-up more than others. But your diet and sleep should be looked at if you, all of a sudden, get circles and puffy.
Here's a good remedy:mix equal parts [1 tablespoon/1 tablespoon] of filtered or bottled water with plain old corn starch-- then slather a little layer of the white paste mixture under your eyes. The corn starch will naturally pull out the toxins and quiet & sooth the area around the eyes. Leave it on 5 to 20 minutes every morning or right before you go out. This is very safe for your eyes. When you rinse off the now-dry paste, your eye cream and make up will go on smoother and your eyes will be refreshed and clear.

You can use this mask on your entire face too. Great for all types. ESPECIALLY ACNE Skins! Normal/Dry Oily. It calms the skin and lets the impurities loosen up.

For extra dry skins you can mix low-fat milk instead of water. But never use the low-fat milk mixture around the eyes. Only the pure water formula. For skin that is extra oily: you can mix carrot juice with the corn starch. But never use this formula around the eyes either! Only the pure water formula.

Yeah well, you're welcome.
Love ya,
Mafia Hairdresser.
" Best hairdresser in Chicago "
Thank you to you and Yelp and City Search
Please order your copy of Mafia Hairdresser, the novel about my life as a hairdresser to a mob couple in the 80's, and subscribe to this blog!