I left a blog twisting in the winds of the internet. Shame on me. Well, just as I got back on the treadmill this morning (after a month off…a month that included the much anticipated trip to Sydney!) I should do the same with this blog…get on it. So I will, just as soon as I have something interesting to say. For now, tonight, I will continue to watch SNL- The Best of Will Ferrell. It’s a shame my favorite skit is missing from the highlights. I can’t even find it on YouTube. Sarah Michelle Gellar played a blind girl, Horatio Sanz was an alien named Yarjaks14 and Will Ferrell was a floating head that sang a song with these lyrics:

Sometimes dreams can sneak into bed with you…but then, you’ll find love…then. (or something really close to that…it’s been awhile since it aired)

A story about that episode. I lived in NYC in ‘99 and my friends and I waited all night to get stand-by tickets for the Sarah Michelle Gellar/Backstreet Boys episode that happened to include the above skit. Needless to say we didn’t get stand-by tickets as it was the height of BSB’s fame, however during the night my friend and I walked over to the Times Square McDonald’s to use their bathroom and because we felt bad about going there just to use the restroom, we decided to buy something. Lo and behold right in front of us in line was AJ from BSB. OMG. At the time that little run-in kind of made up for not getting the stand-by tickets but after watching the Yarjaks14 skit on TV later that night I was really disappointed to have not witnessed that magic in person. 

A few people from our group at last Friday’s Empire Brewfest happened to be in the background of a photo in the local paper. Our neighbor dropped the clipping off to us and I scanned it to show my mom and sister. I made some comment about my nose being “kitchen-witchy” (a favorite adjective amongst my family, referring to a stained-glass ornament we had in our kitchen, similar to this one) and my mom replied:

LOL…sorry - you got the nose from me!!  I remember some guy years ago used to say, “I LOVE your nose…I could spear cheese on that nose!” I didn’t take that as a compliment, but, whatever…

Who says stuff like that? No, really, who? Mom’s going to have to open the vault of stories because that guy sounds kind of awesome.

I share this sentiment only not as eloquently because the way I explain it is: Tumblr’s easy to use. 

nerdgap:

Ask any serious blogger which publishing software they use and the vast majority of the time, they’ll say “Wordpress”. When I was getting ready to start this site (which I like to think of as a “serious” blogging effort), I considered all of my options, one of them being Wordpress, and chose Tumblr instead. This is where I tell you how I arrived at that decision.

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Hi, EW and Time Inc.! I just submitted my resume to be EW.com’s Social Media Editor!

I have been a devout EW fan and subscriber since 1994.  That’s almost two decades!

Anybody who knows me knows my affinity for your pages both physical and digital.  When my magazine arrives in the mail, it’s understood NO ONE is to touch it until I’ve at least flipped through it.  I know, it’s weird and possessive.  But really, I just don’t want anyone to take the experience away from me.  I want the content to go directly from EW to me and not through someone who just haphazardly picks up the magazine on my coffee table. 

When it comes to the website, let’s just say Doc Jensen’s LOST recaps were the cause of a few less winks of sleep on several occasions in my postmortem needs after the finale.

I have always loved the entertainment industry and wanted nothing more than to be a part of it some way.  With your Social Media Editor position – it’s as though I’ve met my long lost match!  It’s because of EW I’ve realized, as Rob Gordon claims in the film version of High Fidelity, that I can be a professional appreciator. 

Friends and family know me as a source for pop-culture information.  One friend even calls me the EMDb (Erica Movie Database).  Another friend likened me to a Gilmore girl (Best. Compliment. EVER.).  Who better to tout the greatness of EW all across social media platforms, than someone who:

• Can confidently say she understands the EW brand and knows what to do with it
• Has a professional background in marketing across several forms of media (you’ve looked at my resume, right?)
• Loves brainstorming new ideas to bring people closer to their interests
• Enjoys playing and exploring in this ever-changing digital space

Without sounding desperate (and perhaps that ship has already sailed) I feel so strongly I would be an asset to your team.  I’m just looking for an opportunity to make you aware of it. 

So, send me a Tweet, email, what have you!  Or better yet, find Erica Strong among the masses of applicants in your online database or check out my LinkedIn profile!

I’ll be here.  Reading my weekly copy of EW and loving every minute of it!

This past Friday we took in our first Empire State Brewing & Music Festival. Living in downtown Syracuse, all the festivals pretty much take place outside our door and since cold brews happen to be a favorite of a certain man who lives with me, a’beer tasting we went. Lots of fun was had with friends and (bonus!) family who drove up from Delaware for the weekend. I have to say, I think this was my favorite festival so far - and I’m pretty much a wine or g&t girl! 

Recently a friend of mine tweeted their disdain for foursquare. “Why do I care that you’re here or there?”, etc., etc. Admittedly, I partly share my friend’s sentiment because I was of that mindset until recently when I took the plunge and joined. 

Foursquare had been on my radar for awhile and being one that enjoys her privacy (an irony maintained across all blogging platforms I’m sure) I didn’t think it was for me until I really realized how businesses were using the platform to attract new and get to know their existing customers.  A spring trip to NYC had our group dining at Lombardi’s and afterwards I had a hankerin’ for Tasti D-Lite. Upon arrival I noticed a sign at the counter touting something to the effect of, “so many check-ins gets you a free treat” and that’s when the bell went off in my head. I would like free frozen treats and you can bet that if I lived in NYC I would have been the mayor of several Tasti D locations by now. I think foursquare is an effective tool that can really shape long-standing B2C relationships, but it’s much more than free treats and discounts. 

The basis of all social networking platforms is community.  We all belong and want to belong somewhere.  Being new to Syracuse I’m in a constant state of discovery and after a few Meet Ups and Tweet Ups, faces and places have become more familiar which adds a level of comfort that I need in order to make Syracuse feel like home. I don’t know anyone really well yet but like any relationship I can feel things slowly building. I’m friendly, I like people and I like that foursquare acts as an ice-breaker. Between the location and foursquare itself I already have TWO things in common with the other person- nice!

I don’t linger over my foursquare app everywhere I go. I’m still kind of choosy when it comes to checking in to places and I forget sometimes (which is why I only possess the newbie badge) but there’s potential and I think it’s a great benefit to people. So yeah, I like foursquare. It’s kind of like having a portable Cheers and frankly, I want everybody in Syracuse to know my name. :)