Purple Cows

If you had to re-invent yourself, how would you do it? I've really gotten into a new-to-me writer, Seth Godin, who asks that and other cool questions in his book Purple Cow. He's a brilliant marketer, and I just started reading a third book of his called Small is the New Big. I'm in the middle of All Marketers Are Liars, too. The purple cow concept is that if you were driving along and saw a purple cow, you'd think to yourself "wow, now that's something remarkable, even though it's just the same old cow, just purple." He goes a lot deeper into other things relating to purple cow-type marketing concepts. He even applies purple cow to individuals (think about what you need to do to make yourself purple, for example in the workplace, so you stand out and get noticed.)

A few of my favorites:

• How Curad stole the adhesive bandage market away from Band-Aid -> Band-Aid was a household name. How could any other company become the market leader? Curad developed a Purple Cow product: they added characters to their product. Kids, the largest consumers of bandages, loved them, so parents bought them. Kids wore them to school where other kids saw them and asked their parents to buy them.
• Paint is paint, right, so how does a paint company take the market share away from the competition? Just creating a new texture or color isn't going to do the trick. What did do the trick was to re-design the pail, and make a pail that is easy to pour and doesn't allow the paint to run down the side. Voila! A Purple Cow.
  

So, even if you don't have to market stuff to pay the bills and put food on the table like I do, you might really enjoy reading one or more of his books anyway. I think most people are interested in marketing because it influences just about every hour of our day, but until you think about it you may not realize how. His writing makes you think about it, and may even change the way you consume. If you had to make yourself purple, what would you do differently?

He also has a website called squidoo - sort of a master database of stuff - "thousands of people creating a handbuilt catalog of the best stuff online" (car camping to "um, who is Gnarls Barkley?" to how to make the best grilled cheese sandwich ever to how to speak mock Swedish like the chef on the Muppets). http://www.squidoo.com/. Check it out, and consider reading one of his books, too.

Happy Birthday to GR.

If I had any money, I'd buy you a bucket of silverware.

High School Reunion

Then

Now

This week I came across, purely by accident, an alumni website for my high school. For several years, I think they just defaulted to classmates.com, but who wants to spend money to post a profile there just to snoop and find out who turned out to be what? Although there's not any personal information on this new site besides addresses and email addresses, it told me one thing. "Victoria, Kansas, finally got internet connection!" If your life is so dull that you have nothing better to do (heaven help you), you can check it out at www.victoriaalumni.com.

My point for this post, though, is that our class didn't have a high school reunion on our 10 year mark several years back. That came as no surprise to me, however, considering no one took anything seriously while in school so why should that be any different now? The only reason I'd want to go to one if they HAD one is to see how everyone turned out. I guess that's the reason EVERYONE wants to go to a reunion, though, right?

Here's how I've changed:

• I don't roll my jeans anymore.
• I don't listen to polka music much anymore. (I lived in a German Catholic "village". Yep, it was actually classified as a village - population: 982)
• I'm not Catholic anymore. (did I mention I lived in a German Catholic village?)
• I don't have a mullet anymore.
• I don't 'play' basketball anymore. (I lettered in basketball in high school. I was the team manager. I figured that was an easier way to letter than playing. I was right.)
• I can do better than a 20-minute mile running (remember? I'm an award-winning runner - Chief Joseph Run: 1st place in my age category (a one-man category)).
• I have a woman now. (I DIDN'T letter in dating in high school.)
• I've traded Seinfeld for The Office - it's way funnier.
• I STILL can't do algebra, but I just care much less about it now.
• I STILL don't know anything about cars. I can just afford someone to take care of mine now.
• I make more than $3.85/hour now. Way more.
• I'm happier now. Way more.

How women's deoderant is ruining my life

That's right. Women's need for their own kind of deoderant is ruining - my - life.

The Story: I've used Shower Clean Degree Deodorant for as long as I can remember. I like it because it doesn't smell like the typical aftershave-scented men's deodorants on the market. Plus, it's cool because as your body heat rises, it's odor-fighting protection goes to work - kind of like a super power, and what guy wouldn't like to have a super power? I use the Shower Clean scent because it has always worked hard to keep me smelling that way. A while back we bought a supply at Sam's Club and noticed the bottle color was different - instead of the deep turquoise color I was used to, it was now a light shade of periwinkle (refer to a 48-pack of Crayolas). It wasn't until I pulled one out to use a few weeks later that I noticed the big change. Some female deoderant marketer somewhere (here after referred to as 'She') felt compelled to put the word "WOMEN" right there on the front above the name Degree. By adding these five letters, 'She' changed a gender-neutral product and totally ruined my life.

The Problem: As if I even have to spell it out. 'She' has totally emasculated my deodorant! I've heard of men who use Secret (don't worry, I won't out you and your little Secret here publically) and always thought that was humorous, but weren't they choosing from the beginning to use a women's product? Degree even has segregated their website. My deodorant has been placed on the women's site, of course, right along with Light Breeze (I'll resist the temptation to make a 'break wind' joke) and Fresh Oxygen (ooh, doesn't that sound nice?). What scents are now approved for my public use? Intense Sport (fine, if they consider Treadmilling an intense sport), Ocean Blast (uh, have you smelled ocean water lately? not good.), and Clean Slate (tag line - Dude, did you screw up again? Don't worry, start 'fresh' with Clean Slate). So I now use a women's deodorant, what's the big deal? Think about this...what am I supposed to do next time I have shower in a locker room? What humiliation awaits me there when other men see my pretty bottle of womanly odor protection sitting on the counter next to my razor? Oh yea, did I mention my deodorant is now "Little black dress approved"?

So lady, I hope you're happy. You've ruined my life.

Father/Son campout

Eli and Nathan got to go camping last weekend as part of a "special program" I instituted in an effort to divert Eli's attention from the Tiger Cubs recruiting efforts at his school. He came home so excited and said that all the boys from his class had to go with their dads. Since that wasn't on our agenda for this year, I told him he is lucky because he and Nathan get to be in this program where they get to build big fires on campouts - Tiger Cubs don't get to do that.

hiking at Clinton Lake

My day in first grade

I volunteered in Eli's first grade classroom today since I had the day off. A few lessons I learned:

• It's better to pack a lunch the night before. I was almost late because I forgot that I needed a lunch, too. We're always telling Eli to plan ahead.
• First grade is all about fun. My job today was to teach small groups how to play the board game Sorry. This way, everyone got to learn the game in preparation for days when they have to have indoor recess. I did catch the teacher trying to teach them real stuff, though, each time I took one group back to the room to exchange for another group.
• Titles come slow to some. I was referred to as Mrs. Chris the entire morning by one boy. Maybe I should spend less time in front of the mirror in the morning.
• Age is relative. I said the oldest person could have the first turn each game and went around the table asking each kid how old they were. A few weren't sure even when their birthdays were. I finished by asking how old they thought I was. Answers ranged from 14-100, with most guessing in the mid to late 40's.
• Six-year-old boys like to see grown-ups run all over the playground chasing down kickballs. Yes, I got to go to recess, and my kickball line was the biggest. Nearly 15 kids lined up when they saw I was pitching.
• Boys do NOT like it when their mothers write love notes on their napkins to be discovered at lunch. Save it for at home, moms. One boy apparently got one in his lunch several weeks ago and his classmates haven't let him forget. It was the first topic of conversation at our lunch table.
• Lunch ladies are still mean.
• Finally, it's just a few decades late, but I was the most popular kid in school today.

me as a 1st grader

Sacred Heart Elementary School, Farmington, New Mexico - 1979-80 (my wife was coming up on her one year birthday then)

Sucker

I took Nathan with me to the bank yesterday. Walking up to the door, I asked him if he knew what the people who work in the bank do, what there job is. "They give kids suckers," he answered. Ironically, they didn't have any suckers, only doggie treats.

does NOT taste like chicken

Jenny and I went to Parkville, Missouri, today for a lunch date. We had a gift certificate to a French restaurant there, and our friend Chanel watched Nate and Liam for us so we could go. We had $75 to spend, so we ordered whatever we wanted. We don't usually do that (or ever do that) so it was fun. We figured we might as well try escargot so we could say we have at least tried it. It wasn't so bad, but I think one time is good enough for me. We had a great soup (carrot and potato); Jenny had quiche and I had a crab pastry. Chased it down with apple tart, creme brule, and chocolate mousse. Total bill, with tip, $72.14. That's definately the most expensive free lunch I've ever had.

Weston Bend

Today's family outing was to Weston Bend State Park in Missouri, just about 15 minutes northwest of Kansas City International Airport. (oh, by the way, I'm on vacation for most of this week and we have something planned for each day - I guess I'm guaranteed to have something to blog about each day, then). We had a fried chicken picnic and then went hiking. The Park is perched on the bluffs above the Missouri River just across from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The area was once an important part of the tobacco trade, and Lewis and Clark even made camp here. We scouted out some camping sites, as well, so hopefully we can come back for a family campout soon. It's a very clean park; all the restrooms look like red barns and have (angels singing) flush toilets!The boys seem to really enjoy going on hikes, although Nathan is adament that hiking is NOT a sport. Eli's argument is that it's outside and you're moving your body so it IS a sport. Anyway, even Liam got into it. That is, until, I tripped on a root as he was riding on my shoulders. I face-planted on the path and try as I might, I couldn't grab him as we went down. He landed on his back, but seems to be ok. By that time, he was 2 hours past his normal nap time, so that didn't help.

Tomorrow's outing: Chris and Jenny go to Parkville, Missouri, for a lunch date.

32

9.3 - Happy birthday - to me. Look how young my mom looks. She was 20. Nice ruffles, eh? My dad was 22.

Family Field Trip to City Market

Today was a family field trip day. We started the morning at Krispy Kreme (Jenny's going to post about that on her blog – Krispy Kreme was her idea so she owns blogging rights to it). We then went to City Market in the River Market District of downtown Kansas City (my idea, my blog) . We’ve been there several times before, but the boys don’t seem to remember so it was a like a new experience for them.

City Market is an ethnic market similar to what I would imagine a neighborhood market in New York borough would be. There are ethnic shops that sell everything from Middle Eastern to Italian to Ethiopian goods and groceries. The air is filled with foreign languages being spoken and the smells of spices and foods unfamiliar to most Westerners. My favorite place for lunch is Al Habashi Middle Eastern restaurant (I always get the falafel sandwich with greek salad). There’s a flower shop run by a young Dutch woman who on Saturdays sells freshly-made Stroopwafels. That’s right, we no longer have to wait until we visit Billings to enjoy our favorite treat (although Momma K can send us some whenever she wants). The shopkeeper makes them right in front of you, and also sells wooden clogs and other Dutch-eries. We went to the “China Town Market,” the big Asian grocery store while we were there, too. I took the boys into the “butcher shop” section where they sell live seafood like crabs and eels, and other things like cow hooves and octopus. They complained about the smell, but thought it was cool to see things they don’t usually see at our grocery.

My maternal grandfather lived in the City Market when he was in his twenties and has shared stories about what it was like then (the 1940’s). At that time, it was a hotbed of Sicilian mobster activity, a part of Kansas City’s deep-rooted mafia history. I should clarify that he was not Sicilian or a mobster. He worked for an insurance company downtown and the City Market was just a close place to live. Nowadays it’s home to hipster condos and lofts and trendy ad agencies and creative houses. It was established, though 150 years ago as trading post at what was then called the Town of Kansas. It was literally the edge of civilization because just across the river was the start of Indian Territory.

If you listen to NPR regularly, you know about the Story Corp project. The Story Corp travels the country recording personal histories and stories of every-day Americans. They have two permanent trailers in New York City and two that travel the country. One just happens to be at City Market for the next few weeks and people can make appointments to record their story. We didn’t do it today because we couldn’t think of what we would interview each other about, or which story to tell. You get something like 15 minutes and for a “donation” of $10 they’ll record it on a CD for you to keep. Click here to read more about Story Corp on NPR's website.

Oh, and the boys got to climb into a firetruck there, too.