Tiaras and Pink Cowboy Boots

Growing up, my sister was the girly girl of the family. For as long as I can remember, she was the one who always wanted the ring made out of paste that cost 25 cents at the store. She was the one cutting her dolls’ hair (and frequently, her own) with her paper scissors. I was the sister who hated getting her hair brushed (maybe because our mother was one of those tuggy-pully hair brushing people) and was more likely to be found hiding under the covers with my nose in a book.

Still, something must have happened to me as I grew up. The girly tendencies seem to have blossomed in my 30s. I mean look at me! I have a website with a liberal amount of pink on it, and I have two…count ‘em…TWO pink rooms in my house. (In case you're interested, one is kind of retro 70s flower power pink and the other one is kind of shabby chic pink...oh, you're not interested? But what's the fun of a 'blog if you can't go off on incredibly self-indulgent tangents?)I’m inexplicably drawn to the Pottery Barn Kids store like a moth to a flame…and I have not a single child on which to lavish all the cool stuff from there.

Sure, I wear rubber boots with pink and purple daisies on them and I drive a kid-friendly classic VW Beetle, and I have a doll house sitting on my dining room table (yes, I have the world’s most tolerant husband), but I still have to behave…well…like a quasi grown-up in most of my working life.

In keeping with my following of all things girly and kid-like, I went to Meg Cabot’s website yesterday. She’s the mega-prolific author who wrote such bestsellers as The Princess Diaries. I go there to drool and sigh and dream about being a best-selling author with a house in the Florida Keys, New York and all the other cool places Meggie the Magnificent has houses. When I saw the hot pink cowboy boots and tiara she was sporting in her website picture, I was envious. Imagine getting paid to write goofy stories for 8-12 year old girls! Tiaras and pink cowboy boots are her work uniform.

What’s your ideal work uniform? Do you dream about Armani suits or flip flops or maybe even a sparkly tiara? Maybe we can shop together…

Would Grandma Approve?

No pressure.

While I love to write and therefore the idea of a 'blog appeals to me, the career counsellor in me is shouting, "Warning, warning!" and trying to flag me down with a big, scary, neon dose of do-you-really-think-this-is-a-good-idea?

In addition to reading an article in Job Postings magazine the other day titled, "Facebook - Is it hurting your job hunt?", I also recently attended a session about web tools. It was filled with many career educator types who were partly enthusiastic and partly panicked about the prospects of using social networking sites, blogs and web tools "like the young folks do".

Being somewhat of a tech lover myself, I tend to rush headlong into these sort of cool new toys with the kind of abandon I normally reserve for Triple Fudge Brownie Overload ice cream. So although I'd heard the warnings and concerns of my colleagues, I was too busy playing in the proverbial ice cream bowl of technology to take time to reflect much on the implications of my actions. When faced with a room filled with many people who were like the Darth Vader voice of doom on the subject of "new" technology, I was initially dismayed to hear negative words like "invasive", "voyeuristic", and "unprofessional" about my beloved creative technology.

So here's the deal. Just like ice cream (forgive me, one of my worst character flaws is that I will beat a metaphor to death), technology can be sweet and lots of fun to indulge in, but it should also be embraced with some sensibility. I don't think that avoiding it is the way to go, but neither should we be unaware of the public persona we may be creating online. Employers, colleagues and business prospects, not to mention grandmothers, have easy ways of finding out about your activities and escapades.

My advice? Think: Would Grandma approve? Keep tabs on your online alter-ego (the one you create AND the ones created without your knowledge) by doing regular searches of your name. Take time to learn about the privacy settings on social networking sites (and know that the rules are frequently changing) and be aware that not everyone will appreciate you sharing EVERYTHING that goes on in your life.

Finally, when something is written down (even in what appears to be a secure, anything goes environment), treat the window of critism of your thoughts, ideas, spelling, grammar, and martini-soaked photographs as if it is wide open. It likely is.

No pressure.