Social Media and I

It would have been so interesting to have this stuff around when we were growing up.

In my twenties it seemed I had an epiphany nearly everyday.  Reading poetry about warm soup and cold beer in the midst of worrying how I was ever going to be able to pay the bills.  Contrasts of living large and formulating values.  Or observations of human behavior, new quotes, places, experiences.  If I had tweeted everyday, what would that look like now?  Starting out with this phenomenon recently, I find my random thoughts are rather mundane by comparison.

Perspective is everything.

And a blog.  Somewhere between a personal journal being shared with objective strangers or venting thoughts and feelings out to people who care.  Well, there has to be a level of interest to have the attention span to voyage through someone else’s mind.  As a teenager, the things you learn about relationships and how one would choose what to post publicly and how much to log privately.  Even the smallest things seemed dramatic in that era.

Or, would I talk about how difficult it was to deal with raising a step child and the politics of my husband having a former wife through all those beginning years of marriage?  Would I vent?  Not saying there are bad people here only difficult situations when I felt isolated, alone and misunderstood against trials that hard to explain.

Jumping into a whirlpool with other bloggers who could impart some sanity.  A blog seems like it could have been a good friend through all of that.  My step son is grown now and has children of his own.  My life is fairly calm at this moment.

The glories of Motherhood and raising my own son.  All the stages of his life could have been recorded and shared.  Thomas the Tank engine, Disney movies, The Berenstain Bears, Power Rangers, Pokeman, Magic the Gathering, Anime, Golf, Trombone, Basketball, the literary magazine he created for high school and so forth.  His poems, photos, music, experiences.  It was a total joy to watch Donny grow up.

Our own personal indulgences are not always common to others but I could have with great excitement told the story of who I feel is one of the greatest of men and how he came to be the person he is.  It would have been a joyful write.

And what about Facebook?  That is the coolest thing!  If I look at my “friend’s list” and see a time line over the last 50 years where my entire life is accounted for with a relationship at almost any given point.  Family that is scattered, schools, churches, jobs, neighborhoods.  It’s all there.  I feel connected.  And yes I do play an occasional game like YoVille or Scrabble but not too much.

LinkedIn is my business roledex and online resume.  I really enjoy all these things.  Although going back to work after some time off I will not be able to spend the kind of time with social tools.

StumbleUpon, Youtube, Digg.  All fun.  Apps for my iphone.  And I may join a Ning community.

Basically, I am a novice at this.  Young people seem to have it all down.  Like a game control that is like working chopsticks to me, but for them is simple executing their thoughts as a typewriter or pencil.

What I have not done is connected the dots.  Nor exactly do I want to.  Each of these things seem to have their own purpose and audience.  Maybe at some point I will try to stream the pieces together.  But I am fairly confident that if someone is interested in getting to know me better they will find their communication avenue of preference.

Blogging for now is introspective.  However, I am reading some that belong to others that are works of art, entertainment, motivation, professionalism, development, leadership, fiction and more.

In these first few attempts I am mind dumping.  Contrastingly, your selection of what to read is ala carte.  Isn’t that nice how this works?

My new company will provide me with a business website page.  I am looking forward to having that.

Some of the things I would like to explore in the future is a domain, remote computing and how to develop a contiguous online presence.  One step at a time.

My Career

Tomorrow I start with a new firm. Well, Tuesday actually but that is sort of tomorrow. We are having a holiday weekend right now.

As a child I wanted to grow up to be a movie star. Well, I also wanted to be a Jeannie or a witch with magical powers but I was willing to settle for being beautiful, rich and famous.

In sixth grade our teacher sat us according to our math scores like a band. I always sat first chair even with a name starting with “R.” If anyone else had gotten 100% too and had a last name starting with an earlier letter in the alphabet they would get to sit in front of me. This almost never happened.

And, Ms. Zygmunt, known to us as “Ziggy,” told us that women only made 73 cents on the dollar compared to men. That is when I ruled out becoming a nurse, secretary, stewardess or any other truly feminine profession. Not that any of those things are bad then or now. I simply wanted a whole dollar.

Since then many roles are no longer stereotyped by gender. I am not suggesting we all become adrogynous. In fact I truly love my femininity. But, I was developing views on how to insure I got my other 27 cents.

In junior high I began to like science. Actually my 7th and 8th grade science teachers were both handsome and I was a great pet. Yes, I was one of those kids who stayed after school to help grade papers and so forth. Psychology is what specifically seemed interesting to me.

Then in the summer before high school I joined a dramatic workshop. Ah, the smell of the grease paint! And since I had played the piano since I was 4 music came easy to me. Dancing, singing, doing plays, speech team. My dream of becoming an actress resurfaced. Writing and communications almost began to rival math.

Then I also did plays at some local colleges and Second City in Chicago along with Ted Liss Studios and Barbizon. I was the most serious 5 foot tall actress ever. And along came Don. (My husband) He asked me to work for him modeling wigs at his boutique. Somehow however passionate I was about a theatrical career it was all about him now.

Pretty much I dropped out of everything except our romance. Two years later we married. I no longer needed any career, a man was going to take care of me. Well, not so much.

I started to sell pianos at age 16. It wasn’t exactly on stage. But presenting and playing for customers seemed hammy enough. And my peers were making $3.45 an hour. I was able to earn about $1000 a month. Circa 1978.

This lasted for 7 years until my friends started to graduate from college and I realized that time was passing me by.

It was then I decided to become an insurance agent coupling my presentation skills with mathematics. I gathered about 350 clients out of a Sears store over a 3 1/2 year period. Did I mention I ended up managing the local piano store but the owner retired? And the man who hired me to sell insurance told me I would be a manager again in 2 years if I could sell.

There always seems to be a bit of a ying and a yang when something changes. I am not sure what made me give up on the theatre. Lack of confidence or a reality check that it is a crap shoot that one becomes viably successful in such an endeavor. Anyway now my new obsession was management and leadership. I taught swimming, piano, student coached and gave motivational speeches in my youth. Managed at a young age. Now, this was my new quest. Without college.

The two years passed and the Dean Witter Brokers seemed so cool in the kiosk I shared as an Allstate agent so one day I went home on one side of the wall and came to work on the other. Getting a series 7 and becoming a stockbroker at 26 was no small feat. I absolutely loved it. Wasn’t great at telling 70 year old people what to do with their life savings yet but I sucked up everything I learned like a sponge.

Small time out. Enter Don W. Lail, Jr. My amazing and wonderful son! I stopped gallivanting all around Chicagoland to my Sears stores (what was then known as the Sears Financial Network, investments, insurance and real estate) and spent a small amount of time at home. Besides, on the interpersonal side the bull pen was a bit like a men’s locker room. So much for liberation. I felt truly harassed by my environment. A tale for another time.

Transitions are often a push away from something and pull toward in another direction. I am never sure of the order of things when they change. But as much as I loved being a financial consultant on the investment front I went back to an insurance company, Prudential. This time they told me I would get promoted into management after 5 years.

7 years came and went so I decided to go to college and get an MBA. I had taken a few accounting and human resource courses but was no where near completing a bingo sheet. In fact I think the dean even laughed at me when I met him for lunch at the Purdue management department. I graduated in 2005. I love my MBA. One day I want to finish a PhD. leadership. Maybe. Depends on what else is happening in the meantime.

During my academic years there was some moving around I did job wise. Same career, different brands. And I picked up my CFP and CLU as well along with the series 66. Gosh, I am so pedigreed. If you really want details there are some circular vitales floating around somewhere. There is always a back story though.

My ultimate dream job in leadership came along with Ameriprise as a Marketing Field Implementation Director where I traveled 7 states and coached (often up to) 900 totally awesome financial advisors. I saw, I did, I learned. And the pay was good. Spoke at meetings, met one on one with great people. Had a corporate card. Ate lobster, drank fine wines and traveled. Then Daddy took the T-bird away. Budget wise it was hard to prove to the company that my role produced any true bottom line results in client acquisition. It did, I swear. They simply should have asked me. I could have proved it. 56 of us lost our jobs. Well, I was one of the first but that is a gripe for another time and place as well.

Three martinis and I could tell you all the underground smut. But I am up at the moment.

Tuesday I get a fresh start as a Financial Advisor with a new brand. This has to work, I signed a five year contract.

It is basically what I have been doing for the last 25 years only I have no reason not to do well. Wish me luck!

Blogger’s Rights

By the way, I fully reserve the right to change my mind or opinion on anything that is written here now or in the future especially concerning the past or as it pertains to such things as politics, money or religion.

And of course there are more people that are important in my life but I wanted to start with the big rocks first.

Time Gets Away

Mom passed away since my last writing. July 4th, 2010. God rest her soul.

She would have loved the miracle of modern technology and communication. An avid writer and always sharing things she discovered in a pertinent way. Newspaper or magazine articles and such.

People Important to Me

Dad

Born 1922 Died 1996

Catholic, Knight’s of Columbus 4th degree Knight.

Served in WWII in the US Navy and earned a President’s Citation on the USS Honolulu with peers while being torpedoed thrice.

Married 54 years, three children, three grandchildren to date.

Worked as a manager for Eastman Kodak in Chicago for 40 years.

Mom, still living, born in 1924 with a father who’s heritage came from Amsterdam, a pharmacist born in 1860 who witnessed an Abraham Lincoln speech as a child. One generation removed from me. (1961)

http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=602512596#!/photo.php?pid=2403905&id=602512596 (Mom’s on the right)

Mom’s parent’s were also Christian, Methodist.

Mother took on several vocations through the years to help out but primarily was the nurturer of our family. She is the sweetest soul I have ever known.

My sister Karen Parker http://www.ikarensell.com

http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?&id=602512596&s=6&hash=25cf042dae89b9ebaceb6e721cb0cf3b#!/photo.php?pid=2460320&id=602512596&fbid=62613612596

My brother Bill Renick http://www.xtenindustries.com/

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=100599&id=602512596&page=3#!/photo.php?pid=2525180&id=602512596

My husband Don, since 1980. http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000590517297&ref=ts

Our son, Don W. Lail, Jr. http://www.facebook.com/#!/donny.lail?ref=ts

http://www.linkedin.com/in/donlail

One day young Don may marry and bring us a daughter and possibly even grandchildren.

Of course there are many more family members, friends and associates that have had an impact on my life, but I thought I would start with the core.

Money, Sex, Politics and Religion

Money

“Money is the least of all things that has value.” That is a quote from the late Dr. Jack Hyles and I concur. Health, integrity, loved ones and the list goes on and on. However, having lived my life non-materialistically I may have erred on underestimating the power and freedom it can provide. Right now I would like to have lots of it to splurge on creature comforts, travel and indulgence. As well as enough to do great good for others around me.

Sex

“The marriage bed is undefiled.” Another quote. This time from a lady I worked for at a mom and pop piano store. She said it was biblical. 32 years with one man to date and we have enjoyed fidelity and fulfillment. Not to be critical of anyone else who has chosen a different life style as a consenting adult.

Religion

I was born Catholic. I still believe in God, Christ and the Holy Ghost. Although I consider myself more of a brown bag vanilla flavored generic Christian. God is scientific, he holds the universe in his hands. He is the fabric that calls to order all that is beyond our comprehension to understand. Christ lived his life as an allegory and spoke often in parables and metaphors. The Bible was divinely inspired. That is not to say that it is the only literature that ever was. God inspires us today through the Holy Spirit who is with us, in us and leads us spiritually in our daily lives whenever called upon.

Politics

Kennedy was assassinated while I was still in my mother’s arms. Looking at the historical view of Camelot, he seemed to have been a good leader. I do not recall much about Johnson or Eisenhower. Nixon won by a landslide in grade school and it was a time of the Viet Nam war and indecent inflation. Then came the peanut farmer everyone made fun of. As a member of the Young Republicans in my college political science class, I became a supporter of George Bush senior after watching his profile described on 60 minutes. He was a graduate of Yale and a life long CIA man. He appeared to me to be competent. I voted for Reagan because he chose George as his running mate.

The world seemed like such a wonderful place whenever our movie star leader talked about current events. But, the deficit exploded from military build up and at the same time social programs, education and health services deteriorated while the number of homeless people became obscene. That made me realize that I was a compassionate democrat who was temporarily and mistakenly wooed by the likes of the “moral majority.”

Al Gore was my next favorite after hearing him comment on national public radio about Anita Hill the woman who accused Clarence Thomas of harassment while he was being reviewed for the Supreme Court. He said whether Miss Hill was truly harassed by Mr. Thomas was yet unclear but if she had not been then, she certainly had been now with the questions put to her on the senate floor. This was a man who understands women. I voted for Bill because of him.

We had a great economy during the Clinton years. However, during the Bush Jr. Gore race I did not vote. Gore disappointed me when he came out running and at the same time tried to distance himself from Bill over Monica. He should have in my opinion stayed loyal to the man who brought him to the dance.

It was not until Obama ran that I voted again although I personally would have preferred Hillary. Palin was a hoot to watch and she is not done with us yet.

So, the point. One should not select their religion, marriage partner or political persuasion until they are over 40. And it does not hurt to be rich either.

References, Images Googled lightly from keywords for readily available public content.

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com.