talk talk

Video: Talk Talk, Life's What You Make It

Talked too much today.

Woke up still tired from the circuit of the last couple of weeks, wanting to just be q u i e t.

But that’s not my job.

So instead we kicked it off with a client conference call. In which I talked. And then headed down to the Loop for a conversation with a trade magazine to swap thoughts about social networking in the online retail space. During which I talked some more.

Then chased that all down with more talking (lordy girl: do you *ever* shut up?) during a three hour volunteer session with the good folks of Host Universal -- an outfit out of the UK that works with non-profits, helping them distill their message and improve their performance. Anita Roddick's Body Shop was an early client of theirs, way back before the buyout and when it was looking for its “one word” -- which, in case you’re wondering, turned out to be the hyphenated “self-esteem”.

The client today was SERRV, the oldest fair trade organization on the planet. Never heard of them? Yeah: that’s why Host was called in.

Our job was to brainstorm through a whole slew of abstractions in an effort to get to the gold for SERRV, and although I’m not entirely sure that we arrived at anything useful I expect the Host guys got what they needed and will almost certainly turn it into something bankable for their client.

And a bonus: Former Senator Carol Moseley Braun was there in her capacity as a representative for Ambassador Organics -- another free trade outfit -- and I completely managed to goof the handshake by going all star struck when introductions were made all matter of fact like as if she were just like anybody else in the room -- she whom, may I remind you, was the first African American woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate and even put in a run for President. Which means of course that she *wasn’t* just like anybody else in the room. She was Carol Moseley Braun, goddammit, and a girl should have fair warning about these things so she can practice her “honored to meet you” curtsy beforehand. (And no, I’m not going to tell you what I said instead. Too embarrassed. Trying to forget.)

Plus a byproduct: The session spurred all kinds of thoughts about what I do for a living, what it’s made me sure of, and whether or not I should be so sure.

But I’ll save that for another post, because just now I’m beat, and considerably tired of talking too much.