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 The Good Life. |
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You Are Welcome Here Life is good. Let's share it. New Year, New Strategy For 2026, I launched a weekly topic rotation designed to help me stay d i s c i p l i n e d while ensuring that you, the reader, always know what to expect. Unfortunately, I have yet to acquire a million followers  and gain official WDC "influencer" status, and I often find myself seduced by whimsy. Thus, my blogging strategy continues to evolve.So, What Can I Expect? I'm glad you asked. For now, until whimsy strikes again, here's what you can expect: Subject Sundays I'll publish an educational and/or discussion-provoking article, probably on one of the following subjects:.  Music & music education The art and business of writing Owning & managing a small business Science & technologyMain Character Mondays I'll establish goals every Monday and touch base about family, work, health and leisure. Tuesdays through Fridays I'll work on and update weekly goals. When I check off completed writing goals, I'll share the fruits of those labors, if applicable. These posts are likely to include blurbs about my day and the occasional rant, although I try to post rants at "What the Fork?"  * I can only commit to one review per week. If you would like your short story to be in my reviewing queue, please send me a WDC review request. Check out my public reviews to get a sense of what to expect.
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This one is my gift to all of you.  The song was originally by sung Judy Garland in "Meet Me in St. Louie". Whenever I sing a Christmas set list, I close with this song, featuring simple solo vocals and acoustic guitar. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Have yourself a merry little Christmas Let your heart be light From now on, our troubles will be out of sight Have yourself a merry little Christmas Make the yuletide gay From now on, our troubles will be far away Here we are, as in olden days Happy golden days of yore Faithful friends who are dear to us Gather near to us once more Through the years we all will be together If the fates allow Hang a shining star upon the highest bow And have yourself a merry little Christmas now Enjoy. Cheers, Michelle |
| This is a simple arrangement of Rudolph played on a lead guitar, an acoustic guitar, and some quiet percussion. But the best part of the song is the extra verse at the end, where the reindeer actually apologize to poor Rudy. Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer Had a very shiny nose And if you ever saw it You would even say it glows All of the other reindeer Used to laugh and call him names They never let poor Rudolph Join in any reindeer games Then one foggy Christmas eve Santa came to say: "Rudolph with your nose so bright Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?" Then how the reindeer loved him As they shouted out with glee "Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer you'll go down in history." Well Rudolph he didn't go for that He said "I see through your silly games" How could you look me in the face When only yesterday you called me names? Well all of the other reindeers, man, well they sure did feel ashamed, "Rudolph you know we're sorry, we're truly gonna try to change." Enjoy: |
| Chick rock! This three-sister band is awesome to watch at a live concert, because they rotate instruments and all play everything with equal proficiency. They use a lot of synthesizer to create the orchestral sound in addition to the drums, driving rock guitar, bass, and amazing vocal harmonies. I love how the piece alternates from calm to crazy and back to calm, such as the riffs at 1:34, 1:55, etc. They're queens of incredible harmonies, like the floating descant at 2:00 and the rich alto at 2:37. Then there's a gorgeous delicate section starting around 3:23 that kicks back in with a crescendo and steady quarter-beat fill on the floor tom around 3:35. O Holy Night O holy night! The stars are brightly shining, It is the night of the dear Savior's birth. Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till He appear'd and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees! O, hear the angel voices! O night divine, O night when Christ was born, Truly He taught us to love one another, His law is love and His gospel is peace. Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother, And in His name all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, Let all within us praise His holy name. Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever, His power and glory evermore proclaim. Fall on your knees! O, hear the angel voices! O night divine, O night when Christ was born, O night divine, O night, Oh night Divine. Enjoy: |
| Continuing the "Hallelujah" theme from yesterday is "A Hallelujah Christmas" by the band Cloverton. This piece is a Christmas arrangement of the classic Leonard Cohen "Hallelujah" best known by the younger generations thanks to the Shrek movie. It features peaceful, soothing piano, electric guitar, cello, and a variety of percussion instruments: bells, timpani, and chimes. Be captivated. Get chills when the audience joins in. It's breathtaking.  |
| The Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah is one of the most well-known and beloved orchestral pieces among fans of classical music. If you ever have the opportunity to see a live performance of the Messiah, know that it's traditional for the audience to stand during the Hallelujah Chorus. The entire work is equally suited to Christmas and Easter. It's also one of the most fun pieces a choir can sing, because of how the melody passes from part to part, and how everyone gets equal moments to shine, even the altos!  Not to mention how uplifting and inspirational the piece is.Some traditionalists dislike the Soulful Celebration arrangement of this piece because "you can't mess with perfection" and blah blah blah. Yes, the original sounds like angels singing. But you can't tell me that the additions of trumpets, organ, drums, guitar, bass, and a hand-clappin' gospel choir featuring syncopated rhythms adds nothing to the piece. I my opinion, it breaths new life into an old classic. I've included the original below for comparison. In the original, notice the rustling sound of the audience standing as they recognize the introduction to the piece. Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth! The kingdom of this world is become The Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ And He shall reign for ever and ever! King of Kings, for ever and ever And Lord of Lords, Hallelujah Hallelujah For comparison, here is the original Hallelujah Chorus by G. F. Handel: |
| What would a "12 Days of "Christmas"" [E] celebration be without "12 Days" by Straight No Chaser? This men's a capella group features witty twists on classic songs, bad choreography, amazing harmonies and gorgeous vocal tone. Watch for cameos of the following songs: "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" "Deck the Halls" "The Boar's Head Carol" "Carol of the Bells" "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" "I Have a Little Dreidel", ...and "Africa" by Toto! Here's a snippet of the hilarious "Africa" lyrics: Nine ladies dancing, they were dancing for me Eight maids-a-milking, they were milking just for me I had Christmas down in Africa... Enjoy! |
This foot-tappin', hip-shakin' modern classic featuring the vocal stylings of Mistress of Pop Mariah Carey needs no further introduction. Go ahead and set your player on repeat. You know you want to.  Enjoy. |
| This version of "Joy to the World" begins with improvised gospel piano and organ and the gorgeous tone and amazing vocal embellishments of Natalie Grant on the first verse. I especially love the waterfall sound made by the piano at 0:44. After the freestyle introduction, a descending piano progression ending with two steady quarter-note chord hits kick off the upbeat portion of the song, featuring the addition of trumpets, bass, drums, and of course, a gospel choir. There are some fun chord changes throughout that make the arrangement unique compared to the tradition carol; for example, at 1:38. At the beginning of the second verse, around 2:11, there's a dramatic moment when everything drops out on the downbeat and comes back in the syncopated beat. If you don't find yourself wanting to dance to this one, you're probably dead. Joy to the World Joy to the world, the Lord is come Let earth receive her King Let every heart prepare Him room Let heaven and nature sing He rules the world with truth and grace He makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness And wonders of His love Enjoy: |
| This version of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" in blues rock style opens with a deep solo electric guitar riff. After twice through the riff, the guitar is joined by rock organ and drums on a syncopated beat.The vocal embellishments follow the seventh chord progression that is typical of a blues. A gospel choir joins in each refrain, beginning in the first refrain around 1:10. A single backup singer enhances the verses here and there, starting at the end of Verse 2. The lead guitar and organ have wonderful solo moments throughout. There's a neat drama point around 2:41 featuring nearly a capella vocals, with some echo on the vocal processor and just a hint of tinkling on the organ, finishing off with a power moment when the bass guitar kicks a rich sustained note at 2:53. Then the rest of the band kicks back in for the last chorus and outro. O Come, O Come Emmanuel: O come, O come, Emmanuel And ransom captive Israel That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear O come o come thou wisdom from on high Through of all things far and nigh To us the path of knowledge to show And cause us in her ways to go Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel Shall come for thee, O Israel Enjoy: |
| This ain't your traditional drummer boy. This drummer boy boasts a multi-piece drum set featuring everything from the kick drum to the crash cymbal. He's accompanied by driving electric rhythm guitar, a wailing lead guitar solo with tremolo at 1:55, and edgy rock vocals. The Little Drummer Boy Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum A new born King to see, pa rum pum pum pum Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, So to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum, When we come. Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum That's fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum, On my drum? Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum I played my drum for Him, pa rum pum pum pum I played my best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum Me and my drum. Enjoy. |
| After yesterday claiming to pick songs for the music first, the lyrics of my Day 2 entry actually weigh heavily in its selection. But it still comes back to the music. The delicate piano and melody evoke imagery of the tiny, fragile baby in the manger, and the overall arrangement emulates the powerful simplicity of the birth of Christ. At first glance, the song is only a lullaby, just like the Savior's birth is only a humble beginning. On reflection, both are so much more. The song is "Welcome to Our World" by Chris Rice. What you'll hear: 1. Pretty, delicate piano. 2. A single, gentle voice on a simple melody throughout. No pop flips or other frills. No harmony. 3. Strings added in verse 2 for dynamic interest, but still very simple. 4. A bit of a of a percussive moment for the strings at 1:20, the most complicated part of the song. 5. A modulation (key change) in verse 4 for more dynamic interest. 6. In the last verse, strings mostly drop out so that the song ends as simply as it started. Welcome to Our World Tears are falling, hearts are breaking How we need to hear from God You've been promised, we've been waiting Welcome Holy Child, welcome Holy Child Hope that you don't mind our manger How I wish we would have known But long-awaited Holy Stranger, Make Yourself at home, please make Yourself at home Bring Your peace into our violence Bid our hungry souls be filled Word now breaking Heaven's silence Welcome to our world, welcome to our world Fragile fingers sent to heal us Tender brow prepared for thorn Tiny heart whose blood will save us Unto us is born, unto us is born So wrap our injured flesh around You Breath our air and walk our sod Rob our sin and make us holy Perfect Son of God, perfect Son of God Welcome to our world. |
I wrote this in a forum post for "Monthly Writing Accountability Challenge" , and then decided it was worth republishing in my blog. Mostly for the writing credit.  I'm barely keeping up with everything. When you stretch yourself to the max, inevitably, something new crops up. Yesterday, I was ready to quit all my writing projects, because everything else is more urgent. I define "urgency" by "people relying on me." Since my failure to meet writing goals only affects myself, but all my other commitments affect other people, writing falls to the bottom of the list. And before you cry "take care of yourself, too!" I have to be fair and point out that writing was at the top of the list for two straight months. I let other things go in the meantime, and now I have catching up to do. But looking at my goals and progress against them, I'm not doing too bad. Today, I completed "Day 1: "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen" by Jars of Clay" for "12 Days of "Christmas"" [E] and "I Write in December-January-February" [E]. I have to complete a review now, but I'll do that, because the writer is relying on me. So it's urgent.Status of my goals: 1. Editing. More than halfway there on 12/9. I'm likely to meet this one. 2. Promo. Already blew the goal out of the water. I hang out on social media, and people post things on my wall all the time, so this is like a self-completing goal anyway. I should make it bigger next month. 3. Reading. I should start giving myself credit for articles because I read those all the time. Right now, I'm sitting at 0 versus a points goal of 9,300. I do have a vacation at the end of the month, so I'm hoping to crank this one out all at once. 4. Reviewing. About halfway. Looking good. 5. Writing. Bleh. 6,700 versus a points goal of 30,000. If I fail at any goals, this is the most likely failure. I just can't stress myself out over it. The other things going on. I always forget how busy December is:  I'm a church worship/music leader, and December is Advent (hello?!) - lots of music this time of the year. End of the year, and we're generating music school budgets for 2015. Holiday marketing at the music school, at which I have failed miserably this year. Winter Recitals Dec 19, 20, 21 and Jan 3, 4. I haven't even thought about Christmas shopping until someone mentioned it in scroll recently.On top of all that, there's the usual staff meetings at work and church. I'd *like* to find a new gig, but since that only affects me, it's at the bottom of the list. Then there's all the little things, like decorating the studio, hiring another part-time receptionist, implementing the teams idea at work, cultivating relationships with clients and employees, keeping up with email, revamping the school website, learning how to use a new kind of laptop. And I took on the church website again, because I'm a suckerone of the pastors left and I'm trying to help out the other one... ain't nobody got time for that! In years past, when I complained about how busy I was in December, I pledged to get back into writing in January. But that never happens, either. January is just as busy or busier. Which is why I need to finish my NaNo novel this month, while it's in my head. Because if I don't, it will be gone. *deep breath* I need a nap. Another nap. Cheers, Michelle |
| In a site full of writers, it shouldn't surprise me that the majority of participants in "12 Days of "Christmas"" [E] are selecting songs based on and writing about lyrics. But I'm a musician first, and my selections are all based first on the music. Where appropriate, I'll give a nod to the lyrics as well. My first choice is "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen" by Jars of Clay. Here's what you'll hear: 1. A gorgeous classical guitar riff that carries steadily throughout the piece. 2. Rich baritone vocals on the lead line, beginning with verse 1, "God rest ye, merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay..." 3. A mournful violin and ting on the TRIANGLE (your fave preschool instrument used in real, published music) kicking off Verse 2. 4. An incredibly unique chord progression created by the vocal harmonies of a high tenor through the second verse. 5. The most awesome bass walk of all time at 1:29. It's even better than "Let It Be" which is arguably the most famous bass walk of all time. 6. A wistful classical guitar and violin duet around 1:35, joined by a clarinet at 1:40 and cello at 1:47. CHILLS. 7. Another ting on the triangle at 2:12. Oh yeah, baby. Eat your heart out, Jimmy Fallon. 8. Clever vocal "percussion" on beats 2,3,4 throughout the third verse. 9. The haunting clarinet soaring over the violin, cello, guitar, and vocal awesomeness until the last note. Since I'm a writer too, I can't ignore the lyrics. Could you ask for a more poetic proclamation of the birth of Christ? Excepting, of course, the nagging sexism, which I would be remiss not to mention. But this arrangement is so musically compelling that it remains one of my top twelve favorites, and I just like to pretend us women should also let nothing us dismay. We are all saved from Satan's pow'r when we've gone astray, regardless of our gender. God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen God rest ye, merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay! Remember Christ, the Savior, was born on Christmas Day To save us all from Satan's pow'r when we had gone astray. O, tidings of comfort and joy! From God our Heaven'ly Father, a blessed angel came And unto certain shepherds, brought tidings of the same: How that in Bethlehem was born the Son of God by name. O, tidings of comfort and joy! Cheers, Michelle |
| As a participant in "12 Days of "Christmas"" [E] }, I have generated the following YouTube playlist. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBWM2eEWNAepbqWGWruxgfaH9sfrsJ6Mg |
| Here's a summary. Discussing in scroll, but it's easier to type it up in paragraph form here, especially because I can't even clearly articulate the problem. The Oracle: Queen of the ursae (bear-like champions of the personified classical element, Earth) Bronius: The Queen's chosen assassin Molly; Mixed-breed daughter of Quiver (human, High Druid) and Midge (one of the witches, champions of Air) Dragons: champions of the personified element, Fire The purpose of the Druid Order is to maintain Balance. None of the Elements may grow stronger (or weaker) than the others. The Druids (led by High Druid Quiver) and the ursae (led by their queen, The Oracle) are already concerned because the dragons have taken steps to overthrow their own Element (Fire). Fire is growing weaker, threatening Balance. The Oracle took the information to the druids and asked for help, because that's what the druids are supposed to do, and it's not within the power of the ursae to confront the dragons (for the same reason - it might threaten the Balance between Earth and Fire.) A little about the ursae: Earth's role is the mother comforter. The ursae are healers, not warriors. That's the crux of my problem. But the Oracle is worried about Balance, and then she finds out two things: (1) Molly is a half-witch. Quiver has forsaken his vow as a druid and sired a daughter with a champion of Air. That makes the witches, and the druids, no better than the dragons (except that Molly's birth has a negligible effect on Balance, compared to what the dragons are doing.) (2) A prophecy reveals that Molly will bring about the downfall of Balance. THE PROBLEM: Two things need to happen, and I'm struggling with the characterization of the ursae: 1. The Oracle visits the druids and tries to assassinate the girl. 2. When the assassination fails, the Oracle declares war on the druids. I've got the first taken care of with some strong internal conflict and problems within the ursae nation. My reviewers may disagree later, but I think the Oracle has convinced herself that this is important enough. She's the comforter, but she's also the protector, and a threat to Balance is a serious thing. Think of the mother who would never be violent, except when her child is threatened. But the next problem is just logistical. The ursae are guests in the fortress. The Oracle hopes the assassination will succeed, but she's brought two dozen ursae with her in case it fails. When it does, what does she do next? It's about an hour past nightfall. They're in the ursae guest quarters, within the walls of the fortress. The alarm will soon be raised when the assassination attempt is discovered. Does she stay in the fortress or leave? Her plan is to demand the girl and then declare war when they refuse. She probably doesn't think they'll refuse because druids are champions of Balance, but this is Quiver's daughter. When they do refuse, and the Oracle declares war, what is that even going to look like? The druids can't attack the ursae, because that will weaken Earth, and that goes against everything the druids stand for. The ursae won't attack the druids, because it's not in their nature - unless the Oracle feels like her children are threatened. But if the druids won't attack, what's the threat? The same as with Molly, presumably - she must feel desperate about the future of Balance... Continued in the comments so y'all can start reading and thinking. |
For anyone who is not a teen but who is writing teens (such as Happy Mumsy Year!  , I interviewed teens to get examples of what they text each other about. Here are the first of the answers. So far, I've interviewed B (male) and E (female). B gave me a generic example, and E sent me screen shots.B: (I just asked him "what kinds of things teenagers text each other about") -------------------------------------------------------- B: Do u want an honest opinion M: Of course! Want the book to be believable B: Sex, video games, people, their friends, popularity, and from what my friend says "menstrual cycle" such as periods. M: Lol, so a lot of gossip then? B: Yes, that's what high school M: Ok thanks. Appreciate it. :) B: Your welcome E: Hope this helps. My friends and I aren't incredibly interesting. If you need anything more let me know! -------------------------------------------------------- E: How long will it take to get there? A: Like five minutes A: So can I invade your house A: I'm going to go get coffee A: So can I invade your house E: Yeah sure I'm cleaning my room tho  -------------------------------------------------------- E: Well that's not too bad K: Ironic though. E: Yeah E: Where are you going at lunch? K: Wendy's E: Thank you K: Anytime -------------------------------------------------------- J: I guessed on the last 15 & got 1 E: Killing it XD J: You know it E: "Wow this class real prepares me for real life" -said no one ever E: *really XD J: Seriously J: do you have tissues? E: Yep :) one sec J: What time is the class over? -------------------------------------------------------- Any teens who catch the blog post are invited to add their examples in the comments. Cheers, Michelle |
| My mother-in-law lives with us. Last summer, we sold her house and ours and bought a larger house. We renovated the basement so she could have a private apartment, but we could still watch over her. She'd lived in her former home for forty years and raised her children there, so moving was a big project involving sorting, organizing and packing and many tearful trips to Goodwill. Keith made the decision to consolidate our households when his mother began to exhibit signs of severe memory loss. She can tell me stories about her youth like nobody's business, but she doesn't remember that she told me the same story a month ago, or an hour ago. Every time Keith goes on a business trip, she thinks he's in Italy (this last trip was to St. Louis.) All her plans are at noon or sometime other than when they actually are, so she sits by the front door waiting to be picked up, thinking she's been forgotten. And she keeps saying she just needs to get in her car and drive herself to church or the grocery store or wherever, but even though these destinations are a straight shot from our home, she's gotten hopelessly lost the last couple times she's ventured out on her own. She has a cell phone, but naturally she doesn't remember to bring it. Ever since she moved in with us, I've been taking my mother-in-law to church. I lead worship, and on a rare occasion, I have to be early or stay late, so I either tell her a different time to be ready that morning, or I make arrangements for Keith to drive her, or for a congregation member who lives near us to take her home early. I think a routine would be better for her, but it's not something I can control. Leading worship is my job. Yesterday, we had to leave the house at 8:30 am. She confirmed with me on Saturday night: "We're leaving at 8:30, right?" At 8:32 yesterday morning, we had not heard a peep from the basement. On any normal Sunday, she would have already been upstairs to feed and water the cats and set her purse and Bible on the counter. I opened the basement door and called down to her, asking if she was ready to go. She called up, "I can't find anything to wear." My mother-in-law dresses to the nines with perfect hair and makeup to ride along taking Abby to cheerleading. She is always immaculate and always - ALWAYS - ready on time. Finding something to wear is like a profession for her. After a stunned pause, I called, "Do we need to take you shopping?" Maybe she's gained weight. We've all had those mornings. She replied, "I'm just so aggravated." Another beat later, I come up with the solution. "I have to go, but I'll wake Keith up and ask him to bring you at 9:15." That gives her an extra 45 minutes to get ready. She agreed, so I woke Keith and left. After worship, I got hit with the usual barrage of people needing to speak with me for various reasons. I apologize to my MIL almost every week for keeping her waiting, and every week she tells me not to worry, the couch by the door is very comfortable. Yesterday, she sought me out while I was asking a friend to help me load up the drum set in my Jeep, and she was distraught. She'd been waiting outside for Keith to pick her up, and he was a no-show. I realized the problem immediately: She assumed that since he brought her, he would also be picking her up. That implied she'd forgotten the reason Keith drove her. At that moment, my friend got pulled away into another conversation, so I hustled her out as quickly as possible, since she was clearly in a bad mood. I tried to gently remind her: "Why would Keith need to pick you up? I didn't have anything unusual scheduled today. Did you end up finding something to wear?" And she snapped at me, "Oh, I always find something to wear. I'm always ready and waiting for you people." *blink* It is SO HARD to take comments like that in stride. I have to bite my tongue, count to ten in my head, and take a deep breath before I reply. "Don't you remember? When I asked if you were ready at 8:30, you said you couldn't find something to wear. That was why Keith drove you today." She didn't say anything, and I have no idea if she remembered, or if she felt bad, or if she was mad, or what, because she rarely says what's on her mind. I got her in the car and asked her to give me a minute to tell my friend we were leaving and would load up the drums another day. But then she changed moods abruptly, saying there was no need to rush, that I could finish what I was doing. All I could think was that loading up the drums would take at least ten minutes, and that's enough time for her to forget why she's waiting for me, to forget that she'd insisted on it. Sometimes it goes beyond unjustified accusations, and I get treated with mistrust. She looks at me with suspicion when some piece of mail or personal object or large stack of cash she withdrew vanishes (it turns out she hid the money under a lamp.) I used to pay her bills because she paid her mortgage twice in the same month but repeatedly failed to pay other bills, and I'm better at money management than her two children. She was aware that I took over and approved it, but sometimes she would forget and be accusatory about the status of her bank account and the fact that I had access to it. I have my faults, but dishonesty is not one of them. If anything, brutally unfailing honesty is sometimes on the "weaknesses" list. It hurts my feelings to be accused unjustly and mistrusted, especially when I'm voluntarily taking on a time-consuming task like managing someone else's budget and bills and making all the payments on time. I was hoping for gratitude, not mistrust. Luckily, cohabitation means she doesn't have bills anymore. I agreed to cohabitate with my mother-in-law because I understand that she needs looking after, and since Keith worries about her, so do I. But she is strong-willed and difficult, and we're talking about one of the nicest people you will ever meet. I can't imagine doing this with a crabby person. And I can't imagine being in her shoes. To lose my independence in old age is now one of my greatest fears. |
| If you didn't read yesterday's novel, here's the quick summary: We signed a contract with Venue to run a commercial in their local movie theatre. They secured a third party advertising agency ("Production") to make the ad, but we signed a contract directly with Production. Production supplied the first revision. Venue suggested changes to the informational "slide" containing contact information about our business. We said we agreed with the suggestions, but we made arrangements for our internal creative guy, Zach, to do the slide himself. Production agreed. Zach's slide didn't exactly match Venue's suggestions. Instead of asking us about it, Production took it upon herself to CHANGE Zach's slide so that it would match Venue's suggestions. We were only supposed to get one revision, according to our agreement. Yesterday, I closed my blog post with: "......now, who wants to bet that we get charged for a second revision?" 7:49 AM today: Michelle, Good Morning! Ad has been handed off to Venue exactly as it was sent! This constitutes an additional change. What was sent in Zach’s piece DOES NOT INCLUDE Venue's comments you agreed with. We took out the changes you communicated you wanted on August 28th at 9:22 AM Production also included a quote from my 8/28 9:22 email: "We have all reviewed the video. We agree with Venue's suggestions, and we have no additional requests. Since we only get one edit request, can we see the "slide" before you incorporate it into the video, or just let Zach do it so we know we'll be happy with it on the first edit?" Chris replied with a quote from Production's 8/28 reply to the 9:22 email: "Hello! For the sake of time, let's go with what Zach creates. We can add that into your spot right away. This will get you into the theater sooner." Production replied: "Chris, Not certain why this sent but at this stage, please ensure any direction comes from Michelle to avoid any confusion! Thanks Kindly!"  ...um, yeah. So after spraying blood out of the top of my head in a laser-fine, high-pressure spray that drilled a tiny hole in my ceiling, I responded with this: "I am offended by this. If you would please refer to our contract with you, it was in fact Chris Fredenburg who read and signed the agreement with you, not me. She, Zach Garster, and Angela Heck Mueller have complete and total authority to speak on behalf of MTMS." |
| I don't know if talking about it will make me feel better or worse. I'll leave the names of the companies out of the story until after resolution, at which point I plant to plaster the name of one of the companies across as many venues as I can possibly find. We (MTMS ) bought an advertisement. We've purchased print ads and Google ads, but this was an actual video commercial, slated to run for a number of months at a local movie theatre. It seemed like a good venue, since the people who go to movies are families with children, and teenagers. But the ad is very expensive, and we're inexperienced at this sort of ad.Definitions: "Production" makes the commercial. "Venue" runs the commercial. Zach is my marketing guy. He makes things look good.* Chris is my finance manager. She pays the bills.* Angela an MTMS site manager. She is my second-in-command. *Zach and Chris do much more than this, but these are the functions critical to the story. Summary: Venue stopped into MTMS one day to drop off information and spoke with Chris. Venue is giving us a lot of perks to try this out, because they want to prove how much business it will give us. We have had minor problems with Venue, but overall, we like them. Production is a royal pain in the ass. First Quote Iteration Venue sends a quote to Chris: $3000 to run the ad for a period of time, plus $450 to make the commercial. We evaluate other options for making the video but cannot beat the price of $450. We agree to move forward. Second Quote Iteration Venue informs us that we misunderstood. $450 is the price to upload a commercial that we provide. If we want them to provide the commercial, the cost will be $800. Zach asks for confirmation that the total cost out of our pocket will be $3800, and that there will be no additional cost to upload the video. Venue confirms. Chris signs a contract and makes a $600 down payment to Venue. Third Quote Iteration Production is a third-party company secured by Venue, but we must sign a contract directly with Production. The contract arrives: $800 plus a $200 travel fee. Zach forwards contract to Venue with reminder that we confirmed a total cost of $3800. He follows up several times but receives no response for several weeks. Michelle Gets Involved I sent an email to venue asking why we have not gotten a response. Venue sends a long, very nice apology and explains she has been trying to reason with Production to agree to waive the travel fee, but Venue is inflexible. Venue offers an extra free month of run time. We accept, and Chris signs the contract with Production. It's All About the Money Production contract includes a payment schedule: a portion up front, a portion on the day of filming, and a portion upon delivery. Production asks for the first payment, and Chris asks for an invoice. After some back-and-forth and confusion, Production sends an invoice via PayPal ("request for payment") for the wrong amount, which Chris pays. Chris notifies Production that she will be out of the office, and that nobody at the filming site will have the means to make a payment on the day of filming. She requests that the invoice for the filming day be submitted early. No invoice is received on the requested date. Several invoice-related emails pass back and forth between Production and Chris in which Production seems to miss many requests and is generally lacking in attention to detail. Ad Copy Production writes the worst ad copy I have ever seen ("Invalid Item" ). Zach, Chris and Angela agree. We even question whether English is this person's first language and send an email to Venue asking for the qualifications of the advertising company. Venue does not reply. Meanwhile, I poll my Writing.com friends to help with a rewrite, and we submit something much better to Production. Production agrees to use our copy.Filming: On the day of filming, Production arrives and spends several hours filming. She seems extremely friendly, and Angela and I feel bad that we questioned her qualifications. She is very efficient and flexible about the order of activities, and her cameraman seems to be very good at getting great shots. This is the company's one redeeming quality, and it's evidenced in the shots they ended up using in our final commercial. However, some emails and payment information went back and forth between Production and Chris. I either was not copied on the emails or did not bother to read them on the basis that Chris is highly competent and doesn't need me rubbernecking her. First Draft: Production submits the first draft. The commercial consists of our ad copy spoken by one of our teachers, while scenes of teachers instructing our music students flash across the screen. The shots are genius, always showing the kids having fun and the teacher being very encouraging. Near the end, a "slide" (like a Power Point slide, just a graphic with information on it) flashes on the screen. The scene closes with a group of children and staff shouting our tagline, "You can't stop the music!" Venue replies before we do and suggests that the slide is too busy. She suggests limiting the information to our two locations "Polaris Campus" and "Gahanna Campus", our web address, and social media logos. She also suggests changing the background from white to the tan color we use in our marketing. Venue reminds us that we only get one free revision. Angela replies internally and says the slide is too boring. I no longer have access to it, but it was a white background with our logo across the top, and words in black listing our physical addresses, web address, and possibly some other information. Angela thinks Zach can make it much more attractive. I reply to Production: "...we have all reviewed the video. We agree with Venue's suggestions, and we have no additional requests. Since we only get one edit request, can we see the "slide" before you incorporate it into the video, or just let Zach do it so we know we'll be happy with it on the first edit?" (emphasis added) Production responds "...Please send Zach's creative content / image, and we will incorporate it right away." Zach sends this: ** Image ID #2007844 Unavailable ** Second Draft: Production sends second draft. Like the first, it is submitted in the form of a YouTube link, posted in Production's YouTube account. I reply and say, "...we would like a copy of the actual video ad file. How do we receive that?" Production replies that they will send a CD and an electronic file. I did not approve the revision, and in fact, did not even review it. Production also sends an invoice. Chris asks if she should pay it. I reply that we have not received the final product, so hold off. Deadlines: Wednesday: I was at a funeral all morning. At 2:30pm, I saw an urgent email from Venue stating they needed our final ad by noon or we would miss our deadline, and would I please follow up with Production. I apologized for the delay and explained I had been at a funeral and suggested for future reference to contact my staff for immediate replies. At this point, I realized that I became the primary point of contact when I sent an email to Venue about their three-week delay in replying to Zach. In the reply, I also copied Production (in addition to my staff) and asked if there was a reason for the delay. Production explained they were waiting for payment, and "The ball is in your court." I replied: "Nobody made me aware that we would miss our deadline if you didn't receive payment yesterday. I'm very disappointed in this news." Venue agreed to extend the deadline until the end of the day. Production asked if there was any reason I could not make payment by the end of the day. Disclaimers Because my next response was the crux of the ensuing problem, I should explain that I never saw the contract, because Chris reviewed and signed the contract. Also, Chris requested that Production send all invoices and documentation of completion to her, and yet, once I got involved, Venue and Production kept sending things directly to me. And remember, our Production lady is a bit lacking in attention to detail. Also remember, I had spent the morning at a funeral and arrived home to an email that indicated I'd already missed a deadline. At this point, I was headed out to work, and it was 3pm. One presumes that "end of day" is roughly 5pm, and I would be on the road for at least a half an hour. And, in breaking news, my Gahanna receptionist had just called out sick. I was supposed to teach in Polaris, so we were scrambling to figure out what to do about coverage. I call that "frazzled." My reply: "No, I can probably make it happen, but considering it's the beginning of the month and my staff all have high priorities on the 1st and 2nd day of the month, it's definitely not convenient. I think this is a very unusual business practice. Most of our vendors give us 30 days on invoices. We only just received the invoice yesterday. To require payment the same day as an invoice is issued is unheard of." After sending the reply, I called Chris and told her to pay the invoice. We chatted briefly about our frustrations with Production. The Nastygram: At this point, if you're still with me, you might be interested in the whole reply by Production. I have included it below. Remember that I am her customer. If any of my staff treated a customer this way, with screamy all-caps and all, they would be fired. I also can't stand all the "I pray" remarks in the middle of an obviously angry email. It's insincere and gives the church a bad name. Nastygram ▶︎ Luckily, I was busy with the reception problem and didn't see the reply until later. Meanwhile, Chris had read and replied to the email, and warned me that it would make me angry. Reply from Chris ▶︎ In Gahanna, I update Zach and Angela. They state that they never saw the revised video, and I realize that I never reviewed it, either. So we watch it together. OMFG, WOMAN!? Right in the middle of the ad, we see this lovely slide: ** Image ID #2007845 Unavailable ** Are We Done Yet? I notify Production that she used the wrong slide and referred to the email where she agreed to use Zach's slide. She referred to Venue's suggestions. This person is quite possibly the worst communicator I have ever encountered: Michelle: "...we just realized that you didn't add the slide that Zach emailed you. We need that corrected. We made it perfectly clear that we wanted the slide that Zach sent you in the video." Production: "Per the feedback and instructions Venue provided combined with Zach’s image sent below, What part of the instructions did not occur? We used the image Zach sent as shown below, and incorporated the color change. Which do you prefer now? We got instruction to change color in background to your color in logo. In either case, what do you want. Please send this right away!" (bold/font size are hers, not mine) M: "Zach made the slide, and we wanted you to use it exactly the way Zach made it. Please correct this." P: "Will do! Please confirm you do NOT want the changes you stated you agreed to from Venue on 8/28." M: "We don't want any changes to Zach's slide, none whatsoever. We wanted it exactly as he sent it to you." P: "Thanks! Updating!" ......now, who wants to bet that we get charged for a second revision? |
| I've been developing characters and settings in my epic "Poor Witch" world for the last few months, gaining inspiration and motivation from "I Write in June-July-August " [ASR] and a variety of contests around the site. While the exercises are fantastic for world building, it's time to regroup and organize my story arc. On a related note, a friend posted the traits of a Virgo on my Facebook wall, since I am, in fact, a Virgo, and my birthday is approaching. I'm scientific, analytical, which makes me skeptical of astrological trends. Most horoscopes and character trait descriptions are vague enough that they can be twisted to fit. But this description was spot on, and I find that a little eerie. And it wholly applies to the exercise I'm about to do. VIRGOS: ...need to be organized in their mind, sometimes all their energy is taken from organizing their mind that they have a difficult time organizing their surroundings. They easily look too deep into an issue and over analyze what the (perceive)... When I was in college, I was a master of procrastination. I literally spent hours calculating (often the the help of spreadsheets) the minimum grades I would need to get on final exams to achieve certain overall grades in the class. Meanwhile, I could have simply been studying for the tests. And with that, I shall move on to my story arc outline, and then, hopefully, my eleventh and final Summer I Write submission. Merit Badge, here I come! And then, if all goes as planned, NaNo 2014 will be another installment of the over-developed and over-analyzed Poor Witch saga. Oh, and check this out: Out 'n About Columbus, August 24, 2014 / This show airs on the local ABC network on Sunday mornings. Michelle Tuesday Music School is highlighted at 16:40. |
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