First Week of April, 2008
Poem:
FISH MARKET
Deep under plank floors
streams empty into the bay,
drain the depths of Pike
where vendors tally naught,
naught - iced Silver, King, Coho -
catches rare and slick with sorrow.
Black as guts, the gulls veer out to sea,
their cries a litany of want.
Wind eddies through cold walls
of First, scours old stone
alleyways - spit, paper, rotting
empty hours, empty bottles
bobbing down the worn brick
gutters with the ghosts of winos.
From this fouled source
there will be, can be no bright pearl
breaking open, its shining life
swimming free.
Ooo, that’s rather a downer of a poem this week! Must be all the stress now that the company I work for is “rebranding” itself - it has a new name, new logo, stationary, vehicle decals, business cards, uniforms. I put on my new company polo shirt monday morning - a shocking chartreuse and frankly not a color I would ever intentionally wear. “Rebranded” - what a term! I wondered aloud if I would be required to get a tattoo.
Rebranding is the latest trend in marketing businesses - sprucing them up to compete in the 21st century market place, as it were. I see it all over Geekatopia. It used to be that a business’s name changed only when it was bought out by another company - Fred’s Grommet Boutique becomes Big Al’s Grommet Boutique. Gone are the days when things were that simple. Now there are rebranding specialists cranking out made-up names that sound like Japanese car models or something to which you to apply a fungicide. But hey, what do I know?? So, get in and test drive the 2008 Ambius today!
Can you tell that I’m having a slight identity crisis? Who am I now?? Wait, I’ll check the lettering on my acid green polo shirt! Of course I know I will adapt to the new company identity - in time - probably. Speaking as a person who has changed her own name a couple of times, I am well aware of the convoluted mechanics of redefining oneself - you never know how many things are tagged with your name until you change it! (I still get junk mail showing a middle name I abandoned forty years ago.) So I know there will be times when my memory hiccups, leaving me at a loss as to who I work for. Please be patient with me, folks - I’ll fall back into step soon.
We got a dandy staff party out of all this rebranding, though. Check out photo of gathered plant people stuffing their faces with pretzel buns and veggie quiche. (Try to say that without making a big mess.) And drop by our brand new Ambius web site - actually pretty nifty and informative.
OFFICE PLANTS: Clinging Vines
All kinds of ivy plants and trailing philodendron vines adorn our offices, their bright green heart shaped leaves lending perky grace to file cabinets and credenzas. A few things to know about the vines in your life:
1. They are vigorous growers, requiring fertilizer almost every time you water them - year ‘round if they are in good light. Underfeed these guys and they get spindly and pale.
2. Also, do not let them trail too long! This is a common mistake. It is kind of fun to see how long your pothos (Scindapsus) can grow but as these plants elongate they thin out older leaves, leaving the center of the plant bare with ugly “jump rope” stems hanging out of the pot. To keep them full and lush cut back the vines when they are a few feet long. (And do not let them creep over your furniture or climb the wall - the vines exude an acid that helps them climb but eats into varnish and paint.)
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