Apparently "Sloppiness" is ok bro...

The LinkedIn article, "How Spelling Mistakes and Bad E-mail Etiquette Can Help You Get Ahead" by Kevin Roose, of  New York Magazine contradicts anything anyone in the journalism field has ever said about being professional and makes me want to relinquish my major. The great bulk of professional people say to be more formal in communicating with people whom they do not know: you have to remember first impressions. All eyes are on you and any mistake in an email or letter can cause a loss in credibility.

Everybody makes mistakes in emails and letters, but encouraging or cute-ifying them as it seems in the article, should really have no foot in the professional world of people reminiscent of the Edwardian bankers in “Mary Poppins,” crystal chandeliers and marble walls.

With the Zuckerberg example, if someone gets a time-sensitive email or message from anyone, be it a CEO or secretary, the probability of a more "informal" response is higher as compared to something like a cover letter that should be reviewed and edited. Also, you need to take into consideration how that person is responding.

 Is it an iPhone, PC, or laptop? That will make a difference on the level of “formality” on how one responds. Hand-held devices are more informal, therefore a more informal response. The great masses aren’t going to give a polished equivalent of a papal bull in a text message. Reply and we move on our way. What gets me is last names in reply emails from people who have time to read cover letters and resumes.

Whereas, in an email sent via pc or laptop by organization, that’s a whole different ball game on formality. There are people whom I email on a regular basis and screw up Wiesman, (pronounced Weez-man, just like the band Weezer) not the more common, WEISSman or WEISSman (pronounced Wise-man). (Wies- comes from German "Wiese" meaning meadow, "Weiss"- means white or smart in German. Man- means "one" but not numerically.) There’s your German lesson for the day.

Sometimes it's forgivable, if I know the person. Whereas, if it's a reply from a firm, company or job recruiter, who has time to read my resume and LinkedIn et.al., the misspelling of my last name just goes to show they didn't take the time to read how my last name is spelled or first.

 Then, to be bluntly honest folks, I think less of the organization or company if someone gets my name wrong. “Wiesman” might be a challenge for hr departments (even in Wisconsin, where there is a high German/Polish population) it seems, but at least it's not "Włotrzewiszczykowycki."

Headlines and Ethics: When is Too Far?

The Stark Family

Recently, the New York Post’s lead story about a Hasidic man in shtreimel and bekishe with the headline reading “Who didn’t want him dead?” on the left-hand side shocked people throughout New York City and beyond. It is shocking because of what happened and also the headline. As a graduate from UW-Oshkosh’s journalism department, and religious studies minor who studied the history of Hasidim, I see the headline as what it really is – tasteless. That’s right folks, tasteless. And here’s why.

We must realize it was shocking in and of itself that a man, a father, a faithful member of a religious community was found murdered in such a barbaric, uncivilized manner. It is terrible to think a person, made by the Almighty would have to suffer such a heartless death. To make matters worse, the Post added insult to injury to a grieving family, by defaming his name and reducing him to a “slumlord” and making him out to be some sort of criminal. The headline should have read: “Missing NY Property Developer Found Murdered.” That’s a lot for a grieving family and community to bear, regardless of who it is, but at least there is respect for the deceased. But let us ask ourselves, should a murder of a person, no matter whom, be a front page story? Shouldn’t there be consideration to the family and friends left behind? Has present reporting journalism lost all heart?

The current media seems to worship bad things happening to people no matter whom or where they are. It is as if nothing good happens in the media and we wonder why most of the Western world is all drugged on antidepressants. Hardly anything charitable, community-building or praiseworthy seems to make it to be a front-page headline. From terrorist attacks in Iraqi cities that kill hundreds of people, to devastating natural events that leave people homeless to murders, the media seems to praise atrocities. What if your mother or relative was killed in a terrorist attack, your neighbor left homeless and hungry after a tornado, or in this case, what if your father or husband was found brutally murdered? How would a newspaper reporter feel if something bad like that happened to a loved one and make front-page news? Is there no heart for families or the deceased?

Therefore, do journalists these days not see the whole story? After reading the article I came (as did many others), that it was obviously one-sided. The article prattled about what “sources” – many who apparently have no names - said about Stark. Here was a man who devoted his life to faith, family and friends. Do journalists not understand the people they write about have emotions, relatives, and a community or do journalists think the people whom they write about are just soulless-objects like doors, nails, and bricks? I suggest the NY Post along with all other news outlets take into account the “human side” of a tragedy, not just treating people as if they are objects to be studied. The NY Post, seems to not discuss something rather important in a murder case – the murderers. Until we know who murdered Menachem Stark, killers are on the loose. I know these days of mourning will be tough, I bid his family all the best during these times, yet “Stark” as it comes from German, means “strong” - and I know they will be.

Menachem Stark

 Eternal be his memory.

Five Ideas to Reinventing You

The year was 1964 when the infamous Daughters of Charity of Paris, France, founded by Sts. Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac, gave up their navy blue serge habits, white linen collar and starched cornette (hat) for a more suitable uniform designed by none other than  the popular designer Christian Dior. Apart from the externals, the 50,000-strong Daughters on all seven continents also reinvented their constitutions and primary focus of their ministries.
You are probably thinking this is a post about the histories of nuns and are probably going to roll your eyes... BUT WAIT!
If an entire group of women (50,000) can reinvent themselves, well then, SO CAN YOU! You've probably thought about reinventing yourself, but said "Well, next week" or "tomorrow." I've got something to ask then, "What if tomorrow never comes?" Think about it. Why wait when you can start today?
Reinventing yourself is shedding the negative traits and habits (and I'm not talking about what the good sisters are wearing) in exchange for a better, positive YOU and eventually a better society over all. Here are a few ideas to get reinventing yourself.

1) Get a Goal.
It's as simple as getting a goal in mind and with that, you'll do any- and everything to get there. Now what I mean by "realistic" is a bit more complicated. We all want to be at the top and make the big bucks for whatever, have nice this and that, but most people, myself included, forget about what it takes to get "there". Years upon years of success and failure, will get you there. Take into consideration other factors such as location, income, lifestyle and family. These can help or hold you back with achieving your goal.

2) Go Connect.
When you've got your goal in mind, feel free to connect with those who can help you achieve your goal.
Remember, they aren't going to pop out of thin air like clowns from a clown car. No, rather you will find them over time either via social media network, in-person at a networking event/ job fair, former lecturers or classmates and wherever else you can possibly imagine. Connections get people places, whether it's a first job or a transfer to another location; people are invaluable resource to get you to where you want to go!

3) Be Open.
Having a goal is important, also being open to change on how to get there is also important. Life, as you know, doesn't go the way we want it to go. There will be good and bad days, but being open on how to do deal with problems will make you strong. With the connections you've made, you'll be able to brainstorm and fine-tune a plan or road map to tackle a problem or situation. By being open, you'll be more willing to share ideas with your connections and see the plan through to the end.

4) Start Planning.
 Goals are great, but one of the problems is getting to reach your goal. The goal maybe short or long term, monthly or yearly, personal or public. Whatever the case may be, planning out your path to achieve your goal. Now share with your connections your openness to achieve the goal you have in mind. They should be able to critique, help and fit your plan to reach your goal. Good plans are carefully crafted to sustain whatever may occur, but like I said, be open to what may come but always be positive on the outlook. With anything, planning takes much perseverance.

5) Practice Perseverance.
Finally, you've got your team, a plan and are open to new ideas to whatever may arise. Now, here's the hard part, unless your goal is going to Wal-Mart to get toilet paper, perseverance will get you there over the course of time. Nobody likes it when you give up, but stay with your goal until the end. You'll never be completely satisfied if you reach your goal in a hurried, slipshod manner. Take it easy, stay calm and be at ease. Remember your goal to reinvent yourself is completely plausible when you put your mind to it.

What are you waiting for? Hopefully these ideas can help you reinvent yourself. Remember if 50,000 French nuns can do it, you can too. All the best.

The return of hoodiecapekid!

The last year or so has been rather, well complicated. From making mountains of taco trays and dealing with two jobs, I've had little time to put down my thoughts on the world and of course, the journalistic candor I got my degree in. I'm trying to get a weekly blog schedule to the much of amusement of my three followers and a can of spaghetti. The first post I'm going to write on is about reinventing yourself. Interestingly enough, I'm reinventing my blog as well. Sound like a plan? Does to me. Stay tuned folks.

Go to this link for great ideas for blogging!

Ideas and such

Greetings one and all,

With this influx of Spanish-speakers to the United States, the issue of language comes up from time-to-time. There are some people who are for English-only while there are others who say that people should speak their own language. This issue of language in the United States is nothing new. Let’s look at a Wisconsin case where the problem of speaking another language and understanding it had consequences.
That was the case in Stratford, Wisconsin roughly 100 years ago with the high influx of German immigrants. According to the Stratford Centennial book, the second priest at St. Joseph’s Church virtually said that since people were in the United States, they should use German sparingly and learn English. He would hear confessions in German only for the sake of the older people of the congregation. When my grandfather was growing up, there were a large number of nationalities such as the Germans, Polish, and a few Russians at the parochial school. I remember him telling me that the little Russian child (who didn’t speak English) had to use the restroom, albeit only in Russian. The nun couldn’t understand him, so he pooped in the corner because 1) he couldn’t speak English or understand it and the nun 2) couldn’t speak Russian or understand it. Some people within the United States have the mindset that one a person or group of people come (or comes) to here that they (him or her) should learn English. With that mindset, there is a considerable segment of people in the United States who think that way.
As I did my research, I began to realize that not everyone within the Hispanic/Latin public uses Spanish. Yet, for those that do, there are some agencies that are in existence to connect companies or organizations to this public. One was TeleNoticias, which uses a wide array of companies such as Western Union or General Motors to connect to this public. You can see their link here => telenoticiasusa.com I also learned more about how the younger segments of this demographic is connected to the internet and each other through various forms of social media. You can check them out here. Some of the more highly-used websites for this demographic are holamun2.com or MySpace Latino.

pince-nez

Greetings, this is going to be about pince-nez. They are the glasses that people wear without the side bows on them. I've been wearing them for the last hour or so and they're okay, I guess. The type I have are the same ones as Offenbach (the guy who wrote the music to the can-can), Carl Schurz (famous German American), and Joseph Pulitzer (the man who bought the newspaper The World). They don't hurt really, but they are a bit of a pain on the sides of my nose a little bit. The cork pads are worn out and the metal is wearing through. I hope that the metal isn't nickel, or I'll break out, since I'm allergic to nickel. The other type I have are made of silver from 1883.So I hope all goes well for the pince-nez.

Back to School!

Greetings one and all,

 I'm going back to school tomorrow. Of all the things that were on the to-do list, not much has been done. I've finished my friend's coat, fixed two of mine,and I'm almost done with the plain coat. I've also had 1 friend over the whole summer as well as level the holy hill but that's it. The list of things I HAVEN'T done is longer. I've not washed the car, done an oil change, mowed the lawn or dug a hole, put the things into the hole usw. But the summer was well worth it, nonetheless. I'll post more when I find something to post about.