Dear J. Jill,

You know I love your clothes. I love the artistic details, the feminine ruffles, the colors and the fact that most of your clothing is wash and wear. I love your clothes because I'm a busy professional woman working at a Fortune 500 and I like that your clothes can be comfortable, casual and they work for me at the workplace. I've been buying your clothes for quite a while--the Tencil jeans, the camisoles and tees of many colors, many jackets, comfy corduroys and matching cardigans. I have pieces that I've kept for a number of seasons and they wash well time and time again. You can be assured that every time I walk in the door of your store I am destined to walk out with at least several hundred dollars in purchases.

But J. I just don't know what to do. Your clothes go well through the wash. Your buttons, though, leave a little to be desired. Did I mention I'm a busy professional? Well, I am. And I really don't have the time to sew all my buttons back on when they fall off. While it is kind of you to include an extra button or two with each outfit, I'd really be happier if you'd just send the button through the machine a couple more times.

And I'm not talking about buttons on clothes that I've had for several seasons, I'm talking about how every time I go home and put on one of my new J.Jill outfits I realize that at least one button is about to pop off. And I look at that button and think, "Oh, yeah, I guess I better take care of that." And then I don't because I'm busy. One time it was a snap rivet. I lost the rivet fairly early on, but still continued to wear the blouse a few more seasons hoping no one at work noticed since the rivet was near the bottom. If it isn't a button or a snap, it's the clasp on my pants. Please just wind the thread around a few more times would really help me here and keep me from worrying about busting out of my slacks while doing an important deal.

But today, J., I really began to lose faith. I was in a meeting today. I arrived late and was forced to stand near a counter. During the meeting I looked down at my J. Jill blazer and noticed my button was about to pop off. I played with it and thought, "Oh yeah, I guess I better take care of that." But then I leaned back against the counter on my arm. I felt a slight crunch and turned around to find that I had CRUSHED one of my sleeve buttons into four pieces. How does this happen? I know I've put a little weight over the years, but did I really put on that much that the force I exerted could literally crush a plastic button?

Please J. Jill. I really need to come in and pick out my fall wardrobe. Please promise me that you will check the buttons on my garments before sending me on my way. Please don't make it my or my dry cleaner's responsibility to sew on your buttons. Seriously, how hard would it be? If you can't fix it at the manufacturing level, I'm sure you could hire a "button-checker" for each of your stores. Seriously, if you are working on your goals for next quarter--how about adding a goal around customer button and clasp satisfaction?

Sincerely,

Juliana Aldous Atkinson

Great article by Antony Johnson on adjusting GTD to the writing life.

Via Merlin Mann at 43 Folders.

Merlin Mann over on 43 Folders does an excellent job of breaking down his tips on giving better presentations, and mentions Cliff's book, Beyond Bullet Points.

Beyond Bullet Points is also a featured title this week on getAbstract. 

By the way, also check out Merlin's GoogleTalk.

We have a similar program here at Microsoft which brings in visiting speakers and authors. This is a great way for business and tech authors to reach corporate audiences.

Also look for a new edition of Cliff's book to arrive in stores in a couple of months.

Amazon blog has some great links to the Baby Einstein controversy that is brewing.

Personally, I'm with the NY Time op writer.

Sign this petition to congress at Moms Rising and tell congress and the CPSC:

"Testing children's products for toxic chemicals must be a priority. No more toxic toys and children's products!"

Uh, oh. Article in Wired stating that Adobe may be creating their own software apps.

Article in NY Times about "Google and Microsoft Look to Change Health Care."

Personally, I would love to have all of my health records in MY hands and in one place.

Posted by Cali Williams Yost. Cali writes about her experience with eldercare. If you wonder about your work + life balance, I highly recommend her book, Work+Life.

Join Jumpstart's Read For the Record on September 20th. Buy a copy of the Story of Ferdinand at Hanna Andersson and all proceeds will go to JumpStart.

Do you know what your learning style is?

I'm trying to understand a bit more about how my child learns and as a result read the book, Talkers, Watchers, and Doers: Unlocking Your Child's Unique Learning Style by Cheryl Fuller.

My husband is a doer. He can and will pull things apart and then put them back together (doer). Early in our relationship, he bought a house which had stairs going from the main living area to the basement. He looked the stairs and said, "I don't like these stairs, I think I'm going turn them so they go the other way." He had never moved a staircase before and I thought he was crazy. But he did it. Now, when he says he is going to gut a room, install a recessed ceiling, or create an intricate backsplash tile design, I respond, "Go for it."

If its in a book, I can learn it. I teach myself by reading, outlining my notes and love visuals (watcher). I find I learn things better by talking about things with others which allows me to make connections about what I'm learning (talker). Lectures bore me and I have to stay focused by taking notes and making visual ques (watcher). 

My daughter is still young, so it is a bit early to be defining her learning style, but so far, I see a bit of both of our styles in her. I think she is a strong watcher--she learns from books (Yes!) and likes to spend time observing before joining in on a new activity. But she also likes to do things herself. "NO! I do it!" is a common phrase heard in our house.

Here is a link to a New Yorker article on sci fi author, Philip K. Dick.

Via Fimoculous.

We and our authors did a tremendous amount of work the past couple years in preparation for the Office 2007 launch, and it looks like that hard work is paying off.

I was looking at some Bookscan data last week, specifically at how our Office 2007 application books are doing against our competition. In four of seven Office app categories, we were the top-selling book publisher. Here is the breakdown:

Outlook #1
Project #1
Visio #1
Word #1
Access #2
Excel #2
General Office #2

It will be six out of nine once our Publisher 2007 Step by Step and Groove Step by Step hit the market in the next couple of months.

Both the original film the Producers and Young Frankenstein are two of my favorite comedies. So when I heard that Mel Brooks was now adapting Young Frankenstein as a musical for Broadway and that it would have its premiere here in Seattle...Well, I had to be there with my bffs.

It didn't disappoint. The cast was awesome and the show was hilarious. In the original how could you beat the cast of Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, and one of my all-time favorites Madeline Kahn? Well, you have Megan Muhally take on the Madeline role of the scientist's fiancee' for one. She had a couple of great showstopping numbers. The role of "It's pronounced Frahhnkensteen" was played by Roger Bart who you may remember as George the Pharmicist on Desperate Housewives and also had a role in movie musical of the Producers. Andrea Martin is also in the cast as Frau Blucher (insert horse whinny). I've always enjoyed Andrea Martin from her days on SCTV.

It was also fun knowing that this is a show in "beta." The first act ran a little long and I suspect a few numbers may be cut down before they officially hit Broadway. But this was very close to being a "release candidate." It was a lot of fun to hear the audience reactions to favorite characters--like the blind old hermit singing about "someone." And the crowd's very favorite--"Putting on the Ritz." All in all, a lot of fun and not to be missed.

Now, I need to watch the original again.

Article on 43 Folders asks the question:

Think about what you’d do if you ran the world. If you had to choose a single best practice for email usage — format, length, subject matter, even when not to use email.
If you could wave a magic wand and put one guideline in place that would be honored by 80% of civilized people, what would it be? Be creative as you like, but remember: it has to be generic enough that it would work for 80% of email communication everywhere.

What should almost everyone start doing differently with their email today?

Here is my answer:

Relevant subject lines and the use of QQ–Quick Question more often.

The complete elimination of ccing everyone to say “Thanks!” “Congratulations! You did a great job!”. Please just send your thanks and kudos directly to the sender.

Chris Anderson and the team at BookTour have added a cool new feature to their service (which allows you to track when your favorite authors are in town for readings). You can now enter your Amazon login info and they'll look up all the books you've bought at Amazon and add those authors to your author tracking list.

from the LA Times:

In a move that might make some people scratch their heads, a loosely formed coalition of left-leaning bloggers is trying to band together to form a labor union it hopes will help members receive health insurance, conduct collective bargaining or even set professional standards.

I admit, this one has me scratching my head a bit.

Oh, and here:

"It would raise the professionalism," said Leslie Robinson, a writer at ColoradoConfidential.com. "Maybe we could get more jobs, bona fide jobs."

Darn. Professionalism? I guess that means I'd have to actually do a grammar check.

I agree with Curt Hopkins:

"The reason I like blogging is that it's very anarchistic. I can do whatever I want whenever I want, and oh my God, you're not going to tell me what to do," said Curt Hopkins, founder of the Committee to Protect Bloggers.
"The blogosphere is such a weird term and such a weird idea. It's anyone who wants to do it," Hopkins said. "There's absolutely no commonality there. How will they find a commonality to go on? I think it's doomed to failure on any sort of large scale."

Via Marc Andreessen Pmarca blog.

NY Times ran an article unmasking the anonymous author of the Fake Steve Jobs blog as Daniel Lyons, a senior editor at Forbes magazine. He has a novel coming out in October, Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs, a Parody. Must add to Amazon wishlist.

Too bad. I really enjoyed reading the posts. Here is a link to Fake Steve Jobs response.

And his revenge on Brad Stone the NY Times reporter:

Meanwhile if anyone can think of a cool way to use the name "Brad Stone" (all or part) as a verb, let me know.
Maybe this:
brad, v.i.:
1. To bust a fellow filthy hack without mercy and spoil the fun for everyone, in a quest for personal aggrandizement.
2. To urinate in a pool.

I love the summers here, but one thing I don't really like are the big a** spiders that start to arrive in the late summer. These guys are really, really big. I am not one to be terrified of spiders but these guys are huge. Normally very shy, this time of year they start popping up in and around my house unexpectedly. I'll be sitting on the sofa and one will make a run for it across the family room carpet. I will look up and one will be staring at me from the wall. And worse, I'll lift up blanket, sheet, towel, and one will look up at me before scurrying off while I scream.

This morning I ran into the first one of the season. I was preparing to put in my contact lenses when something moved on the shoulder of my bathrobe. If you know me well, you know I'm as blind as a bat and I'm at my most vulnerable between the time my glasses come off and my contact lenses go in. It was at this second that I realized what was moving on me was one of these big a** spiders! I'm assuming the thing had leapt from my towel turban. I screamed and the thing leaped onto the floor and scurried away. He was so big I heard an audible sound as his many feet hit the floor.  

I am so traumatized that I had to Google "big spiders" in Seattle. That eventually lead me to this entry on Wikipedia about Hobo Spiders.  Oh, great. These things can bite!

I just want to call out one of my favorite blogs--Amazon has an outstanding blog for books. Check out their entry on the Best Books of the Year so far. And then take a look at how they are interacting with their readers. You can tag the books they've recommended with a plus or minus.

This blog has already sold me on a lot of titles I wouldn't have come across another way.