You won’t need directions.

My roomie and BFF, Lisey, created a Flickr group wherein people take photos of themselves in her reflective elevator at her work. It started simply, mostly her own self-portraits. Then there were cameos. After that, unsuspecting individuals were involved. Soon there were Mexican wrestling masks, and now it’s one of my favorite groups on all of Flickr.

If this was not nearly $90 I would totally buy it. More jewelry should drape this way.

I’d heard people say that San Francisco is a small big city, but I never believed them.

I know so few people since moving to this place, but I see them everywhere. Last night I saw a girl I met once, though I do not think she saw me, walking down the street. It’s just that it was such a peculiar night to spot her.

I don’t think I ever saw this many people I knew regularly in Nashville, and I was born there. I think this is because people don’t drive as often, and are out and about. They are able to be seen.

Photo by SF Brit

The FTC plans to crack down on bloggers who receive free swag if they make false claims about the products they got in exchange for a review. The companies giving out these free samples could find themselves in hot water as well.

I was interviewed about this on CBS 5 on Friday. You can watch the video on their website.

Notice I didn’t say “should.”

• to seek out sources - Need to speak with an expert on sustainable fishing or a single mom living on unemployment? Ask aloud on Twitter and watch the responses roll in.
• to seek advice - Once @CBS5 asked whether or not the station should interview a pair of kids who had just lost their father to a murder. The mother wanted the kids to talk, the station wasn’t sure what to do. Asking Twitter users what they thought resulted in an outpouring of comments, mostly saying to leave the kids alone. That is what the station decided to do.
• to inform outright - Tell people the news. No links. No commercials. Just inform. You’d be surprised how much people will appreciate brief, accurate information without any extras. (The news wants to be free, man.)
• to link, sparingly - Go ahead, link to yourself. You want traffic, and there is no shame in that. Making your Twitter feed a link-stream only is poor form, but there is nothing wrong with linking to your work, provided that is not all you do
• to entertain - If people don’t enjoy reading, they will quickly stop doing so. Make your Twitter updates engaging. Don’t underestimate the allure of a well-crafted tweet. Jazz it up.
• to humanize - This is highly important. Your news organization is viewed as a gargantuan, soulless corporate entity. Trust. Take this time to let the awesome humans who work in your newsroom share a little of themselves. Mention that the leftover pizza from the meeting in the morning was snagged in under 45 seconds. Mention that it is the anchor’s birthday. A little humanity makes people invested in what you’re pedaling.
• to find story ideas - They are crawling all over Twitter. Ignore them at your peril.
• to search in real time - Perhaps the most important of the points, Twitter Search is where I see Twitter finally monetizing (barf) their product. When a Muni train collided with an 18-wheeler in SF Twitter had a pic of the accident in under 10 minutes. You can’t get Google to rank items that fast, but Twitter can. That earthquake in the Bay Area Monday? All your “man on the street” reactions were coming in at a rapid fire pace.
• to listen - No, this one is most important. Follow those who follow you, and read what they have to say. Your operation is no longer one that uses a megaphone. You’ve got to hear what your audience is saying if you want to survive.

Saw the amuse-bouche guy this morning, and despite not partaking due to already having had a bowl of Cheerios, it made my day.

Flailing legs and torpedo arms, dancing to some song long forgotten song, I felt the floor rumble beneath me. I watched a porcelain unicorn skate atop the tiny television and fall to the ground.  The figurine lost its horn, the one thing that made it what it was.

That was the first earthquake I felt, some twenty or so years ago in Tennessee.

I’ve been waiting to feel one ever since I moved to the Bay Area nearly a year and a half ago. Yesterday as I sat in silence, writing, I felt my house shake around me. The room rolled. I looked above to the ceiling and assumed that the neighbor upstairs was dancing.

This might fuck you up for a few minutes, just so you’ve got fair warning.