Guest Post: My Rearview Mirror
I’ve been asked to write about my perspective; a woman’s personal perspective about riding a motorcycle. Hmmmm… there are so many avenues this could take, so many things about riding that I love, that it leaves the door wide open as to what I should put down on paper. But today I’m going to write about what’s in my rearview mirror, or my side mirrors as they are technically called, when I’m riding my motorcycle down the road and the feelings that view evokes in me. I love going on rides with all my girlfriends, whether it’s a short ride to dinner, a day long 300 mile ride or a 10 day bike trip. They are all fun and I’m usually Road Capt., hence the fantastic view of friendship in my mirrors. To my hubby and all my biker buddy boys, I love riding with you too, but there’s a different camaraderie I have with my gal pals, that makes our adventures special. Riding is pure bliss, but for me to ride and see a line of women behind me, all on their motorcycles, enjoying the freedom riding provides, brings joy to my soul. There’s no feeling like it as we soar along on the wings of our private chariots, quietly listening to the thoughts in our own heads, yet somehow sharing them amongst ourselves as we all glide thru the breeze. Occasionally I will point something out and in my mirrors I will see all heads turning to look at a fantastic view. It may be a beautiful sky, an old barn, or a flock of ostrich’s. There are so many interesting things you’ll see when riding along the back roads, through the countryside and sometimes even when in cities, although I prefer those days of quiet serenity, lost in the wonder & beauty of nature. On the days when we are in congested traffic or have to travel through a town to get to those scenic roads we so crave, I’m on high alert, watching for all obstacles, so I can warn all those that are in my rear view, trusting me to guide them. Alerting them of danger, a pothole, road debris or a cager who’s not as attentive as I am. Feeling rather like a mother hen, I’m constantly checking my mirrors to make sure I haven’t lost any of my “chicks.” Biker chicks that is. It’s then that the rear view becomes increasingly important, as I lead them to more peaceful pastures, where that relaxed state can once again take over. That proud sense of empowerment that lies in a group of ladies, conquering curvy roads, perched upon massive roaring beasts, is among no other. Seeing a string of brightly colored, multi-faceted bikes, with gorgeous, powerful women silently dominating them, is a powerful statement that everyone should witness. And I’m very blessed to see that in my rear view mirrors. Author: Kari Blass Rides: 2002 Harley Davidson Dyna Low Rider Custom Works: Competition Accessories, a leading web provider of women’s motorcycle...
read moreThe Edge of Disaster
A bridge in northwestern Washington State collapsed today. Thankfully no one appears to have been killed. I’ve driven across this bridge many times, including on the Harley. The bridge is part of Interstate 5, which runs from the Canadian border to southern California. It’s a major artery and I’m not sure what people in this area will do until a repair is effected. Friends were immediately expressing shock and horror on Facebook. I was not very surprised at the collapse. I read a book a few years ago titled The Edge of Disaster. The book, by a former disaster planning specialist, details how completely wrong-headed our national spending priorities have been in the past decade (the book was published in 2007). He makes the very cogent argument that the trillions spent on fighting terrorism have not made us fundamentally safer and the neglect of our national infrastructure threatens our safety and economic existence in a way that terrorism could never possibly do. The author even makes the argument that if a terrorist were to set off a dirty bomb in a major American city, the resulting effect, while horrible for those directly affected, would not come close to the cost to our security and economic health that will result from things like the I-5 bridge collapse. There is a tremendous amount of traffic between Seattle and Vancouver, BC that streams over that bridge daily. The lack of that traffic will have huge economic impacts in both directions. And there are literally thousands of bridges like this in the U.S. that are in need of repair. And there are levies, water systems, an outdated electrical grid, and on and on, that need to be fixed. No terrorist organization in the world has the capacity to bring down the United States at this point. Crumbling infrastructure can hurt us...
read moreRighters of Roadside Wrongs
What is it that appeals to us in advertising? We like to think the answer is…nothing. Not true. When we don’t feel pitched to, we respond with positive feelings towards advertising. Righters of Roadside Wrongs AAA has a new membership recruitment program that includes the following taglines: Righters of roadside wrongs Defenders of distressed drivers Sworn enemies of stalled engines Accompanying the lines (which I first saw on a Metro bus) are images of beer-bellied superheroes. There are a few things that appeal here. The alliteration in the lines The overblown importance of the role depicted The images of superheroes as regular guys or vice versa Alliteration, the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words, appeals to our auditory sense of balance and harmony. It makes things very easy to remember. Mnemonics often use alliteration. Our ears have fun with these sounds and the semblance of order they evoke. A sworn enemy is a very serious thing. But of course, the subject of the ad campaign is not terribly serious. Yes, we love having someone get us out of a jam but most of the time, it’s jumping a battery or changing a tire. The inflated importance suggested in the ad makes us smile, perhaps even chuckle. Anytime an advertiser can make us smile or laugh, they disarm our natural suspicion about them and we’re more open to the pitch. Occasionally, the men and women who show up for AAA are daily heroes. At least it feels that way when you’re on the receiving end of a rescue. In the image above, we see someone who could not be more ordinary. An ample waistline protrudes beneath his muscular arms. His stance implies, “Here and no further.” It’s a defenders stance. And finally, his international-orange highway vest streams out behind him like a cape. It’s a very clever bit of composition altogether. The words and images capture in shorthand a message that we understand immediately and makes us smile. This is very, very difficult to do. Its simplicity belies the effort behind the campaign. Undoubtedly the taglines preceded the images but the writers may have had concept images in mind (a virtual certainty). As a writer, I have a great appreciation for this...
read moreHarleys to Howard Carter
I really meant to write more about all of the 8,000+ miles I put on The Boss (my Harley) this year but got caught up in … life. My 92-year-old dad has had health problems, I was attempting to fulfill a promise to myself to start writing a book I want to complete, and in all that, I took a left turn. I did get to work on schedule in September, working on an extensive outline for the book and getting more than 10,000 words of a first draft down on the page. As I worked on that, I started investigating the technical aspects of self-publishing, and creating and marketing eBooks. It occurred to me that one way to get savvy about e-publishing would be to—publish an eBook. I looked at the 300-something physical books on my shelves and realized that many of them, especially the rare and out-of-print ones, would be of interest to others and would make a good test case. One day while I was driving, it hit me like a thunderbolt to wonder if anyone had ever done an eBook of Howard Carter’s The Tomb of Tut.Ankh.Amen. This three-volume set has been published many times and was the book that got me interested in Egypt as a young boy. To my astonishment, I not only found out that there was no eBook, I discovered the book is in the public domain. As you can see by the image above, the past two months have been spent starting a new business: BIG BYTE BOOKS. This has been a really great learning experience and very fulfilling. Volumes I and II of Carter’s great work are now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble at very affordable prices. Anyone with a Kindle, Nook, or a smartphone can download them. There are many other titles that I want to make available. Most of them would cost anywhere from $25 to a few hundred dollars or more in paper. The eBooks will be available for anywhere from $.99 to $9.99. This is going to be fun and I hope you find something of interest on the website in the coming months....
read moreAll That Glitters is not Chrome
Daoud (motorcycle buddy) knows me too well. When I had coffee with him last Saturday, he chuckled and noted that I’d already washed the Harley after getting home from my Missoula trip two days earlier. I love shiny things. But I’m ahead of myself. Let’s back up to 12 July. I left Goldendale, WA and headed into the Columbia River gorge. I was backtracking along Lewis & Clark’s final passage on their way to the Pacific in 1804. In the rising heat of my second day on the road, I stopped in Hat Rock State Park for a break. Lewis & Clark described this odd landscape feature, something like a mini Devil’s Tower. The lovely little park is very well maintained, shady, and has interesting signage about L&C and Native Americans of the area. As you roll along the arid expanse of eastern Washington and Oregon, the roads cut through some of the deepest lava flows on earth. Into that basalt, the mighty Columbia has carved a massive gorge that defines a substantial portion of the border between the two states. A stark and fascinating feature of eastern Washington is the Scablands. This unique landscape was formed by the torrent of water released by the drainage (multiple times) of ice-age Lake Missoula. While researching the route for my trip, I stumbled upon a photo of Palouse Falls, which I’d never heard of. I decided to see it, as it cascades over cliffs that are part of the scablands. Out of Walla Walla, I followed Hwy 12 through the pastoral valleys that lead through the small towns of Waitsburg and Dayton. I then turned onto smaller Hwy 261 for 20 miles (32 km) before getting to the cutoff for the falls. This was a two-mile-long gravel road off of what was already a tiny road out in the middle of nowhere. But the park itself was lovely. Very few people were in the park. The Palouse River drops 200 feet (61 m) over the basalt cliffs before continuing towards a confluence with the Snake River downstream. One can easily see that a much larger falls once thundered across here. This plaque was also in the park. Having done archaeology, I’d love to see the sites this plaque refers to: The heat at the falls was intense but it got hotter as I continued on to my destination for the night. When I reached Clarkston/Lewiston around 5:00 pm, it was over 100 degrees (over 37.7 C) and I was still in leathers. I was also near switching to my reserve gas setting for the second time in the day. But I wanted to try an experiment. I let the gas gauge go all the way to the stops in the red and kept motoring. I wanted to see how far I could go before switching to reserve. I’ve done this by accident before and it’s easy to switch to reserve while moving. I got more than five miles along to a gas station without going to reserve so I still don’t know when it would have started coughing. I put over four gallons in the tank and the capacity is five, so the reserve must be a gallon. That means at 70 mph, I could get 40 miles on reserve. This...
read moreMotorcycle Metrics & Seeking Sophos
The sum of any journey must be more than miles or else what’s the point of going? My recent trip on the Harley was taken to see friends, put miles on two wheels and, as I repeatedly said, to “clear my head.” Funny thing. My head came along for the ride. More on that shortly. Motorcycle metrics Vehicle: 2003 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail Classic Route: As shown below Distance: 1493.3 miles (2403.2 km) Fuel burn: 37.432 gallons (141.7 liters) Average MPG: 40 Most expensive fuel: $4.099/gallon in Bellevue The Heritage is an extremely comfortable ride. I’ve ridden it for over six hours in a day with little fatigue. The thing that gets the most tired for me is my throttle wrist. For a 700-lbs (317.5 kg) vehicle, it’s also responsive in all five gears, even if it’s not a crotch rocket. Harley Davidson is my religion, given that I have no religion. Seeking sophos Sophos (or sophia) means “wise” or “wisdom” and originally was used to describe anyone with expertise in a specific domain of knowledge or craft. Even a charioteer could be a sophoi. A charioteer I’m not but a dedicated rider I am, forever trying to describe a better curve. But that’s a joy for me. Not like the search for sophos that goes on in my head, which is eternally more problematic. This was apparent the first day out, when instead of clearing my head, it was full of more chatter than usual. View July 2012 in a larger map Some of the chatter involved my choice of route, as in “This route was a stupid choice.” Goldendale, WA, my first stop, is not a 5-Star destination (or even 2-Star). I’d only expected to spend the first night there but I found its rural-small-town desertion a bit depressing. Still, no choice of route can truly be stupid. That’s absurd. Only thinking makes it so; no less true for Goldendale than Denmark. After dinner I decided to ride. The young woman at the Quality Inn told me that the Columbia River was only ten minutes away and that I could ride down to “Stonehedge.” I didn’t correct her. After all, the one on the Columbia is not a Neolithic earthwork but a concrete war memorial that could as easily be called a “hedge” as a “henge.” The Maryhill Stonehenge is a full-size, astronomically-aligned replica of Stonehenge located in Maryhill, Washington (Wikipedia). It’s impressive, as was Samuel Hill’s motivation for building it. Each day of the trip brought its own gifts and challenges. I’ll post more about that in the coming days along with more pictures. However, I’m about to set out again this week so I don’t know if I’ll get this trip fully reported before the next starts. I love not having a...
read moreWomen Riders: Guest Post
It’s kind of weird looking back. I never had any real interest in motorcycles growing up. My only real tie to motorcycles was through my dad. He rode a motorcycle throughout college for its economic value but eventually sold it because winters in Pennsylvania were not conducive to riding a motorcycle, nor safe for that matter. It was probably when I saw the Yamaha VMax Cruiser, pictured on the left, that I really developed the drive to ride. Its design is beautiful and elegant, and I knew as soon as I saw it that I wanted it one day. Once I decided to ride, it was a matter of learning. I knew I needed to take a class, or perhaps a series of classes, to learn to ride. My first step was to take a course that taught me the basics of riding, including what to wear, how to operate the bike, and the safety precautions I needed to understand and utilize. Once I felt comfortable with the basics and general riding, I got my license. I eventually bought a “naked” bike, also known as a standard. I did a lot of research before buying it. Based on my research, I found that a naked bike is best for beginners because they’re: Easier to learn to ride. Maneuvering a standard bike involves less skill than other motorcycles. Generally minimalistic. There are fewer things to damage if the bike falls. Generally less expensive. I also bought all of the protective gear I’d need, i.e. a DOT approved helmet and a riding jacket; I learned in my safety course that I needed to always wear pants, full coverage shoes, and gloves that would protect me if I fell. Once I started riding, I took it slow at first; I didn’t jump on a highway immediately or any other fast paced environments. After my safety course, I really realized how dangerous motorcycles could be; they don’t have the external protection passenger vehicles do and, many times, other motorists don’t see us. The Motorist to Motorcyclist Transformation There was little resistance when I began riding; as I said, my father rode, so my family was generally okay with the idea from a non-safety aspect. In terms of safety, though, they were a bit hesitant when I first told them I wanted to be a motorcyclist. And when I first began riding, I understood why. Learning something new is always challenging, but riding a motorcycle around others as a beginner was certainly eye opening. It’s not that I was ever in immediate danger; it was just the feeling of vulnerability. I didn’t feel experienced or comfortable, because I wasn’t, just like any other person who learns to do something. But motorcycles are different. I knew that if I made a mistake and fell, a vehicle behind me could accidently strike me. And the fear of making a mistake hasn’t necessary ceased, nor do I think it ever should. That feeling certainly ebbed as I began to gain experience and feel more comfortable a few months into riding, but that fear is still there; after all, even the most experienced of humans make mistakes. The difference is that if you make one on a motorcycle, you don’t have much protection. Riding Now Years later, I...
read moreSEO Mastery
I’ve had clients ask if they could pay for an hour or two of SEO lessons. I laugh. Not to them. Silently. To myself. Then, I cry. SEO is not something you can learn by reading a book, not even a good one like Danny Dover’s Search Engine Optimization Secrets. Why? Because SEO is something learned by the doing. It is hardly rocket science but it is a massive ocean liner ever moving, with millions of moving parts, submerged icebergs in its path, other ships to distract from its being viewed from shore, and a regulatory body (Google) setting constantly-changing rules that must be inferred rather than read. While someone with a mind that cannot but analyze everything all day long finds this fascinating and even at times exciting, if you dread the kind of detail that can reduce an accountant to tears, run away. You’ll think you’ve done everything you know to move needles in rankings only to find a one-line error in a file somewhere has tripped you up. Or you get a client with reasonable rankings whose host service company has sworn they’ve redirected the clients old web pages only to find they never set up the redirects and your client’s sole source of income, their e-commerce website, tanks in the rankings for having lost nearly every shred of their backlink juice. So you set up the redirects and wait. There are no real secrets to SEO work. Yes, Google has secrets about its algorithms but the work of optimization is not a dark art. It’s just a lot of work and no businessperson who is spending the time to run their business can take on SEO as a hobby. N-o-t possible. Like hiring a good real estate agent to sell your home, hiring a good SEO agency or specialist is worth every penny, because SEO should provide a measurable return on your investment. It should bring targeted traffic to your site. And your website design should convert that traffic into leads and sales. Otherwise, all you have on the web is a pretty calling...
read moreLocal Activist Harassed by City of Seattle DPD
Rita Zawaideh is one of my dearest friends and has been recognized locally and nationally as an activist, humanitarian, and businessperson. There is almost no one in Washington politics, from the Governor, our two Senators, and our congresspeople who does not know her on a first name basis. And she’s been harassed by the city of Seattle this year in a very un-American way. She gives tirelessly of herself to aid immigrants by holding fundraisers, including garage sales. If she can be targeted in this way, so can any of us. Please distribute this widely, and follow-up with two actions: 1. Call and email Seattle DPD Director Diane Sugimura: 206-233-3882, diane.sugimura@seattle.gov 2. Call and email Mayor McGinn: 206-684-4000, http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/citizen_response.htm (For more info see Real Change News article ) Laws of Invention: Seattle DPD and Creative Enforcement by Howard J. Gale The City of Seattle Department of Planing and Development (DPD), welcomes people to its website with a message from Director Diane Sugimura stating the DPD’s “commitment to making our services accessible and understandable. Our primary goal is to provide you with quality service as we carry out our mission–managing growth and development within Seattle in a way that enhances quality of life.” Rita Zawaideh’s recent experience with the DPD trying to quash her now famous charity garage sales in Wallingford (at Bridge Way N & N 38th St), looks at first glance like a case of one individual who ran afoul of city red tape. Further investigation into the DPD’s actions has revealed some serious issues of accountability lurking behind the DPD’s citizen friendly facade. I reviewed dozens of records from the DPD, obtained under Washington State’s Public Disclosure Act, to investigate what was behind DPD’s zealous prosecution of Zawaideh. A review of what I’ve learned over the last three months reveals impropriety and bias. While the source and nature of the bias remains unclear (dislike of Arabs, immigrants, activists, or just people who have garage sales?), the information at a minimum documents DPD favoritism, selective enforcement, defensiveness bordering on the paranoid, and an undue fascination with the background of people who might complain about DPD actions. The information I’ve seen indicates an irrational unwillingness on the part of Sugimura, as director of the DPD, to respond to citizen complaints in a constructive fashion. Unusual speed of response: Less than 24 hours after a single complaint was filed concerning Zawaideh’s garage sale, the DPD telephoned the person who complained and then promptly issued a “Service Request” (the first step in investigating a suspected violation). A site “inspection” followed in four business days — an unusually speedy response from the DPD for a potential violation that does not involve any conceivable risks to health or safety. My investigation of DPD records revealed that the person who complained about Zawaideh’s garage sale had help from a friend who knew a person who worked at the DPD. This connection almost certainly expedited the DPD’s response to the complaint and appears to have lowered their standard for evidence (see next item). Lack of evidence: When the DPD inspector, Tom Bradrick, went to Zawaideh’s home on June 1st to investigate the complaint there was no garage sale in progress, nor were there signs indicating any sales. There were no people anywhere to be seen buying or selling anything. There...
read moreSEO Copywriter Basics
I’ve learned in my time as an SEO consultant, SEO technician, and SEO copywriter, that there is no learning substitute for hands on work. SEO is not something that I’m sure can even be taught all that well because there’s a certain level of intellectual curiosity and engagement you have to have to stay with it. It takes so many hours to learn to do good SEO work and a lot of it is trial and error. Let me show you what I mean. The Real Work of SEO I have a client I picked up a few months ago who was doing fairly well in rankings for certain keywords. The client does large architecture and construction projects. Looking at their Google Analytics, I saw that they were getting found mostly on keyword variations of their company name. That’s not bad but if most of the keywords in your Analytics account are variations of your company name, you’re mostly getting Googled by people who already know about you. I see this so often when I first look at a client’s Analytics. Most clients don’t stop to think about the fact that if their company name is not generic, they’re probably going to rank well for their business name. Keyword Krazyness When I first started SEO, I would have been at a loss to know what to optimize for to replace, for example, the Title tags that had little more than the client’s company name. I would have been guessing or I might use Wordtracker but I didn’t have a solid sense about what I should be using for keywords. My keyword strategy evolved quickly out of necessity but, my god, it took a lot of experimenting and then trying the keywords out on the pages. And it took a lot of experimenting to find out what worked in terms of changing tags, body copy, creating certain kinds of links, registering with directories, article marketing. Your SEO Toolbox is Unique So over time, you end up with a set of tools that are unique to you as an SEO. Someone else might use similar tools but I find that my process is unique in the way I analyze and execute an SEO strategy for any specific website. For me, that’s a lot of the fun and this is where the intellectual engagement comes in. When I find a new way to do something, I get very excited to duplicate it across several websites to see the effect. When it moves the ranking needle, it’s very exciting (and fun to tell clients about). What Was I Talking About? But back to the SEO copywriting aspect. I’ve really discovered there is no such thing. Copywriting alone is not enough to move the needle very far. And I say this as a very long-time writer and someone who started out thinking SEO copywriting could be enough. Copy CAN help with conversion; turning traffic into leads and sales. No. It’s a bigger nut to crack than that. And pretty much every website is different. It’s no longer at all difficult for me to sell SEO Campaigns since I no longer believe that a one-time optimization of a site is going to get you far in the long run. For one thing, the search engines keep...
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