Over-50

Fatal Stamford, CT Christmas Fire - 10th Anniversary

It was a tragedy few anticipated any human being could absorb and go on with life.

Early Christmas morning in Stamford, Connecticut a fire ripped through one of those New England This Old Houses. Advertising executive Madonna Badger owned it. That was 2011. And this December is the 10th anniversary of the catastrophe. 

Badger's three young daughters and mother and father lost their lives. Not soon after their father Matthew, who was divorced from their mother, died of heart disease. Her friend at the time Michael Borcina died of cancer.

But Badger has been able to transcend the pain. Currently she is married to an old friend. She operates the high-profile advertising agency Badger & Winters.  In memory of her three daughters she advocates for eliminating sex from advertising messaging involving females.

The fire occurred during a dark time in the history of Connecticut. A home invasion of a medical doctor's home snuffed out the lives of his wife and daughters who were just approaching adulthood. There also was the carnage in Newtown. Elementary school students were slaughtered.

Badger's embrace of life, work, and a mission has been a special Christmas gift for all of us who had been in Connecticut that morning. We woke to the horror. Now we have hope in what can be after the unimaginable does occur.

 

Sure, We Get through "It" - But, Unlikely We'll Learn Lessons

Stress, even the extreme kind, can be managed.

And if that's done right those of us who are going through some of the worst of times in a career or a life or both can get to the other side of most of that. Maybe even all of it.

I know.

So does founder of Twitter and its former head Jack Dorsey.

Simultaneously when he was in charge of Twitter he also was heading Square. That had started out as a mobile payment enterprise that was an ideal fit for small business. Since then, he has stepped down from Twitter and has parachuted into reimagining Square as a major player in cryptocurrency. Part of that has been renaming Square Block. Dorsey's mission is to bring crypto mainstream.

On Insider, Dorsey reveals that to "stay above water," he would meditate 2 hours a day, walk 5 miles to work, and eat 1 meal daily.

Yes, those rituals did calm him down. And it's calm we need to maintain control over what's going on - especially within ourselves. A negative side effect of how he coped, he indicates, had been some loss of productivity. But, here he is. He made it.

My professional challenges were different than Dorsey's. Essentially in my field of communications you have to be a specialist. At least currently. Generalists wind up bottom-feeders. My previous special area of expertise had gone poof. But what was I going to specialize in? Because I was aging I didn't have a whole lot of confidence in my ability to learn a new field and then to market myself in it.

For 2 hours a day I did meditate.

I walked to the gym. There I worked out at least 1 hour. I walked back. 

I ate less. And not often.  

In addition, the posse of human help who rode in were people I never expected to enter my little life.

There had been the head of elite Paul Weiss law firm - Brad Karp. Laconic, just as top lawyers are, he would say the right few words now and then. I bumped into him when covering for Law and More his breakthrough online COVID Relief Center. Way back in the spring of 2020, he had mobilized thousands of lawyers from many law firms to do that pro bono. BTW, Karp's signature is calm. Perhaps by osmosis I picked up some of that.

The head of my Zoom meditation group Richard Wilder listened. He disclosed his own struggle with aging. Yes, he also calmed me down - at least enough to prevent me from "taking a geographic." That is, relocating just to flee the force field of total uncertainty. Of course, I knew that wouldn't work but the monsters of the mind kept telling me that I had to get out of this place.  

Then there have been the two guys on this second floor in my apartment complex. They taught me hard manual tasks, like detailing my own car. Those distracted me. Bits of confidence came back. During the night when I couldn't sleep I would go out to the parking lot and admire my beautiful clean car. 

Yes, I landed a new specialization. Yes, I put it out there perfectly.

So, here I am. I have cut back to 1 hour of meditation. I drive to the gym and often I can get by with only 30 minutes. Along the way I have developed a bad Doritos habit. 

However, I am not an optimist. I don't believe that the next time I come undone I will remember this recent upheaval and that I got through. The odds are that it will be as raw and seemingly undoable as having to go to work after too many years of formal education. Lessons are rarely learned. Otherwise mankind wouldn't be in the pickle it is in now.

Marketing communications for blockchain, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and much much more (including waterproofing, roofing, and shipping containers). You want results. And that’s exactly what you get partnering with Genova Communications. Fees customized for your unique budget. Complimentary consultation - janegenova374@gmail.com.

Boomers as Late Bloomers - NFTs as Ticket In, Possible Platform for Weath

It's really happening. The blockchain is a platform for democracy.

On it are being conjured up NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). They can take the form of art.

And, if the leaders of Christie's achieve their mission, they can be experienced as a new form of luxury. The democratic version.

No one has to be a member of the "Crusties" (middle-aged, wealthy, with gold-plated networks) to feel comfortable bidding on NFTs. In fact, 25% of Christie's customers are Millennials.

Some have acquired a bit of money by skipping college and playing around in the NFT, as well as cryptocurrency, boxes. And, yes, if purchasing NFTs is considered investing for them, they could become rich. 

As The Wall Street Journal reports, Christie's has reimagined its usual business of auctioning off classic masterpieces like a Picasso painting to creating a global niche in NFTs. 

Investopedia defines NFTs this way:

"Non-fungible tokens or NFTs are cryptographic assets on blockchain with unique identification codes and metadata that distinguish them from each other. Unlike cryptocurrencies, they cannot be traded or exchanged at equivalency. This differs from fungible tokens like cryptocurrencies, which are identical to each other and, therefore, can be used as a medium for commercial transactions."

NFTs can represent both physical art and digital art.

Ownership is recorded on the blockchain. Yes, some NFTs such as Beeple's "Everydays" can sell for millions. However, Everyman and Everywoman can get in at the low end. And the purchases can be made on marketplaces such as Nifty Gateway and NBA Top Shot. 

Of course, retail prices keep fluctuating as does the exchange value of Ether (ETH). Most transactions take place through Ether. But there are also other options like BNB and NEAR.

Amid all the volatility in the NFT space, it is possible to get a ballpark idea about getting in at what's being labled: lower price points.  "Non-Fungible Heroes" has retailed for 0.08 ETH and "Crypto.Chicks for 0.25 ETH.

According to a Motley Fool calculation last April the price of Ethereum was $2,144.42 for one coin. A sign of the explosive growth in virtual everything in general, according to Refinitiv, one ETH recently was equivalent to 4560.06 US dollars.

No matter what's paid, though, the overall branding can be "luxury." After all, "lux" is a relative concept - and living in it is a relative state of being. 

Think about it: The NFT purchaser does own art which, in these times preoccupied with the blockchain, can receive plenty of attention. Ownership can get anyone "into the club."

Those owners can have the experience of being in the same space with a billionaire such as Leon Black whose signature is embedded in the art world. He owns the art work "The Scream." Also, Black had been chairperson of the Museum of Modern Art. 

Think also about this: Given that Black is one of those masters of the universe in making money he soon enough might become a major player in the NFT niche. In addition, the giant financial firm he had founded (but stepped down from) - Apollo - could enter this space. Its current head Marc Rowan is no slouch at picking up on possibilities.

Also, NFTs often, like loyalty programs in the real world, confer perks. Those could range from being able to make a reservation to an in-demand restaurant to being admitted to an online concert.

The undertow on all this excitement is this: the legalities.

For example, unless negotiated otherwise, the creator has control over the copyright.

Also, if the NFT is sold again, the creator can receive royalties up to about 30%. 

In addition, there remains ambiguity about how to classify NFTs. Are they commodities or securities which must be registered? Currently Dapper Labs is being sued because it's contended that its NBA Top Shot Moments are actually securities. That's based on the argument, Coindesk reports:

" [that] their value increases with the success of the project. The plaintiff says Dapper should therefore be registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission, which Dapper Labs has allegedly failed to do."

The complaint is "Jeeun Friel v Dapper Labs, et al." - Here is a copy of that lawsuit.

Law firm Jones Day put out a white paper on the must-beware legal aspects of NFTs.

Law firm Reed Smith's white paper on the metaverse contains two sections on NFTs.

In addition, another beware is that NFTs are a speculative asset. Their market value could go to zero.

Finder provides the steps for how to get started in the NFT space.

Should those wanting "in" on the aesthetics, lux branding, and sense of standing toe-to-toe with the old-line Crusties gift themselves with one or more NFTs this holiday season?

That could be a wonderful platform for extreme self-esteem as well as an investment which pays off. About the latter, though, there are no guarantees. Also, that eventually could get the owner sued for not registering the entity as a security.

Marketing communications for blockchain, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and much much more (including waterproofing, roofing, and shipping containers). You want results. And that’s exactly what you get partnering with Genova Communications. Fees customized for your unique budget. Complimentary consultation - janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

It's really happening. The blockchain is a platform for democracy.

On it are being conjured up NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). They can take the form of art.

And, if the leaders of Christie's achieve their mission, they can be experienced as a new form of luxury. The democratic version.

No one has to be a member of the "Crusties" (middle-aged, wealthy, with gold-plated networks) to feel comfortable bidding on NFTs. In fact, 25% of Christie's customers are Millennials.

Some have acquired a bit of money by skipping college and playing around in the NFT, as well as cryptocurrency, boxes. And, yes, if purchasing NFTs is considered investing for them, they could become rich. 

As The Wall Street Journal reports, Christie's has reimagined its usual business of auctioning off classic masterpieces like a Picasso painting to creating a global niche in NFTs. 

Investopedia defines NFTs this way:

"Non-fungible tokens or NFTs are cryptographic assets on blockchain with unique identification codes and metadata that distinguish them from each other. Unlike cryptocurrencies, they cannot be traded or exchanged at equivalency. This differs from fungible tokens like cryptocurrencies, which are identical to each other and, therefore, can be used as a medium for commercial transactions."

NFTs can represent both physical art and digital art.

Ownership is recorded on the blockchain. Yes, some NFTs such as Beeple's "Everydays" can sell for millions. However, Everyman and Everywoman can get in at the low end. And the purchases can be made on marketplaces such as Nifty Gateway and NBA Top Shot. 

Of course, retail prices keep fluctuating as does the exchange value of Ether (ETH). Most transactions take place through Ether. But there are also other options like BNB and NEAR.

Amid all the volatility in the NFT space, it is possible to get a ballpark idea about getting in at what's being labled: lower price points.  "Non-Fungible Heroes" has retailed for 0.08 ETH and "Crypto.Chicks for 0.25 ETH.

According to a Motley Fool calculation last April the price of Ethereum was $2,144.42 for one coin. A sign of the explosive growth in virtual everything in general, according to Refinitiv, one ETH recently was equivalent to 4560.06 US dollars.

No matter what's paid, though, the overall branding can be "luxury." After all, "lux" is a relative concept - and living in it is a relative state of being. 

Think about it: The NFT purchaser does own art which, in these times preoccupied with the blockchain, can receive plenty of attention. Ownership can get anyone "into the club."

Those owners can have the experience of being in the same space with a billionaire such as Leon Black whose signature is embedded in the art world. He owns the art work "The Scream." Also, Black had been chairperson of the Museum of Modern Art. 

Think also about this: Given that Black is one of those masters of the universe in making money he soon enough might become a major player in the NFT niche. In addition, the giant financial firm he had founded (but stepped down from) - Apollo - could enter this space. Its current head Marc Rowan is no slouch at picking up on possibilities.

Also, NFTs often, like loyalty programs in the real world, confer perks. Those could range from being able to make a reservation to an in-demand restaurant to being admitted to an online concert.

The undertow on all this excitement is this: the legalities.

For example, unless negotiated otherwise, the creator has control over the copyright.

Also, if the NFT is sold again, the creator can receive royalties up to about 30%. 

In addition, there remains ambiguity about how to classify NFTs. Are they commodities or securities which must be registered? Currently Dapper Labs is being sued because it's contended that its NBA Top Shot Moments are actually securities. That's based on the argument, Coindesk reports:

" [that] their value increases with the success of the project. The plaintiff says Dapper should therefore be registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission, which Dapper Labs has allegedly failed to do."

The complaint is "Jeeun Friel v Dapper Labs, et al." - Here is a copy of that lawsuit.

Law firm Jones Day put out a white paper on the must-beware legal aspects of NFTs.

Law firm Reed Smith's white paper on the metaverse contains two sections on NFTs.

In addition, another beware is that NFTs are a speculative asset. Their market value could go to zero.

Finder provides the steps for how to get started in the NFT space.

Should those wanting "in" on the aesthetics, lux branding, and sense of standing toe-to-toe with the old-line Crusties gift themselves with one or more NFTs this holiday season?

That could be a wonderful platform for extreme self-esteem as well as an investment which pays off. About the latter, though, there are no guarantees. Also, that eventually could get the owner sued for not registering the entity as a security.

Marketing communications for blockchain, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and much much more (including waterproofing, roofing, and shipping containers). You want results. And that’s exactly what you get partnering with Genova Communications. Fees customized for your unique budget. Complimentary consultation - janegenova374@gmail.com.

As for Boomers and Omicron - We Got Our Boosters, We Have Been Through Worse

There are those generation silos. Boomers talk with boomers. The generations coming after us mostly ignore us. 

In talking with other boomers - many of them - what I'm finding is the old-line shrug mindset. Yes, Omicron is probably bad. But we got our boosters. A neighbor died of COVID. However, human beings die all the time.

What younger gens blaming us for everything are unaware of is that we have been through so much.

That probably kicked off with the assassination of our president. The music died.

Then there was the severe economic downturn of the mid 1970s. Utopian visions of the perfect society conjured up by the counterculture went poof.

Just as we were experiencing the good life in corporate America there was that Stalin-like purge of those over-40. During the late 1980s, at middle age we were forced out by the Jack Welches. America is tilted toward youth so those of us who were smart threw in the towel on a corporate career path. We became jittery entrepreneurs. But Staples popped up to help us select our business stationary and that industrial stapler. 

Then, we should have been able to retire like our parents. But few have been able to. In addition, one-third of those who did, documents the Federal Reserve, had to boomerang back in because of fear of outliving our money. Meanwhile, what's going on in our investment portfolios - both the ups and the downs - keeps us up at night. And, should we try crypto?

So, Omicron is just another curve ball. We read the headlines in Drudge Report. And, we, yes, shrug.

***************************** 
AMERICANS 'NUMB' TO COVID...
Record-High Cases In NH...
OMICRON SPREADING TWICE AS FAST AS DELTA...
Shares genetic code with common cold...
CASES IN AT LEAST 10 STATES...
Surge in Children Under 5...
Past infection may not fend off...
Drugstores squeezed by jab demand, staff shortages...
Oregon considers PERMANENT mask mandate...
SHOWDOWN: Thousands of Soldiers Still Unvaxxed...

Marketing communications for blockchain, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and much much more (including waterproofing, roofing, and shipping containers). You want results. And that’s exactly what you get partnering with Genova Communications. Fees customized for your unique budget. Complimentary consultation - janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

NFTs - We Could Probably Afford "Crypto.Chicks"

As predicted, blockchain can create level playing fields.

On the blockchain are being conjured up NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). They can take the form of art.

And, if the leadership of Christie's achieves their mission, they can be experienced as a new form of luxury. The democratic version.

No one has to be a member of the "Crusties" (middle-aged, wealthy, with gold-plated networks) to feel comfortable bidding on NFTs. In fact, 25% of Christie's customers are Millennials.

Some have acquired a bit of money by skipping college and playing around in the NFT, as well as cryptocurrency, boxes. And, yes, if purchasing NFTs is considered investing for them, they could become rich. 

As The Wall Street Journal reports, Christie's has reimagined its usual business of auctioning off classic masterpieces like a Picasso painting to creating a global niche in NFTs. 

Investopedia defines NFTs this way:

"Non-fungible tokens or NFTs are cryptographic assets on blockchain with unique identification codes and metadata that distinguish them from each other. Unlike cryptocurrencies, they cannot be traded or exchanged at equivalency. This differs from fungible tokens like cryptocurrencies, which are identical to each other and, therefore, can be used as a medium for commercial transactions."

NFTs can represent both physical art and digital art.

Ownership is recorded on the blockchain. Yes, some NFTs such as Beeple's "Everydays" can sell for millions. However, Everyman and Everywoman can get in at the low end. And the purchases can be made on marketplaces such as Nifty Gateway and NBA Top Shot. 

Of course, retail prices keep fluctuating as does the exchange value of Ether (ETH). Most transactions take place through Ether. But there are also other options like BNB and NEAR.

Amid all the volatility in the NFT space, it is possible to get a ballbark idea about getting in at what's being labled: lower price points.  "Non-Fungible Heroes" has retailed for 0.08 ETH and "Crypto.Chicks for 0.25 ETH.

According to a Motley Fool calculation last April the price of Ethereum was $2,144.42 for one coin. A sign of the explosive growth in virtual everything in general, according to Refinitiv, one ETH recently was equivalent to 4560.06 US dollars.

No matter what's paid, though, the overall branding can be "luxury."

First of all, the person does own art. That person can feel right up there with billionaire Leon Black who owns the art work "The Scream." 

In addition, ownership often creates a halo effect: The message is that the owner is part of a special tribe. The new narrative could be about being in the NFT crowd. What do you own? Can I view it? How much has it gone up in market value? Are you going to buy more?

Also, NFTs often, like loyalty programs in the real world, confer perks. Those could range from being able to make a reservation to an in-demand restaurant to being admitted to an online concert.

The undertow on all this excitement is this: the legalities. For example, unless negotiated otherwise, the creator has control over the copyright. Also, if the NFT is sold again, the creator can receive royalties up to about 30%. Here is law firm Jones Day's white paper on the must-beware legal aspects of NFTs.

In addition, another beware is that NFTs are a speculative asset. Their market value could go to zero.

Finder provides the steps for how to get started in the NFT space.

Should those wanting "in" on the aesthetics, lux branding, and sense of belonging to the next big thing gift themselves with one or more NFTs this holiday season? That could be a wonderful treat as well as an investment which pays off. About the latter, though, there are no guaratees.

Feedspot selected Law and More as one of The Top 100 Legal Blogs.

Marketing communications for blockchain, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and much much more (including waterproofing, roofing, and shipping containers). You want results. And that’s exactly what you get partnering with Genova Communications. Fees customized for your unique budget. Complimentary consultation - janegenova374@gmail.com.

The Boomer Struggle to Grow Up - Enjoy Revisiting Some of That in "Licorice Pizza"

"Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film [Licorice Pizza] is an antic comedy about a child actor in 1970s California, but it’s also a bittersweet reminiscence about how difficult embracing adulthood can be." - David Sims, The Atlantic, November 26, 2021.

The plot line of "Licorice Pizza" is a familiar one: the extreme reluctance to become an adult.

In it, 25-year-old going-no-where Alana Kane loops into the teenage life of 15-year-old child actor Gary Valentine. That Peter Pan or Patty Pan meme, of course, permeates pop culture in America. After all, we are a young nation, not like Poland or Italy. The theme plays out everywhere from film "The Big Chill" to the television series "Seinfeld." 

In real life we boomers borne witness to that when the counterculture outlived its usefulness. Too many - called "hippies" then - hung on. They never did what adults are supposed to for getting and holding a good job, being part of the middle-class ethos of being tethered to a mortgage, and saving enough for retirement. 

Not that we who made that rite of passage into adulthood enjoyed the process. Actually, for most of us something hardened. Yes, the music died. And it's only now that we can let up on the intensity of a career (they call that semiretirement) and just work at what we love that we can circle back to the joy and fun of pre-adulthood. 

Naturally, there are those - and they're the ones who make partner (usually early) at the Cravaths, Skaddens, and Mayer Browns - who seem to be born adult. When we were fighting the good fight during the counterculture on the campus of the University of Michigan, they were in the law school law library.

We didn't know they were there and not with us because our conception of the world, like that of all children, was totally egocentric. Only years later, when we had settled down into corporate life and they were working as the in-house counsel did we find out that they were "at Michigan" when we had been.

The jury is still out on the question: Is it possible to completely escape, rather than just delay, adulthood? I have seen instances of that and none of them were good.

Marketing communications for blockchain, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and much much more (including waterproofing, roofing, and shipping containers). You want results. And that’s exactly what you get partnering with Genova Communications. Fees customized for your unique budget. Complimentary consultation - janegenova374@gmail.com.

23 Days Before Christmas - Here We Are

YELLEN WARNS OMICRON ECONOMIC THREAT...
HAWAII FIRST CASE...
BIDEN ORDERS FREE TESTS FOR ALL...
MORE Rules for Travelers...
DALLAS COWBOYS Ravaged By Alarming Outbreak...
3 NFL Players Suspended for Fake Cards...
Thousands of Sailors, Marines Remain Unvaccinated After Deadline...
Did collision with HIV forge variant? Warning sign on tongue...
REINFECTIONS 3X MORE LIKELY...
DELTA STILL SWIRLING... Philly Hospitals Near Capacity...
LOCKDOWN FOR UNJABBED IN GERMANY... UK ROLLING OUT 4TH SHOT...
Move to create global 'pandemic treaty'...

MASKS FOREVER?
NEW YORK OMICRON OUTBREAK

Marketing communications for blockchain, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and much much more (including waterproofing, roofing, and shipping containers). You want results. And that’s exactly what you get partnering with Genova Communications. Fees customized for your unique budget. Complimentary consultation - janegenova374@gmail.com.

Omicron and Many Other Disruptions - The Power of Not-Knowing

"New York officials have confirmed five cases of the omicron Covid-19 variant in the New York City metropolitan area, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced late Thursday, hours after cases were detected in Minnesota and Colorado." - CNBC, December 2, 2021.

Meanwhile, Google has ditched the BTO date of January 10th for employees in the US, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. In 2022, it will revisit the format BTO will take and when it will be enacted.

Obviously, all the other chief executive officers for businesses throughout the world could be pushed back into uncertainty. If the offices are already officially operating full-time they have to ponder that decision. If they designated a January BTO they may feel they have to revisit that plan.

On LinkedIn Update, those I network with have been doing verbal smirking about the whole concept of planning. We shared the career plans we had mapped out during college and graduate/professional school. Very few of them came to pass and if they did it was not for long. Most of us are getting the hang of surrendering to non-stop disruption.

In fact, that can bring into our careers a strange new force. That's the power of not-knowing.

By not-knowing, I recently got going a startup in providing marketing communications and advocacy communications associated with blockchain, cryptocurrency, and NFTs. Based on the results so far, I will never plan again.

Marketing communications for blockchain, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and much much more (including waterproofing, roofing, and shipping containers). You want results. And that’s exactly what you get partnering with Genova Communications. Fees customized for your unique budget. Complimentary consultation - janegenova374@gmail.com.

Omicron Is Eating Our Portfolios

Join in me admitting this: Our semitretirement or retirement plans are getting quite wobbly. 

Many of us had become smug during the bull market. The numbers in our investment portfolios were looking mighty encouraging. Maybe happy days were here again.

Then come COVID variant Omicron. It's eating into those portfolios. And there's no telling how much longer this will go on or how deep with be the losses.

The chatter in this southwestern community, where the median age is not young, is about "maybe having to get a job."

I am already operating a business. My mindset has shifted to: I have to scurry up more assignments in blockchain, cryptocurrency, and Non-Fungible Tokens.

Marketing communications for blockchain, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and much much more (including waterproofing, roofing, and shipping containers). You want results. And that’s exactly what you get partnering with Genova Communications. Fees customized for your unique budget. Complimentary consultation - janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

 

You Bet, I Got Booster

"White House tells Americans to get booster shot as soon as possible to protect against Omicron" - Daily Mail, November 28, 2021

You bet, I got the Moderna booster. Medicare paid for it. And it was at the family practice of my medical doctor. 

The side effects? There was fatigue that lasted for about a week. That wasn't as bad as the extreme chills that I had experienced with the first Moderna jab.

Feedspot selected Law and More as one of The Top 100 Legal Blogs.

Marketing communications for blockchain, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and much much more (including waterproofing, roofing, and shipping containers). You want results. And that’s exactly what you get partnering with Genova Communications. Fees customized for your unique budget. Complimentary consultation - janegenova374@gmail.com.