A few months ago, I discovered that writer Erin O’Riordan at Goodkin selected Lisa’s Blog as one of her top choices for Queens of the Blogosphere. Wow! I was, and still am, truly flattered. I don’t know why I didn’t share this news with you all sooner but as I was freshening up my blog this morning I came upon the post once again and the screen capture I had saved of it. O’Riordan places my logo right along with those of (le gasp!) Hoffington Post, The Gawker, Debbie Weil, The Mommy Chronicles and BoingBoing. That’s some impressive company.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’m having some issues with the new Facebook Pages upgrade. While the upgrade offers some noteworthy improvements, I have found some deep gaps in usability for admins. Am I missing something? So, I explored and poked around, and after about ten days of using Facebook’s new upgrade on my page, here’s what I see:

The Good:

• Photos listed along the top only show what you want to show. This means your business page will not show images posted or tagged by your fans or friends. This enhancement improves the selection of visuals which are unique to your business and maintains the integrity of your business page and your brand.

• The new navigation bar at left is, of course, a plus. Consistency should be a priority in any website, whether it be Facebook or the tiny freelancer site. The left hand navigation now corresponds to Facebook’s profile setup. Everything in place.

I  recently had the pleasure of interviewing Chief Operating Officer, Jim Joseph, and Executive Director of Marketing, Publicity and Design, Ingar Forland, at Globe Pequot Press for an upcoming INK article.  GPP is the publisher for the imprint skirt! which recently released Karen Karbo’s The Gospel According to Coco Chanel – Life Lessons From the World’s Most Elegant Woman. There’s been plenty of brouhaha over Coco Chanel these days.  A recent revival of movies, books and buzz have paid homage to the great Chanel and so it was with a certain amount of glee that I obtained a copy of Karbo’s book.

Like the little black dress (invented by non-other than Chanel herself), Karbo’s little book is a pleasure to behold.  The diminutive book fits nicely into your bag for take along reading. The cover is smooth and luxurious.  Fashion illustrations by Chesley McLaren provide the eye candy.  But this book was not written as just another biography of the fashion designer.  This book provides a guide for the modern woman who wishes self sufficiency and empowerment the Chanel way.  With wit and humor, and even a bit of that same snarky Chanel attitude, Karbo’s text provides a series of checks and balances for women navigating life’s many turns.  I read it with greed.  I might even read it again.  Chapters listed as “On Style”, “On Surviving Passion”, “On Embracing the Moment”, “On Money”, and “On Living Life on Your Own Terms” while fun caused me periods of self reflection.  “How do I measure up?” I asked myself, “How can I be better?”  Karbo provided some answers.

Through the pages of The Gospel, we do learn snippets of Chanel’s life… her rags to riches background, the compulsive lying which created her mystique, and her success with and final rejection of love.  But the biography portion of Chanel’s life is not the focus here.  It’s the advice that makes it different and relevant. I especially recommend this book for my fellow ladies who are designers, artists, workaholics and creative entrepreneurs.  Those who enjoy humor and escapism reading with good dose of savoir faire will also not be disappointed.

The Gospel According to Coco Chanel – Life Lessons From the World’s Most Elegant Woman can be obtained from the Globe Pequot Press website and from Amazon, or Barnes and Noble.

Karen Karbo is also the author of How to Hepburn, Lessons of Living From the Great Kate.  Her writings can also be found in Vogue, Elle, Esquire, and Redbook. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

That is the question posited by artist and author, Ted Mikulski.  Yup he’s my cousin…but that’s beside the point.  When I first heard about Ted’s plan to publish an art book and learned it’s title, Art Is Dead, I thought “Ted, are you crazy? Of course art is not dead.”  But is it?

As a teacher of art appreciation at Tunxis Community College, Mikulski was surprised to learn that a shockingly low number of students could name their favorite contemporary artist.  When asked this question on the first day of class over the course of several semesters, Mikulski reports that only 2 or 3 of his students each semester could name their favorite LIVING artist.  Some students named their friends, some named Van Gogh.  Interestingly if asked the question”Who is your favorite band or musician?” the examples were plentiful.

The book is Mikulski’s response to “America’s lack of appreciation for art” and offers the opinions and thoughts of 16 contemporary artists, sculptors and photographers.  Accordingly to Mikulski, “I have found through my research that many artists are shocked that I could even consider art to be dead. The sad reality is that many artists are so steadfast in their own work and their own circle that it is difficult for them to see art on a macro scale. Sure artists will always be around, but are they revered? Are they appreciated? And more importantly, are they figureheads in society?”

ART & COPY, a new documentary film, has the advertising and design world abuzz!  The new film, directed by Doug Pray, is about the creativity and inspiration behind the work and vision of some of the most influential advertising creatives of our time.  This is not a film about trashing the evil world of advertising.  It is instead a tribute to those relatively unknown few who actually helped shape our society and our culture with their work. These are the people who’ve created such slogans as “Just do it”, “Got Milk?”, and “Think Different.” They’ve created campaigns for the Energizer Bunny, Apple, MTV and so many other ads which became the signs of our times.  Despite advertising’s evil reputation, these brilliant campaigns and creative minds have helped us laugh, think, smile, and have moved us to act.