one-on-one

For all those interested in what's going on with me, here is an 'interview' I gave myself this morning:

Q: So how are you?
A: I've been incredibly busy with the City and Big Green. So much so that once I've checked my email and read the paper when I get home, I'm pretty well spent.

Q: How's work?
A: Work is work. There's some stuff that bothers me about my City job, but I never know who's reading this blog, so I'll leave that alone.

Q: Done anything fun lately?
A: I've gotten out to a couple of malls as of late, and my mom is hosting a Valentine's party next week, but not a lot of traditional "fun" - type things. I'll get out and do a little more after Big Green slows down and the weather breaks.

Q: What are you reading these days?
A: I found this great book: Service and Style: How The American Department Store Fashioned The Middle Class by Jan Whittaker. As you can tell from the title, this is right up my alley. :-)

Q: Heard any good new music lately?
A: No (laughs). I'm really disappointed in what I hear on the radio these days. There's not much feeling. It all seems like demographic marketing set to a beat.

Q: How's your parents?
A: Good. They always seem to stay pretty stable.

Q: Been to New York lately?
A: Not since Thanksgiving, but I hope to soon. There's several exhibits at the Met and Cooper-Hewitt that I want to check out, as well as MoMA.

Q: Just museums, huh?
A: Okay, there are more than a few stores that are on my radar there, too.

Q: What's with all the shopping anyway?
A: That's a question I don't have an answer for. All I know is that I like it, but not for the sake of it. It's more of an experiential thing. I like stores that make an effort to offer things that people need in a way that is creative, interesting and fun.

Q: Any good stores you wan to talk about?
A: Well, Urban Outfitters for one. They do a great job at marketing to their target audience. The design quality of their stores and advertisements is exceptional.

Q: Do you ever not talk about retail?
A: Sometimes I don't. Actually a lot of times I don't. But I'd be lying if I didn't say it was a big deal to me. Always has been.

Q: What happened to Steve's News Annex?
A: I decided to close it down. It was starting to get to the point that I wasn't updating it much, and it was basically floating around without a purpose other than as a depository for stuff I didn't have space for here. It was fun to have for a while, and I'm proud of what I did there, but it was time to do something different.

Q: Can we expect a new blog in its place?
A: Not likely. I have a couple of ideas for blogs, but I don't have the time or resources to make them any good. It's not like I don't have other plces you can find me :-)

Q: Anything you'd like everybody to know out there?
A: I dunno. I guess the main thing is that despite all appearances otherwise, I'm still here.