Wednesday, December 31, 2008

The New Catch Phrase of 2009

This morning on Good Morning America, I was listening to the list of "what is in" and "what is out" for 2009. Among them was the new catch phrase of 2009. They said the phrase "it's all good", is out and "it is what it is" is in, but I would beg to differ and say the new catch phrase for 2009 should be "change is strange". The company that's been killing it for the past several years with the phrase LIFE IS GOOD plastered all over their clothing may be in for a bit of a challenge with the reality of 2008's train wreck settling in... that in fact, "it is what it is" and change is strange are a little more on target for our current head space.
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Sunday, December 14, 2008

I Told You Change Is Strange!

Today I stumbled upon an interesting post from blogger Scilla Alecci.

She states that "Hen," which means "change" in English, has been chosen as the single best kanji to characterize the year 2008, a Kyoto-based kanji promotion organization said Friday. The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation said it received a total of 111,208 entries for its poll to select the single best kanji reflecting society in 2008.

Of the total, 6,031, or 5.4%, picked "hen," followed by "kin" (gold) and "raku" (fall). "Kin" was apparently chosen because of gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, while "raku" was chosen to reflect falling stock prices. "Hen" was chosen to symbolize successive changes of power in Japan from 2007 to 2008, the victory of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, who called for change during his presidential campaign, and the deterioration in the global financial and economic landscape, the association said. (Text from Japan Today, 12/13/08)

Of course "hen" also means strange, which could be fitting. The kanji "hen" is also used in "taihen" meaning "difficult." Perhaps things have been strange and difficult this year and we are all in need of change...

You can read more about the choice (in Japanese language only) at the Japanese Kanji Proficiency Society web page.

You can see what the kanji of the year since 1995 has been at this encyclopedia site.

So, you see, Change really is Strange!
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Thursday, December 04, 2008

Natalie Morales of The Today Show is a Change Is Strange Fan!

Yesterday when I opened the mail, I was thrilled to find a lovely Thank You note from Natalie Morales of The Today Show. Let me just say, that she is my absolute favorite! She is smart and classy and beautiful and approachable and she has always been at the top of my "who do you admire" list. So, a couple months ago when I saw her perfectly pregnant on The Today show about to give birth talking about how worried she was that her five year old, Josh, was going to have trouble adjusting to a new baby, I instantly thought, she needs a Change Is Strange We're Having A Baby book.

A friend of a friend ended up gifting the book to Natalie after her son Luke was born. And obviously, she loved it because here is the note I received yesterday...

Dear Ricki,

The personalized book about adjusting to a newborn baby is an amazing tool in dealing with this major household transition. We received it as a gift for Josh after Luke was already born and found them so helpful. Thank you for the extra help in parenting! We all know we need help every now and again.
_ Natalie Morales
Today Show Host

Thanks Natalie!
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