I'm in NYC attending the GEL Conference. Proof...

More pictures to come...

Trying to use a recently compiled email list, but freaks me out when I get a 17% failure rate.

The alumni association recently had a sister organization share an email list with us, but it's not as clean as I keep my lists, and I just got a 17% bounce rate ten minutes after sending. Friends, there is nothing as important as our reputation, and I fear this list will shred mine.

Houston continues to have a beautiful spring. Bottlebrushes doing particularly well this year

I haven't noticed how many people have these bushes before. Here's a photo from Mike Fisher.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bfs_man/4556446878/

Look! My favorite Houston magazine, My Table, has favorite new restaurant Yelapa, in Deal on Meals

via www.mytableentree.com

Straighten up and email right, says Jakob Nielsen

Like automobiles, email newsletters are powerful and dangerous. Usability expert Jakob Nielsen reminds us how challenging it can be as he picks apart these examples.

useit.com Alertbox: UK Election Email Newsletters Rated, 2010-Apr-26, by Jakob Nielsen:

Since our earliest user research into email newsletters 8 years ago, we've known that newsletters are a superb mechanism for growing a relationship with customers. Indeed, when we recently asked users why they were visiting particular websites, the most common response was, "I was reminded to do so because I received an email newsletter from the site."

Beyond being good for business, newsletters are an effective means for political candidates to stay in touch with their supporters during an election campaign. (Twitter and Facebook campaigning might get more press coverage, but representatives from all 3 parties told The Economist that the old-fashioned newsletter is actually the more effective campaigning tool.)

RT @Team_HIWI Can we agree this morning that Houston's worth it because of the light? #HIWI

The Houston morning sunlight in my yard. It's 68 degrees. Wouldn't you like to be in Houston now?

While I was sleeping the Bloggess was getting ready to rock the world. Let us rise to the challenge!

So I'm trying to losen up on this web site and here we are trying to point out how silly we can be. There was a Wittgenstein quote lose on the internet yesterday: "If people did not sometimes do silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done." Regardless of whether you can participate, it's always a joy to read Jenny's ramblings. Jen McCreight is enjoyable, too.

The Bloggess: Random Ramblings of an Insomniac, 2010-Apr-25, by Jenny Lawson

I have insomnia so I’m getting a head-start on National #Boobquake Day; a day when women are encouraged to wear their most immodest outfit to see if immodest women do, in fact, cause earthquakes as reported by Iranian media.