Plain words, uncommon sense
It was a rather short sleep in this morning. The Rabbit was trundling about, and my bed does feel like it’s stuffed with peas. Rather unpleasant. The majority of the day was spent washing my clothes and figuring out how to dry my clothes. It was a strange process, again inspired by the Rabbit’s diligence in laundering.
Thankfully tomorrow I go to the Dead Sea and I have 3 hours of spa treatment. I’m looking forward to being wrapped in mud.
One should never travel from Jordan to Jerusalem and back in one day. This is incredibly wrong for all sorts of reasons.
I have to get off the computer so below is part of my email to James, minus the cuddles and schmoopy stuff.
We made it to Jerusalem today but holy cow in a hand basket. That was an expensive whim. We left the hotel at 7:30, drove 25 minutes to the border (150 Jordanian Dinar, like 300 bucks). Then we took a bus over the bridge. Getting your passport stamped to go was a 5 step process. We had to find someone who spoke English to explain because we had no idea what to do. Then we waited and waited and waited. The bus left at 9:30. There were about 5 border guards to go through. People coming on the bus and checking passports, stamps, passports, stamps. Then we got to the border and had to get off the bus. I don’t know why. We eventually got to the other side and then had to go through security and immigration. That was a nightmare. Lines of people everywhere. Bags everywhere. Now instead of just not understanding Arabic, I didn’t understand Arabic or Hebrew. We finally left the airport security at 11:30. 7:30 to 11:30 in transit.
After paying 75 sheckles (no idea what that is in Canadian) we were off to Old Jerusalem with about 2 hours to walk about because the bridge was closing at 4 pm. Some days it closes at 8 pm, some days at 2 pm. I figured today at 4 was pretty good considering our strange trip.
We were dropped off at a gate to the old city, no idea which gate but we wandered in. There was zero time to see any of the sites because we had no idea where we were going. We did stumble upon the Western Wall or weeping wall and I went to have a look and took some pictures. I really wanted to see dome of the rock and holy scelpture but I did get mango juice with a smile in an Arab restaurant off the path. They ask you to smile in the Middle East. I think it’s to tell if you are German or American–the only two countries who will grimace first (I understand this from our taxi driver).
More wandering and then we had to catch the taxi, 200 sheckles back to the airport. And there’s an exit fee of 150 sheckles each. This is a lot of money for 1 day. In total I think we spent over 1000 dollars (I have to check the exchange but I’m terrified to know). F-sharp.
Rabbit was really pleased though. She hasn’t been on that kind of trip before. Never crossed a crazy border. It was rather indiana jones of us. We did not get shot at. I was impressed though by all the security guards. No uniforms, just regular Western clothes, jeans, polo shirt, GD-large gun.
I’m glad Rabbit was happy. It was a funny trip all around.
Quick aside, we are paying another 200 JD to go to the Dead Sea. And 160 JD to fly to Aqaba plus 3 nights in a hotel there. I also have no hot water–2 days without. The customer service guy is beside himself and wants to quit the hotel. It’s a weird country.
Everyone is Jordan is really, really welcoming. Embarassingly so. They are affectionate and jokers and give you tea and basically anything. It’s beyond the friendliness of Turkey. Today I walked out of a shop with a bag of cookies because the boy was insistant that I take them.
9th we go to the Dead Sea, 12-15 to Aqaba, then to Egypt.
Thank you to everyone who sent me notes, they made me feel very happy.
I just got back from a 3 day trip that went to Jerash, Petra, Karak, Mount Nebo and Madaba.
Since I can’t properly upload my photos, here’s some great Flickr pics of where I went.
Jerash is an interesting Hellenistic-Roman ruined city located 80 miles north of Amman. The impressive, beautifully preserved ruins of Jerash include buildings from Byzantine and early Muslim periods as well as classical structures, and the entire setting is quite lovely.
Petra
View of the royal tombs.
Petra’s most famous view. This is the first point where you sight the treasury.
The Monastery is at the top of 900 stairs, which takes a fit person on a cool day about 1 hour and another 15 minutes to get up to the Bedoin view points. I, mostly fit in 35 C, made it up in 1.5 hours with lots of rest breaks. By stairs, I really mean goat path, and you have to be very careful of the raging donkeys. The Bedoin guys at the view point are fantastic. And they take visa and text message from their caves. The visa is true, which means text messaging from a cave could also be true, but I know that they have been relocated to a village that no one really likes (bit like aboriginal reserves in Canada).
Al-Karak, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, crusader castle.
Madaba: This 6th century mosaic map of Jerusalem was found under the floor of Madaba’s St George’s Church. The mosaic was probably made during the reign of the Emperor Justinian (AD 527-65) and hold significant historical value. This is a small section of the mosaic and is the first known map of Jerusalem (where I’m going tomorrow at 7:30 am). We are taking a taxi to the end of the bridge, then going in a shuttle over the bridge and through immigration and hopefully catching a taxi on the other side. God willing all will go well.
Mount Nebo (Alex, if you read this, show Dan this picture of the cross. I want to know what he thinks about the serpent.)
The serpentine cross sculpture (the Brazen Serpent Monument) atop Mount Nebo. The sculpture was created by Italian artist, Giovanni Fantoni, and is symbolic of the bronze serpent created by Moses in the wilderness (Numbers 21:4-9) and the cross upon which Jesus was crucified (John 3:14). But I bet Dan has interesting things to say about the abandonment of ego.
Please send me messages. My mom is fun but I’m missing conversation with people my own age. The girls aren’t chatty and the boys are interested in whether I’m married.
Finished this one on the plane. Quaint, slow paced and lovely is what I have to say about this book.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Anne Barrows. The novel is structured as letters between Juliet Ashton, her friends and the subjects of her new book (the fine folks of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society).
It’s 1946. London is emerging from the Second World War and Juliet is a writer looking for her next subject. Sheis bright and pretty (two things difficult to do on the same day) and she is the writer behind a popular war column “Izzy Bickerstaff Goes to War”. The column is a humorous look at the dreary days of war, and it became popular and well-loved because of its lightheartedness. With the war over, Juliet is looking for other subjects. What leads her to the GLPPPS is a that Guernsey islander Dawsey, who’s purchased a second hand book on Charles Lamb, decides to write its previous owner, who happens to be Juliet. This puts in motion the letter writing between Juliet and Dawsey, then Juliet and other members of the society. The letters give Juliet and us a look at what happened to the islanders during the German occupation of Guernsey.
The letter structure really makes this novel feel like non-fiction. So much so that you forget it’s a novel. The characters are wonderful, charming and likeable, again the velocity is island pace. Not a page-turner but not a humdrum novel either. Gentle, quaint and lovely.
I enjoyed this novel.
Well we survived the long flight to London, which was made extra long by the fact that neither the Rabbit (aka my mom) nor I bothered to double check the flight time. Our itinerary said 3:30 but the eticket said 4:50. Brilliant because who doesn’t love to be at the airport 2 hours early for an international flight, plus 1.5 hours extra early. Ideal really, especially if the flight itself is 9.5 hours. 13 lucky hours!
It wasn’t so bad actually. The flight was ok. I read mostly and didn’t feel too jetlagged when we arrived. I had a short sleep then we wandered around the town of Horley (near Gatwick). Dinner at the 6 Bells, which is a great little pub, then back to bed. The next day we took the tube into London, did the “left luggage” at Victoria station and then bombed around London on the sightseeing tour. We didn’t have a lot of time so we went to Buckingham Palace, which is walking distance from Victoria station. Watched the changing of the guard in the pouring rain. Wondered if they have to blow-dry those big buffalo hats they wear. Then carried on to the Phoenix for lunch. This is another great pub just off the beaten path. I ordered an incredibly tasty risotto, had a couple of bites and then traded with the Rabbit for her penne with tomato and mushroom and pesto. The Rabbit cannot eat pesto because she is allergic to pine nuts. Good bye delicious risotto.
In many ways all the things I do to James come back to haunt me when I travel with my mom. He once traded me his beautiful steak for my cheesy pasta dish. James is not a cheesy pasta guy. So gallant.
Back to my travel tale though. After Buckingham Palace and our delicious lunch (the pasta was very good), we made our way to St. Paul’s. The toss up was Westminster Abbey or St. Paul’s and my preference is always St. Paul’s. Westminster feels oppressive to me, like the walls are caving in. There is so much to look at whereas St. Paul’s is incredibly beautiful but airy.
Then we took the tour bus along London Bridge, past London Tower and got out at the Embankment. We took the tube to Victoria station, walked across to Victoria Coach Station and took the bus to Gatwick. It was harrowing. We made the bus late by 2 minutes but made the bus, which was the important part.
The flight to Amman was uneventful and fairly empty so I had a full row to myself for the 5 hour trip. We arrived at 4:30 am, the driver was late, and by the time we arrived at the hotel and were in our rooms it was 6 am. The short nap was 8 hours long (woke up at 2 pm). There was some delay leaving the room, much puttering. Tea in the caffe at the hotel with cookies. By the time that was done it was time for dinner so we went to the Italian restaurant. Poor Rabbit was thwarted by pesto a second time. Her cheesy pasta arrived with pesto sprinkled on top. It looked lovely but under no circumstances was I trading my veal dish.
Today is another rest day and on Saturday we leave for Petra.
Life is good. Not much to do at the moment, which is why I’m on the interwebs.
Did I forget to mention that I’m away all of October? Yes it’s true. I’m in Jordan and Egypt.
Hopefully photos to come.
Defining Success: Accountable Online Marketing for Book Publishing ran a session last week and I had a chance to present some ideas that have been brewing in my head for awhile.
Here are the links:
7 Sentence Online Marketing Plan
How to quickly create an online marketing plan and where to start.
Internet Marketing: How to Measure Success
Figuring out cost per conversion and how to measure successful online campaigns. Good for offline too.
4 Myths About Internet Marketing
Why we waste money online and how to spend it wisely.
Defining Success: Accountable Online Marketing for Book Publishing was a full-day session run by BookNet Canada and the ABPBC on Thursday, September 18, 2008 at the SFU Downtown Campus, Vancouver BC.
2:00, 2:45 pm: Tools to Use: The Google Suite from Genevieve Brennan
From Analytics to Website Optimizer, Google tools offer clear methods to set goals and track results of actions. Partner Manager Genevieve Brennan gave a thorough overview of the Google products relevant to online marketing for books. Genevieve Brennan, Partner Manager for Google Book Search, helps publishers develop and execute a strategy for promoting content online. She particularly enjoys working with publishers to maximize the benefits of adding search features directly to their own websites. Prior to coming to Google, Genevieve was Sales Manager for David R. Godine Publisher. She now works at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.
3 Steps for Online Marketing (from the perspective of Google tools):
Quick Facts (any errors are mine):
Funny Traffic Spikes Marginally Related to Books:
Other Tips and Conversation Points:
Step-by-Step Plan:
All the tools are available here: www.google.com/bookpublishers
Q: How does Google index full site?
A: Sitemaps is one way.
Q: Is there a Google Book Search equivalent for magazines?
A: Yes, the News Archive Program is the Google Book Search for newspapers and magazines.
Defining Success: Accountable Online Marketing for Book Publishing was a full-day session run by BookNet Canada and the ABPBC on Thursday, September 18, 2008 at the SFU Downtown Campus, Vancouver BC.
10:00, 10:45 am: Event Marketing: Taking the Faces Out of Facebook from Evan Munday of Coach House Books
The Coach House Books Facebook Group has more than 1000 members (and continues to grow). Coach House publicist Evan Munday discussed how to channel online passion to drive turn out at offline events. Evan Munday is the publicist for Coach House Books, a Toronto-based literary press, where has worked for the past 2 1/2 years. He is also a sometime artist who has done illustrations for various magazines. He collaborated on a novel with author Jon Paul Fiorentino, Stripmalling, out in Spring 2009, and is semi-hard at work on a YA novel. He is also very funny.
Here’s what Evan had to say:
Facebook Promotion of the Open House:
Evan’s Take-Away Lessons:
Other Interesting Points:
Things we don’t do:
Our Facebook Plan:
Q: How much time?
A: Very little time: 1 event week or every 2 weeks (15 min); post info. Ehren: online is his fulltime job is online, but blogging has moved to a publicist role now.
Q: Do you have a blog?
A: Coach House coffee room serves as a blog. (But really, the whole site is run on a content management system, which is what blog software is. The Coach House site, the whole site, is a blog, the coffee room is the bit that looks like what we think is a blog.)
Defining Success: Accountable Online Marketing for Book Publishing was a full-day session run by BookNet Canada and the ABPBC on Thursday, September 18, 2008 at the SFU Downtown Campus, Vancouver BC.
9:00, 9:15 am: Opening Remarks from Michael Tamblyn, BookNet Canada
Michael Tamblyn couldn’t print his presentation so he read it off his phone. A perfect intro to a day about online media and the changes it has brought to consumers and book publishers.
9:15, 10:00 am: Blogs, Context and Conversations: Interaction, Change and Measuring Results from Ehren Cheung, online marketing specialist for Dundurn Press
Ehren Cheung discussed the elements required to build, maintain and grow a successful blog like Dundurn Press’ Defining Canada with a focus on how to set goals that measure what matters. Ehren has been involved with expanding Dundurn’s Internet marketing initiatives since he joined the publisher a little over two years ago. I really like following Ehren online: Dundurn blog, on Twitter, he’s great.
Key Points from Ehren Cheung:
Ehren’s Top Take-Away Points:
Questions from the Audience
Q: How has the purpose of Defining Canada changed over time?
A: Defining Canada currently is an extension of the brand messaging. We arel slowly moving toward building community, focusing on calls to actions.
Q: How does the management view the blog and outreach?
A: We have 521 unique visitors per month. How do they feel about that? Good.
Q: Why do you suggest Twitter?
A: It’s important to my day. Monique suggests it’s like a news ticker in the background. Keep a finger on the pulse of personal contacts and business. Follow us and see what it’s all about:
@ehrenc
@definingcanada
@somisguided
@BookNet_Canada
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