• Day 89/90 – Registered Trademark

    Day 89 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I officially registered trademark for this blog!

    It's Official!
    It’s Official!

    Ever since the Turner Barr incident a few years ago, I’ve been telling all my blogger and vlogger friends to register the name of their sites with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to keep someone from stealing their name from them. Since I am a person of integrity, I needed to do the same, so in January I submitted the application to the USPTO to register The Undeniable Ruth as a trademark.

    A few weeks ago, I got the notice that my application was approved and today my certificate arrived in the mail. So The Undeniable Ruth is now The Undeniable Ruth®. It’s mine. All mine. You can’t have it. I will forever be The Undeniable Ruth®! If anyone tries to use my name or something like it on their product, I will lay the smackdown on them hard and fast.

    The best part of getting a registered trademark was that I got to post a picture of it on Facebook and share the joy with all my friends. It wouldn’t have been as meaningful if I didn’t have people to share it with, especially my fellow creatives.

    In case you missed it: Day 88 of the 90 Days of Awesome – I got to have lunch with Stripes!

  • Day 88/90 – Lunch with Stripes!

    Day 88 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I got to have lunch with Stripes!

    Stripes and Me!
    Stripes and Me!

    I met Rachel (aka Stripes) at the inaugural No Pants Light Rail Ride in 2009 and then we became friends as two of the co-founders of Improv AZ. (She got the nickname Stripes because she wore awesome striped knee-high socks at the first No Pants Ride.) We did some awesome shenanigans together like Welcoming a Stranger at the Airport, a Freeze at First Friday, and we were co-captains of part of the 2010 No Pants Light Rail Ride. Geez we had fun!

    This is a freakin' cool kid!
    This is a freakin’ cool kid!

    And then Stripes moved to the east coast, got married, and had a baby. This week, they were all back in town because Stripes and her husband Paul were invited to give talks on computer programming. (Yeah, they’re wicked smart.) We met up for lunch at Carolina’s – Paul’s first time to this Mexican food Mecca with the best tortillas in Phoenix. I suspect they don’t have Mexican food like this back east.

    It was so great to catch up with Stripes and meet her husband. I loved his 3-question test he gave each of his dates when he was still single:

    1. What’s the square root of 144?
    2. True or false: There is right way to put on the toilet paper roll.
    3. What do you do?

    He and Stripes seem to be a good fit for each other. And they have the most adorable baby. In general, I dislike children (which I need to revise that to children over 6 months old) but this little guy was so cute and chill. I asked to hold him the moment I saw him. I love his big inquisitive brown eyes – always checking out his surroundings.

    It was so great to see Stripes! It’s too bad my next trip back east won’t afford me enough time to visit them on their turf.

    In case you missed it: Day 87 of the 90 Days of Awesome – Processing my grief and anger.

  • Day 87/90 – Processing Grief and Anger

    Day 87 of the 90 Days of Awesome was not awesome. My day started out with sadness and anger as I woke to the story of two news reporters being killed on live TV. Their deaths were so sad and senseless. My heart goes out of their loved ones who will never get those images out of their heads. These senseless acts of violence make me so angry I wanted to go out in the alley behind my office and scream, but I didn’t want to scare my officemates.

    Six flower pots filled with possibilities - soon to be filled with dirt.
    Six flower pots filled with possibilities – soon to be filled with dirt.

    It’s been a bit of a rough week for me physically – poor sleep, sweating again, chest pain. Sadness + anxiety perhaps? (When in doubt, Occam’s Razor.) I was glad to finish my client work by early afternoon. I told my receptionist, “I’m going on a mission” and left for the day.

    What I called a mission was really a trip to the nursery to get pots for my patio garden. I picked up 6 pots and saucers and some seeds. I placed the pots and watched how the sun hits the patio over the course of the afternoon – adjusting their locations for maximum sunlight. I hope to get quality potting soil this weekend so I can start the growing process.

    Working on this simple project seemed to calm me down, give me something tangible to do, and engaged the curiosity center of my brain. Perhaps this gardening project will continue to be good for me.

    In case you missed it: Day 86 of the 90 Days of Awesome – Celebrating a friend’s sobriety anniversary.