Lisa Napoli's Blog, page 63

Mysterious Galaxy

With the divine Terry Gilman of Mysterious Galaxy bookshop at the Redondo Beach Public Library…where I actually managed to show some photos of Bhutan (and we sold some books, too!)

Come to Vieques, Puerto Rico?

Serious inquiries only:

Who wants to come live in a rustic hillside off-the-grid cabin in Vieques PR with me during the month of August? Two steps above camping: it's not cushy, there's no fridge, and it's hurricane season. But Vieques is a dynamite place. Kind of like the Bhutan of the Caribbean.

The Thank You Economy

This morning before the Drucker Business Forum at the beautiful KPCC in Pasadena began, I took a few minutes to write out some thank you notes I've not had a chance to finish. Lately, there have been a lot of people to thank. Then I went inside to hear Gary Vaynerchuck, whose new book is called the Thank You Economy. Gary's one of those self-satisfied Internet guys who (before every one on the planet collectively got dot com fever) took the family wine business and built it into a empire (I used to interview guys like this all the time during the start-up days of the Web; instead of realizing that everyone's timing was lucky many of these types seem to believe they're visionaries. When really what they did was simply be wise enough to seize the tools before others did.

Anyway, Gary's schtick now is talking about the value of saying thank you and getting to know your customers by using social media tools to clue you into their likes and dislikes. (Hopefully, your mother taught you the value of this and it stuck.) And he mocked what he said is some new trend in writing thank you notes. (I didn't really understand what's wrong with that; too quaint?)

He wisely points out not to be "tactical" in your thanks; ie don't give an earthquake relief donation because it's good for business, give it because it's right. (Although your mother should have taught you value of authenticity, too.)

What does it say that people are so eager to hear this message (or to hear Gary) that the the book just rose to #2 on the Times Business Bestseller list? Perhaps the same thing it means that I took time here telling you about it, even though I found him mildly annoying?

Secret agent of kindness

I just signed up to be a Secret agent of kindness (guess it's not so secret if I'm telling you.) You can, too. Although you don't really have to join a formalized movement–you can just be nice to people for no apparent reason or gain; try giving money or food to someone who needs it , or a random favor, and see how good it feels. (Thanks to reader Corazon for the tip!)

If you happen to be in El Paso, TX/Xoitchl R, live:

It all began at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 2008, which was, fortuitously, about Bhutan and Texas….(You know why that's fortuitous if you read Radio Shangri-La.)

At the festival, Ms. XR (pictured below, although she's far more beautiful in her original state) was working on behalf of her alma mater, UTEP, which happens to look a lot like the Kingdom (in its own unique way).

There, in our nation's capital, she collided with the Bhutanese delegation to the festival, and the rest is….divine history, a book I hope she writes some day.

But in the meantime, she's turned her resulting experiences after a year-plus teaching art in Bhutan into a piece of artwork:

Bhutan/Japan

Japan has been a good friend to Bhutan; trash collection trucks, the television station BBS, and the Kilu music school are just some of the infrastructure that's benefitted from the largesse of Japan.

Bestseller in Denver

My Colorado spies say that Radio Shangri-La made it to #4 on the Denver Post's bestseller list this week—but the latest list isn't online just yet so I have to believe their reading comprehension isn't skewed by their affection. Ahh, dead tree media!

Florida/Shangri-La

Going to be appearing at the Broward Library Foundation's Lit Live! at Nova U. this weekend, where the star author on the roster is….Lisa Birnbach who wrote the Preppy Handbook (remember that?) and now has a followup. Lots of other writers from various genres, too.

Here's the complete schedule:

http://www.bplfoundation.org/literaryfeast.htm

Come on by or tell your south Florida peeps to stop in. It's free.

So is this: I'm also speaking at Books and Books in Coral Gables next Monday at 630pm. They kindly wedged me into their chock-full calendar of events:

http://www.booksandbooks.com/event/2011/03/28/day

Bhutanese stamps

Anyone out there a stamp collector? If so you already knew about Bhutan long before it became a trendy expensive tourist destination—before it was even open to tourists, in fact!

Here's a this week about the early pre-mail stamp days in Bhutan….doesn't include the really deep data about how Bhutan got into the stamp game to begin with. If you're interested, read this obituary. Or better yet, this from the Philatelic Database. Hint: It's all because of a man named Burt Todd who went to Oxford decades ago and met a fellow classmate who became the queen of Bhutan…

Growing Thimphu

This story from Business Bhutan about the capital city getting its first multi-level parking garage coincides with about Thimphu's explosive population growth and the attendant challenges. Read closely and you'll see the suggestion that taller buildings (with escalators or elevators?) may be in the city's future….