Life on Avenue Z

When great isn’t good enough

Last Sunday I was sitting in the steam room of an upscale spa that sits steps from the water in Pacific Beach. I arrived a couple of hours before my appointment for a Vanilla Latte Pedicure so I could take some time to clear my mind. I decided the day was ...

The Truth Behind the Logo: Second Guessing Extravaganza!

It's been quite some time since I was neurotic about my business here in public. In fact, things have been going along swimmingly, and I've been happy and busy. But I frequently still feel like a fledgling business owner who gets in over her head. I had this fantastic idea (and ...

Help Avenue Z Find a New Look!

Now that I've moved into a new office building, I want to rework my business cards and dump the logo design I created at 3 a.m. two days after I quit my day job. Please help me find the look that best represents what Avenue Z has become... Vote on the four ...

Today is Rock Star Day

It's 7:30 a.m. on a Friday morning, and in a few hours I'll be speaking to the Napa Valley Chamber of Commerce. They booked me to speak on Free and Low-Cost Tools Small Businesses Can't Live Without, based on the cool free tools I collect for The Cheapskate Freelancer. Man but ...

I’m much obliged…

About 2 years ago, I attended a workshop on how to write electronic newsletters. I exchanged cards with a guy I'll call Paul because I can't really remember his name. We actually corresponded a couple of times in the first month after we met, but I really don't know Paul. I ...

You had me at the 150th hello

The other day I found myself at free credit report dot com, jingle running through my head, hoping I could save my credit from the fate of the poor guy on TV who can't buy a cool car, has to work at a Renaissance Fair to pay off debts he ...

How’s Mom?

One year ago this week I had just finished running the America's Finest City Half Marathon and had completed several days at a major conference. I was full of confidence and ideas and enthusiasm and ambition. I felt like I couldn't be stopped... the world was so big, the possibilities ...

Top 5 Reasons You’re No Longer Reading My Blog

Life on Avenue Z, like Avenue Z Writing Solutions, is now 2 years old. In the first heady days of my writing career, I wrote at least 5 days a week, and I was building quite a following: perhaps 250 a day were stopping by to share "The Trials and ...

You lost me at “hello”

With three bags of groceries in hand, I exited my grocery store a couple of days ago. A handsome young man stepped into my path. "Hi, do you want to save the environment today?" Grrr! This was a guy from Greenpeace, I think, and they wanted me to sign something, donate ...

No one notices one less drop in the bucket

I rocked the Seattle Marathon. I ran 26.2 miles in 5 hours, 2 minutes and 5 seconds -- faster than I had ever run that distance in my life. I've heard only one percent of one percent of the world's population will ever run a marathon, and now I've run ...