Tuesday, October 27, 2009

If I Had A Horn, I'd Toot It. I Do Have A Blog Though.

I have a friend named Mike Goldenberg; Mike, Gold, Goldy, Solid Gold. He goes by all of those monikers. He used to be my boss fifteen years ago when we worked together at an upscale resort hotel. We became friends, in and out of work. Strictly platonic. Over the years we've kept in touch through emails and phone calls and every year we make sure to make the one special birthday call; neither of us has ever forgotten. He lives in Cincinnatti now and one of his recent emails asked a favor of me.

He has a friend whose fifth grader was having a contest in their classroom. The contest was to see who could get the most postcards from various states, with extra credit for foreign countries. Mike asked me, since I travel so much, if I would help.

My answer? Absofuckinglutely!! I mean, not only is this something I LIKE to do (it's not like he asked me to
go to a football game) but I was pretty sure I could help the kid win, so I was ALL for it. Because I kinda like to win. This was a bit surprising to me, because I didn't think I was competitive but clearly, I was wrong. And maybe I just really wanted to help a fifth grader kick other little punk fifth grader ass!

My first run right after he asked me was from California to Virginia...think of all the states! I got a postcard from every one of them. Then, North Carolina to Illinois, Indiana to Maine, Massachusetts to Florida. Boy, I was having a field day with this little project! I enlisted my friends from Italy, London and Canada to help out too. The contest ends mid-November, so I felt pretty confident we'd be able to get in quite a few cards by then.

So, when I told my friend Mike that I was on it and explained where I was at with the post card acquisition, he sent me the following email. This is where the horn tooting comes in.

Salena,

You have exceeded my expectations……..you are very well connected and it appears to be intercontinental. You are so creative and I believe you have more creativity in your pinky than I have in my entire body. It truly is an honor to be friends with you!

If I were to write a letter of recommendation about you it would go something like this…

“Please seriously consider Salena Lettera for the position which she is applying. I can truly say that you rarely meet someone with the creative spirit and communication skills that she possesses.

Define heart and passion… look no further, Salena is the epitome of these as well. It’s probably been 15 years since I have seen Salena but just take a minute to read something she has written and you will feel an immediate connection.

Final thought, a job description usually defines skills which can be taught but to pass on someone because they don’t always look like the perfect match may be a mistake. To pre-determine the real value in a person is difficult until you see their work ethic and how they interact with others. Salena has that ability and is very passionate about what she does and how she does it.”

Or I could simply have written… “ Please seriously consider Salena Lettera for the position which she is applying. To pass on her may be the greatest hiring mistake ever made.”

Anyway, I am trying to compliment you to no end…………you need to know how much I appreciate your friendship.

PS….I took a picture of my son’s foot and this thought popped into my head as I was looking at the picture. “A foot is not only 12 inches but the foundation for which we stand.” Your pictures have a special meaning for each person that see them and sometimes no words are necessary.

Mike

Now if only I were applying for a job! Which, if I do in the future, I am totally cutting and pasting this onto fancy paper and using it as my official recommendation letter. But, since I don't really have anyone to share it with except for Ed (and he already knows how awesome I am) I thought I'd post it here.

You all (especially some of my new readers who don't know me yet) might think this is pretentious, which it certainly appears to be, but if you know me at all, you'd know I'm not really like that. The real and true reason I am posting this is because of the way it made me feel. It just felt SOOOO good to read this. It made my heart all happy and put a smile on my face (even if I did look a bit crazy smiling to myself). It was nice. It was gushing. It was totally excessive. And I LOVED it. Everyone should have a moment or two like this and I really hope all of you do! But if that moment hasn't come yet, I'm sure it will.

And if you have had a moment like this, please tell me all about it. Because I think a symphony of horns would sound so much better than just one, annoyingly loud one.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1 YEAR AGO:
We Are THAT Good
2 YEARS AGO:
Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures
3 YEARS AGO:
Alabama’s Greatest Showplace
4 YEARS AGO:
Half Nekkid Thursday Virgin

4 comments:

all things bradbury said...

there's an old sayin, that it ain't braggin, if you can prove it.....well, your writing and your pictures prove it.....enjoy the praise and feel warm that so many people see the talent in you!

Douglas Halfpenny said...

I wholeheartedly agree!!

It always surprises me , Salena, how often you just make my day.

Sometimes it's a picture, as I wrote before I'm a sucker for a sunset;

sometimes it's your eloquence;

sometimes your lack thereof ...

Anyway thanks for letting me visit ... again.

Kindest regards and you deserve the praise,

Doug Halfpenny

G said...

it's alright to let the world know something amazing about you...

coz you're amazing :D

Heather J. @ TLC Book Tours said...

wow, what a wonderful list of compliments ... you GO girl! *toots horn*