"A lotta cats copy the Mona Lisa, but people still line up to see the original." Louis Armstrong

"A good composer does not imitate; he steals." Igor Stravinsky

"I have devoted my life to poeting and paintry." Kurt Schwitters

Today's image: Spruced Up by thorinside. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

Tom Asacker makes an excellent point via his comment on yesterday's post...

"Writing is closer to thinking than speaking." I love that insight. Thinking is conscious and considered. However, pay attention to peoples' speaking - especially to each other - if you're interested in gaining marketplace insights. :)

Thanks Tom! Tom's blog, highly recommended, here. Check out Tom's latest book, A Clear Eye for Branding, Amazon info, a must-read and a wonderful gift for the leaders on your list.

The latest Arbitron PPM chatter: Discounting the testosterone-laden bravado of recent weeks (and with kudos and cheers to Steve Goldstein for rebooting the discussion), I invite your attention to some writing that actually matters. Fred Jacobs and Kurt Hanson have each written thoughtful pieces to advance the conversation. Read Fred here and here. Read Kurt here
and here (page down, no pl available). Closed circuit to Arbitron: Keep the transparency dialed up to eleven.