According to Merriam-Webster, “authentic” saw a substantial increase in 2023, driven by stories and conversations about AI, celebrity culture, identity, and social media.
Anybody out there having a problem telling the difference between what professional media and certain social media put out?
We know you love looking at all the events in MBJ’s photo gallery on the www.mbjguam site, but we don’t doctor the photos.
Those are the real deal — authentic businesspeople horsing around.
We probably feature hundreds of islands VIPs and senior executives authentically pretending they’re happy to be throwing sand in the air at a groundbreaking — and caught doing it for posterity.
Not to mention the problem of trying to master the art of wielding an authentic shovel at the same time as a dozen other people.
Since the end of the year is fast approaching, calendars and planners are beginning to appear.
The U.S. Transport Security Administration has released its annual canine calendar, which is free to download and features “photos and fun facts about each of this year’s 15 canine winners, who were selected from dozens of entries submitted by TSA canine teams from across the country.”
The TSA 2024 calendar features the 2023 Cutest Canine Contest winner on its cover. You should check her out. You can find the link at www.tsa.gov.
There’s nothing cute about the way that dog is eyeing the camera.
That’s an authentic, “Why are they making me do this 100 times” look.
You have to wait for June before you find a genuinely happy looking dog.
In 2021 when the U.K opened post-COVID, the Maratita’s went to England.
We left in November. It was wonderful to see everybody, but our apartment in England took three days to warm up, it got dark at 4 p.m. and it was cold enough that there was ice on the car in the morning.
We usually visit in the summer, and rarely use the garage. I am pretty sure we had an ice scraper, but where it is now, I can’t tell you.
We arrived back before Christmas, and I was so glad to be back in Guam.
When a friendly TSA officer smiled at me and said, “Welcome home Mrs. Maratita,” I could have hugged him. No TSA officer has ever said that to me before, but I know the greeting was authentic.
If TSA could find 12 smiling officers to put on a calendar, I just might download it.
The MBJ Event Calendar is beginning to fill up for 2024. If you would like your event featured, or simply avoid a date that already has a listing, just let us know.
In the meantime, wherever and wherever you are reading our news, I can assure you it was written by real journalists.
Thank you for all the support in 2023, especially when typhoons and storms made life difficult. Enjoy the holidays, and here’s to 2024 being a great year. mbj
— Maureen N. Maratita is the publisher at Glimpses Media. Publications at Glimpses Media include the Marianas Business Journal, MBJ Life, The Real Estate Journal, Guam Business Magazine, Beach Road Magazine, Buenas and Drive Guam.