Movie I Want To See: Lemonade

Thanks, Nomes, for sharing this with me. I think had heard something about it, but now this trailer makes me want to see it.



When Shane lost his job, my friend, Mark (who is a veteran copywriter), told me that we should both get used to times of unemployment, that especially in the ad world, it is fairly common, not a big deal, not a reflection of a person's work, and that you eventually learn to enjoy those lulls as pseudo-vacations while you find the next job.

The very prospect terrifies me. I can't imagine being let go/fired/downsized.

I have been fired exactly once, from a job that I hated, resented, had no passion for, and dragged myself to everyday. I would put on a plastic smile, robotically do my work, and think about how I could be doing something that was really challenging. I was a waiter in a caviar restaurant. I generally had two tables a night of the most annoying patrons in Beverly Hills. Even so, being fired from that job was incredibly humiliating and shocking. It was difficult not to see it as a reflection of my personal worth and work. Ironically, it happened on the exact night I was planning on quitting anyway.

I am so glad I have found planning, and I am knocking wood that anytime I have to leave an agency, it is to find a more amazing opportunity somewhere else.

French Safe Sex Commercial

This is perhaps the weirdest ad I have ever seen. But I love it. In all of its weirdness, it is brill. Thank you, Loganatron!

Why Does Orrin Hatch Get to Decide My Life in California?

Okay, so this solution presented by GOOD magazine is a little far-fetched in terms of real possible solution, but the fact is, like California's state government, our national legislative branch is pretty messed up.

Our government has pretty much been set up so that it is impossible to get anything done. True, this was initially created out of a fear of tyranny and corruption but let's face it, people get creative and have found ways to bring both into our government.

Our legislative set-up was intentionally designed to make change happen at a glacially slow pace. There is prudence in this. It ensures that legislation is carefully scrutinized before it is passed, however, it is a system that does not work for a nation in the 21st Century that deals with crises far more pressing and fast-developing than our agrarian forefathers had to contend with.

What's even worse, is our current system has developed to such a state, that anyone with a gripe can bring a piece of legislation to a grinding halt. Anyone. From any small state, from any obscure interest group. Part of it is the gross disparities in representation in the Senate, but another huge problem is the strong voice of corporate interest groups and lobbyists in the legislative process.

America is unquestionably in dire straits. Our current legislative process is ill-equipped to respond to the problems that threaten our economy, security, ecology, and standard of living.

I believe in the power of human ingenuity in a crisis, but I wonder if our present system is just too slow to be able to innovate itself into something that will work. I am curious to see if there is a solution, what form it will actually take, because one thing is for sure--the current system isn't working.

This Is Our Trip To Peru! Really?

Enough of this marketing mumbo jumbo. Who cares?

I just had an incredible international adventure with my partner-in-crime, Shane.

For those of you who don’t know, last July, to celebrate my birthday, my wonderful boyfriend booked us a flight to Peru for the holidays. Little did we know then that in December we would have to prepare to move back to San Francisco. So we packed up all of our stuff, I said a tough “adios” to 180, and we boarded a late night plane to Lima, Peru.

I am just going to give you a brief run-down of the trip. I will upload all of the pics to Flickr soon with a full color commentary on all of the interesting sights and experiences.

Best Food:
1) Ceviche—caught fresh every morning in Porto Callao. Fresh, spicy, and citrusy

2) Alpaca in Andean sauce—Tastes like lamb

3) Anticucho de Corazon—Yup. Cow heart. Not as chewy as I would have thought.

Best Restaurant:
Fallen Angel—Spectacular art collection, the coolest décor, San Francisco-worthy gourmet food, and hot waiters. A unique experience

Best Sites:
1) Machu Pichu—Duh. It’s why we made the trip. A majestic hike through the clouds. The terrain itself is even more spectacular than the ruins. See these ruins with a guide and you’ll get the gist of all of the ruins and history in Peru. High elevation+Lots of hiking=literal breath-taking views



2) Lake Titicaca—Puno (the starting point) is not great, but the lake itself is beautiful and immense. The artificial Floating Islands were a trip, as were the unique locals that have solar-powered electricity, but still get by fishing and making reed handicrafts. Our favorite was Taquile Island, whose views never disappointed.




3) El Parque de Amor—On the cliffs of Miraflores overlooking the Pacific, two blocks from our Lima hostel, this park is dedicated to meandering trails, poetry, sculpture, and most of all love. To that point, the park was rife with strolling and embracing lovers. It was beautiful and great to see a civic project dedicated to a specific idea/theme.


Worst of Peru:
1) Constant haggling—at some point getting snowed for being a tourist gets old and you just want a straight-up, no hassle price.
2) Not being able to drink the water—all of those fresh-made fruit juices kept calling to us, but we didn’t dare derail our trip for a day of diarrhea.
3) Pretending we were straight—sometime the jig was up and some people figured it out, but I still didn’t like being in a place where I couldn’t hold my partner’s hand or give him a kiss on the cheek because WE were having a special moment in Love Park. The hilarious thing is, Peruvians aren’t even that Catholic.

Sony Make.Believe

It has already launched in Europe, I saw Sony Make.Believe signs in the Panama City airport last week, but, at last, this new campaign for Sony has finally reached the U.S. and I am proud/thrilled to see it here.

While I was not part of the concepting of make.believe, during my time at 180 LA, I was thoroughly indoctrinated in the campaign, even working on some projects that will branch out of the philosophy of make.believe.

I don't think people realize what a big deal it really is for Sony--a brand which straddles so many different fields: music, entertainment, electronics, gaming, and computers--to have a unifying message/ideology of being a brand of imagination and realization. Drawing on the early history of its dichotomous founders (as I believe many brands should look at their birth for a sense of identity), Sony is striving to position itself as a brand that is not only visionary and imaginative internally, but that allows people to realize their own visions through Sony products.

Having worked with some of the marketing and R&D people at Sony, I can see that this new philosophy has already inspired and excited some of the people at Sony and motivated them to change the way they approach product design. I hope this philosophy becomes truly infectious at Sony and I am eager to see what comes out of Sony (and 180) in the next few years.

I was little miffed to see that no planners were credited in this long list of credits in an article by Media Post's Agency Spy. Ah well. Planning is fun enough with accolades.