What a Journey

Honestly, who doesn't love the band Journey? "Any Way You Want It," "Separate Ways," and "Lights" are all huge classics, but my (along with Tony Soprano's) absolute favorite is "Don't Stop Believin'," hands down. The reason this song amazes me so much in particular is because the song's true, and somewhat cheesy, lines are allowed for in pop culture because its backed up by power vocals and electric guitars. Not to mention, the song has been at the top of everyone's playlist since before there were playlists. Everyone loves this song; our parents, the MTV generation, even frat guys get down to it. 

Interestingly enough,the song's lyrics have recently proven themselves once again...this time thanks to YouTube and Arnel Pineda, the newly appointed lead singer of the band. His story is phenomenal -- a true testament to the power of the internet and its ability to change people's lives for the better. This story is inspirational and just plain crazy in so many ways. Oh, and Arnel's message to the troubled youth of America? Don't stop believin'...

Don't care about what your readers think; care about what YOU think...

This post is dedicated to John Austin Porter...

Okay so I'm slowly but surely getting over my fear of blogging. Of course this won't come over night, but it will come. Eventually. I have faith in that.

Instead of coming up with something terribly witty, satirical, ironic, informational, humorous, or the like, I decided I'm just going to do what the quintessentially "normal" bloggers do - write about whatever the heck I want to write about. So here goes...

PIGS IN A BLANKET:
I love pigs in a blanket. Will and I talked about this today on the way to the Domain (yes to get designer jeans for men so what?) and it was awesome. Pigs in a blanket are wonderful and extremely underrated! For some reason, kolaches have taken over the sausage-and-carb market, and while they are perfect breakfast mini-meals, pigs in a blanket are more applicable to "those moments" in life; i.e. graduation parties, cocktail parties, lunch, dinner, late night snacks...basically any time you are surrounded by people and having a great time. Kolaches are only ready to be eaten for breakfast, afternoon snacks, and that's about it. Therefore, pigs in a blanket win.

CINCO DE MAYO:
This evening at a local Austin Mexican restaurant, a 30-something-year-old man approached me at the bar and here's what went down...
30-something: "Wow I really like your dress."
Me (wearing a teal mumu): "Oh thanks; yeah it's really comfortable..." (at this point I am thinking oh gosh this guy is trying to hit to me and doing a poor job of it)
30-something: "Yeah women don't really wear dresses like that anymore...it reminds me of my mom when I was growing up - she'd wear one all the time"
Me: "Umm thanks...bye"

Our insane conversation....

#1 The last name status...

Many people don't realize the importance of the last name factor. The people at the beginning of the alphabet have spent years at the front of lines and graduating first. When I was in first grade we had a student of the week. The first time my teacher Mr. Varian assigned weeks alphabetically by first name. Life was good, and my future placement in lines looked good as well. Then January of first grade everything changed...for the second semester, student of the week was decided alphabetically by last name. I still remember my heart dropping as I realized I would not be student of the week until April. For a 1st grader, three months is a long time and S is no where near C in terms of alpha order.

With marriage people have the option to move up in the world. Although it is more common for women, people can take their spouse's last name. The hyphen last name is another great alternative. Women don't settle for falling back in the alphabet, do what you can to preserve your territory!

Before I leave I just want to thank Facebook for being one of the few mediums that sticks to alphabetical order by first names. When I sign on Facebook chat I get that 1st grade rush of being at the front of the line. So Facebook, thank you for giving all of us another chance!

Hello from West Palm Beach

Right now, Caitlin and I are enjoying our time in Florida. Caitlin's grandparents have a house in West Palm Beach, and we have the privilege of staying here for five nights! Over the past two days we have turned into pure beach bums, laying on the beach all day and sleeping ten hours every night. Last night we went on the Palm Beach Princess, a local gambling cruise. As a result of some big losses we do not planning on visiting Vegas anytime soon, but our friend Allie did quite well.

Trying to tie our blog back to technology and branded utility, our friend Jordan learned the art of the mobile upload last night. As we have all sat back and watched google and facebook become verbs, I have a feeling that "mobile up load it" might be the newest edition to the dictionary. It has already consumed the culture of our vaction.

Until next time...

We are Joe DiMaggio

Today I met Cecelia in the patio of Joe DiMaggio's Restaurant at the Domain. As usual, she had been investigating the scenery and doing her own personal research, in this case learning about Joe DiMaggio by reading his bio that was conveniently placed inside the menu. She had come to find that there were many facts about Mr. DiMaggio that sounded a little too familiar to our lives, and she actually went so far as to claim "We are Joe DiMaggio!"

And so, I am starting a list of reasons that prove this statement. If you are aware of any conflicting evidence, please submit your findings in a strongly supported argument, either through e-mail or blog commentary, that proves we are in fact NOT Joe DiMaggio. Until we find enough hard evidence, we stand to accept the claim as true.

Fact #1: Joe DiMaggio has Sicilian ancestors. I, too, have Sicilian ancestors.
Fact #2: Joe DiMaggio enjoyed his time in the North Beach Area of California. Cecelia and I also enjoyed our time in that same area.
Fact #3: Joe DiMaggio, Cecelia, and I all care about the children and want to make sure they have a nice playground or beach to go to:

Fact #4: Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.
For tonight, I rest my case.

But on this blog there are two firsts

"We've got a first timer over here" This would by my first blog post, and now I feel as though I have been truly ordained into the advertising world. Not only can I use buzz words, and trend watch, but now I blog. It may sound like I am mocking the business, but the reality is I do truly enjoy those things.

As we contintue posting you will recognize that Caitlin is an extremely articulate writer. She is currently working on a 60 page thesis regarding e-commerce. I am very impressed with all of the reasearch and writing she is doing, and you should contact her if you have any interest in the subject.

So as an introduction post I am going to wrap up. In the mean time, I am currently working on a project that takes a look at the shift in the agency model. My goal is to open the lines of communication between educational institutions and agencies on this subject. If you have any interest in meeting with me on this subject, I would love to hear what you have to say. Please just shoot me an email.

My new interviewing strategy...