Some Girls Like Super Heroes And Some Boys Like Dolls
This video is amazing and this girl is a genius.. for a 4 yr old?!http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&videoId=bestoftv/2011/12/26/erin-riley-girls-viral-rant.cnn
Insight Into Whether or Not Men & Women Can Be "Just Friends"
What do you think?[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_lh5fR4DMA&w=420&h=315]
The Great Brooklyn Neighborhood Tour
Since moving back to the East Coast in March, I have had the privilege of living in three different apartments, three distinct neighborhoods and with a total of six people, all within Brooklyn. I lived with people from all different backgrounds and ages, from a 20 year old college student about to enter her senior year of college and become legally allowed to drink, to a 39 year old Harvard educated, former doctor about to hit a very different milestone.
I experienced, witnessed and lived through countless events on a historial and personal level. During the hurricane that wasn't, also my last weekend in Prospect Heights, I was awoken by the falling of a huge tree right outside my window, a tree, that I later found out, had been in front of the building for over forty years.
A week later, settled into my new neighborhood of Crown Heights, only a ten minute walk but a world of difference, I came home one night to a swarm of policemen and roped off sidewalks. There had been a major shooting 6 blocks from my apartment and two people had been killed, including an innocent bystander. This shocked the neighborhood, an eclectic mix of West Indians, Orthodox Jews, white, creative professions and hipsters. I've only been in "my" Park Slope apartment for nearly a month and with a new freelance gig, my reality has changed dramatically. It seems that with each apartment, there is the possibility of a new beginning and I am making the most out of every moment.
My first apartment in Prospect Heights was a world of first's; first time being outnumbered by male roommates, living in Brooklyn and living in an up and coming neighborhood. My neighborhood was more racially diverse than the East Village but less diverse than my home town. The local ice cream shop, Blue Marble, catered to hipster parents with young children, eagerly lining up for all natural ice cream and young professionals, like me, excited that my fair-trade iced coffee came in a compostable cup.
My apartment building was a mix of young, white professionals and African Americans of all ages, some with kids and some who had been in the building their entire life.The neighborhood itself consisted mostly of brownstones, nearly as beautiful as Park Slope but not as crowded or as developed. Vanderbilt was lined with only a handful of restaurants and Washington had various hidden enclaves like Sit & Wonder, among local corner delis and laundromats.
My next Brooklyn apartment in Crown Heights coincided with one of the most difficult experiences in my life financially and emotionally. The cliff notes are that my cat nearly died and some other stuff happened that I'd prefer not to write about. I don't have many fond memories of my dark apartment, with a window that overlooked a garbage filled courtyard, but I'm happy to have discovered Franklin Avenue and all
the lovely restaurants. Most importantly, I'm still trying to cope with not having Chavela's corn on the cob once a week. And I'm still kicking myself for having only discovered,a week before leaving, that Abigail Cafe, with their mellow atmosphere and healthy menu is the absolute perfect work spot. I usually went to Glass Shop on Classon which was a great coffee shop but you can only drink coffee so much before you need a real meal.
Finally, we come to ParkSlope.Call me simple, but I am easily influenced by amazing food and like Crown Heights, there are culinary delights to be found. I had my mind expanded and blown away the other day with a breakfast dish from Juventino, two poached eggs over wilted greens (swiss chard perhaps?!), brioche with garlic infused chicken broth poured over the dish - a perfect cold day, fall or winter treat.
And now instead of "hipster cafes" with freelancers on laptops, I'm a block away from Café Martin, acoffee shop with enough French staff to allow me to pretend I've just stepped into Paris. Now, instead of being surrounded by "hipsters," I'm surrounded by parents with their children who have won the clothing battle. Once again, a am faced with an entirely new beginning and a neighborhood full of new discoveries. What's your favorite neighborhood in Brooklyn?
What English Sounds Like to Foreigners
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt4Dfa4fOEY&w=560&h=315]
Occupy Wall Street - A Turning Point
It's hard to write about Occupy Wall Street and say what has not already been said but I'll share my thoughts. If you live near New York City, you should visit the movement because it's unique experience that can't be fully taken in through pictures. I absolutely support the movement. These people are sacrificing their time, comfort and daily lives to stand up to a system that is not working. And when I say system, I believe it's not the absolute fault of Wall Street, but an entire American system that includes people spending beyond their means, a culture that values having more stuff, government regulation or lack of, politics, unions, our health care ... the list goes on.Their two weeks of occupation is gaining more traction than countless opinion articles in the New York Times and they're doing more than most of us who are merely complaining to our friends and family about our anger against Wall Street. Occupy Wall Street looks like a scene from an apocalyptical movie where people from all walks of life come together to fight for a cause. You have the Jesus lovers, hippies, homeless, yuppies, students, blue collar workers, old, young, musicians, super heros, yogis, and then you have all the people coming to observe this cast of characters, capturing moments with their iPhones, iPads, point and shoot video cameras, fancy cameras, analogue cameras, or pens and notebooks. There are people who choose to protest with their voice in song, use their wit in clever signs, their t-shirt design skills, their sub-conscious in meditation, or their hands letting their instruments speak. And their are the cops who stand around doing their job and watching the movement with amusement.
But a picture tells a thousand words.
Photographic Journey Through Brooklyn
I recently moved from Prospect Heights to Crown Heights, only a few blocks away but a world of differences. I'm really enjoying exploring my new neighborhood from the discount stores, to the cheap but good Mexican restaurants, to the signs of gentrification, i.e. chill coffee shop with great internet, and even better $4 coffee that's totally worth it. Instead of the quiet, tree lined streets of Prospect Heights with young, blonde, children watched by their black nanny's, I pass by young, black mothers, white or multi-ethnic young, creative-types, and blinged out, tattooed, muscular black guys standing next to their BMW's. Around the corner from me is my new favorite bar, Franklin Park, where I danced my ass off, even going as far as showing off my hip hop moves in a dance circle and keeping up with a 6ft4 dude rocking an 80's hip hop look. On the next block over is potentially my new favorite coffee shop, called The Breukelen Coffee House with ample benches, an outdoor space and chill R&B music cutting the library silence. Across from the coffee shop is a Rastafarian owned vegan cafe serving healthier versions of Jamaican patties and $5 green juices. And later in the next few days, I'll post pictures of the West Indian Day Parade, an all day event that was complete mayhem, enough sensory overload to make one want to stare at a blank wall for hours to clear one's head.
The Nature of Greed
We all strive for the American dream. In America, it is understood that one of our basic rights is to freely achieve success and reap the rewards of our labor. We often focus on the actual labor, education, and drive that led to, for instance, a banker's success. But along the way, this banker received government assistance or was directly effected by those who did. Perhaps the grandparent that inspired him and challenged him was on medicare. Or maybe the teachers of his public grade school were all happy members of the middle class, actually able to live a decent lifestyle that enabled them to be great teachers.At what point did we, as Americans decide that it's every man for themselves? Let's be honest, there is no proof that the trickle down theory actually works. Actually, it's fairly evident that it doesn't work given the current state of our economy. Lately I've felt so helpless and angry about the current state of our government that I contacted a friend who works in politics, asking him what to do. But unfortunately, even he was at a loss as to what the average American citizen could do. He told me that
The biggest issues of our time are the wealth gaps in the U.S. (the distance in wealth between the top 1% and the bottom, or even the middle 50% of income earners) and the explosive costs of health care, college, retirement and child care. While all of these things have gone up exponentially, middle class incomes have essentially been stagnant since 1978. The only way to deal with this is through taxation and re-distribution of some of the wealthiest American's money to provide services for the middle class, let alone the poor. Unfortunately, our elected leaders of both Parties appear unwilling to come together to work on these issues.
American corporations right now are collectively sitting on $1 trillion in liquid cash but aren't willing to spend it on hiring because of two factors: [lack of consumer demand and technology taking away jobs from humans]
In other words, the wealthy are sitting on a disproportionate, huge pile of wealth, that they are not necessarily spending in America, in ways that are NOT trickling down - while the middle class and poor are left to uncomfortably hang. Our attempts to reprimand this guy ---> and tell him to lose some weight failed. So now we need a very strong figure to swoop in and push down on the seesaw from the other end, putting the selfish bully in their place. If not, who knows what will happen? Will the guy hanging suddenly fight back with more anger and violence than the bully could have ever dreamed of? My friend pointed out that throughout history,
when wealth has stratified to the top the way it is now and unemployment has been as widespread as it currently is, there have usually been conflicts of historic proportions that have resolved it. World War II, Nazis, the fall of the Roman Empire, etc. come to mind.
So countless articles have been written about how history may repeat itself. Are we going to sit by and watch it happen? Is it already happening with the London riots? Will we head into yet another war? Or will we show that we've learned from our mistakes and have evolved beyond greed and bipartisan politics to actually care about the health of our entire nation, recognizing that we're all connected?
Only in Brooklyn?
After a week of contacting different rescue organizations and no kill animal shelters, then putting up a flier in my favorite coffee spot - Blue Marble, I finally found a foster home for the family of kittens. Brooklyn Animal Foster Network helped me capture the family (not without a few scratches and an intense bite) and will arrange for them to get their shots and spayed at a discounted price, working with the ACPCA. I met the wonderful young couple through Twitter. As I posted pictures and updates about the kittens, they realized, like me, that they couldn't not do something. So about two weeks after finding the kittens, I found myself in their living room in Brooklyn, checking up on the family while they were away at work. I get my kitten updates from the guy's Twitter feed. Happiness!
His Tweet "Fireplace repurposed #kittenpile Only in Brooklyn?
A few days prior, I attended an awesome casual Sunday dinner, that lasted till 1am. I was invited by a girl who lived in my apartment and whom I had met while feeding the kittens. By the end of the night, me, her friend, her and her boyfriend were laughing harder than I've laughed in months. I lived in Manhattan for five years and barely knew my neighbors, let alone broke bread with them - three months living in Brooklyn and I know three neighbors, have had friendly conversations with my super and already have a favorite local barista.
Last Sunday, I came back from an afternoon date to my friend's insistent text messages that I join her for a drink. She told me she made friends while drinking alone at a bar. Hey! Don't knock it. Apparently you can make new friends drinking alone. So I joined her and her ten new friends at a bar a few blocks from my apartment. We went to dinner and learned more about one another. Then dinner turned into - let's go watch a movie back at my place. So me and five others trekked to Fort Greene to one of the nicest bachelor pads I've ever seen and watched a cheesy, 80's Kurt Russell movie. While there, I discovered that one of my new friends works at a company I used to work at and dated someone I interviewed with. You can hang out in Park Slope, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill or Prospect Heights, throw an iPhone and it will hit someone who works in the advertising/ media world.
Only in Brooklyn?
Men, Cats & Human Nature
Lately every other news story has been about a high powered politician cheating on his wife. This story has become so prevalent that people are starting to question the institution of marriage, arguing that it's simply human nature for men to want more than one partner. But the effects of their behavior can be devastating.Last week, I discovered an adorable kitten who came up to me as I was taking out the garbage. She was very persistent, begging me for food. So I ran up to my apartment and got some slices of turkey I had in the fridge. But then I couldn't find her. I asked a woman who was passing if she saw the cat and we both set out to find her. Our journey led us around the corner where we ran into a man who told us she was not a kitten, but rather, had five kittens of her own. Really puts ones problems in perspective when you meet a young cat living on the street with five mouths to feed.
Yesterday, I met the super who's yard the family of cats were living in. He told me that this was the third time this particular cat got knocked up and each time, she had a litter of 4-5 kittens. He had already taken in two and couldn't have any more cats. He was at the end of his ropes with the cat. I told him I'd take care of it. Later that night, I saw a large cat running full speed across the street, coming from the direction of the family of cats. He ran away from me, knowing what he had done and I scolded him, hoping he hadn't impregnated her once again. The animal shelter I had called earlier said it was unlikely she'd get adopted and the best they could do was spay her and release her. 
That same day, I had a chat with my new roommate who was subletting from one of my male roommates. She was stressed because her room was a mess and she had nowhere to put her clothes. She had a few cardboard boxes on the floor filled with clothing and proclaimed "He doesn't have drawers! How could you not have drawers?" Coincidentally, I have also had to make do without drawers, subletting from another guy. And I was equally as perplexed over how one could not have a set of drawers, particularly for their drawers. For men, it may be part of their animalistic nature, engrained in their very being to spread their seed. But we have evolved from mere animals. In New York, at least, we have evolved from simply surviving, to actually thriving. We're not living outside, or on the street, but in apartments where people have bedrooms, beds, desks, lamps, closets, and DRAWERS. Apparently, it takes having a woman to tell you that in order to be properly organized, you need a set of drawers. And men, you're not going to get that kind of advice from simply - "spreading your seed."
Saturday Night Live
Yesterday, I ventured into Queens for the first PS1 Warm Up Party in Long Island City. The 45 minute wait and $15 entry fee was worth it. Except for ex-boyfriends (thank god), I ran into people from every area of my past - a former college classmate, former MAS classmate, former coworker - you get the idea. And of course met some new, interesting people. But as is usually the case with a night out in New York City, my adventure did not end at the first stop, nor the second, or the third.Fast forward a few hours and one delicious burger later - I found myself sitting at a LIC bar with friends, talking to a very tall Kiwi and Cypriot (I had to look that one up). Naturally, the conversation very quickly evolved from "what do you do" to "where did you go to summer camp." Or something like that. To which my friend and the Cypriot discovered that they went to the same summer camp in Serbia the same year. And then all our heads exploded.
It never ceases to amaze me how everyday in New York, I experience a moment or two where people of very different backgrounds connect in the most unexpected ways.
A few beers later, I found myself waiting for the 7 train into Manhattan to take the long journey home to Brooklyn. No sooner had I sat down than 3 young, non-fratty guys, one holding a guitar, asked me "What song would you actually pay us to play?" I quickly saw an opportunity to knock off a line item from my bucket list and accepted their invitation to sing with them in Times Square. Oh, there's something I should add. The guys were taking turns holding a sign that read "I slept with Snooki last week. Please help." I knew this would be interesting.
We sat in the street, pulling up lyrics from our iPhones, surrounded by laughing, picture taking tourists as we attempted to do Katy Perry justice. One guy told me that in Chinese-American culture, when parents want to say something very important, they will say it in English. He described his mother very painstakingly, and carefully telling him in English that "He needs to go to college so he doesn't end up busking on the streets." Listen up kids, you can go to Yale and still end up busking in Times Square. These are hard times. Ten minutes in, a game of planking ensued, the tourists energetically arranging their friends' bodies into the letters NYC.
This is a story about how the internet has brought us closer together IRL.
The boundary between strangers and new friends has significantly diminished as social networks like Twitter, Facebook, FourSquare and Instagram have allowed us to peek into people's lives. Viral internet and pop culture phenomenons like planking, Snooki and the widely accepted meaning of PBR has given us a common language so that we can relate to one another. The knowledge that everyone is easily Googleable with a first name and a few key details allows us to more intimately connect with someone we've just met. We've taken the play mentality of the internet and brought it into our daily lives. Why go straight home after an already fantastic night when you can take a short detour sitting in Times Square, trying to sing, surrounded by tourists and a guy holding up a crazy sign?
Creativity Versus Ideas
On Thursday and Friday, I spent most of my time dealing with a very random, unnecessary medical issue brought on by accidentally inhaling a tiny particle of a Clif bar. As a result, I missed collectively 7 hours of work, spent $200+ on co-pays and questioned whether or not everything does, in fact, happen for a reason. In the end, I can say that I legitimately gained a new appreciation for the very act of breathing and was reminded of how much I love being alive. Okay. So it wasn't a total loss.I'd like to say that it put my ongoing problems in perspective, but of course they quickly reared their ugly head. I'll just say that a career change, recent school and various moves back and forth across the country does not help ones bank account.
That night, armed with a glass of red wine, I managed to tackle my in progress novel with gusto. Somehow, the frustration of the last two days, coupled with the fermented juices, got my creative juices flowing. How does one channel those near manic bouts of creativity without experiencing recent pain? J.K. Rowling created a masterpiece of an imaginary universe while desperately trying to support her family. It is commonlyknown that countless legendary artists and writers were alcoholics, depressed and experienced great tragedies in their lives. I just finished watching an episode of Californiacation where the writer, Hank Moody, spends most of his time avoiding writing until he seems he has hit rock bottom and the only way he can rise from his situation is by writing.
In Steven Johnson's latest book, [amazon_link id="1594487715" target="_blank" container="" container_class="" ]"Where Good Ideas Come From[/amazon_link]," Steven notes that the Age of Enlightenment began when people stopped drinking alcohol during the day, and came together in cafes to drink tea and coffee. Great progress came from the exchange of ideas between people of various backgrounds. How does the development of "good ideas" differ from the creative works produced during the Renaissance? Whether we're creating art or solving problems, great work comes when we let ideas slide through our brains, unfiltered.
As strategists, perhaps we're not the Da Vinci's, Michelango's, or Rafael's of the world, but rather, the Newton's, Franklin's and Jefferson's of the world. So find a scientist, an artist, a writer, an engineer, and maybe an architect and grab a cup of coffee.
The Earth Is Full - NY Piece On Climate Change
As I sit in the well airconditioned headquarters of Internet Week while it's a sweltering 93 degrees outside, I thought it was imperative that I re-posted this op-ed piece by Thomas Friedman, The Earth Is Full. As he writes, decades from now, will we look back on these last few years of tornados, extreme heat, floods and other natural disasters and think, "How could we have ignored these warning signs?" I certainly hope not. On Monday, I listened to a presentation by Arianna Huffington and Johnson & Johnson's VP of Corporate Affairs, Brian Perkins speak on the intersection of cause-related marketing and how it relates to brands. Both Arianna and Brian strongly agreed that it's not enough for companies to only think about the bottom line. Consumers want to look into the soul of your brand and see that your brand stands for doing good and giving back to the community. As an account strategist, I strongly believe that for profit organizations have the ability to make a great impact on world issues while still turning a profit and that consumers will want to buy from these organizations. The pendulum from mindless consumerism and "evil" corporations is shifting to a more thoughtful, sustainable future. What a great time to be in advertising!
OP-ED COLUMNIST
The Earth Is Full
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: June 7, 2011
You really do have to wonder whether a few years from now we’ll look back at the first decade of the 21st century — when food prices spiked, energy prices soared, world population surged, tornados plowed through cities, floods and droughts set records, populations were displaced and governments were threatened by the confluence of it all — and ask ourselves: What were we thinking? How did we not panic when the evidence was so obvious that we’d crossed some growth/climate/natural resource/population redlines all at once?
“The only answer can be denial,” argues Paul Gilding, the veteran Australian environmentalist-entrepreneur, who described this moment in a new book called “The Great Disruption: Why the Climate Crisis Will Bring On the End of Shopping and the Birth of a New World.” “When you are surrounded by something so big that requires you to change everything about the way you think and see the world, then denial is the natural response. But the longer we wait, the bigger the response required.”
Gilding cites the work of the Global Footprint Network, an alliance of scientists, which calculates how many “planet Earths” we need to sustain our current growth rates. G.F.N. measures how much land and water area we need to produce the resources we consume and absorb our waste, using prevailing technology. On the whole, says G.F.N., we are currently growing at a rate that is using up the Earth’s resources far faster than they can be sustainably replenished, so we are eating into the future. Right now, global growth is using about 1.5 Earths. “Having only one planet makes this a rather significant problem,” says Gilding.
This is not science fiction. This is what happens when our system of growth and the system of nature hit the wall at once. While in Yemen last year, I saw a tanker truck delivering water in the capital, Sana. Why? Because Sana could be the first big city in the world to run out of water, within a decade. That is what happens when one generation in one country lives at 150 percent of sustainable capacity.
“If you cut down more trees than you grow, you run out of trees,” writes Gilding. “If you put additional nitrogen into a water system, you change the type and quantity of life that water can support. If you thicken the Earth’s CO2 blanket, the Earth gets warmer. If you do all these and many more things at once, you change the way the whole system of planet Earth behaves, with social, economic, and life support impacts. This is not speculation; this is high school science.”
It is also current affairs. “In China’s thousands of years of civilization, the conflict between humankind and nature has never been as serious as it is today,” China’s environment minister, Zhou Shengxian, said recently. “The depletion, deterioration and exhaustion of resources and the worsening ecological environment have become bottlenecks and grave impediments to the nation’s economic and social development.” What China’s minister is telling us, says Gilding, is that “the Earth is full. We are now using so many resources and putting out so much waste into the Earth that we have reached some kind of limit, given current technologies. The economy is going to have to get smaller in terms of physical impact.”
We will not change systems, though, without a crisis. But don’t worry, we’re getting there.
We’re currently caught in two loops: One is that more population growth and more global warming together are pushing up food prices; rising food prices cause political instability in the Middle East, which leads to higher oil prices, which leads to higher food prices, which leads to more instability. At the same time, improved productivity means fewer people are needed in every factory to produce more stuff. So if we want to have more jobs, we need more factories. More factories making more stuff make more global warming, and that is where the two loops meet.
But Gilding is actually an eco-optimist. As the impact of the imminent Great Disruption hits us, he says, “our response will be proportionally dramatic, mobilizing as we do in war. We will change at a scale and speed we can barely imagine today, completely transforming our economy, including our energy and transport industries, in just a few short decades.”
We will realize, he predicts, that the consumer-driven growth model is broken and we have to move to a more happiness-driven growth model, based on people working less and owning less. “How many people,” Gilding asks, “lie on their death bed and say, ‘I wish I had worked harder or built more shareholder value,’ and how many say, ‘I wish I had gone to more ballgames, read more books to my kids, taken more walks?’ To do that, you need a growth model based on giving people more time to enjoy life, but with less stuff.”
Sounds utopian? Gilding insists he is a realist.
“We are heading for a crisis-driven choice,” he says. “We either allow collapse to overtake us or develop a new sustainable economic model. We will choose the latter. We may be slow, but we’re not stupid.”
Perfect Strangers
While packing and I don't get along, I love to travel. My adventures started a few hours before I hopped into a cab towards the airport bound for Minnesota. I sat in a cafe a block away from my new apartment. Moments after I sat down, the guy across from me struck up a conversation. He's a successful composer who's created some fairly famous music. He talked about how most New Yorkers have headphones permanently plugged into their ears. We're constantly surrounded by the sounds of the city - rarely left to hear our own thoughts.Recently, my friend came to visit me from Northern, NJ. He had taken an hour long subway ride without his headphones or even a book. "But what did you do? You mean you just sat there?" I asked him in complete disbelief. "I just listened to my own thoughts, let my mind go blank." I walked home from the cafe for one block listening to the sounds of the city and was promptly given a generous "hello" by an old man on my street.
My adventurous path had a slight hiccup. Others call it Laguardia Airport. This was one of the first times in a long while that I've flown on an airline other than Virgin America or Jet Blue. I can't tell if it's the type of passengers who were sitting next to me or the lack of personal entertainment systems - but I learned more about the lives of those sitting next to me than three year long Manhattan neighbors.
I met a banker who grew up in Norway but moved to Chicago for college. While raising his kids, he lived in Hong Kong and Florida. He joked about wanting to be independently wealthy and could no longer stand the constant travel his job required. Kind, well dressed and well spoken, he dreamed of a life beyond banking, a profession, he noted, that was now hated. It was interesting to see his perspective and even more interesting to note that he was sitting in coach.
The woman next to me was from Chicago but recently moved to Denver. She's a single mother of two college aged twin girls. Her dream was to start her own business but she was coming back from New York for a job interview. She constantly had a new question for the Norwegian who was equally as inquisitive.
I just finished reading this delightfully entertaining and inspiring book "Entre Nous: A Woman's Guide to Finding her Inner French Girl." It goes beyond superficial advice and delves into the cultural differences between the French and Americans. For instance, in France, one is not defined by their job. And one does not share their life story and private dreams to their fellow passengers during a two hour long domestic flight.
Finally, As I was waiting in O'Hare for my connecting flight to Minneapolis, I struck up a conversation with a young, friendly girl while waiting for the "charging station." She was from Texas and a recent college graduate who was on her way to Russia. She's visited a Russian orphanage as a volunteer through her church organization twice and this was her first trip going without church, to visit those children who are now her friends. Many of us cynical, non-religious New Yorkers tend to judge and fear conservative middle America or Southern church organizations. But it often seems that as we sit in a cafe, drinking our lattes and reading the New York Times about an article that's criticizing the far right, and role of the church in America, those church-goers are raising money so they can visit an orphanage in Russia and bring a smile on someone's face.
I got on my short flight towards Minneapolis sitting next to a young man who I suspected was in the army. We rolled our eyes as we listened to a two year old screaming with an unnaturally loud set of lungs but didn't talk. I thought, when we're left to our own thoughts, we dream about leaving the banking business, starting our own creative business, leaving Texas to go to Russia, leaving New York to live in Paris, or simply, realizing how similar a perfect stranger can be to ... ourselves.
"Dating" 3.0
Picture this. A new app comes out that's all the rage - at least if you're a nerd in the advertising/ tech community. We'll call this app "Color." Naturally, you try it out because you're curious. It takes you a good five minutes to realize this app can either attract stalkers, be used for dating or potentially expose you to some saucy material while you're sitting at work. A few pictures and comments later you realize you have a few admirers ... digital admirers that is. In fact, they're fighting each other for your attention and the chivalry that you've never seen in person suddenly comes out in their comments. A day later, one digital admirer outwits all the rest and you reveal a tidbit that shows your identity. Five minutes later, you get a Facebook request. As the old saying goes, curiosity usually gets the best of you - so you accept.In the weeks that follow, you have a series of back and forth Facebook messages with the intention of actually meeting in the flesh. Despite working for the same company, you haven't crossed paths. A slow response rate and abbreviated messages indicate that maybe he's not that interested. Okay.. you think. It's not like we've ever even met. You browse through a dating site wondering if you actually have time to date and spot an old message you sent to a dating profile weeks prior. It's him ... weird ... But he never responded. Hmm. A few days later there's no response to your message and you think whatever it was, it's over. But wait. He has just requested you on FourSquare.
Finally.. a moment you were completely unprepared for. It's a crazy day at work and you're running around, stressed and frazzled. And who do you run into - him of course. You can hear in his hello that he is pleasantly surprised. After one more round of Facebook messages, there's radio silence. A few weeks later, he has changed his relationship profile to "In A Relationship" which to my understanding, women have to practically withhold sex to get their boyfriends to do that or be dating for an extended period of time. So you wonder... is this what has become of "dating" in 2011? Dare I say dating 3.0? And you tell yourself that maybe next time, maybe you'll control your curiosity and not fall down the web 3.0 rabbit hole.
The Big 3-0 Is Here
Lesson 1: Trust your instincts. Jobs are like relationships; if you have a sinking feeling that things aren't working, it's probably best for you to move on out or else you might be left standing on the curb (or at Whole Foods eating sushi and a cupcake by yourself on your birthday).
Lesson 2: Leave with dignity. I can proudly say that when I was laid off, I did not shed one tear and although I was shocked, I also felt relieved.
After celebrating my birthday with a great group of friends, I dove straight into the job search the next day. I updated my resume and emailed my contacts, even people I babysat for. Knowing that I couldn't just sit by the phone, I did everything I could to refine my online presence and volunteered my time with advertising organizations.
Lesson 3: Dive head on into your job search and don't be afraid to gracefully share with friends and former colleagues that you were laid off and are looking for work.
Lesson 4: Everything you do should be done well, from side jobs like babysitting to, of course, your full time job.
Less than two weeks later, I had one of my first informational interviews with a planning director who told me to go to Miami Ad School. In fact, I was introduced to him through a babysitting client. I took his advice and spent the next few months putting together my application. At the same time, I attended every networking, advertising and tech event I could hoping that my knowledge of the NY tech scene would help me with my job search.
Lesson 5: You make your own luck.
When I told people I was going to San Francisco for school, they told me that I was lucky. Actually no, I don't think getting laid off on ones birthday, having my kitten jump out of my fifth floor window to his death, and not finding my true career path until 28 makes me lucky. But I do think that being kind, pro-active and resilient has helped in things finally turning around.
Lesson 6: You only live once and life is short so don't put off big decisions like going back to school. There's a famous tag line that sums up that sentiment up nicely.
Just do it.
At some point, the prospect of moving across the country and uprooting my life scared me. What if I didn't get into the program? What if everyone was smarter than me? Was it crazy to take out a $6K plus loan? Put all my belongings in storage? But once I got into the program and worked my ass off, I realized I should apply to every opportunity given to me. My time should be spent having my mind blown away on a nearly daily basis and I should be surrounded by people I admire and respect. And right now, I am.
Lesson 7: You never know what the next day will bring and it only takes one "yes."
When I went back to San Francisco after the holidays, I spent most of my time stressed about trying to find a job instead of enjoying my surroundings. I don't regret that and think my time was well spent, but it was quite the emotional roller coaster. I continued to keep in touch with all my contacts and then it happened, someone said "yes," and without hesitation, I packed up my things and headed back to New York.
Lesson 8: Never underestimate the importance of kindness.
I sometimes think that I'm too nice and not strategic enough in my dealings with people. I'll accept a Facebook request for fear of hurting someone's feelings or offer up job advice that I spent months trying to figure out for myself. But I realize there's without a doubt an incredible importance to being nice and honest. Unfortunately, not everyone expects it! And I'm now surrounded by very successful people who I believe share that same philosophy. I may not be able to directly help those who have helped me, but I am happy to "pay it forward" to others.
And that pretty much sums up my thoughts for now. What did you learn after turning 30?
A Visual Life: Intel
Intel has this great video series where they create mini documentaries about varies artists; photographers, musicians etc., that I found via PSFK (of course). Michael Wolff, a designer, talks about the muscles of creativity. He shows that creativity takes childlike curiosity and an appreciation of ones surroundings - noticing how colorful and beautiful things can be, to develop the muscle of imagination and creativity. He is so right. The world is such a completely fascinating, beautiful place if we just open our eyes and really look.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTfAzjBTokc&w=640&h=390]
This Just Happened - Weekend Update
I interrupt my usual subject matter to bring you a weekend update. This was kind of an awesome weekend full of crazy, unexpected funnies.Let's start backwards. On Sunday. I'm sitting at breakfast, reading The New York Times, when I see Mischief the cat going into the pantry. This doesn't surprise me at all. He's done it plenty of times. Above him is Lola on the counter. Yes, my parent's cats basically have the run of the place. She delicately puts her paw on the door of the pantry, closing it on Mischief's tail until he cries out and I stop her from seriously injuring him. Classic. They make living at home (before I find a place in Brooklyn hopefully), bearable.
Last night, we had a special visitor at our house. Anne Marsen, the girl in the Girl Walk // All Day came after just getting back from India. I learned that not only is she a talented dancer, but a very talented film maker and actress. Dude. This girl is going places. Her dance moves and energy is riveting and I got a glimpse of her next project in production, done while in India. What comes out of her is thought provoking, entertaining and introduces you to a new world, whether it's the streets of India and Indian music or new music that makes you want to attempt to copy her dance moves. My sister sent me this link of a video she made last year. Check it out. Anne Marsen/ROYGBIV~ "Squeeze Me" by Kraak & Smaak (Music Video)
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvVIkH44v8E&w=640&h=390]
So I can only attribute Saturday night's incident to what happens when you hang out with Anne Marsen. My dad kindly offered to drive her back into the city. Unfortunately, we were stuck in traffic the whole way through. So naturally, we put on Michael Jackson's Dangerous and started loudly singing and dancing to Black or White. The van next to us, full of twenty-something guys, rolled down their window and asked us what we were listening to. My dad proudly replied, and they told us to turn it up. It was completely hysterical and reminded me why I love New Yorkers. The best part was when the guy in the back seat rolled the van door open to hear the music better, making getting stuck in traffic completely worth it.
It's Friday and It's a Very Full Moon
I thought about assaulting your ears with the Rebecca Black video but then thought you'd appreciate this more. By the way, it's a full moon. Seriously, a huge full moon.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLPZmPaHme0&w=640&h=390]
Population Growth Infographic
My latest obsession is infographics and the value of data in telling a story. I thought this infographic video was timely considering that the Republicans are threatening to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood because they believe it encourages abortions when it really encourages the prevention of unwanted pregnancies.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b98JmQ0Cc3k?version=3]