miami ad school gets a face lift.

so many from home have often wondered if i 'dreamed up' this miami ad school that i would have thought of, [and lets be serious, i wouldve come up with a better name than 'miami ad school'] i finally have proof that our school does exist.

so while our school spends our tuition money on many beneficial things like kegs, Heineken soccer sunday prizes, just to name a few. the new addition to miami ad includes numerous flat screen tvs to 'showcase' our work instead of hanging it on the old boards. all in a movement to 'go green.'

the lobby: [points of interest: clocks from all miami ad locations, giant giant screen for soccer posters.]


work space in the gallery: [points of interest: seven televisions not including the two mounted to the side with the Xbox 3 and Wii]


gallery/stage for guestspeaker: [points of interest: orange foam seats.]


so there you have it. it's real. and congrats to miami ad for going paperless to be green. let me know how much CO2 those new tv's emit with all the new electricity needed.

next picasso.

to try and unlock some creativity and showcase other creative talents on my portfolio website, i've decided to get back into painting. starting with water color
beef would be so proud.

dun dada daaa, dun dada, dun dada daaa, dun dada da daa!

in light of the indian jones movie coming out tomorrow, or in 14hrs, 44mins, and 46 secs according to the beautifully crafted flash site, i thought i would share a very insightful someecard.com [an obvious current obsession. but hey, nothing makes you feel better than some glorious cynical saracastic humor. at least me anyway.]
just a little something to ponder. funny part about it, i don't even like indiana jones. or burger king. so i guess the fact that im blogging about it is the power of advertising.


what i DO like however is sex and the city and all the new advertisements and trailers for the release of the movie are getting me excited. [just about the movie] thank you hugo for rescheduling another glorious radio class from 6-9 on the night it opens. because this isn't a movie you can just see. this is monumental to a lot of people. i think a cosmo, manolo blahniks and about 3 girlfriends is required for entrance.



so while i may not one to be a girly girl, this is one day/event i'm all about it. cheers girls.

sinking.

this may be the first post where i actually rant a little. sorry i havent posted in awhile, i've been too busy spending ours of my time doing fruitless labor. i'm just so frustrated at this point in the quarter. this time last quarter i was finishing up a few solid campaigns and feeling really good about the quarter. that was only q2. here i am in q3 where we're supposed to get the most stuff for our book and i see potential in one maybe two things, when i ended up with 5 campaigns from last quarter. all ones im excited about.

i keep trying to make excuses like 'im so uninspired by this brief. and this wont go in my book anyway. or we arent supposed to have nonprofits.' but maybe i just suck and got lucky the first quarter. i got all of my good ideas out the second quarter and im washed up. it really shows me how working with a good partner can make or break you and even still, if they're a good partner and they don't inspire/motivate you through your brainstorming, the ideas will never come. or maybe it was just the partner that did all the good work and i suck all together.

the thing that has been getting me recently is im starting to feel like all of my ideas are being used up on other peoples projects. not projects i'm working with them on, that i could then in turn use in my book as well, cause thats one thing. but people run things by me and im like oh what about this or this, and then it completes their campaign and makes it a really good one. now don't get me wrong, i dont want credit, i just wish i could get some reciprocation. or maybe i'm just finding another excuse for why i suck. i feel put in the hours, hours and hours of hours, and still nothing.

i just don't understand what was working for me last quarter that isn't this quarter. one, i took more vacations. i had so many visitors and people coming i prioritized. maybe i'm putting in too many hours. but if you dont crack something you cant just give up on it. and when you have four days to do three full briefs actually being presented to the client, there isnt time to take a picnic and relax. maybe it was less pressure, because i really only had one demanding class and it wasn't demanding, i just made it so. or maybe it was i had a partner that i knew i worked good with, but after this quarter, i didnt realize just how well.

regardless, i need to figure out what it is or stop wasting my time and money in ad school. and some people may say 'well you had something presented to the client', but really that doesn't mean much. because while what i've been producing is 'smart' or 'strategic' its not creative. i may as well go to the account side.

so with that said, i'm going to keep some words of advice from our friends as someecards.com in mind:

dreams.

so i dreamt last night that i had really bad cancer and less than a year to live. creepy. so while having my coffee this morning i decide to use a dream interpreter to see what it meant. i think our mind is too complex for dreams to be completely random. dreams themselves are so sophisticated that i really believe there's some meaning in at least some of our dreams.

so this is what it said:
Cancer - Dreaming of cancer is not necessarily a negative thing and does not mean that you have or will have cancer at any time. However, to dream of cancer often indicates an unfortunate condition in your life that has been consuming you physically, mentally, or emotionally for too long.

hmm... wonder whats been consuming me for too long? because i obviously need to get rid of it. theres numerous possibilities. input or ideas welcome.

shameless indulgences of the day.

one thing occurred to me tonight as i sat drinking a glass of wine, watching an educational lecture from a french buddhist monk on TED about what it means to be happy. my freshman-year version of myself would think i am so lame and make fun of my ass hardcore.

but i love it. it's indulgences like these that get my through the 12 hour days of work. that and the duck hunt i just downloaded to my igoogle homepage. along with a 'fishtank' with five fish that i spent ten minutes watching swim around and i feed about fifty times. i like these fish because i know i wont kill them. and if i happen to, i dont have to flush them. basically its win, win. in honor of coke and diet coke back home, thats what i'm going to name two of them. but three fish are still nameless. opinions welcome.

congrats kids.

d&ad finalist were released today. congrats to branden, jan, brig, tara, jermey, and everyone else who got short listed that i don't know about. so exciting. while awards may not mean but to some people, everyone has to admit it brightens their day a little and being shortlisted for d&ad is definitely something to be proud of.

in other news, the one show was this past thursday. congrats to everyone who received awards in that too. brent, olle [or karl, whichever you prefer] and i finished up with a merit. while its only merit, i'm still very satisfied with it. especially with only being a second quarter at the time. we've got at least one more shot at it before we're done with miami ad. i have to admit it was super exciting to see our work and our names on the one show website.

to check out our stuff on the site go to: http://www.oneclub.org/os/osc/showcase/?year=2008&id=7303

or to see the full site and all the videos go to:
http://www.olandnorthshore.com/doritos/

ok. enough patting myself on the back. time to do real work. because despite all the effort and endless hours of work this quarter, i feel like it just hasn't been paying off. it's time to mend that, because we've got our sights set on future lions now.

star struck?

ok, so if you know me at all you know i'm not one to keep up on celebrity gossip or get super excited because so and so is in town or will be here, etc. but i have to admit im a little, just little, excited that justin timberlake is working out at my gym [i work there] this month.

apparently he's in town because he's opening a new club with his friend or may or may not live in my building. :) and justin may or may not be staying with this so called friend in my building. i believe times like this exceptions may be made and being a creeper is allowed.

i just think its kinda sweet that i can say he's staying where i live. oh and jennifer aniston and owen wilson were at the marlins game i was at this saturday filming for their new movie. so when 'marley and me' comes out, look in the crowd at the baseball game, i may be there.

anyway, i have to go, just got the text he's there. i think the gym would appreciate me coming to work an hour early. just trying to be a good worker. that's all.

hilarious.

quote of the moment. [emo, i know.]

"I believe that everything happens for a reason, people change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."
-Marilyn Monroe

my crest [s].

the crest i created at www.scionspeak.com [thanks tara.] it says many things about me. goodluck decoding the brass knuckles, butterfly, five point crown, angel wing and alley cat. but it says alot and was fun to create. very successful advertising.

in light of this fun experiment i thought i should post my real family crest.
something i thought was interesting when i was researching my crest and coat of arms was our family motto.
"Forti et Fordeli nihil difficile"
"Nothing is difficult for the Brave and Faithful."
this explains so much about my personality now...

welcome to the new miami ad school.

so apparently the new line for miami ad school is 'the school of pop culture engineering.' a very crispin inspired move no doubt. kind of a cool concept and probably a necessary move considering the term 'portfolio school or advertising school' is becoming out dated. case in point, vcu: adcenter changing it's name to vcu: brand center.

either way, it's another example of what i love about miami ad school. it's constantly changing with the times. advertising changes everyday and an advertising school that doesn't, just doesn't make sense.

so thank you to kat from crispin for this preview of the new tag, and bring on the crispin mentality. i will surely need it in light of the brief they sent us for TIR next week entitled 'the hardest brief ever.' i seriously can't wait. because no matter how stressed i get, or pissy i seem to be because i'm stressed, i love this shit. i thrive off it.

Happy Earth Day.

here are just a few insightful ecards to celebrate earth day.

so carpe diem this earth day and do your part. whether that maybe planting a tree, or recycling your beer bottles. because every little bit helps.

the eve of PA primaries.

in light of the PA primaries tomorrow, i believe another quick post is in order. also considering i'm two glasses of wine deep, it seems like a good idea.

for anyone following the democratic race, you know how crucial the pennsylvania race is tomorrow. and while i may be registered a republican at home, and an independent in florida, shh dont tell the government, i really wish i could vote in tomorrows democratic primary. i was so pro-hilary for awhile but after really reading up on policies, listening to debates, and being a total nerd who loves CNN, i'm really an obama fan. either way, we're about to create history. which is so amazing in itself.

anyway, i've never been prouder to be a pennsylvanian. perhaps if i were alive when we held the first continental convention, but i wasn't. and obama was just on the daily show with john stewart. a very insightful show. however, john stewart brought up how there has been so much publicity and that the candidates have been there for six weeks and obama's response was 'the people of pennsylvania deserve the attention.' that's right. and don't you forget obama. even though i may never live in the state again, it's where i was born and raised and many people underestimate it's potential.

anyway, we'll see how tomorrow's vote turns out. i just want to end on the amazing note that john stewart just asked obama if his secret plan was to become president and enslave the white people.

i heart john stewart. goodnight.

future a.d.? probably not.

holy intense beginning of the quarter. so much has happened in the past two weeks and i can't even believe that we are heading into week 3 of our third quarter already. wasn't it yesterday that i moved to miami beach? oh wait that was six months ago.

they weren't kidding when they said they get you in your third quarter. between TIR and ad concepts and all the writing we have to do for writing for radio, i definitely have my work cut out for me this quarter and I'm feeling it already. however, i've also come to the realization that a lot of this is my own fault. i like to give everything 100% of my effort and a recent apiphany [and slight mental break down] showed me that sometimes it just isn't possible. and this is where the art of prioritizing comes in. i have to just focus on what is important and what i feel is the best in terms of book pieces and learning/experience.

because while this school is all about coming out with an amazing book, it is about the experiences and things you learn as well. and there's more to it than just advertising. it's time management. it's people skills and how to work with a partner and deal if you just don't mesh. how to get makeshift props because you are too poor to finance the real deal. and these are just a few of the many, many examples.

but that's the biggest lesson i've learned. give it your all, but only where it counts. because it's physically impossible to give every project as much energy as i would like.

on a completely different note, i would like to profess my new found love of flash. sources will reveal that going into this quarter a was less than enthusiastic about having flash and even considered switching out of it. however, the more i use it and the more i play with it, the more i'm in love. [a far cry from numerous posts ago when i professed my hatred for illustrator. the building blocks of flash.] there's just something so inspiring and exciting about putting little dots into boxes aka keyframes, hitting Apple+Return and seeing the whole thing come to life. while the thought of switching to interactive art direction crossed my mind, i think i'll stick with words. because while i may eventually master the program [a feat i am far from at this point] i'm still much better at articulating things than picking a color scheme. so i think i'll just go with a well-rounded copywriter title. either way, i have lots of fun things in mind i want to create. and it all started with a little grey mouse eating some purple swiss cheese. [a masterpiece you will unfortunately not be able to view because i didn't save it.]