When Worlds Collide

The other day, Opie from the Opie & Anthony Show mentioned he was watching MSNBC during a segment where Rachel Maddow appeared.

Ten minutes of discussion ensued.

And then my head exploded.

Those two things should never, ever again appear in the same sentence.

Minolo What?

As previously noted, I am not exactly a girlie-girl. I waffle back and forth between feeling empowered by this or belittle by this. After all, what 30-something professional woman has absolutely no desire to see Sex and The City - The Movie? "The film version of the Candace Bushnell book that became Darren Star's Emmy-winning HBO series that became (from 1998 to 2004) must viewing for everyone who ever cared about shoes, hair, nails and men — in that order."

But, I digress.

I've been contemplating this lack of feminine wiles lately as I look into the morning mirror. Despite getting 8+ hours of sleep a night, eating (fairly) healthy and getting tons of exercise, I still have blotchy skin and puffy eyes. Now, this may be attributed to allergies, which have hit me with a sledgehammer this year. But maybe I'm just getting OLD. Or, at least, older.

I've even contemplated trying out the make-up.

This weekend will be a little experiment. I have to go to the mall. (blech!) Duty calls: I have to drop off the yogaHOPE press release to the Lululemon store. While I'm there, I might just try to mix business with pleasure. Even though I could never afford to purchase the goods, I might - just might - get a makover. See what they can do for me. I mean, what can I lose?

Maybe just my fine lines and wrinkles.

And since it's summertime, maybe I'll gain me a few evenings out on the town....

Halibut Point State Park

Well, I'm not a mom (thank the powers that be!) and I couldn't make it to NJ this weekend, so there's no celebration for me. Instead, I decided to enjoy the gorgeous weather with a visit to Halibut Point State Park and a visit to mother ocean. Thanks to the low pressure systems we've had the last few days (see, buddy? I'm learning my nautical speak....), the waves are really strong and it was really powerful to be out there, surrounded by water, water, and more water.

To The Woman in the Red Saab Convertible

It's nice that you think I'm so skinny. Really, I appreciate it. I mean, after all, that's part of the reason I go for bike rides in the first place. But, honestly, cross my heart and hope to ..., I wouldn't be offended if you left just a little more breathing room when you roared past me doing 50 in a 30.

*This* is why they pay us the big bucks...

Without going into enough detail here to lose my job or anything....

It amazes me the amount of money that people in advertising get paid. I mean, really, a lot of what I do all day is surf the interwebs trying to "stay on top of trends" or doodle in my notebook hoping I come up with exactly the right turn of phrase that will compel all diabetics (sorry, people with diabetes) to immediately put down whatever they are doing and sign up with one particular durable medical supply company. Like NOW muthereffers!

But then something happens and I remember why we earn a King's ransom. We deal with clients.

Example:

One client has found a very convenient loophole to upcoming regulations that, while legal, is kinda nasty and underhanded. But that's okay because the competition is even way more nastier and underhandedity. So we were instructed by the client to compose a newspaper ad that kinda sorta would hint that if people didn't SIGN UP WITH US NOW!!!!! they wouldn't be able to get their medical supplies. And thus, THEY WERE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!!!

So, I wrote the ad - kept it just short of blood-red dripping type - and we sent it off to the client.

It came back today with this note: "This ad sounds like you're trying scare people into joining by making it seem like they won't be able to get their supplies if they don't sign up with us. Can you try it again but make it less scary?"

I got the email. I read it. I laughed. And then I said, "thank you." Because at least now I know I can deliver to spec.

By the way - here's the award-winning headline they've asked us to use: "Attention Diabetics!" Wow - so glad I read all those copywriting books.....