tune in, turn out, throw up

things i learned from diligently watching america's next top model (no season in particular):

• some people cry after eating (and not because of indigestion)

• "aloof" is a tricky word. . . so tricky infact. . . wait, what was i saying?

• ghetto superstar and ghetto fabulous are not originally from the ghetto. they are from tacoma, washington.

• aerosol hairspray makes for an excellent bug repellent when roughing it out in nature. it also assists in starting your very own forest fire.

• 2nd place is not the first loser- it's worse. it's the girl whose name can never be remembered because everyone forgot to watch the last show.

• magazines are a form of literature. i mean really, look at all this body copy i have to read for a single evian ad.

• you say big is beautiful, i say i can't believe the plus-size model made it till the 4th show!*

*disclosure: i in no way agree with this statement that i thought, when i thought it- i personally found it very disturbing when the show even bothered to include a plus-size model in their last season, since it was OBVIOUS she was not going to win from the get-go. thank you upn for being oh-so politically correct and in helping me waste oh-so many of my brain cells.

next up: the trials and tribulations of the gilmore girls. which is actually one gilmore "girl" and one gilmore "woman" who annoyingly walks and talks like a girl.

some kind of karma.

so i know that i haven't said the nicest things about blockbuster in the past. i realize i have refused to rent from them this past year and in turn have slowly become a netflix geek instead. but part of me (a very small part) feels sorry for them about recent industry news. guess this means no more late fees? regardless, this news is sure to make jennmack smile.

grab & go: soccer on the run

i love this idea sooo much! i think because it reminds me of the vending machines in europe where you can buy anything. hurray for kinetic!

oh! my god! i miss you!

i have just spent the last 3 hours or so scribbling in an "idea journal." assigned in my creative strategies course it's supposed to be an experiment of sorts to finding my own voice, collecting thoughts and snapshots of things that are occurring in my life, and archiving them as little "seeds" that can be used later as creative/ad concepts. ironically enough, it's also 10% of my grade.
ANYWAYS, as can be expected, one of my most recent entries was about all of the great people i have met and connections i have made out here in austin so far. i also had the opportunity to reflect for awhile on the people that i left in seattle and why i miss them so dearly. seeing as how i could just as easily send each of them their very own "monica misses you e-mail and this is why," i will make the following list short and sweet. until those e-mails find there way out, in no particular order, here you go:
1. i miss the way dave can be both obnoxious and endearing in the same second. how he can pound on the drums, completely oblivious to bronwyn and i trying to have a conversation. i also love his idea of a "friend quota."
2. i miss stimulating conversation with jennmack. from irvin welsh to radiohead, gentrification and one-night stands. the day i met jennmack she was an idealist. the day she dies she will be an idealist.
3. i miss the history that sam and i share. the trials and tribulations we have been through together. the way she is able to analyze a big mess and come up with some pretty sound advice on any topic. and she wears pink converse to boot.
4. i miss being around someone as frank and candid as dee. being who you are and not embarrassed. she is maternal and loving and will one day make a fine soccer mom. i also miss the way she dances.
5. i miss the way bronwyn is always up for something. unless she did a certain "something" a little to hard the night before. i love how she is an "enviromentalist by day and a rockstar by night." i love when i'm able to decode her lyrics.
6. i miss pizza night's with victor- especially his facial expressions when he talks about juicy gossip and attractive men. i love how sophisticated yet childlike i feel around him.
7. i miss ryan's sense of humor. supplies! i also miss his eyelashes and the way he smells. and the way he's comfortable being a fat baby.
8. i miss the way gillian greets me. even after 9 years of hanging out she still squeals and insists on calling me "girl." i miss that.

aha! by jordan ayan

a short excerpt from some required reading:

"a great example of a company that encourages fun in the workplace is microsoft. during a visit to their corporate headquarters, i encountered employees engaged in an exciting game of miniature golf in the hallways. true to form, this was no conventional game, however; the way they played demonstrated the fabled creativity of microsoft's people. the elevators were used to move the ball from the "tee" (on the first floor) to the "green" (on the second floor). although there may not be a direct correlation between microsoft's enormous success and the apparent fun enjoyed by its employees, it's easy to surmise that innovative ideas and products developed by microsoft arise from its employees' ability to relax in the midst of difficult work and to be whimsical and playful during the day. in fact, microsoft managers get a "morale" budget to spend on spontaneous fun in whatever way they see fit."

spontaneous fun? bring in the strippers!

if you decide to follow the colonel, turn to page 7

it was only time before mainstream fastfood chains like kfc picked up on pop culture from our youth, as is shown by their slightly bastardized version of "choose your own adventure." i can see it now. baby-sitters club do blimpies. or better yet- nancy drew: in search of the real chicken mcnugget.

drawing restraint 9

i had no idea! woohoo!
fyi: matthew barney is actually bjork's current man who did the cremaster series, one of which was filmed at the bronco stadium in boise (as shown above) home to the one and only, smurf-turf.

either that or your first born.

i borrowed my roommate's car yesterday so that i could travel to waterloo bikes and have my bike pieced together. while driving over, the radio station played an ad for some center to donate blood. but rather than approaching its audience as this kind of thought-provoking, emotionally engaging ad where they have flutes playing and babies crying in the background, it was so strange. imagine a spokesperson (who was totally 45-plus-years-old) talking in a surfer dude/uc santa barbara drop-out voice and pretending to be our best friend.

"yeah man, prices of gas have just skyrocketed. dude, i never thought i would see the day i would pay $3 for a gallon of gas! and i know my income can't support that kind of spending. (pause)
but it's cool man. yeah. because ever since i started donating a pint of blood at [insert blood center here] i have been making up to $50 a week on the side. and this totally offsets my gas spending. so that i can feel less guilty, you know?"

less guilty about your motive for giving blood? or less guilty about shamelessly driving around in your obnoxious suv when you probably could have offset the spending by taking a bus here and there, jerk? but what do i know? atleast it's for a good cause.

what a potty mouth.

school rules. check out one of my "textbooks." 512 pages and 30 years worth of advertising around the globe. print, tv, radio and billboard. including an interview with jerry seinfeld, himself (he was an american express spokesperson). sweet.
in other news, i'm a complete jackass and have been waiting impatiently since friday for my bike. i finally called the shop today, was given a tracking number and realized that my bike has been sitting under our carport since saturday. duh.