I love working in advertising, especially at an interactive agency. We get to find out about all the coolest stuff before it goes mainstream. I think we make up a lot of the innovators & early adopters according to the new product life cycle (and I thought I wouldn't use any of the stuff from my marketing classes anymore on the creative side - lol). Maybe because generally we're paid to create and promote the next big idea(s)...
Anyways, I am officially switching from YouTube to Vimeo for all of my video uploading and sharing needs. Youtube has become like MySpace for me, too overwhelmed and underdesigned by the masses. Plus, they're really pissing me off with all their copyright claims!
Vimeo has a way simpler & cleaner design (and bonus points for hybrid wordage: video + me = vimeo). The only trade-off is that your videos take longer to process and you're limited to 500 MB per week (unless you purchase the premium membership). I'll stick with the free version for now. Here's a couple videos I made from this past weekend partying at the W hotel & the Gansevoort with Christy & the girls and then a quick clip from the agency pub crawl in Key West yesterday!
Oh yea, and Happy Birthday Dad! (My sister and I bought him a case of his favorite candy, but I think his favorite gift was me getting a job and getting off his payroll - lol)
I feel so blessed because everything seems to be working out! I graduated last night from Miami Ad School, I got all the papers signed on my new apartment at the Flamingo, and I finally start getting paid for doing what I love next week! (PS, Sapient seems to be one of the only agencies prospering in this economy; they acquired Nitro this week. Its the first time a digital agency has acquired a traditional one). Maybe growing up isn't s bad after all! For now, I'm relaxing with the fam for a few days here in MIAMI!
So there's good news and bad news. The bad news is that in Palmetto and Cutler Bay (where the old Sapient office was located) some psycho was mutilating & killing cats, then placing the gruesome remains like trophies back where he found them. There were 33 reported cases, and now the good news is that this kid was arrested and is being charged with 19 of them.
When I first heard about the story last month, I theorized it would be some disturbed, suburban teenager in the area that was bored, sick and somehow starved for attention. I wonder if C.S.I. Miami or Law & Order will make an episode about it (the disclaimer always says the stories aren't inspired by true events, but I don't believe it).
I find it particularly interesting the role that social media is playing in this case. Before, when someone was arrested, you just saw their picture on the news or in the paper and other than that you were pretty disassociated with them. Some of the news stories I saw online pulled pictures from his MySpace account and they post links to his Facebook page as well as a group in support of catching and some prick even started a group just plain in support of the alleged cat killer.
You think he's a sick bastard? You can tell him that directly through Facebook or MySpace. Not to mention the countless people emailing, Twittering, re-posting and otherwise sharing links and news clips.
I'm glad he's 18 so he can be tried as an adult. Even if the judge isn't the biggest PETA supporter and lets the kid off lightly, he's still screwed because this stuff is in every nook and cranny of the internet. I personally don't think he should go to jail. He should be placed in the custody of the Miami Metro Zoo and share an enclosure with the Lions after the zookeepers "forget" to feed them for a couple days. I like my justice served with a side of irony, thanks!
(Kind of like how I wish this kid in Australia had actually fallen into the Croc enclosure:)
Let me clear up a few misconceptions you may have about living in Miami Beach, if you have never lived here before. At least during the summer, it is not the sunny, sandy paradise you see on the postcards and in movies. It's very wet because A) the intense humidity that flattens or frizzifies your hair (depending on what kind you have) as soon as you step outside and B) the daily thunderstorms that always drop a few inches of rain and sometimes hail. Usually they do minor damage and blow over in about an hour. But yesterday I was convinced that we were in the middle of the first hurricane of the season.
Our new office on Lincoln Road is equipped with windows along every wall and is safe from flooding on 6th & 7th floors. It's like I had box seats to witness the madness below. The thunder slightly shook the foundation and lightning streaked across the sky, sometimes striking the building that was under construction next to us. The power flickered a few times and the elevators were in and out of service. I thought the rain was just hitting the windows more heavily than normal, but raindrops don't bounce. It was definitely hail - ranging from marble to golfball-sized. I wasn't scared of the storm so much, having lived on Florida coasts for the better part of the last six years, but more scared for figuring out how I was going to swim home with my laptop. I took a few pictures with my iPhone from various views in the office.
During:
The Aftermath:
The stores and restaurants across the street were definitely flooded and it was a little different to being seeing not boats, but cars, with trailing wakes. I found this great video on YouTube that will gives you a street-level perspective on the whole thing - if you didn't see it on the news already.
I was still working on a pitch project til about 9 pm when Aron and Chris drove to pick me up because we were going to see Nicole's hubby's Improv show in Coconut Grove. Aron had to walk, or wade home from class earlier and said there were cars with water up past the windows and they even saw two guys in a kayak going up and down Alton Road.
Anyways, we got back to the beach between midnight and 1 AM and it was pretty much like driving through an obstacle course between the deceptively deep street-ponds and the abandoned cars throughout the street that had apparently stalled out earlier.
I was so excited when I woke up this morning and actually saw the sun. I put on the pink bikini and headed downstairs to the pool, only to see the clouds roll in out of nowhere about an hour later. I wanted to get some of my tan back and start reading Twilight. I consider it pretty much a hazing ritual to get into my team at work because they have all read it and I am being all but forced to do so as well. I tried to keep the cover hidden because I don't want my rep getting tarnished. So far it's an easy read but I'm definitely not swooning and I don't think it's better than Harry Potter. It's so unrealistic, not because the guy is a vampire, but because he has this complicated emotional persona with pure intentions. Ha!
I definitely have no intentions of watching the movie and we'll see how far I can get into it before I barf or get bored.
On a final note, I finally got version 3.0 of my website revised, up and running at mirandapeterson.com. I designed then coded the whole thing in Flash and Dreamweaver. I'm still working on getting my final book together, so don't bother clicking on that link. I wanted it to have a simple, sketched look to it and be easy enough to quickly navigate and update. I mostly think of it as an aggregate for all my creative outlets. Oh, and hopefully it will help me get a job.
It's Monday again already?! Well I have good news and more good news. The monologue went well, kind of. I got "nearly an A+" for content (not bad for an art director) but a B- for presentation because I can't freakin' quit laughing. But it's hard for me not to laugh when other people are laughing, which is the whole point of stand-up. So it's a mixed bag.
Last week for the class we had to sit in front of the class and be thoroughly yet anonymously judged by our peers. G Michael typed everything up and read us our alphabetical results this week.
Here were some of my favorites: "Sunshine" "Sweet Bangs" "Piercing Fest" "Cheerful person portrayed by clean wardrobe" "Looks like she came from a plantation" "Needs to do something or she may lose it and go nuts" "Easily Amused" and "Easter colored" And the two adjectives that apparently describe me best are "tan"and "blonde." No surprise there.
So onto the recommendation. I found this sweet pair of chopsticks in the desk drawer at my cubicle today. They were for this local restaurant called Sushi Maki which comes highly recommended by my co-workers. Partly because the sushi is good and because it is open late and delivers when you are trying to meet a deadline. I take their word about the quality part. I think sushi tastes like sea barf.
FUN WITH CHOPSTICKS -or- (WHAT NOT TO DO ON A DATE)
[The Walrus, El Diablo, The Fu Manchu, The Donkey, My Favorite Martian]
On the reverse side:
WARNING: Professional Chopstick Stunt People were used for the drawings above. In real life, chop sticks are dangerous - even lethal in a ninja warrior's hands. You could poke your eye out, or tear your rotator cuff or something. So our lawyers tell us that we have to warn you that they can be dangerous and cause serious physical harm if you use them for anything but eating. Sushi Maki is not liable for any damage or harm that may come to you from the improper handling of these utensils. Parents, watch your children closely and please exercise caution. Or just ask for a fork. Which could be dangerous too, we guess. Eating with your hands would be safe, but messy. Good luck.
Proof that you can make anything creative; even packaging for a mundane pair of Asian eating tools. I'm kind of infatuated with the copy. And the design isn't bad either. The website is very nice and check out this Get out of hunger free card:
Finally getting my feet wet in the advertising world. I would prefer to be barefoot, but I'll settle for flip-flops. I create, work out, work hard & play hard. Basically, life is good.
