The Tooth Fairy

So, Zack lost his first tooth yesterday. He was a bit worried that the Tooth Fairy wouldn't be able to find it, just in case he ended up sleeping in our bed instead of his bed (where the tooth was under the pillow).

Me: "Don't worry, I'll leave her a note."

Zack: "What! She's tiny! She'll never be able to read your huge handwriting."

Me: "I'll use your microscope when I write it."

Zack: "Nooooooo! It's broooooken!

Me: "Then I'll use the binoculars."

Zack: "But that will make it bigger!"

Me: "I'll use them backwards."

Zack: "Oh. OK."

A great day...

Last year, while working at Cenergy and pitching the Pittsburgh Penguins, I wrote (or more accurately, uncovered) the team's new tagline.

A great day for hockey. 

Tonight, the Penguins won the Stanley Cup.  

Coincidence? Who cares. I'm still taking credit. 

Oh, and here's where the Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup Champions t-shirts will go. 

Advice for college students

I'm guest lecturing during a friend's advertising class on Friday. I have a talk prepared, but I figured I'd ask some other folks what advice they'd give to college students who are thinking about a career in advertising or marketing. Here's what they said:

"Internship. I've hired interns. Also learn about more than advertising and marketing: learn about selling, business, retail, psychology, etc."

"Teach them the importance of a good brief. You put shite in and you'll get shite out."

"Own your name on google's organic results."

"Go into nursing or medicine :)"

"#1--Be curious about the world. 
#2--Read, read, read (and watch, listen, play)
#3--Find a mentor

#4--Eat your Wheaties. You're going to need the energy."

"Two things: (1) Learn to tell a story in words and pictures, and (2) everything else you tell them will be obsolete in two years -- some of it in two weeks, and some even sooner."

"Have a Plan B"

"Tell them not to think in silos. If you're a writer, you still have to think of strong visuals. If you're an art director, a killer headline is always key. An account executive is capable of approaching a challenge creatively, just as creatives can, and should, think strategically. It's a business, after all. Those who survive - and thrive - bring a wealth of skills to the table."

"Whenever you see advertising that works, figure out WHY it works. (Who knew retroengineering could work in the ad world.)"

"What I always tell my students is you will need to pay your dues. 3 in the morning...not rare. Suck it up and embrace those opportunities instead of whining about having to work late."

All good advice. Thanks guys. Oh, and I'm really only writing this post so I can link to it on my Delicious page, along with all the other articles and such I've gathered for the students. I hadn't even tried Delicious until another friend told me about it. Pretty cool way to keep all your links in one place, and give other people access to them, too.

When it rains...

The good news:

1. Zack rode his bike without training wheels. He can go about 50 feet or so, before he realizes he doesn't know how to steer. Or stop. But he's getting really good at falling.

2. Ben pooped on the potty. I know, that sentence is pretty disgusting for all you single, childless people. But for parents, talking about poop is like asking "How's the weather?" 

The bad news:

1. The drip in our ceiling needs to be fixed be a roofer. At the very least, we'll need a new 50-foot gutter ($200? $500?).

2. Taking down the big tree in our yard left (surprise!) a big hole in the yard. And apparently, it's not just going to fill itself up.   

3. There's water leaking from the washing machine. Don't know how. Don't know why. Just know it's wet. 

He's probably right...

Me: "Zack, we have to close the car door and lock it, so nobody takes our car."

Zack: "But daddy, nobody would want our car, because it's too messy."

Random thoughts...

1. Zack: "Other kids keep their houses neat. But we're comfortable being messy, right dad?"

2. Bought Zack his first real hockey stick today (lefty). Also got him his first Erector set. Now he knows what an Allen wrench is. And, since "Single Ladies" is his favorite song (thanks, day care dance parties), we watched the video together on YouTube. Twice.  

3. It's not that we ignore Ben. It's just that we've already had a 3-year-old in the house, so when there's someone running around in circles singing "We just got a letter, we just got a letter" from Blue's Clues, it's not worth videotaping anymore. 

4. And now I totally understand why my parents have 6 photo albums of me, and 1 of my younger brothers.   

Over / under

Things that are overrated, but not by much: 

1. Slumdog Millionaire. Watched the first half. Very interesting, but it just didn't live up to the hype. Kind of like Milk. Good. But not great.  

2. Chipotle. Ate there for the first time ever today. It was really, really good. But certainly not the best (Edritos) burrito (Edritos) I ever (Edritos) had.  

Things that are underrated:

1. Redbox, which is how we rent most our movies these days. Yeah, we end up paying six bucks each time. But in theory we could only be paying a dollar. A dollar!  

2. My iPod Touch. I read once that the key to a clutter-free mind is to write everything down. The calendar and to-do list (I like the Things app) free my brain, making room for things like the lyrics to old Duran Duran songs.  

And that makes it better because...

Marla: "Ben, please don't lick soap off your finger."

Ben: "It's not soap, it's a booger." 

The Piano Man

Here's why I love learning how to play piano:  

I can't multitask while I'm doing it. 

Every other minute of the day, I'm usually doing at least two things at once. Writing a brochure while checking email. Driving to work while thinking about my next meeting. Playing with the kids while watching TV. 

But when I'm playing piano, It's so new (and I'm so bad) that it takes 100% of my concentration just to get 30% of the notes right. My left hand hates my right hand. I'll probably never learn to play loudly, because I usually practice when Marla is putting the kids to sleep. And my stubby little fingers barely stretch an octave.  

But that's OK. Because it's really nice, once a day, to focus my full attention on just. one. thing.  

Who are the people in your neighborhood?

I've realized that at 10 a.m. on a Monday, everyone at Panera's falls into one of the following categories:

* Sleepers - the retirees who come here to get their senior coffee and literally fall asleep in front of the fake fireplace

* Freelancers - people like me, who work from home but don't actually like working from home. So we come for the breakfast and free Wi-Fi

* Meeters - pharmaceutical reps, insurance agents, etc., reviewing spreadsheets with their clients 

* New moms - Awwwww. 

* College kids - I can call them kids now that I'm 15 years out of school. Yikes. 

So, here's what Panera's should do:

1. Set up sections. If I know where the other freelancers are sitting, I might choose to sit with them, and at least have some company / networking opportunities. 

2. Name breakfast items after these groups, or at least put together combo meals. 

3. Cross-sell. Panera limits the free Wi-Fi at lunch, so I usually clear out around 11:30. But if they offered me $1 off a sandwich to go....  

These are a few of my favorite things

1. Where will the "5 things" Facebook app end? "5 favorite shades of red!" "5 favorite Baldwin brothers!" "5 favorite things I found between my toes!" Once you get past beer and music, I. Really. Don't. Care. 

2. Found a good piano tuner. He quoted me a price, spent twice the amount of time he thought it would take, fixed a few stuck keys, and didn't charge a penny more. That's the way to get a customer for life.  

3. My younger brother is taller than I am, lives in Hawaii, once ran a 17-flat 5K, and graduated from Harvard Law School. You'd think I could at least beat him at Facebook Scrabble. You'd be wrong. 

4. Johnny Rockets is not on Twitter. If they were, they would have seen my Tweet about my last post and responded.

5. Need a great freelance proofreader? I know two of them - email me for details. 

6. Need a great freelance art director / production artist? Let me know.  

All for now. 

 

Johnny Be Bad

Went to Johnny Rockets tonight with the kids. It's usually average, which I'm OK with, given that there's a jukebox on the table. But tonight seriously sucked. There was nobody there. Literally, no other guests from the time we got there at 5:15 until the time we finished our dinner and left. And the staff couldn't have been less interested. Our waitress was barely OK. Hardly smiled until the end. The manager (I think he was the manager) just sat at the counter, never looking up from his papers. Other servers / cooks were just hanging at a back table. And they charged me $.39 for chocolate instead of white milk. For each kid. That's $.78 for 2 squirts of Hershey's syrup. Seriously? I know we're in a recession and all, and traffic is down. Which is exactly why the manager should have taken 2 minutes to stop by our table and say he appreciated our business. Which is why the staff should have been out near the front of the store, where they could greet people walking by (there were plenty) and invite them inside. Which is why they shouldn't be nickel and dime-ing customers. The place was literally empty, except for us, and nobody seemed to care, let alone be doing anything about it. Turns out there's a reason the store was empty - they deserved it. 

Need to get out more

I took Ben to Amherst State Park yesterday, over on Mill Street. Great big space, lots of dogs, a little creek and a bridge. As we were leaving, he looked at me and said, "Daddy, I got some fresh air in my mouth!" Can't wait for spring to really get here. 

Things I learned today

1. Take the pizza off the cardboard before you put it in the oven

2. There are very few consequences when you wear pajama pants to preschool

3. In March, 52 feels like 75

Tell Yourself How Lucky You Are

Perspective helps. Yes, the economy sucks. We're cutting back here and there, and I have friends who have lost their jobs. But still - I live in a house that 95% of the world would consider a mansion. I see my kids for hours and hours every day; there are workers in China who only see their kids once a year. I can write whatever I want here without fear of being put in jail or executed. My kids have never gone hungry - and most likely never will. There are probably families who could live on what I throw in the trash every day. 4,000 children die every day because their drinking water isn't safe to drink. Read that again - 4,000 kids. Just like ours. Every. Single. Day. And while we're putting off buying a new car, our "old" one still has a gazillion working airbags and fold-down seats. Sure, I recycle, have a programmable thermostat, and stick to a mostly vegetarian (sushitarian?) diet. But I'm still a middle-class American, which is pretty much like winning the lottery, when you think about it. Sure, I'll still get upset about Terrell Owens and my March Madness bracket and the fact that I really want a Diet Coke but I'm really trying not to drink aspartame. But a bit of perspective makes a difference.