Vampires, Wizards and Wolves. Oh my.

Nerd alert: I grew up with Harry Potter.  I read Sorcerer's Stone around the age of 13.  Ryan handed me a book and simply said, "read it, it's about a wizarding school."  Thinking it sounded stupid, I opened the book anyway and immediately fell in love.  In the years following I pre-purchased the books, read Goblet of Fire in the bath tub for three hours (old bathwater turns very cool), and bawled uncontrollably when [SPOILER!] Dumbledore died.  Mom walked into the kitchen and found me, head in my hands, violently crying at this huge turning point.  She turned around and went back to bed...granted it was around 4 a.m.  I was dumbfounded as I closed the last book after reading, literally stunned by the plot twists and violence that JK Rowling conjured out of thin air.  She had guts, she killed main characters, she was scary.

Today, I feel like a dirty adulterous.  I am embarrassed to admit, although I am one of millions, that I read the Twilight series.  So sue me I wanted to find some sort of magic in fantastical characters and lacked literature of my own.  Tonight I am going to see "Eclipse" only because I am going for free with work and with old co-worker friends.  I feel like I am at rock bottom when the highlights of a movie are seeing a shirtless 18-year-old and eating free Whoppers (the milk duds, not the burgers).  The more I write this, the more I disdain it.  It blows my mind how much money a sexually frustrated Mormon made off of scribbling sexually frustrated transgressions on paper and somehow making emo vampires "cool."

So just when I was started to really hate myself I found something that saved me.  Time put it well on its twitter feed.  "Forget Twilight: Deathly Hallows trailer reminds us why Harry Potter still rules."  Yes, Harry, yes.

Mayhem is Coming

I swear this blog is supposed to separate my personal from my private life but lately that has been extremely difficult. A new campaign, of which I am just a small part of in this colossal mess of respectable media companies, just launched "Mayhem" and I was spurred to write by the New York Times article from this morning. Dean Winters already gets my vote, as he guest starred in 30 Rock for multiple episodes and I have a girl crush on Tina Fey. His character is Mayhem as he personifies something that is truly inevitable no matter how hard we protect ourselves. Give me you thoughts and I would like your feedback. Yes, I know when "Mayhem" is officially coming but I won't tell.

XTheText

Allstate.com/xthetext, because I spend an ungodly amount of time working for the betterment of this website and campaign.  Take the pledge, don't text while driving.  Save a life and yourself.  Or else...

props

"We just wanted to be famous on Youtube."

In case you haven't seen this (200,000+ views in 48 hours) they love the Hawks and they always love the Hawks, they just learned about the Hawks this year!

They give a puck.

Hawkeytown (I just died a little.)

Congrats Hawks, Chicago has a championship. My good friend Jim and I were actually eating on Clark St. around 8 p.m. and politely scooted out of there before pandemonium erupted, toting my leftovers of Mu Shu wraps. I haven't been a hockey fan all season, it's not that I don't like hockey but I just have a hard time getting excited about it.  I even want to a game and yes, I sang "Chelsea Dagger."  Because nothing, nothing says Go Blackhawks! like a band from Glasgow, Scotland.

This is my old neighborhood after the win Wednesday night and, while I'm extremely happy I was no longer there, this is pretty cool.

Today is the parade, which I am also following from the comfort of my cubicle a couple blocks away.  I've already been outside in the "gorgeous" 86 degree day full of humidity that only the Chicago River can muster.  About 400,000 people are crowded into a small number of city blocks.  Wa wa we wa!  I still wonder how the band wagon faithful all got down here but I've drawn some conclusions.  One of my co-workers angrily got on the Metra today, packed next to other passengers taking swings out of a Captain Morgan bottle...at 7:40 a.m.  Class.  The other toothless avengers no doubt took the South Shore Line. (Hello, Michigan City, Indiana!)  Other idiots probably drove in, feverishly bitched about "25 DOLLARS FOR THE FIRST 30 MINUTES," then undoubtedly sold their first born for a parking spot on LaSalle.  Don't believe me?  I saw it.  Like I said, safety from my cubicle.

(Photo below stolen from a girl on my old team!)

I still prefer a sea of red at a Cardinals game ;)  Have to stay, this is still pretty surreal.  Oh, and Patrick Kane still apparently has the mullet.  He's still a gross douche, maybe Clearasil will sign him a deal until he grows out of puberty.

Sspeling iz harde.

Today I was searching for ESPN Spelling Bee outtakes.  (Yes, seriously.  Shut up.)  When I made the below mistake and, in my defense, it was because I was typing too fast.  Google P'WNED!

Anyway, I found them so enjoy!

I got a text that said this...

and it made me laugh.

At least Gary Coleman's casket will have his name on it.

What You See Isn't Always What You Get

When people say "social media" I cringe just a little bit.  Do I use the term from time to time?  Guilty.  Media is inherently social so to throw any adjective in front of it is redundant and unnecessary.  Think of the last TV commercial, :30 online pre-roll, or print ad that really stuck out in your head; the one you talked about with another person.  "Did you see ____?"  The average person is exposed to thousands of advertising messages every day and this number continues to grow.  Any client at my company is constantly pushing us to "try harder" in the pursuit of that magical word...buzz.  The client needs press coverage, event sponsorships, water cooler chit-chat!  For many, this is a measure of success.

After a few years of scattered professionalism in this business I can honestly say that unless you have a message that someone wants and simultaneously needs to hear, then you have to fight like hell to get them to care.  Once in awhile a company finds some unimaginable luck that skyrockets to super stardom.  More often, success comes with momentum similar to Sisyphus' eternal struggle. 

I'm currently working on a campaign that I know can make a difference and is something that people need to care.  Is the process behind it all painfully tedious?  Absolutely.  But take note reader, you are destined to hear about it so I hope it gets you talking.  For a preview visit Save11 or XTheText.