Is your daddy a cobbler...because you are clobbering me...

(What, that joke doesn't work?)

Yesterday I ran across a cobbler whose kids didn't have any shoes. It was awkward because I knew he didn't have any, and there I was wearing two pairs (one on my hands of course for safe keeping). But he was very nice about it. I tried to give him a pair when I learned of his doings, but he would have none of it claiming that the sizes would just not work. So there's that. And since then I've been thinking about why the cobbler would not want a second pair of shoes. Perhaps it is because he makes shoes for a living and what we do for a living we inherently don't care to do outside of it. Too much of a good thing is still just too much?

At least these were the things I contemplated in my 10 minute dream between snooze buttons.

Inno-vention?

Two things I stumbled upon today that both led me to Google the word "Innovation". Of course the results for both were Wikipedia. But there was an interesting piece in the article that caught my attention: A distinction is typically made between invention, an idea made manifest, and innovation, ideas applied successfully.

The reason that's so interesting to me is that 1) I always thought that they were closely related, 2) I think that innovation is the best form of invention, and 3) if I had to choose which word was my favorite, I would undoubtedly choose "innovation".

In my mind, innovation is a type of invention; it's the way in which we look at the current world we're working in (be it the actual world or the world of online media or the world of politics, etc) and imagine a different outcome. It's about being able to think differently, push the envelope, have foresight, and shape the future.

Invention to me seems to be the solution to a current or existing problem.

Don't get me wrong, I think that these can both exist together, and in reality, I think they must in order to continue to advance socially, politically, etc. But does it seem like one is addressing our past while the other addresses our future? If you ask me, I would fall on the side of the future any day.

I mean, it's not like these two words are going to war. And we certainly don't have a lot of philosophical minds debating to determine the future of these words in a world where only one can exist. But why invent when we can innovate? The suffix -ent literally means "to form"; meanwhile the suffix -ate means "to do".

I say, just "-ate" it!

Sunday Quotable

“Life is the sum of all your choices.” — Albert Camus

It's like compounded interest though...because each choice builds upon the next. And it's not until the end that we see the final product. It's interesting to think though that every choice builds us up. Even if we think that they tear us down, they just continue to add our lives.

Ok, Bacardi, You Caught My Attention

Let's forget for a moment that sometimes alcohol companies get blamed for targeting underage consumers. And let's forget that sometimes advertising is considered the downfall of, well, America causing consumerism galore. Putting that aside, I think that liquor companies have always (ok, ok mostly) done a really good job with marketing and advertising. They push the boundaries of where they should be playing, they do a good job of targeting the right consumers (especially the "luxury" brands), and they aren't afraid to take risks. Actually, they HAVE TO in order to stand out and try to influence the tastes of very fickle, always changing generations. Working in the advertising/media industry, I am constantly amazed (and largely surprised...and very excited) that clients actually approved these strategies and ideas. It makes me love advertising.

Anyway, I really like the new Barcardi ad where the guy goes through different time periods to get the best mojito. But the best part of that ad is the music: Daylight from Matt and Kim. Seriously, check out the song, you'll love it. My brother was actually the first one who recommended it to me...and wanna know why? Because he heard it in a Baracardi commercial.


Anyway, check out this song because it really is awesome. And when you're done, check out some of there other stuff. Lesson Learned: The song is pretty good but the music video kills. I love it.

American Rockstar???

I figured that I better write down and share my American Idol experience before the time to stop milking it comes (which is probably pretty soon).

Saturday
5:30 am - Get up. Stare at clock. Think about getting out of bed. Cry. Pretend I'm going to get out of bed. Sleep for another 2 hours.
8:00 am - Jump out of bed and practically straight into a cab. A little bit too late, I think about my hair. Eh, it's alright, I'm going to Susan Boyle it.
8:30 am - Registration journey begins. In line with several people who have tried out before, feeling anxious. Wish I was with someone I knew.
9:30 am - Done. I was so worried that they weren't going to take my work ID as a real ID, that I actually forgot how old I was; they couldn't have cared less.

Sunday
1 pm to about 5 pm - Julie "Drill Sergeant" Campbell helped me go through and sing about a hundred songs before we settled on a few to sing for the family.
5:15 pm - 5:16 pm - 3 song show.



Monday
4 am - Woke up on the wrong side of 4 am. Fame isn't worth this.
6 am - In line with some crazies...I do love this.
7:30 am - They start letting us into the United Center. Several cameras have come by and quite a few Radio DJs have interviewed people in line over their cell phones. Lots of people are singing, more people are getting/giving advice, and everybody is drinking coke zero.
8:15 am - We film lots of screaming: "Welcome to Chi-Town"; "Welcome to the Chi,il"; "Season 9 Idol", etc, etc.
9:45 am - Waiting starts. Screeching from the floor begins. Auditions have commenced. It's actually really hard to wait for ridiculously long periods of time on your own. So I made some friends around me. There were the three people from the southern-most point in Indiana; they were trying to get their original music heard. The girls behind me were larger-than-life Italians that scammed the system by pretending to be "handicapped" (read: twisted ankle) so they didn't have to wait in line; by any stretch of the imagination, I did not believe that they could be famous. From afar, I saw a couple of drag queens in tutus, but I could hear their operatic voices reverberating off the hallway ceilings. It was pretty cool.
5 hours, a pretzel and 2 diet cokes later - They finally call the section next to us. From our section, cheers erupt as does my stomach. As we make our way down to the United Center center floor, I can see the 12 tables they've lined up. There are 2 producers behind each table; we approach them in groups of 4. It's blurry. The guy ahead of me makes it through. I step up; I start singing Celine Dion. "You were my strength when I was weak/ you were my voice when I couldn't speak/ you were my eyes when I couldn't see/ you saw the best there was in me/ lifted me up when I couldn't speak/ you gave me faith cause you believed...I'm everything I am because you loved me." Except I missed the note on faith by a full mile, and I knew it. 3 other girls sing. We're all called to the table. "You, you, and you, sorry, you're not what we're looking for this season"...which left just me, standing there, shocked. The judges were split/undecided, so I got a second chance.

American Idol Producer: Why did you sing Celine Dion?
Me (fumbling...): Well, I, uh, think that, uh that's the kinda music I would make.
AIP: Well, you're not Adult Contemporary.
Me: Ok...I -
AIP: And you're not Celine Dion.
Me: Uhhhh - Thank you...?
AIP: Ok well we're going to give you another shot. Do you have anything else?
Me: Yeah, you know I really see myself as more of a singer /songwriter anyway.
[I sing about 20 seconds of "Goodbye to You".]
AIP: You're a good singer; keep singing. Unfortunately, I think that there are some better singers than you in Season 9.
[I exit out the non-winners' hallway.]

And that was it. That was my American Idol experience. Maybe you'll see me during the Chicago auditions day, but most likely you won't. Despite the early mornings, despite the waiting, despite the rejection, it was worth it. I'm not quite famous, but I do get to say that I did it.



And lucky for American Idol that next season I won't be able to sit there and scream at my TV set that I was better than those crazies...Instead, I was just one of them.

I want this Rockstar

I am such a dork...but I love, love, love this commercial.

Through the looking glass...

Ohhhhhhh I obsessed with this right now.