life in samsonite

So I’m getting into the game. Pollack was stoked with the good news.

Miami Ad School accepted me into their copywriting portfolio program. 2 years. 8 quarters - the first four I’ll do at their San Francisco campus, which means some samsoniting to the Bay Area. I’ll tell you – I’m most excited about the mountain biking trails up there. Heard they’re great. Plus the air is cleaner up there, and there are lots of like minded hippie Jews I can roam around with. I’ve always wanted to check out the Mission Minyan too. Getting there will be much easier now.

So I’m thinking about starting a new blog focused on green advertising! I want to scour and gather like only an urbanEskimo can, and observe green ad campaigns from big and small companies. I want to see what works, what doesn’t, who’s authentic, and what’s artificial. I’m curious to see where the sustainability movement is headed. It’s got potential to move from fad to reality and truly make an impact and bring about concrete change, but can just as easily lose that momentum through obtuse corporate greenwashing and the average consumer’s apathy. Advertising, whether for business or the social good, is at its core the effective delivery of a message: buy our pants, vote on Nov. 4, don’t drink and drive…Public opinion can be influenced, with the right words, the right phrase, and the right method. I just hope we’re not that far off that that delivery will be impossible. Really. That’s one of the reasons I’m getting into this game.

If you’ve got any ideas for the blog name, let me know. And Chad, if you’re reading this – I need to learn CSS. Tell me how. Los blogs are ready for a makeover. And Jenny Jones is booked all week, that biatch.

Miami is Miami. Like LA, only girls show more skin, which is great because some chemicals in the air make their boobs grow three times as big. Book your flights now ladies. Oh, and watch where you walk out there. In a little over four days I almost got hit twice, I got into a mad dog Valley stare down with a 60 year old Cuban woman right outside Subway - definitely a first – and had our rental car smacked by a drunk Haitian construction worker. Motherfucker this, motherfucker that. Have a great day, boss! My mom gave him the finger, as she should. The city is built like Westwood, with more rivers and bridges, tattoo parlors on every corner, but only one bookstore in South Beach. It’s got a Euro feel, with cafés that stay open till four, people spilling onto the sidewalk just like in Italy… Miami is a fat cake of sexiness, but if you’re looking for even a small slice of intellect you’re shit out of luck. Not just out of, shit out of. The latter is much worse.

Having a blog is like having an open house, to your head, all the time. Wade stepped in a few days ago. Zen Master. Compassion seeker.  He knows what’s up. Nice to meet and greet.

Read this post of his: 8 ways to develop mindfulness. Very helpful. #s 2 and 4 are where it’s at.

I’m about to take over YouTube. You saw it here first.

the lyrics are on the Words page.

Also updated Who I Am.

Updates: Miami Ad school app is done. I think my grandma is dying and I want to make a video about it. Not the death, but everyone’s reactions to it, and last memories of her. It’s 94 degrees in my room. I go mountain biking or hiking every day, and I thought I broke my ass bone because of one of those 2 activities. I’m reading the Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts and it rocks. 66 people died in a train wreck in China. I know that thats sad, but seriously, that’s something like .0000066 percent of all the Chinese people on Earth, perhaps just China. I’m just saying. Break out the samsonites! hi molly!

I’m one of 60 posters for this israel blog, that’s supposed to celebrate the state. turning 60. through the INTERNET.

Anyways. If you want a summation of my Israel experiences, go here.

If you want to donate your kidneys, please click here.

Happy Passover. Stay clean, and stay sober.  Ha. Just kidding. You should get really, really intoxicated.  It’ll make Jesus Hashem happy.

I’ve never seen I<3Huckabees, and with good reason: I’ve never even been able to grasp the concept of existentialism, until a few days ago.  Maybe it’s like Kabbalah; you need to be married and over 40 to even start it. But alas, I still haven’t reached quarter life and I’m single tingle and ready to mingle. Christ, was that lame. Digression!

Existentialism, as I understand it - and as Wikipedia explains it - is the belief that we, human beings, draw meaning from personal values, decisions, and actions, as opposed to some higher power, force, or authority. “I think therefore I am,” besides being an reprehensible grammatic error, evokes power in the one who says it.

Fuck searching for yourself.

Create yourself.

The part that really resonated with me and my elbows was the concept of absurdity, in that life IS absurd. And so is death.  most of us live life thinking, irrationally, that tomorrow brings hope, all the while edging closer and closer to the certainty of death and the end. But we fail to see that plain truth, that we all die in the end, life is pretty much meaningless - till we create it ourselves - and we tend to lead a more secure, stable route, thinking again wrongly, that stability and safety will lead to prosperity and reward.

God. Where are we these days? But why? Why do we take Road A instead of G,H,I, or J? Because confronting that irrationality and going on a quest for deeper meaning is so imposing and burdensome, the body and mind undertake a self-sabotaging mission to thwart those chances for self-discovery.  That, at least for me, is what this whole id vs. ego tug is all about. Safety and stability versus adventure and risk.

But I’d take risk any day.

I’m leaving Santa Monica. Just confirmed with the flatmate. On the eve of possibly securing a job in an agency. Yum. Only recently have I grown close with my neighbors.  Israelites. He’s a furniture maker, they’ve got great kids, and he smokes. He’s got a lot to teach, and they’re fucking amazing parents.

Laughing the other day, like never before. I’m working on a company re-brand for an agency, a sort of trial run to see if I can cut it.  One of those moments that are few and far between - (if you think about that phrase, that makes SO much sense clarity. It wasn’t an out of body experience, but my vision and perspective had shifted outwards. I was, for a few minutes, able to observe myself as an outsider, examining where I was it, what I was doing. 24, thinking creatively, branding an eco-friendly company, with zero experience.  I realized that that’s exactly what I wanted, years and years ago. I swear. I saw myself doing this, no, merely wished I’d be doing stuff like this - and there it fell, right into my lap, a gift, my narrow minded self not paying attention.  It was hysterical.  How often are we so focused on the now, living mechanically, unable to see those moments of beautiful clarity.  It calmed me down instantly, seeing that what I’ve hoped for was being put in front of me. And however it pans out, it was a cherished 240 seconds.

I’ve been using sunscreen regularly. I read on Wikipedia that sunblock only prevents penetration of UVA/UBV rays. It doesn’t really protect against melanoma. Even 45. And 70. We’re all screwed. Starting with the fair-skinned, freckled, pale Jews.

Not so sure about Thailand. Gonna need to check the weather. Willing to even hold off so that I go during the down under summer. What’s the point? I guess there are more places. honestly now. you’re being evasive. What’s the real reason? I want to travel with someone, a partner, a lover. What a way to see the world. And to be with one person. For that long. You’ll either kill yourself or need to buy a wedding band in the duty free shop.

And creativity on demand is tough as hell. Mark that. But shit, I do think I am ready for this.

it’s 3:34.

1.  the mustache is gone. the molester look wasn’t working out.
2. i’m applying to advertising school. so i can pay cash. and get a portfolio. and produce stuff. is it possible to teach creativity? perhaps i am unpopped kernel. ad school is the microwave.
3. i am the king of procrastination.
4. i want to travel. and travel i shall. new zealand. australia. thailand. join the protesters and fight the chinese in Lhasa. Dalai lama here i come. make me some lentils and i will do your bidding.
5. i’m traveling. hence, the move out of santa monica, back to the valley, airports, planes, trains, and australians. Los Angeles, you were never mine to begin with.
6. It’s hard to be creative on demand. never realized that.
7. I’m listening to a lot of Cut Copy. they are the shizza and you should pandorize them. or last fm them.
8. why did i buy all this stuff? why do i still have it?
9. my brother gil turned 23. i made him a card with using pictures of a jewish orthodox laundromat owner. the copy: not your average hyphenated american. he laughed. i enjoyed making the card. its my zen time. tell me when your birthday is and I’ll make  you one. i just need a few magazines to chop up.
10. it is sunny. and it stopped being so fucking windy. what is with you. the palm trees a mile away are still standing, but dancing, leaning, bending  in her graces.
11. it’s time for us all to stop worrying and start living.
12. that about wraps it up.