It's All Hallow's Eve time here in SF. Lots of parties this weekend. Lots of freaks in the street. Good times all around.
My art director Jess, my man Joel and I went to a house party in Bernal Heights. Of course it would more aptly be named a mansion party. The doctor who owns it throws the party every year. It's pricey to get in but all the money is donated to charity. There's also an open bar, Mariachi bands, DJs, live bands, secret passageways around the house. It was nuts.
Some of the best costumes included a giant sized Snoopy, a Miner with a bear trap around his leg, Gumby done in lights, Jess as a peacock, Joel as the bearded lady, and various super heroes including one gent who appeared to be Super Sperm.
I myself was Spider Pig. If you don't know what a Spider Pig is, check the following: http://youtube.com/watch?v=714-Ioa4XQw
It was one of those last minute bits of genius that came after a lot of thinking about the Halloween costume. Pictures to come.
10.28.2007
10.21.2007
Convert #1
I moved out here a bit on my own. I had a few people I knew from Ad School. People I'd shared a beer and a few classes with but that's about it. No one who understands my need to watch all things Carolina athletics. No one who finds my car obsession "cute" rather than wholly neurotic.
And that's not to say Joel finds me any more sane, but we have mutual experiences which puts him more firmly into the tolerant friend category. Murphy's Lunch Fried Chicken. Late night games of Quake. Trips to the caves that I bailed on. (Thank goodness, it poured rain.) Screaming at the TV during the Carolina / dook game. And now one more experience we share. He just moved to San Francisco.
It's also been a bit interesting to watch him go through some of the same moments I first had. Starting with, "Holy Crap I'm actually here. I really did this. What was I thinking?" All the way to, "This is a pretty cool place to live."
I'm hoping today was more of the latter for him. It certainly was for me. My new friend and Art Director Jessica ran a marathon today. Let me go ahead and get this out of the way: I'm a lazy-ass. Moving on. Some of the other creatives in the office, Joel and I went down to the marathon route to cheer her on. We actually managed to find a spot close to the finish that she would pass by twice so we could get in twice the cheering. And thus, twice the good karma.
She ran by the first time (mile 16) and we were appropriately loud and obnoxious. And as serendipity would have it, we were also feet away from the beach. On a cloudless, fogless, perfect day. We walked down to the beach and popped open snacks. Mimosas. Little Debbie Snack cakes. Chips and salsa. Threw a football around. Attempted to catch it. Sometimes.
There were also moments where all we could do was stand around and look up and down the beach. It was incredible. Rock formations jutting out into the water. To the North, a gorgeous view of Marin and the few houses lucky enough to see both the Pacific and have a view of downtown SF. To the South, an area appropriately called Pacifica. After a good solid two hours of drinking, eating, throwing, catching, finger jamming, and ogling at nature, we headed back up to cheer Jessica to the finish.
We also cheered for an awful lot of other people. Probably because we had just spent two hours on a beach indulging ourselves. These people had just spent 4.5-5 hours running and raising 18.5 Million dollars to fight Leukemia. So we clapped and yelled for strangers. They certainly deserved it.
Then we clapped and cheered for Jess and her friend Colleen. They looked unhappy, happy, and loony all at the same time. We made a walk down to the finish line but it was slammed with people, DJs, guys in tuxes handing out Tiffany jewelry boxes (it was the SF Women's Marathon) and enough well wishers that we were none too sure we'd actually find Jess. But we were sure she would be well congratulated.
On the way home she called to thank us. She said she cried like a 12 year old. If I'd run that far all just to get a necklace from a guy in a tux, I probably would have too.
So now I've got an old friend here from back East. And it seems like I've got a couple new old friends as well.
And that's not to say Joel finds me any more sane, but we have mutual experiences which puts him more firmly into the tolerant friend category. Murphy's Lunch Fried Chicken. Late night games of Quake. Trips to the caves that I bailed on. (Thank goodness, it poured rain.) Screaming at the TV during the Carolina / dook game. And now one more experience we share. He just moved to San Francisco.
It's also been a bit interesting to watch him go through some of the same moments I first had. Starting with, "Holy Crap I'm actually here. I really did this. What was I thinking?" All the way to, "This is a pretty cool place to live."
I'm hoping today was more of the latter for him. It certainly was for me. My new friend and Art Director Jessica ran a marathon today. Let me go ahead and get this out of the way: I'm a lazy-ass. Moving on. Some of the other creatives in the office, Joel and I went down to the marathon route to cheer her on. We actually managed to find a spot close to the finish that she would pass by twice so we could get in twice the cheering. And thus, twice the good karma.
She ran by the first time (mile 16) and we were appropriately loud and obnoxious. And as serendipity would have it, we were also feet away from the beach. On a cloudless, fogless, perfect day. We walked down to the beach and popped open snacks. Mimosas. Little Debbie Snack cakes. Chips and salsa. Threw a football around. Attempted to catch it. Sometimes.
There were also moments where all we could do was stand around and look up and down the beach. It was incredible. Rock formations jutting out into the water. To the North, a gorgeous view of Marin and the few houses lucky enough to see both the Pacific and have a view of downtown SF. To the South, an area appropriately called Pacifica. After a good solid two hours of drinking, eating, throwing, catching, finger jamming, and ogling at nature, we headed back up to cheer Jessica to the finish.
We also cheered for an awful lot of other people. Probably because we had just spent two hours on a beach indulging ourselves. These people had just spent 4.5-5 hours running and raising 18.5 Million dollars to fight Leukemia. So we clapped and yelled for strangers. They certainly deserved it.
Then we clapped and cheered for Jess and her friend Colleen. They looked unhappy, happy, and loony all at the same time. We made a walk down to the finish line but it was slammed with people, DJs, guys in tuxes handing out Tiffany jewelry boxes (it was the SF Women's Marathon) and enough well wishers that we were none too sure we'd actually find Jess. But we were sure she would be well congratulated.
On the way home she called to thank us. She said she cried like a 12 year old. If I'd run that far all just to get a necklace from a guy in a tux, I probably would have too.
So now I've got an old friend here from back East. And it seems like I've got a couple new old friends as well.
10.05.2007
SF Profile #4: My favorite pan handler.
Homelessness is a big problem in San Francisco. Lots of money. Moderate climate. Lots of social programs. All add up to a place those on the margins can actually eek out an existence.
Which means I've seen many different approaches to asking for money. They guy who just sleeps but leaves his cup waiting for your dollar. The guy who's on the same corner every morning in his electric wheelchair. The man who uses a fishing set-up with his cup on a string. Some are truly heart wrenching. Some are angry at the world. I try to respond when asked, even if only to say I don't have any change on me. These are people and by responding I keep track of that. One time a woman actually responded "bullshit" when I said I didn't have any change. I was telling the truth and her response made me a little more callous for a few days.
But my favorite guy, I'm not sure he's actually homeless. His tact is to tell the truth. I pass by him on my way to and from the gym and he often shouts out, "Can somebody help me out here, I'm trying to get inebriated!" The blatant honesty makes me laugh every time. This incantation is often followed with, "I'm tired of lying about cheeseburgers I'm not gonna eat." This is not a new approach of course, but he doesn't hold a sign and let's his voice carry him through. He also seems oddly upbeat, perhaps drunk, all the time.
I feel for anyone who has to struggle with being poor. Especially those who are forced into the streets. The fact that he is able to laugh at his situation says a lot. I just hope it's working and that just maybe he actually is lying and using the money for something more than just a stiff drink.
Which means I've seen many different approaches to asking for money. They guy who just sleeps but leaves his cup waiting for your dollar. The guy who's on the same corner every morning in his electric wheelchair. The man who uses a fishing set-up with his cup on a string. Some are truly heart wrenching. Some are angry at the world. I try to respond when asked, even if only to say I don't have any change on me. These are people and by responding I keep track of that. One time a woman actually responded "bullshit" when I said I didn't have any change. I was telling the truth and her response made me a little more callous for a few days.
But my favorite guy, I'm not sure he's actually homeless. His tact is to tell the truth. I pass by him on my way to and from the gym and he often shouts out, "Can somebody help me out here, I'm trying to get inebriated!" The blatant honesty makes me laugh every time. This incantation is often followed with, "I'm tired of lying about cheeseburgers I'm not gonna eat." This is not a new approach of course, but he doesn't hold a sign and let's his voice carry him through. He also seems oddly upbeat, perhaps drunk, all the time.
I feel for anyone who has to struggle with being poor. Especially those who are forced into the streets. The fact that he is able to laugh at his situation says a lot. I just hope it's working and that just maybe he actually is lying and using the money for something more than just a stiff drink.
In breaking news, it rained.
I realize rain doesn't seem like much but literally I had not seen rain since moving here June 3rd. Plenty of fog. No rain. But, precipitation finally fell.
In other news, I think my partner and I sold some TV ideas to Infineon raceway. Not the ones I was hoping to sell. Not the ones she was hoping to sell. The campaign was a direction they had asked for. We quickly created a version that at least could be interesting. Now we have to make it great. And original. I think we can get there.
Also had a good meeting with a smaller client we are trying to grow into a bigger client. They are a men's barbershop but do things a bit different. When you walk in, it feels like a boutique hotel bar. High class, black leather furniture, big screen TVs all over the place. Basically a man room any middle class guy would kill to have. And most upper class guys probably do. Good hair cuts. Good conversations with real guys. They have big dreams and hopefully, we can help make the big thinking real. The gentlemen who own / run the business are quite smart and the type of clients agencies dream about.
It's cool because in both of these instances, I don't think something like this could have happened at my old shop. Too big for either of these clients. But that also has a downside. Neither of these clients have much of anything for production budgets. Which forces some really creative solutions but also limits some of the things you might like to do.
Most of my time has been spent lately on projects and clients which feels pretty good. I've been expanding the social base mostly by having old friends move out here. Three fraternity brothers have made it out here since my arrival. Another friend from Winston is coming out in a week. And the cool part is that I have people to introduce all of them too.
I'm hoping my time out here is filled with these moments of breaking news and firsts. I have my fingers crossed that new experiences happen all the time. So far so good.
In other news, I think my partner and I sold some TV ideas to Infineon raceway. Not the ones I was hoping to sell. Not the ones she was hoping to sell. The campaign was a direction they had asked for. We quickly created a version that at least could be interesting. Now we have to make it great. And original. I think we can get there.
Also had a good meeting with a smaller client we are trying to grow into a bigger client. They are a men's barbershop but do things a bit different. When you walk in, it feels like a boutique hotel bar. High class, black leather furniture, big screen TVs all over the place. Basically a man room any middle class guy would kill to have. And most upper class guys probably do. Good hair cuts. Good conversations with real guys. They have big dreams and hopefully, we can help make the big thinking real. The gentlemen who own / run the business are quite smart and the type of clients agencies dream about.
It's cool because in both of these instances, I don't think something like this could have happened at my old shop. Too big for either of these clients. But that also has a downside. Neither of these clients have much of anything for production budgets. Which forces some really creative solutions but also limits some of the things you might like to do.
Most of my time has been spent lately on projects and clients which feels pretty good. I've been expanding the social base mostly by having old friends move out here. Three fraternity brothers have made it out here since my arrival. Another friend from Winston is coming out in a week. And the cool part is that I have people to introduce all of them too.
I'm hoping my time out here is filled with these moments of breaking news and firsts. I have my fingers crossed that new experiences happen all the time. So far so good.
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