Life at an Ad Agency

I saw some of the funniest events at work today, and I work for a generally funny digital ad agency. As a creative group, we like to have our fun - nerf dart wars, the entire floor singing happy birthday to a co-worker in Chinese, a full floor of people erupting into applause at random times in the day for no good reason, and sharing 5-pound Hershey's chocolate bars among teammates. All of these things have happened in the past 24 hours.

Today I saw a copywriter take the ultimate revenge against a designer. These two teammates of mine always get along well, but the designer tends to be a bit of a smart-ass, which made him a great target.

Rob, the Senior Designer on the team, came in to work on a Friday morning and started having trouble with his large monitor. (Designers have a smaller laptop with monitor but also a large monitor to view details more easily.) Every so often his large monitor would go out for no apparent reason. It would just go blank. But then it would eventually come back up again.

After several rounds of this frustration, he talked to his creative team and showed them what was happening and they all agreed that it was a problem. Sometimes he would be walking through a design with a co-worker and his screen would suddenly go blank, and he used many, many curse-words to share his feelings on the matter. He eventually called Support which takes two days to respond anyway.

After a while I noticed that my teammates were acting strangely. The Senior Copywriter seemed to be giggling to himself and banging his coffee mug on desks more than normal. An Art Director seemed to be jumping around and more animated than normal. Everyone seemed to use clapping as part of their communications more than normal.

I finally caught on when I saw hidden laughter among the cube-mates. Will, the Senior Copywriter on the team, bought 'The Clapper' along with an adapter to hook it up to Rob's large monitor's on/off switch. Every time someone made two somewhat-loud noises near Rob's desk, his monitor would turn on or off in a 2-second delay, depending on prior state.

This was so incredibly entertaining all day because Rob is so easily frustrated. He would get so mad at his monitor and shout sudden profanities at his computer. Sometime around mid-day Rob even noticed that the Art Director was acting weird and she just pranced off and said she's just a big circus monkey and no one even thought twice about it because that's just how Nicole is. I couldn't believe how the other creative folks kept such straight faces through his tantrums all day. Once I had to leave a quick creative review at his desk because I was going to lose it.

Anyway, I've come to realize that my creative team members are masters of deception. This clapper extravaganza absolutely made my Friday. Unfortunately Rob has to go to a funeral on Monday and Tuesday, and although we all felt a little bad, we still plan to unplug the clapper and re-install in a few weeks to really make him lose his mind once he feels better.

A few funny sites...

These are updated frequently, some every day, some multiple times a day. More experienced web-surfers have probably seen most of these, but thought I'd share anyway.

These two are parts of the same site, but have to point out both...great fun...not only are they hilarious to read, you can post captions, pictures, etc. of your own.
http://www.failblog.org/
http://www.icanhascheezburger.com/

The best news site in existence...followed this for years. I started reading it in print in Chicago years ago. We'd pick up a copy on our way into the Irish Oak, a bar on the block next to Wrigley.
http://www.theonion.com/ (it's officially going out of print, sniffle...)

Obscure blog about cute animals with huge egos...don't be put off by the profane title, Catholic readers, it's worth the occasional curse-word. It's hilarious...started following this one last year.
http://www.fuckyoupenguin.blogspot.com/

Hope these bring a giggle. Scratch that - I hope these bring a good belly laugh.

Flying Pig Flu

They say that the swine flu virus was a combination of swine and avian flu strains...so....it's truly the flying pig flu. Thank goodness I'm not running the Pig this weekend, as if I could if I tried! I bet I could manage a mile (yeah, just one mile of the 26). I certainly wish all runners/walkers well. :-)

Gran Slang.....humbug.

As I flipped through radio stations last Friday, I heard an announcer mention 'gran slang', an online dictionary for youngsters to better understand what their grandparents are talking about. I remember my Grandma Smith referring to their couch as the 'davenport' and I had no idea what she was talking about. I couldn't wait to check out this online dictionary...until I found out that I couldn't find it anywhere online.

A British firm called Home & Capital Advisers sent a press release to announce their efforts to help 'inter-generational communication'. They get an A for publicity but an F for everything else. Maybe I'm the only one who can't find it, but I looked for a long time and I'm generally pretty savvy online. The only Home & Capital Advisers 'dictionary' that I could find was embedded in a PDF press release, and the 'gran slang' section was a whopping one page long.

Although I'm not aware of other 'gran slang' dictionaries for young folk to understand the older folk, there are other options for older folk trying to understand the young folk. I check out http://www.urbandictionary.com/ every so often. It's all user-generated content, so not everything is legitimate, but other visitors vote on each term as thumbs-up or thumbs-down. A lot of the terms are hilarious. A recent example..."carcolepsy - a condition affecting buddies on a trip who fall asleep as soon as the car starts moving, providing no company or driving help. Example: 'Joe slept the whole way here, I think he suffers from carcolepsy.'"

I highly doubt that teenagers are running around using the term 'carcolepsy' or 'shyPod' or 'laundry limbo'...but it's great fun to read. Some terms are a little raunchy but it's all in good fun.

Sorry to report about those 'gran slang' lickspittles and all their hullaballoo...we won't dwell on their poppycock, we'll just move on to find better eggs.

The Smitten Is the Snuggie of Hand-Warming Devices

The Smitten - gangster of gloves - can't keep your hands warm on your own, eh?

This roaming phalangeror looks to flirt frivolously with any hands available. The Smitten targets a vulnerable market segment - affection-seeking humans who type on keyboards and mobile devices. Because we can't type in mittens, our fingers are freaking cold...and very lonely.

Trust me - the Smitten wants to own your phalanges. The Smitten is the thief of thumbs, plunderer of pointers, marauder of middle fingers, robber of ring fingers, and pillager of pinkies.

Do not fall prey to the advertising scheme of the Smitten! Be strong, turn up your thermostat, and visit an online dating service immediately.

Month's Worth of Entries, Rolled Into One Rant (Get Comfy, It's a Long One)

On this lovely, icy Friday, I'd like to raise my (extra large) glass of wine in a toast to the week of January 26, 2009. Good riddance to this week and the horse it rode in on.

A very unassuming heating/cooling expert spoke words of wisdom to me this week...that home maintenance problems 'come in threes'...we laughed.

Preface: I knew from the start that I had a big work week ahead of me. I had two big client presentations and a lot of prep work to do. I expected a 60-hour week. I didn't expect that I would also need to allocate time and lots and lots of money to my home - the very place where I usually find the most comfort and security! I also didn't expect that the tri-state would be hit with a three-pronged winter storm at the same time. I'll provide a play-by-play between me and Phoebe, my pup.
**Warning - Get comfortable - this is a near-novella disguised as a blog post!!**

Sunday, 1/25, Evening
Emily: "I have a big week ahead of me, Phoebe."
Phoebe: "Sucks to be you, I'll be right here napping. It feels kinda cold in here, I'm gonna curl up on this heap of clean clothes over here and leave my fur all over it. Turn off the light, will ya? I'm tryin' to sleep."

Monday, 1/26, Morning
Emily: "Brr, it feels kinda cold in here. Probably because it's 55 degrees. I'm gonna restart the furnace and hope it warms up by the time I get back from work."
Phoebe: "It better warm up, or I'm gonna expose you for the neglectful parent that you are. Then I'll sue your a** for physical and emotional damages."
Emily: "Right-o, Phoebe. I have a big day ahead of me at work, I better start lookin' good. I'm gonna blow dry my hair straight today."
(Emily turns on blow dryer.)
-- Zap --
Phoebe: "What the F***, dude!?!?"
Emily: "Don't panic, sweet little pup. We've blown a fuse. I'll unplug the heater and go flip the breaker down in the basement."
(Emily flips all breakers multiple times.)
Phoebe: "Dude, it's not working. You broke it. Now we only have electric downstairs."
Emily: "Sorry, Pheebs...I will call an electrician if I can't figure it out tonight."
Phoebe: "Fine, I'll just live in squalor today like a common street dog. As if you care."

Monday, 1/26, Evening
Emily: "Brrrr, it's fifty degrees in here. Sorry, Phoebinator. Better call the heating guys."
Phoebe: "No s***, Sherlock. I've been freezing all d*** day and I couldn't fall asleep to the TV upstairs like usual for my two afternoon naps. Now gimme my dinner. And don't call me 'Phoebinator.'"
Emily: "Let's turn on the space heater downstairs to stay warm tonight."

Tuesday, 1/27, Early Morning
Emily: "We got hit with a major winter storm. You're going to have to let me do my work here today."
Phoebe: "Thanks, meteorologist Charek...are you going to cover top news stories and traffic too?"
Emily: "I have calls in to the heating guys and the electrician. They'll be visiting this morning, so you'll need to behave for our visitors."
Phoebe: "Are you s***ing me? I hardly ever get to sniff and jump on strangers, and these people are coming in willingly. You're also paying them well, so I'm gonna go stretch out in preparation."

Tuesday, 1/27, Late Morning
Phoebe: "Somebody at the door! Somebody at the door! Somebody at the door!"
(Emily lets the heating woman, Tara, into the house.)
Phoebe: "Tara looks like a man, but she's a woman?"
(Emily shushes Phoebe.)
Emily: "Hi Tara, I'll show you to the basement and explain what's going on."
Phoebe: "The d*** furnace is 15 years old, it's a f***ing goner, face it. Now let me sniff you."
(Emily and Tara check out the furnace and decide it's necessary to replace. Tara calls a sales rep. Tara leaves.)

Tuesday, 1/27, Noon
Emily: "Phoebe, I have conference calls and need you to behave."
(Emily spends five minutes on the call.)
Phoebe: "Somebody at the door! Somebody at the door! Somebody at the door!"
(Doorbell rings, Emily exits conference call and lets electrician in.)
Phoebe: "John has really dark skin that makes me bark and sniff even more than usual!! Look out!!!"
Emily: "Hello, let me show you to the fuse box in the basement..."
(Emily writes a check to the electrician who shows her how to appropriately flip a breaker in her ancient fuse box. The doorbell rings, and Emily lets the furnace salesman into the house.)
Phoebe: "I've died and gone to heaven!! I can't prioritize where to sniff and jump first!"
(Emily shows the electrician out, brings the furnace guy in and arms him with dog treats. He asks a lot of questions about her house. Emily warns him that she has to lead a conference call at 1pm, so he sells and sells quickly. He gives lots of 'discounts', charges an exorbitant amount, gets Emily's signature. Emily calls in to her conference call. Salesman exits house and shovels Emily's entire driveway and sidewalks to make way for furnace delivery due to Emily's bum knee. Emily expects that the shoveling is baked into the hefty cost.)

Tuesday, 1/27, Late Afternoon
Emily: "Phoebe, we're poor now after the furnace purchase. I need you to stop the online shopping for a while."
Phoebe: "We're poor? What?? But my screen name is "RichB****InOakley"...we can't be poor all of a sudden because of some piece of metal s*** that sits in the basement!?! Why did you spend so much?!?!"
Emily: "Jesus, Mary, Joseph! Furnaces are expensive. So are new gutters, front porches, and other fixes that we need to make soon..."
Phoebe: "I didn't sign up for this!! I put on my calm, sweet face for you thinking that I'd have financial security and my own room and lots of long walks and s***. And I don't want to hear that the economy is tanking and that we can't take long walks because of your knee surgery and that we bought this old s***box because it had 'character' and good location. I'm tired of the f***ing excuses!"
(Emily looks beat-down. The doorbell rings and the furnace delivery men leave the furnace, pipes and other stuff on the side of the house. Emily continues working online for several hours.)
Phoebe: "Somebody at the door! Somebody at the door! Somebody at the door!"
(The doorbell rings. Emily lets the temporary furnace installers in through the side door, they remove the old furnace and install the new one. Emily continues to work online. The new furnace starts and blows smoke into the house, setting off the fire alarm.)
Phoebe: "HOLY S***!!! These people are going to take our whole house down, you moron!!"
(Emily and the heating guy turn off the fire alarm.)
Emily: "Frankly, Phoebe, I don't give a d*** at this point."
(Emily thinks for a moment.)
Emily: "Okay, I take that back. I do care, but you - little princess - are gonna have to suck it up and deal with a few inconveniences while I work my a** off this week and pay through the nose to keep a roof over your pretty little head."
Phoebe: "Oh, I see how this is going to work."
(Phoebe thinks for a moment.)
Phoebe: "I'll cut you some slack since I know you're stressed with work deadlines and home maintenance costs. I just need some space right now. I'll be by the space heater."
(Heater guys leave, smoke clears, and Emily and Phoebe enjoy a warm night of sleep.)

Wednesday, 1/28, 2:14am
Phoebe: "Dear God, I don't pray often. Actually, I've never prayed. My mom is a heathen, so she didn't raise me that way. But I turned out okay, hence I'm praying now. In short, I need your help to give me strength of body and soul to support my mom in a time that is quite stressful due to work and house problems. She was rude to me last night and she actually used a curse word. I can't judge, since I sometimes use curse words, but not often, like her."

Wednesday, 1/28, Morning
Emily: "The roads are sucky. I was supposed to drive to freaking Columbus today for an important meeting. I have to call in for an all-afternoon meeting, so you’ll need to stop the barky-bark during that time. I probably won’t be able to participate since I’ll be on mute due to your loud mouth. I have a ton of work to do today, so it’ll be a late night, then I’ll have to drive in for a meeting tomorrow morning, so be ready for an early morning on Thursday. "
Phoebe: “Okay.”
(Emily works online.)

Wednesday, 1/28, Afternoon
Emily: “I can’t hear s*** on this d*** conference call. This sucks.”
(Emily works online.)

Wednesday, 1/29, Evening
Emily: “I have an 8pm conference call, so you’re going to need to keep quiet for once.”
Phoebe: “At least it is warm in here. I’ve taken nice, long naps today.”
Emily: “Just be nice. I can hardly find time to sleep at all this week.”

Thursday, 1/29, Morning
(Emily goes outside to scrape/defrost the car. She comes back inside.)
Emily: “F**********************!!! My Jeep Liberty has a ½ inch ice glaze on it! How the f*** am I supposed to get to Columbus for the meeting today?”
Phoebe: “Don’t panic - how thick is the ice - are you almost into one of the doors?"
Emily: "Yeah, I think if I can melt some ice, the back rear door might crack."
Phoebe: "Heat up a pot of hot water, pour small amounts on the ice and chip right after."
Emily: "This better work, dude."
(Emily puts hot water on the edges of the back door and it finally opens. Emily gets into the Jeep through the back. She starts the car and begins a long defrost process.)
Emily: "F***********! This d*** snow-on-top-of-ice-on-top-of-snow s*** made me drop down and tweak my bad knee. D***!"
Phoebe: "Take a deep breath and let's take a look at that knee. And let's be reasonable...if we can't chip into the Jeep by 9, we'll determine whether you can make it to Columbus today."
Emily: "I HAVE to make it to Columbus, dude. I am carpooling with Doug, meeting up to carpool, and I'm going to be late!"
Phoebe: "Shoot him a status via e-mail. He'll receive it on his Treo. Here, your next pot of hot water is ready."
(Emily manages to drive to the carpool meet-up point, but Doug is still stuck in bad traffic and road conditions. He gets to the carpool point and they decide to turn back.)
Phoebe: "You're back early!"
Emily: "Yeah, I just spent nearly four freaking hours in the car this morning for nothing. And my boss is going to be f***ing pissed. I'd start packing on extra weight if I were you."
Phoebe: "You did a lot of work on the presentation, you can still participate this afternoon over the phone."

Thursday, 1/29, Afternoon
Emily: "Emily is on the line..."
(Emily struggles to hear anything going on in this very important meeting. She puts herself on mute.)
Emily: “I hear a dripping sound. Do you?”
Phoebe: “Yes…it’s the stained glass window. It is leaking down the wall in the dining room.”
Emily: “F*********************. This is f***ing ridiculous. Why the f*** did I buy this f***ing house in the first f***ing place???? There is water coming in this f***ing window, and I paid to have roofers fix this s*** two years ago. What the f*** does an ice storm do to cause this bull-s***?”
(Emily calmly participates in the conference call as needed. She hangs up after four hours of mumble, feeling defeated.)
Phoebe: "Thanks to my excellent sense of hearing, here are my notes from the meeting."
Emily: "No f***ing way! You took notes?!?"
Phoebe: "Yes, but let's keep this between you and me."
(Emily looks through the notes and follows up with the team via e-mail. She has additional work to do that evening online.)

Friday, 1/30, Morning
Emily: “I don’t give a s*** what I look like today. I’m wearing a sweatshirt and jeans to work after this bull**** week that I’ve had. To top it off, I have a leaky roof and I haven’t heard from the d*** roofers yet, but I have to go in to work for meetings.”
(Emily replaces the towels and pans by the wet wall of her dining room.)
Phoebe: “Be at peace. The roofers will call back. I expect that we need some ice guard on that part of the roof. Perhaps they didn’t do that during their initial repair.”
Emily: “I’m not paying more for this s*** this week. They’ll put ice guard or what-the-f***-ever they need to in order to stop water from running down my already-ruined wallpaper.”
Phoebe: “Yes, they should supply ice guard free of charge, and I will support you in this point of view.”

Friday, 1/30, Evening
(Emily returns home to find that water has ruined her wallpaper on the wall below a stained glass window in her dining room.)
Emily: “Phoebe, I am trying to follow your peaceful example, plus I've had some wine. Once the ice melts from this snow/ice storm, the roofers will return to add rain/ice guard. I do not plan to pay for this service. Do you agree?”
Phoebe: “I agree fully.”
Emily: “We will negotiate a fair deal then, my Phoebinator.”
Phoebe: “Yes we will, Miss Emily. We shall be Team Charek.”
(Emily drinks wine and does lots of toasts to different random things 'in peace.' Phoebe sniffs as usual, eats, goes outside to relieve herself, naps/meditates, also 'in peace.')

My Mailman Is a Killer

Sadly, I'm not joking. Apparently, the guy who used to deliver mail in my area for a few years killed a 52-year-old woman in her home a few blocks away in a suspected drug-related incident. I guess it's hard to think of a government employee living a life like this, and resorting to something like that. I remember seeing a young-ish blond-ish mailman in my neighborhood for a while. He looked like your everyday mailman.

I live in one of those half-townie, half-yuppie parts of town. It is generally safe around here, but we have our one or two token murders on the outskirts each year, usually 'drug-related'.

So - don't worry, mom - I'm not on drugs, I have vigilant neighbors, and I have Phoebe-dog here who will either 1) lick or 2) simply annoy any intruder to death.

In closing, I just wanted to post a warning for any readers planning to attack me:

Phoebe sheds like a mad woman. My friends and family can vouch for the fact that anyone who sets foot on my property will leave with a minimum of thirty Phoebe-hairs on them...just from walking into my foyer or opening my car door...woven so deep into fabric that you'd think someone did a hook-rug on you with Phoebe fur.

And the dander with the fur - stuff you can't even see, but it's there, dude - DNA, baby - Phoebe fur and dander that becomes the fiber of your very being just by looking at my house the wrong way. These skin and hair cells happily traverse wireless, broadband and dial-up connections, so if you're looking me up online, we're already all over that. Consider yourself furred and dandered.

P.S. This 'life insurance' explanation is a great new excuse for not dusting or vacuuming, particularly since the 'ow, I just had ACL surgery' gig was getting stale.

Snuggie™ Review

"The Snuggie™ keeps you totally warm and gives you the freedom to use your hands. Work the remote, use your laptop or do some reading in total warmth and comfort! Snuggie™ is made with super soft, thick, luxurious fleece with roomy, oversized sleeves that let you do what you want while still being totally wrapped in warmth."

This was a family favorite TV commercial over the holidays. I think my dad said it best..."Some of us call these robes."

Emily's New Year's Date

Here he is! Isn't he dreamy?

"Wow, it is difficult to describe myself without sounding conceited...I suppose that friends would describe me as very friendly, soft and cuddly. I'm a great listener because I have big funky ears. My long neck, big eyebrows and crooked smile make most people laugh. I enjoy laying around a lot, so football season is my favorite.

"Who am I looking for? I'm looking for someone who is really really ultra-stressed out with work and/or personal issues. I'm not opposed to emotionally disturbed people as long as they're not prone to tearing the innards out of stuffed animals. I'm not big into the gym, so if you like to lay around, watch movies or sports and nap, we might be a good match. Pucker up, buttercup!"

Merry Christmas!

Well, I'm excited to have some time off work to finish up shopping and wrapping, then to spend time with the fam in Dayton.

Of course I can't get away from work completely...I have several employee reviews and a self-review to do before end of year. Fortunately I can do these things from home in my jammies. Maybe with a glass of wine...then everyone would receive GREAT reviews...

I have a long to-do list for myself during vacation. I've officially started wrapping presents and I did laundry. Two things done out of about fifty...I should try to be more realistic about what I will actually accomplish!

I hope you have a Merry Christmas surrounded by friends and family. The picture here is a watercolor/Photoshop combo that features my children's book characters, Vivianne and Sparky.

I'll try to write more before the new year!

Christmas Shopping for Cripples

Do you know why I make fun of newspaper and direct mail ads? It's because they're my link to the outside shopping world!! Although my surgery aligned well with my health care spending 'knee cap' for 2008, it makes for a tough holiday shopping season.

It's the thought that counts, right? Wrong. I've personally witnessed abandonment of electronic gifts on my very back porch. My brother was re-attaching his truck cap after storing for a while in my garage. My soon-to-be sister-in-law picked up a tiny black thing from the truck bed. Brian nodded and gave it to Sam as a gift. She treasured it...fondled it...gazed at it. Sure enough, after they left, I found it sitting on the ledge of my deck - an abandoned electronic little gift.

If people won't accept gifts as valuable as electronics, what will they accept? I just don't know what the world is coming to. The little black gift also had a message of "I" and "O" on it...personalized! Who knows how long it took Brian to come up with that. Yet Sam left it like a beer can in my backyard.

I don't know how I'll meet expectations if black and white electrical devices aren't even worth taking home. I guess I need to look for something more colorful or stainless steel.

Ten Places Not To Wear This Hat

I came across this gem the other day. This 'handsome' and 'humorous' cap promises 'plenty of smiles from onlookers'. I know that if I saw this on my dear Grandpa's head, I'd probably giggle and shake my head, hoping that he didn't wear it in public. However, not all people are as sweet as my Grandpa. There's an inherent risk in wearing a hat like this. Here's my advice, directed specifically to senior discount-seekers considering investment in this cap...

Let's face it; not everyone gets along. Should you disagree with someone while wearing this hat, it could quickly become your worst attire decision of the day. If you happen to butt heads with someone who is paying through the nose for Social Security right now even though they'll likely never see a cent of it down the road, you'll want to back off about the 50-cent discount.

In an effort to keep the peace between seniors and others, I assembled a list of top five places/situations NOT to don this 'embroidered, not just a patch' yet 'comfortable' hat:

10.) Library: It's already free. It's like a slap in the face to the girl behind the counter as she scans your large-prints.

9.) Dining: Besides the obvious risk of spittage in your food, servers will know you're that lousy tipper at Table 32.

8.) Online Dating: If you happen to be single and looking for love, this hat is not flattering. Especially if you list your age as 45.

7.) Bureau of Motor Vehicles: With this big target on your forehead, BMV employees will insist on an eyesight re-test.

6.) Job Interview: Cracker Barrel might foresee a potential connection between you and patrons, but not many other hiring managers will view this as a plus.

5.) State or Federal Court Proceedings: You won't want to be discounted here, particularly as senile.

4.) House-Hunting: In the market for highly contested house or condo? This hat will put you out of the running in a hurry.

3.) IRS Audit: This hat won't exactly scream 'I'm clean' in the interview.

2.) Religious Services: First of all, this hat does not entitle you to a reduced offertory donation. Plus, you'd hate to cause so many other seniors in the congregation to covet thy neighbor's cap.

1.) Surgical Procedures: Fortunately, if you're the one on the table, they require removal of all clothing/accessories prior to surgery. Maybe because they saw too many 'Don't Forget My Senior Discount' caps.

ACL Surgery

After tearing my left ACL during a highly competitive dodgeball tournament with co-workers (yes, I'm serious), I scheduled ACL replacement / reconstruction arthroscopic surgery through my ortho. It's been almost a week since my surgery. The surgeon used a cadaver ACL to replace my torn one...that seemed a little weird at first. Of course a month ago I joked with my ortho to 'find me a good one' and he said they only use ACLs aged 18 years or less. Okay, bad joke. (How sad.)

The recovery is going well. I'm hobbling around now without crutches, which is good since I fell over last week trying to use them. The fam took great care of me during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. My new ACL seems to be getting along well with the other ligaments so far...the MCL and PCL have welcomed the newcomer with open...er...well........fibers.

A bit of good news...I've officially hit my annual out-of-pocket maximum expenditure for the year. The MRI, the physical therapy and appointments with the ortho pretty much did me in. This means that most surgery, drug and physical therapy expenses will be no charge to me since I already hit my 'spending cap', as some people call it. I call it my 'knee cap'.

Odd Moment Today

In follow-up to my prior post, I lost my aunt just a week ago. A strange yet comforting thing took place today.

I had a busy day at work, including a day trip to Columbus and back. I left our downtown Cincinnati office with a coworker around lunchtime. There are two elevators standing opposite each other in my building. One had doors wide open and although we tried to go down a level, the doors wouldn't close...they were stuck open. We walked across to the other elevator as its doors opened. The next ten seconds were my 'Aunt P moment'...

Our office elevators never had music. This was the first time I'd ever heard anything in the elevators for our listening enjoyment. The song playing was an obscure favorite of mine from an old TV show, Twin Peaks. I'd just been talking to my family about that show in the past month or two (it was popular among weird high school kids with bad hair in '90-'91). I told my friend and co-worker, Jen, that I loved this song and hadn't heard it in a while...that's when it hit me that it might be my Aunt P pressing 'play' from above.

I looked up the song tonight and I couldn't believe the title - 'Love Theme Farewell', by Angelo Badalamenti & David Lynch. It wasn't even the main theme, which is obscure enough on its own! I'm planning to check in with the building operations folks to see if there is a song list somewhere to verify that I'm not crazy.

So...I had to document these special ten seconds of my day, even if it was just a strange coincidence. And if the elevator people confirm that I'm not completely nuts, I expect some Everly Brothers soon, Aunt P.

Warning: Introspective Stuff Enclosed

**This will be an unusual post, I must warn you reader-types. An unexpected death in the family leaves my emotions raw, and my fingertips have a broadband connection to my emotional database.**

I received news on Monday night that my dear Aunt Peggy passed away the prior night very suddenly. Hence, this entry's 'emploration' will be much more inward- than outward-focused.

Readers who have lost loved ones might understand how the short-term grieving process works. It's new to me. This week, I experienced a Monday night of shock, sobbing, horrific images in my mind and near-panic. I spent my Tuesday crying and taking Advil for the resulting sinus headaches. I went to work on Wednesday and Thursday and actually felt okay. I was busy. I didn't receive a lot of inquiries about the situation, and I managed through two solid days nearly tear-free. This led to a certain overconfidence on my part that collapsed readily this morning as I hit the Piqua city limits. Near-panic set in again as we drove up to the church, and I realized that the event was not 'really real' to me until I felt the grief of my family, relatives, and my aunt's friends and co-workers. I cried a lot but it was an important and necessary bout.

Following the service, my extended family headed back to my Aunt Sandy's house. We'd received condolences and stories from Aunt P's friends and co-workers. We'd felt the kindness of friends who set up lunch for us and discreetly excused themselves for our privacy. We'd overcome panic-laden situations to be there for ourselves and others. We spent several hours talking, recalling stories and reconnecting as a family. Aunt P would have loved it, and I have a feeling that she was there in spirit.

We lived life today in all its despair, delight and distraction.

Thursday NFL Football...Love It & Hate It

I am a big NFL football fan and manage two fantasy football teams. This is my first year playing fantasy football, actually...I adore it. I have one team in a girls league at work and another with my dad, uncles, cousins, etc. In both leagues, my team name is the Fluffy Bunnies.

First of all, I can't take credit for the team name. My brother, Brian, came up with this long ago. In my humble opinion, I think this name is brilliant. Who expects the Fluffy Bunnies to rip them apart? Even if it's the killer bunny from Monty Python (see Exhibit A), can he really take on Peyton Manning or Donovan McNabb?

Well, that doesn't much concern me, because Peyton and Donovan are Fluffy Bunnies at the helms of my two teams. A Manning girl at heart, I picked Eli over Ben - even though Ben is a fellow Miamian! Jay and Trent are my other backups.

Now that I've gushed about the Bunnies, I'll get to my point...I love watching NFL football, so I love a Thursday game (since I have DVR to record The Office). This game is as good as Monday Night - it's primetime without other NFL games to compete...if it's on TV. Last Thursday I was pumped to watch a great matchup and it wasn't on! I hate that it was limited to the recap on ESPN.

I tend to keep track of deadlines, so I'm a fan of the Thursday lineup deadline nowadays. I hope that a few competitor fantasy footballers will fall prey to the Thursday deadline...and the Fluffy Bunnies.

Let's emplore the topic of newspaper ad inserts...

I was perusing the Cincinnati Enquirer last Sunday. I usually snuggle in with coffee, set the paper on the couch beside me and start sorting into sections that I either read or ignore. Of those that I read, I sort into my level of interest. I read the ones that are least interesting first and save the best for last. (I do this same thing with Lucky Charms cereal, ending up with lots of marshmallows floating in pastel milk by the end of breakfast. Yummers.)

The ad inserts are always a favorite of mine. I don't know if it's because I think I might find good coupons (which can later be found balled up in the bottom of most of my purses), or because I work in advertising, or because these ads have lots more colorful pictures than the other parts of the paper.

I usually skip the toy store ads since I don't have any lucky kids to buy for this year. This Sunday I found myself leafing through an insert and I was suddenly in toyland. Normally I'd gasp and grab the next insert, but this one pulled me in. No, I wasn't intrigued by the great bargains they offered...I was cracking up. I doubt that anyone without a warped mind such as mine would have felt the same way, but I had to do things to this ad.......bad things.

I hope that you enjoy this page as much as I did. I have to recognize that none of these toys involve electricity and all have a definite 'classic' message coming through...but I couldn't help poking fun when I saw the photos (and pricetags) at the store which shall remain nameless... :-)

Emtroduction

Welcome!

I'm Emily, a thirty-something digital agency chick leading a client service team in Cincinnati, Ohio. I have a nice (old) house that I share with my lovely dog, Phoebe. In my free time, I love watching sports, movies...I also write/illustrate children's books in hopes of being published one day.

Please share open and honest feedback on this blog. I'm not sure what topics I'll cover but they'll likely be diverse! I hope to update regularly, and I expect disagreement and discussion...oh, and also lots of praise. ("You're brilliant, Emily," is a good start.)

Thank you for visiting!
Emily