Plans for today

When faced with a loss of knowing what to write, just write about your plans for the rest of the day. Therefore, let me discuss with you the mundane activities I’ll have to attend to.

In the very immediate future (3 minutes), I’ll need to call Doryne Isley from Urban American. She’s the head-honcho and the only one with the power to grant me a reimbursement for the faulty lock on my apartment. As I mentioned in a previous entry, I had to pay $650 to replace it myself because I was unable to neither enter or leave the apartment without it being done. Not to mention that it was over a long weekend, so no one from management could come and do it for me. I’ve been getting the run-around, even though she was able to confirm the security log that I indeed placed a call into them for help before I acted on my own. Let’s see how else they try and evade me. It’s been one month and counting.

Later in the day, I’ll also go to Modell’s Sporting Goods and return a pair of workout gloves. Small was too small. I felt like I was wearing tiny baby gloves. Will need to exchange before they rip to shreds from my swoleness.

After getting home from work, I’ll also need to confirm my flight to Rome and purchase a new snowboard and boot bag in preparation for my day-trip to Hunter Mountain. Money, money, always out the door.

Lastly, I’ll be having a salmon filet over Latin rice with a side kale salad for dinner.

That is all. Tis my day. I am basic.

My favorite Super Bowl spots

First and foremost, Happy Chinese New Year.

Secondly, here are a list of the Super Bowl spots (in order of appearance) I found most enjoyable. I agreed with some of the other advertising publications out there but had a sprinkling of others as well. Yeah…my list is a little extensive. I’ll include a quick little tidbit for each.

Apartments.com – Fun concept. Kept me intrigued until the very end. Client reveal at the end was a good match and pleasant surprise.

Audi – Great story. Awesome parallel and smart sell of Audi’s main idea: the car is fast.

PayPal – Beautiful art direction. Beautiful copy. And not to mention, I’m obsessed with that Demi Lovato song. I just saw that Ad Week ranked this as their Worst 5 spots in the Super Bowl, and I couldn’t disagree more. As PayPal’s first-ever spot, they did right to do a broad brand anthem. The intention of this was to get their name out there and set themselves on the stage with the big boys. In that, they’ve succeeded.

Marmot – So ridiculous and funny. Props to Goodby. It’s nice when you can tell a story, sell your product, and include a cute animal all at once.

Budlight – Good celebrity mashup. I only included this because Amy Schumer is hilarious. Other than that, this commercial and campaign errs on the side of run-of-the-mill.

T-Mobile x2 (Steve Harvey + Drake) – They did a double-whammy and really impressed me this Super Bowl. Props to Publicis Seattle. The Drake spot was funny and also struck a chord with all ad people out there, and the Steve Harvey spot was was very timely. Not to mention it was an appropriate clap-back. T-Mobile is super impressive for rising up so far from when they sank to their very depths back in 2010. Wonderful transformation.

Prius – Fun story that definitely got their point across. Way to totally bash preconceptions that the car is weaker. Way to show that with less gas, you can go farther. This was a smart concept.

Pokemon20 – It got me amped for Pokemon. This is an epic short film spot with just the right amount of mystery throughout to really drive home the big reveal. Also superb audio with a great fit in those taiko drums building excitement. The score for this deserves a lot of respect.

Wix.com – Kung Fu Panda cameo. I guess this is more of an honorable mention, but it was funny to see some timely parody using a beloved cartoon character.

Heinz – Obviiiiously this one would be a big hit. It’s so whacky and adorable, no rational human being would be able to resist. There’s no profound messaging here, but it was highly entertaining. That’s what makes this spot shine.

Axe – Lovely messaging that shows how a man can be strong in so many ways. It was definitely very disruptive in all the right ways that still held strong to the core messaging of the brand.

Kia – Once again, a great story. Brand anthem-ey message and the perfect narrator, Christopher Walken. The spot was also random enough to maintain your attention. Good for Kia to really position themselves as anything but beige.

Colgate – The last great spot of the evening. So simple and profound. It shows you exactly how much water you’re wasting and equating that to what that water could actually do for others that need it. The truth and insight behind it transforms your mundane tasks and you recall this commercial every time you’re in front of the sink. Brilliant ad.

Dear Brother

Gorgeous words. New favorite spot.

A shift in my frame of mind

All I really want

is to live my life

not always desiring more than what I already have.

Been living in misery

I don’t know why I’ve delayed so long in writing this. Maybe I just got too swept up in the maelstrom. Since last I wrote, I ended up moving into a new apartment at 3333 Broadway. At first I thought it would be a dream. I was promised all new appliances, a high-rise view over the Hudson, and a studio all to myself. My naivety placed my expectations on a pedestal set too high. It should have known it would inevitably come crashing down in every imaginable direction.

The problems began before I even moved in. I had put in an application for the building I’m currently living but got rejected due to incompetence. I heard no response from the rental office until my lease had already ended at my last apartment. They called me back a few weeks later, however, proclaiming their apologies and offered me another unit with a beautiful view. I should have known and heeded the red flag so apparent in front of me. Sadly, I ignored it and decided to give this building a second chance.

Let me now begin to list all the things that have gone wrong since then. It’s almost laughable and surreal how many things have gone wrong in my life since I signed myself into misery.