Up in the Air

All these things annoy the average human, but to me there all thrilling and exciting. Why you ask? Well, because all these things involve travel- my favorite thing in the world. I travel almost every month, whether it is visiting family, visiting friends, or exploring a new culture. Often time’s people complain about security lines and long delays, but to me it’s all a part of the travel process. Waiting on the DFW runway for six hours because they don’t have enough plane de-icer’s makes for a good story, being stuck on the runway in Paris because an A380 plane can’t move because the engine broke also makes for a good story etc. I could write a novel on travel stories, and while in the moment I may not have been happy, I can’t help but laugh now. I think that people need to find humor in these situations like I do. I mean air travel is probably the coolest thing of our time. Traveling four thousand miles in just eight hours is incredibly remarkable, and we need to think about that each time we fly. The fact that I can wake up in Chicago, and go to sleep in Paris is surreal to me. If it weren’t for creative people like Amelia Earhart, or the Wright Brothers, we still might be crossing the ocean by boat. Weird, huh?

Counting Stairs...What?!

Now that I’m taking my first creative advertising class, I started thinking about all the random things I do. Sure, everyone’s creative in their own way, and we all have our quirks. However, there is one thing that I do that I think is extremely bizarre, and something that should speak about who I am, but it doesn’t.

Ever since I was little, I’ve counted things. A few of my favorite things to count are: stairs, water towers (when in a plane), and footsteps. I know…this is extremely bizarre. At my peak of counting, I could tell you how many stairs went up to my bedroom, the basement, my friends houses, school stairs etc. On average, there are about fifteen stairs from the first floor of a house to the second floor. I never really thought about this habit, until I was older and talking to my dad. He thinks I’m secretly a mathematical, logical person- but I beg to differ. I HATE math. I even scored the lowest on my multiple intelligences test with math. But then why do I count? This a question I still can’t answer. However, after starting this creative class, I think it’s my brain working in a creative way I didn’t know I could do. Instead of just aimlessly walking to class, or going upstairs, my brain wants to be more entertained and wants to count.

I guess we all have weird quirks, and counting is just one of mine.

Mash-Up's: Art or Lack of Ideas?

Lately it seems there has been a surge of “Mash-Ups” on the radio and on TV. For those not familiar, a mash-up is when you blend two songs together. While I was abroad last semester my friend told me about a DJ who calls himself “MilkMan”. I was very confused at first, but after I started listening I was hooked. It was like he knew all my favorite songs and blended them together. Since then, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about mash-ups. Just a few weeks after MilkMan changed my world, my favorite TV show, “Glee”, incorporated mash-ups into their show! It was like the heavens answered my prayers and everything was turning into mash-ups. Okay, well maybe not everything, but it still seemed like a lot.

After instantly being hooked to these mash-ups, I found myself YouTube-ing the word “Mash-up” and spending hours on end trying to find another artist I loved. However, it got me to thinking about creativity. Are these mash-ups artist, or are they just bored and playing with their music? I think it’s a combination of both. I think they are artists because they can picture what sounds good together, and then they can blend them together perfectly. It is also a sign of lack of ideas, because instead of creating their own music, they’re just using already produced music. Either way, I’m a HUGE fan, and will always be searching for the next great mash-up. Below are two mash-up’s I’m a huge fan of.

Silhouette by MilkMan


Walking on Sunshine/Halo – Glee Cast

Improv Everywhere

Ever want to spontaneously break into dance in a public place? What about whip out a choreographed routine in the middle of a bar? Well, thanks to “Improv Everywhere” people are randomly breaking in dance, mocking people across from them, and losing their clothes on the NYC subway. I stumbled across a video from them a few weeks ago, and couldn’t contain my laughter. This improv company organizes funny, public events and executes them with hundreds of people. My personal favorite was when they had a group of twins go on the NYC subway and mimic each other from across the aisle. It was so funny to watch the other train go-ers, and realize that the littlest things can cause the biggest laugh.



Another group that is just as funny is “FlashMob”. The funniest video is a choreographed dance in a Netherlands train station to the Sound of Music. It took place in a huge train station, and by the end almost all the people who weren’t a part of it were finding themselves dancing. Sadly, a "FlashMob" performance took place at The Louvre this past fall while I was studying abroad in Paris, and I missed it by one day. Needless to say, I was pissed. Both of these improv groups are creative thinking at it’s best.

Can I Laugh?

The weather has been a bit crazy the past few weeks here in Dallas, Texas…wouldn’t you agree? Just two weeks ago, we had 1.5 snow days. WHAT?! Having grown up in the harsh winters of Chicago, I’m quite used to heavy snowfall. However, when SMU cancelled classes due to a foot of snow, I had to laugh. I was expecting howling winds, snow up to my waist and temperatures so cold you can’t breathe. Well, all I got was a foot of snow and some slush the next day. While it was a lot of snow at one time, I feel like the second biggest state in the country, and one of the biggest metroplexes in the country should be prepared for all weather. But, much to my surprise when watching the news, Dallas County does not have one snowplow. Now I know its usually a lot warmer this time of year, but that just doesn’t seem practical. You’d think there would be if not several, at least one snow removal device. Instead, they decided that sanding the roads would be the smartest idea.

Now I won’t continue to ramble on about the snow day, because I did enjoy my time off from school. My point is that with the weather changing all around the world, every city that has had any history of snow should have at least one snow removal device.

Founder's Day

This upcoming weekend my sorority, Delta Gamma, has its annual Founder’s Day. This is a day where we all gather as a sorority and celebrate our founding women, and honor the traditions they put forward. We dress nicely, eat a nice meal, sing songs, and meet local alumnae. To me, this is great occasion. I get to hang out with my sisters and celebrate the ideals and values that I committed to two years ago.

However, this event got me to thinking about all the “founding father’s” out there. Of course we have our USA founding fathers like Washington and Jefferson. But also, when you look closer at various industries, we have founding fathers of Advertising like Bernbach and Ogilvy. Wouldn’t it be cool if once a year we celebrated all the groundbreaking ideas that these people had that shaped the industry today? I know there are various award shows, but there should be a “Advertising History” day where everyone’s a winner- well except the loser’s who keep putting animals in ads (cough cough The Richards Group cough cough). Just kidding…

Product Placement At Its Best

Yes, I’ll be the first to admit that I still watch American Idol. I couldn’t tell you what season it’s in, but I can tell you the two sponsors of the show: Ford and Coca Cola. While American Idol attempts to find the next biggest star, to me, it does something even better: product placement. You can’t watch one segment of this show without seeing the bright red Coca Cola cups, or the infamous Ford Commercials. Coke and Ford have almost become synonymous with the American Idol brand, which goes to show you the power of advertising and branding. After being advertising major for a few semesters now, I’ve come to appreciate product placement. I never noticed it before, but now my eyes are constantly peeled. American Idol not only perfectly blends their brand with two worldwide recognizable brands like Ford and Coke, but has also perfectly branded themselves. They have a tour every year after the show, they have apparel, dolls etc.

While most Americans dislike advertising and rank it just about used-car salesmen for respectable jobs, you can’t deny the power it has. Millions of American’s tunes into Idol each week, and without realizing it, they are probably more aware of Ford, and might even crave a coke.

Safest House in the World?

The other day I was catching up on some news on Yahoo!, and I came across an article about “The Safest House in the World”. I was immediately intrigued by the title, so I clicked the article to find out more.

It started out talking about the excess of houses these days from home theaters to a plethora of bathrooms etc. It then started discussing the cool features of this home that made it so safe. The entire house sits above a virtually impenetrable garage that can hold six armored cars. It also has two panic rooms and two architecturally hidden rooms. This to me seems a little crazy. The house is already knee deep in the Hollywood Hills, but to add several panic rooms?

While I understand that the world is a scary place, and people need to be safe- this house went a little crazy. I believe that this house was created as shock value, and really doesn’t serve any useful purpose.

What I Would Reform

Lately there has been a lot of discussion about reform in the news. Healthcare reform, political reform, economic reform etc etc etc etc. Well, there are a few things I would like to reform.

First off, I would like to reform Park n’ Pony here at SMU. They are the ones responsible for ticketing and booting the cars here on campus. While I’m all for people obeying by the rules, they need to change how they go about punishing people. For example, the other day I had a ticket on my car because I was four minutes late. What?! I think that they should start with a warning, and then see if you’ve been a habitual violator in the past. If not, then your punishment should be different- a lower fine, no ticket etc. Also, another way they can fix their parking problems would be to make more spaces available for students and commuters. The garages fill up so quickly, and sometimes you can’t find a spot and are forced to park in a meter spot.

The second thing I would want to reform is the public transportation in Dallas. I know they have the DART (trains and buses), but they should make an underground subway system. I spent the last semester in Paris, and getting around the city was so easy and convenient. Here, the DART is at least a car drive away, and the locations aren’t plenty. Dallas is such a spread out city that it would serve it so well to have an underground system where you could easily hop on at Highland Park Village, and end up at Northpark, SMU, and Uptown etc.

I’m sure there are more things that I would want to reform, but these are just two “dreams” err, I mean issues that would be better reformed.

What Superbowl Ads?

If I could use one word to describe the ads in this year's Superbowl it would be: disappointing. The minute the game started, I was waiting on the edge of my seat for the commercials to begin. This only happens once a year, and I expected nothing but the best. The first commercial break featured the Snickers spot with Betty White, and I found myself laughing because it was so stupid. I didn’t understand the ad until the end, and then when I did, I thought it was horribly done. After this spot I still believed things would get better. Well, much to my surprise, they didn’t! It was one unoriginal ad after the other. I mean come on Denny’s; we’re over the use of animals in ads.

However, there was one diamond in the rough: GOOGLE. It could have been the fact that I just got back from a semester in Paris, or that it was the only ad that had charm. Either way, it almost brought me to tears.



My hopes were high for the Superbowl this year, and most agencies failed to deliver. I know that times are hard, and budgets have been cut, but if you’re willing to pay 2.5 million dollars for an ad spot, might as well make it a good one.

State of my Union

Just this past week, President Obama delivered his “State of the Union” speech. All political views aside; it caused me to think about the state of my union. My life is one big…smorgasbord, if you will. I have a little bit of this, and a little bit of that in my life, and it’s just the way I like it. With that being said, I have a lot of temporary things in my life, but I have two unions that will never fade- the one with my family, and with my friends. My family is all over the country, and I don’t always get to see them as often as I would like. However, they are my support system near and far. The state of this union changes with time and distance, and if it were an ideal world, I’d see them everyday. As for my friends, this union is a little easier to manage, since most of my friends are here at SMU. I see them everyday, and can always count on them for a good time. As for my friends from Chicago- it’s a little more difficult to keep this union in tact. It takes much more of an effort to catch up with them, but when we reunite at home, it’s as if no time as passed.