MOVING.

The implications are numerous. Each concluding with the final connotation of WORK.

1. A Garage Sale

Who doesn't love earning side cash by simply getting rid of old junk? A garage sale, however, is much more than a chance to earn it when you curb it (as I like to say). It's profiting off those pesky neighbors whose dog barks until 2am! It brings bartering across the Mexican-American border. Garage sales even may help you achieve your summer tan early. But, perhaps the most important aspect to consider, a garage sale is work.

Going through ALL of your belongings can take days! Only to find what you thought they were worth is questionable according to Ebay. Then there are the stickers and sharpie markings that follow; not to forget the careful arranging of "Sale at 5311 University" signs. Yes, in the end, all your planning may prove fruitful. Or, if you are like me, the only attendee that makes a purchase happens to also need that Census information you forgot to turn in.

2. Lots of Boxes

Sure, boxes are handy for transporting your stuff. From the awful candle holders that earn a box spot under the category of "family heirloom," to that dress that looks so good you don't dare wear it out of the house, boxes are a necessity to moving. Nevertheless, moving boxes are quite the diabolical necessity. Moving boxes will not move easily; it takes years of training and great dedication to master their deceptive charms.

By age 12, a fitting age for one's first move as the ability to accept change grows, one masters the folding of the box. Next, at age 18, it's off to college; one discovers how to best pack a box. The next stage in the moving life cycle is the taping of the box. Here the cunning scheme of the box itself begins.An approximate age is difficult to pin down as this stage can continue for decades. While some box theorists may argue taping is a simple level in box comprehension, many of us know full well the opposite as truth. The likelihood of taping a box down is dependent on three factors: finding of the tape on the roll, cutting the tape, and, finally, avoiding sticking the tape to something else (before initial box contact).

In addition to the aforementioned work surrounding the assembly of the moving box, one must also consider the work required to find available boxes. Unless, of course, you buy these boxes new. In which case 'work' enters the picture as 'work' is needed to earn money to pay for the outrageous prices.

3. New Roommates

Be it new family or craig's list favorite rentals, every move offers new company. Even if it's just the local spiders. Whatever the case, here the phrase "Bad Company Corrupts Good Character" often rings true. A bad roommate can cause mood swings even greater than the average menopausal mother of four! Because of this, many people look for de-stressers when forced to deal with the bad company on a daily basis. So please, my moving maniacs, watch your alcohol intake before, during or after a recent move.

4. Change of Address

OH YES, this moving category must not be forgotten... although it often is. Even the most nomadic of Jews knows the dire importance of telling friends where you are going next! (Yes, I can make a Jewish joke because I may be 25% Hungarian Jew. But that's another story). SO, where to go when it's time to put in that change of location? The post office? I THINK NOT! Long lines, Mapquest mishaps, and crying babies whose gender is yet to be determined await you at the post office. It's best, I think, to go online and change your address. Yes, it still is work for those of us suffering the long term effects of carpal tunnel....BUT, it's a whole Lake of Fire a lot better than driving to the post office.

I image that most of the above connotations of work are things most of the public just does not consider before deciding to move. Silly Americans. All we think of is the increase or decrease in the total cost of gas for our new commute to work. But today, America, I say to you this: think. Think of the workload moving requires. Then ask yourself if you really need an area closer to work, with better schools, less crime, a more comfortable climate, cheaper cost of living, or a new career. Think of the costs of shipping, storage, moving vans, hiring movers, travel expenses, time lost from work and deposit fees for your new home...TBC.

The Lucky Abes

Sometimes kids collect things. Beany babies, buttons, shoe strings. I must say I collected a lot of things when I was young. In fact, I still own my rock collection (it is one of the few things I have to display on the shelves of my basically bare apartment). My favorite collection, however, has always been my lucky penny collection. Or, as I like to call it, my Lucky Abes.It's called the "Lucky Abes" because Abraham Lincoln's face is on the American penny (I'm hoping that was obvious but I spelled it out if anyone was day dreaming).

A lucky penny is something I’m quite obsessed with.

I have a lucky penny collection that ranges from 1945-2007. I like to clean this collection biannually with Tabasco sauce. In fact, when organizing the kitchen pantry this summer I found five bottles of Tabasco sauce, all which are only used to beautify my precious pennies. I stumbled upon my most prized lucky penny (from 1945) while skydiving from Mt. Kilimanjaro one day. Just kidding, ignore the slight addendum, I actually found the penny in my wallet, which is kind of lame.

There have been moments where my lucky pennies were at risk (like the time my parents tried to add it to their Coinstar trip to Kroger). Now, to keep them safe, I have them in my bedside drawer...not my desk at home. There aren't many symbols of luck that aren't Irish. This is what makes the penny so unique and cool! I wonder if the coins for 1 cent in other countries are considered lucky when found on the ground. If I was a symbol of luck (like Lincoln is) I would make sure people knew that by spending me they were living life on luck. I wonder how he would feel if he knew he symbolized luck to children throughout the US (or at least lucky pennies are big in Ohio!)

Too often pennies are not considered important! For example, many stores price items at $5.99 or $9.99 (this is a type of heuristic) and customers end up with a penny as their change. Often these customers just ask the sales clerk to keep the change! I, however, love to keep my pennies. Sometimes I drop them by parks where I imagine other collecting-kids find them (and it's the highlight of their day!).

Well I started blogging about this because I realized the Lucky Abes are probably in need of a good clean. Now where's that Tabasco sauce...

Acts of Violence in Fashion

The same writer who designed the highly controversial "I had an abortion" t-shirt has a new line. It reads "I was raped."

Jennifer Baumgardner says she created the shirt last April to bring rape into everyday conversation as a way of easing feelings of shame or fear that are common among victims. I know I personally would not feel empowered if I was a rape victim wearing the shirt. I think such a statement would not be worn by victims in the first place if many can barely speak about the incident to begin with.

I am interested to know how a rape victim feels about this shirt. I happen to know four women in my life who are close to me and have dealt with rape. Most of these beautiful ladies expressed their feelings that fashion was not the arena where the conversation needed started. They did, however, like the fact that the money went to support for rape victims, to include counseling services which many do not get.

Traumatic experiences such as "abortion" or "rape" are often personal, between that person and God. Speaking about the experience, however, is important. I am not sure how I feel about the t-shirt.

Résumés All Gone Wrong

Reading today about how a résumé should look was extremely helpful. It led me to completely revamp my old résumé today. Boy did I have things wrong! For example, my résumé included a picture of myself. So not professional! I am not sure why I ever egotistically included a picture! Too many modeling calls, dance auditions and commercial work! Needless to say, that’s gone… along with my first-person writing style. “I” this, “I” that…not objective at all. Now my résumé is laid out into three sections rather than seventy six haha. After all, a résumé IS NOT an outline for my next short novel. While the employer is “researching” me, so to speak, I do not need to back every fact up with an exhaustive narrative outline only found in research papers.

By the way, have you ever experienced the elation that erupts from heart when you type an assignment single-spaced and then (at the end) double-space it to find the assignment finally meets the required number of pages….

Well writing your résumé is not like that at all.

In fact it’s kind of the reverse of that.

My previous résumé was double spaced/bullet format. 2 pages. Apparently a résumé should be 1 page no matter what. Even if someone told you that you’d get 1 million paper cuts from cutting down your resume to size (1 page) YOU MUST DO THIS.

And one last important fact from Brad Karsh’s resource section on résumés: they cannot contain grammatical errors! No, this was not new to me. Nevertheless, as a grammar freak, my conscious forced me to scribble down that fact here…so that whoever reads this may also know that fact.
And they can tell their friend.
And their friend can tell their future children.
And those children will correct their elders for improper use of the English language.
And this world of sharing knowledge will lead to freedom of independent, intelligent dialogue.

Zogby's "globals": Tolerating Intolerance Worldwide?

I attended a lecture today by Zogby. "IBOPE Zogby International is a premier global public opinion polling and market research firm that offers timely, accurate results."

Zogby mentioned many thought-provoking things during his discussion of The Way We Will Be, but what captured my interest most was the fact that: My generation, the globals, in large part (57% or so), own a passport.

This means globalization is most likely an idea my generation will strive for. Introduction to new cultures can open up our eyes/minds to new ideas. I personally experienced this when I visited Munich, Germany about 2 years ago. The culture of Munich was much different than what I was used to in little ol' Columbus, Ohio. While at first I was quite the victim of culture shock, I later came to appreciate numerous aspects of Munich culture that once scared/shocked me.

In particular, I came to appreciate how Germans drink. A normal day consisted of mamosas with breakfast, beer with lunch and wine with dinner...and sometimes more beer during an evening out if it was a weekend night. My first reaction to all this drinking was that my generation (Eropean style) was out of control! They certainly were all headed for hangovers, alcoholism and perhaps straight to hell. Nevertheless, as I spent more time in Germany, I came to realize they drink for reasons much different than why my generation (in America) drinks. It seems, from my experiences, American "globals" drink to get drunk...whereas German "globals" drink as part of their culture. Not once did I attend a German party where I saw someone throw up or make-out with someone they didn't know.

One aspect of German culture that I'm still undecided on is the high amount of tolerance in Germany. I guess us "globals" in general seem pretty tolerant. And tolerance always is a good thing right? Well...not always. I think that sometimes too much tolerance can be a bad thing. For example, the government tolerates the KKK. Here intolerance is being tolerated. I don't agree with that...
Or in Germany, the people tolerate an intolerance to embracing religion. In fact, only 2% of Germany attends church regularly (a shocking drop from 68% prior to WWII). If, in a social setting, someone brings up religion they are instantly seen as foolish or not up to speed on the way the world works. Article 4 of the Bavarian Constitution calls for equal treatment of all religions. Nevertheless, Bavaria (as well as 5 other German states) have enacted laws that treat different religions in different ways. For example, four years ago teachers in Germany were banned from wearing Muslim headscarves. The crucifixes, yarmulkes and even nuns' habits, however, were not banned. As a sophmore in high school, I very distinctly remember seeing this on the news. Commentators discussed how the headscarves had become a political (not religious) symbol of extreme fundamentalism.

I am sure other cultures, from Western America to China, have globals who claim to be tolerant, and yet sit back allowing intolerance to be tolerated (both at home and abroad). My generation, the globals, must not only travel with a sense of tolerance, but intolerance as well. Tolerance demonstrates that we can indeed have too much of a good thing.

Dancing = Political Maneuver ?

Somewhere between using my Curious George toothpaste (in excess) and rushing off to rehearsal I found time to my dance history paper. The assignment centered around how dance began with the ballet de cour in France. Competing dukedoms often had dance masters choreograph for the nobility to demonstrate their political prestige. Moreover, dance was used to guarantee certain agreements, like marriages, were carried through.

Now all I can think about is how different things would be in politics today if dance was still used by governments worldwide as a tool to show power. What if the undocumented immigrants in 2006 did not march in thousands to demonstrate political power but instead danced in the thousands?! Latino dancing filling the streets of California. It could work. Or what if Russia evacuated Georgia after America sent it's troupe of dancers to the borders? Perhaps even NATO could establish peace treaties through dance...hmm.

When I Grow Up...Oh Wait, I Am Grown Up.

I WANT TO BE A COPYWRITER.

I think the job would be a great fit for me. I absolutely love writing, reading, and words in general.

My love for words was probably first ignited by elementary school spelling bees.
Next came middle school book reports followed by high school SAT vocab. Throughout my life my teachers told my mother how I read for pleasure. My professors would sometimes mark down my grades because I would turn research papers into creative writing. Mixing fact with the creative was, to me, the ultimate challenge. I stretched this as far as possible. If the assignment was to describe my favorite family vacation, I described one I once dreamt about. If the class was asked to research a biblical narrative, my paper was a Jewish midrash.

Dance has asked me to use my body for self-expression. Sometimes the possibilities are limited. Writing, however, allows me to use words for self-expression. I revel in the process.

Because of my obsession, the thesaurus I joyously carry in my purse is no surprise to my family. The hours of free-time I spend editing my colleagues’ papers, also a delight. Now that I am finally exploring creative world of advertising I finally feel I’ve found my niche. I hope nothing more than to enter the program and learn to turn my love for words into a job.
When anyone asks “what if” questions, like “What if they don’t accept you into the creative program?” I just think of Charlotte Smith’s heroine, Emmeline, who once said, “It is no purpose to consider how she should act in an event so unlikely to happen.” Thinking positively is my mantra. As Hemingway said in his four rules of writing: think positive. Now I plan to master his practice of "short sentences."

I also constantly try to be better than I am. I definitely agree with Glenn Cole’s advice to “surround yourself with people who are better than you are.” I have practiced this advice and I have it down to an art. In dance and academics I work next to whoever I believe encompasses something I am working on… If I need to travel more through space I find the girl with the longest legs. If I need to practice my accent in Spanish, I sit by the girl from Madrid. I can swear that this advice really works! I have been working on my rhythm in Jazz, standing next to the most dynamic mover in the class, and now the teacher is commenting how my quick improvement is shocking :-) Because of this, I plan to implement Cole's strategy in the advertising world as well.

More than ever before, I’m wondering what fate has planned next. Reading Idea Industry’s section on Creative is has been really inspiring. It's neat that the creative work as teams, building their careers on ideas. This will be a great environment for me because I feel I work better in groups. Like when I'm memorizing something or brainstorming ideas, having someone to bounce off of really speeds up the process. Before now, I never knew the progression went idea, concept, rough, comps, and then pitch. Moreover, I was unaware that the CW & AD are involved in casting calls, shoots and rushes at the production house. How thrilling to be involved so many steps of the process! I can’t wait to collaborate with professionals in other areas such as film. Speaking of film I've included a short clip I really enjoy. It's by Glenn Cole, creative director of 72andSunny. Enjoy :D