Madmen Season 3

If you haven’t watched seasons one and two of Madmen, I’m not sure we can be friends. Ok, that’s a little extreme, but seriously it’s the best-written show on TV.

Madmen is about a fictitious ad firm on Madison Ave in NYC in the 1960’s. I love it because I’m in advertising. I love it because it’s scandalous and poignant. I love it for its perfectly-acted pauses, meaningful looks, and writing. The writers don’t waste one single word. (7 of the 11 writers are women, I’ll have you know). Everything is important. Vanity Times just did an article on it if you want more info on the idea behind it.

Madmen Cast

Anyway, so the first two seasons were amazing. And the 3rd season aired tonight. *Spoilers ahead* I really loved it’s storytelling in this first episode – it’s so poetic how it started with Don remembering his birth, while making milk for his pregnant wife. Then at the end he slips into this same fog of remembrance while telling his oldest daughter about her birth.

Don has so many ghosts – so much is always weighing on him. I thought from the way the last season ended that he’d be a little further on the path to peace than he really is. The fact that he’s so troubled makes the show so addicting. You want to fix him.

Peggy is my favorite character. I love her honesty, her candor. She’s someone I would want to be friends with.

Pete is someone I’d want to slug in the face several times a week, and then pat him on the back and comfort him the other days. He’s so pathetic in an endearing way.

Joan is stunning. I hang on every word she says and am always impressed at her poise and grace. She’s powerful but calming all at the same time. I wish I could be more like that.

Anyway, I’m an addict and I’m so excited about the new season. Are there any shows you’re excited for this Fall?

My Anti-Plastic Movement

The other day I was in the grocery store in Lehi (which I will now term Barbieville) and saw this woman that disturbed me for days. She was pretty, blonde, and wore the tightest jean shorts you’ll ever see with fake bling on the butt. This woman was at least in her mid 40’s, and she was wearing jean shorts with bling on the butt. My eyes traveled up to the side of her face but I only got so far as her chest. She was wearing what can only be described as a Hannah Montana shirt (but I’m sure it was something far worse) that probably fit her 13 year old. Except this mom did not have a 13 year old chest. Her shirt was stretched to the max over her huge plastic-enhanced rack.

It got me to thinking – why are we all in such a race to look like teeny boppers? Why can’t we dress our age? Then again, I did wear short pig tails in my hair this week when I went camping . .  . but really, there is nothing else to do with hair this short. But anyway, why can’t we let ourselves age? And why are we all so disatisfied with ourselves?

I think plastic surgery is nasty. Disgusting, gross, nasty. I hope you’re not offended by my frankness, but c’est vrais. Plastic, lipo, botox, lifts, and fillers really freak me out. Like I have nightmares after watching Mary Murphy on So You Think You Can Dance. I think skin should move when you smile. Foreheads should crease when you’re surprised. And not everybody should look like a Barbie doll. I don’t understand why small boobs are not ok. I have had both – being pregnant and then after breast-feeding I have experienced the whole gamut of bra sizes. Why is everyon in such a rush to change the way they are?  Sure, we can all go out and blame the media. The media made me do it. But is it really their fault? Or do they just promote what we’re already obsessed with ourselves.

Several years ago I worked at the cutest, chicest restaurant ever in Bronxville, NY call Underhills Crossing. Bronxville is a really rich, beautiful village and I loved almost everything about it. But I got really good and noticing and identifying plastic surgery there – nearly every guest had had something done. Lips, cheeks, eyes, nose. Sometimes it was subtle, sometimes glaring. But it bothers me so much I can hardly do it justic. Why are people messing with themselves!?

Having said that, I am sure there are so many people who can give for instances where plastic surgery saved their self-esteem or was really necessary. And I’m grateful for plastic surgeons who sewed my husband’s face back on after his car crash 6 years ago. But for cosmetic purposes – the act of changing your face or your body really bothers me.

So I’m being vocal about it. Hopefully this won’t come back to bite me like when I ripped on Wal-Mart and then found myself shopping there a couple years later. I think we should take pride in our bodies the way God made them. I think we can make improvements through eating healthy and exercising (something I really need to start up again), instead of through a knife and a syringe. And I think we need to stop looking at our bodies with such a critical eye. Happiness comes from within – not from an injection.

My Son vs. Flashcards

Since the demise of my other blog(I killed it), I’ve promised to do more posts about my son. Here’s little H doing what he calls “ashcah” – AKA Flashcards. I bought these flashcards at Michael’s for a buck and he’s gotten more enjoyment out of them than all the toys in his room put together.

He’s loves words and naming things. And he loves to show off, so these Flashcards have been perfect.

Alternative Routes to Medicine: Korean Acupuncture

I clench my jaw at night. Clench, grind, chew, you name it. I’m going to take a wild guess and say it’s probably from stress. And I carry all my stress in my shoulders. Physically, it’s just really painful. I’ve tried massages, but no matter how hard they press, I couldn’t seem to get rid of the knots there.

So I thought I’d try acupuncture. There’s a great Korean acupuncturist in Salt Lake City named Dr. Sool who does all kinds of acupuncture. It’s kind of cool to get pricked with needles. But the kind of procedures he does that I liked best was Damp Cupping.

The practice of cupping was conceived during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) in China, though ancient medical transcriptions suggest its existence in Egypt as well. In its original application, cupping was prescribed for the treatment of conditions such as pulmonary tuberculosis and rheumatoid pain. In ancient times, animal horns were used to facilitate the practice, primarily to drain snakebites and lesions. The remedial application of cupping has evolved concurrent to the refinement of the cup itself, and now cups are primarily fabricated out of glass or bamboo.

Damp cupping is actually blood letting. He cups my shoulders for 15 minutes and then pricks them with something to let out blood. Bad blood, apparently. It was so detoxifying that I felt kind of sick afterwards – like a quart of toxins had been released from my shoulders. But that went away when I drank a good amount of water.

I can’t even tell you the difference it made, even the first time. It was like 10 pounds had been lifted off my shoulders. Plus I was left with some pretty awesome round bruises that looked like hickies.

What types of alternative (to Western) medicine have you used? What has worked for you?

Fresh Basil Pesto

Basil is one of my favorite things growing in my garden. I’ve made bruschetta, strawberry-basil salad, spaghetti sauce, and mozzarella sandwiches with basil on top. Basil is so fragrant and delicious.

Last night I made pesto with my parents. They have a ridiculous amount of basil and can’t seem to use it fast enough.

Fresh Basil

Pesto is so easy. All you need is:

2 cups packed fresh basil

1/3 cup pine nuts

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup grated Romano cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

I like the mixture of these two cheeses because Romano has a nice bite, but you can use 1/2 cup of one or the other. Also, I’ve heard you can use Walnuts (which are far less expensive) instead of pine-nuts, but my little H. is allergic so we used the traditional pine-nuts.

Just put the basil and nuts in a food processor until chopped down, add garlic and pulse until combined. And then add the olive oil and cheese.

Pesto

We put it on little baguette breads with mozzarella and it was SO good. But there’s a lot of things you can do with pesto besides as a dip – add a tablespoon to your mashed potatoes, make pesto the base of pizzas, use it as the sauce for any pasta or gnocchi, and I really like it best mixed with cream cheese and milk for a creamy pesto.

One thing my sister-in-law does is freeze individual servings of pesto in ice cube trays so they last longer – and then she just pops a few out when she wants to add it to something. What other ways do you like your pesto? Any good recipe ideas?

Bad Teen Songs I Can’t Get Out of My Head

For the last few months I’ve been trying to figure out what the hell Britney Spears is singing about with her random Amy song. And today I found out. Oh my gosh. I’m either super stupid or super naiive, but I’ve been singing along with it in total oblivion to what “If You Seek Amy” sounds like phonetically. If you can’t figure it out either, look at the lyrics and then say that line out loud really fast. And if you still can’t figure it out, Google it and you’ll sure find out quickly.

Here I was, actually thinking that Britney Spears has come out of her manic, downward mental spiral and surfacing as a steady, somewhat stable mom of 2. Apparently that’s much too hard to ask of a super star.

Moving on, stations are playing far too much Taylor Swift. I’m talking not just pop stations, but all the country stations (of which we have 3 in SLC),  all the Hot AC stations, and Top 40 are playing her as well. She’s everywhere. Every time I turn on the radio, I am reminded of ridiculous high school scenarios and romances that never were. Taylor Swift plunges you back to a time when the biggest trial of life was not making Dance Company or getting asked to prom. Not to minimize these high schooler’s pain but seriously – I’ve got bigger fish to fry now and I can’t seem to escape her no matter what station I listen to.

Is it just me or does it seem like she records the same song over and over again and dresses it up with a few new lyrics. She needs to grow up and go to college so she has something a little more interesting to sing about.

Last, but not lease, Miley Cyrus. She has confused me for 3 years. Is she Hannah Montana? Is she Miley Cyrus? Is she really blonde with a brown wig or brown with a really bad blonde wig? Is she done with Hannah Montana? Have they broken up? I think I liked Hannah better…because in this new song The Climb, she sounds EXACTLY like the Hanson brothers in their mmmbop song. You won’t even believe how alike they sound until you listen. I’ve posted their YouTube links above.

She sounds just like a boy teenager going through puberty. Hannah Montana never sounded like that! I think she should bring Hannah back…

Or maybe I just need to get a Zune or an Ipod like normal people and listen to grown-up music. Or tune in to NPR more often….

The Weight and Pull of Words

As a copywriter and marketer, my life is filled with words. I love words. I love the effect they have. Words woven perfectly together can do powerful things. Words start wars. Words persuade people to do things they shouldn’t. And things they should. Words can heal. Words can cut deeper than any knife. Words begin romances.

I fell in love with my husband on our first date over a night of words. We talked through two movies at a drive-in over cold pizza and candy. I remember thinking the whole time “he understands everything I say.” Understanding words is crucial to allowing their power to reach you. I can hear or read something in French, and think it’s beautiful, but because it’s not my first language, the effect is not as strong.

I wish I were better at speaking words. I feel more comfortable writing them. It’s not until I write that I know what I’m really trying to say. People who are gifted at oral rhetoric amaze me, even if I don’t like what they’re saying. President Bill Clinton was a good rhetorician. He could throw and spin words like darts until you couldn’t remember what question he was answering, and you didn’t care anymore – you just liked the way he sounded.

Shakespeare, of course, was the greatest word artist in history. He took a language that was course, choppy, and Germanic and lifted it to a level that near reached heaven. He even created words in his plays and then defined them so we’d know what they were. I learned to love Shakespeare most during a summer stint at Cambridge in UK. The class was taught by a teaching fellow named Simon, that all the girls loved and the boys envied. He wore sandals and loose fitting shirts that hung low on his chest, and I don’t even think he was that good-looking. But he spoke so romantically that he bewitched us so well that I’m still spellbound.

Wes was the first guy I dated in several years that loved language as much as I do. Hence our little toddler is blessed (or we’re just cursed) with our love of words. He talks constantly, and only some of it is jibberish. He emphasizes most of his words so well that you can’t ignore what he’s saying, even if you’d like to. Yesterday we were driving by a park and he calls out “Sssllliiiiiiiieeeeedddd! Shlliiiiiiiededd!, with more enthusiasm than you’d think possible, so that I had no other option but to turn around and let him play on the slide for an hour.

Life is One Big Neverending Project

When life is busy, the blogging stops. Especially when I’m doing a lot of copy writing – it’s impossible to get my brain to want to write anything longer than 5 word zingers. Plus I started a blog for my client Volkswagen SouthTowne. So I’m kind of blogged out. But, enough whining.

Here’s what’s been going on. We started a backsplash in the kitchen. The majority of our kitchen is white. White cabinets, white tile flooring, some white walls. So we’re doing a black and white theme with fun blue walls. We get started on Friday and buy all the tile.

Our half-finished by awesome kitchen tile backsplash

As soon as we get home with the tile, My husband’s friend  calls us and tells us he can do our curbing on our lawn that day. He works for this awesome curbing company called ____ well I can’t remember____ and gave us a great deal. But we probably wouldn’t have started the backsplash if we knew that we were going to be knee deep in sod removal too.

What will be a beautiful flower garden

We’re also in the midst of a new print campaign for a new client project. They’re not actually our client per se, it’s just a project they’re hiring us (White Rabbit Advertising) for. I think they have some big PR agency out of Los Angeles, but anyway, I have an ex-co-worker friend from 3 agencies ago who is fantastic and she works there. So she hired us to create some print campaigns for their home automation systems and billboards too.  So our life is one big never-ending project. But it’s the coolest company ever, so it’s been fun to come up with some ideas for them.

I got up early on Saturday and planned on spending my 4th of July removing the sod from where they lay the curbing; but seriously, it was the hardest physical labor I’ve ever done. Giving birth is a cinch compared to sod removal. So I woke My Husband up and asked him to start doing it. But then he had to get started on the tile since his dad was coming to help. So I went back to sod work. But it didn’t last long. Thank goodness a neighbor I had never met came by and said he could remove it for us for a minimal fee. He said his landscaping business went under and he could use the work.  He did that last night and it looks awesome!

A tiny portion of all the sod that had to be removed

And the backsplash is looking awesome too. Hopefully we’ll finish it tonight.

Tile's looking A-OK

So here we are half-finished with everything and taking on new projects daily.

Funny Volkswagen Commercials

I love the Volkswagen commercials that are out right now. Crispin Porter + Bogusky (CPB), Volkswagen USA’s agency, is doing a fantastic job. Since my company White Rabbit Advertising represents VW SouthTowne in Salt Lake City, UT, I have taken a keen interest in their national commercials.

And then there’s the classic Routan Boom commercials that they had Brooke Shields host last year. It must have been the whole Tom Cruise/Post-Partum battle a few years back, but Brook Shields has become synonymous with motherhood. Weird. But effective in advertising for a van for the family:

But this one is my new favorite. It’s German. I don’t know who their agency is. But it’s hilarious and gross. If you don’t speak German, you just have to know that the Jetta TDI gets over 45 MPG so you can drive for a really long time without fueling up.

Any others you’ve seen?

Psychoanalysis of The Next Food Network Stars

I’m going on withdrawals now that the Biggest Loser, my favorite reality show, is over. So I had to find another fix. And I think that fix is The Next Food Network Star. It combines two of my favorite things: food TV and reality TV. I love good drama and so far the show has not disappointed.

Has anyone been watching? They started with 10 contestants – most of which are slightly unhinged – and are now down to 7. I can’t believe how juicy the last two episodes have been!

I have a tendency, probably stemming from my undergrad in Psychology that I haven’t flushed out of my system yet, to psychoanalyze everyone that I meet. And it’s more fun when I don’t know them – because my personal feelings about them would totally interfere with my caustic analysis. So doing this analysis on 7 contestants of a reality show is such fun. Ha! Psychoanalyze my need to psychoanalyze if you dare. . . .

Michael. Where do I start. Michael is stuck in Freud’s Oral Phase, where he needs his mommy (or in his case, his “support group of friends” he can’t stop talking about) around to compensate for is insecurity. Michael suffers from derealization. Back home he is a self-acclaimed “diva” and has tons of friends that aren’t trying to beat him out of a reality game show. Since he can’t quite adjust to his new surroundings, he’s in this constant haze of confusion. Everything in this world Food Network reality seems bizarre to him – like “shopping at the grocery store on a budget? OMG are you serious???” He’s suffering from presque-vu where everything he wants to say is just getting stuck on the tip of his tongue. All this anxiety and inibility to express himself in this show is making him appear only half present in every episode. I can’t believe he’s hung on this long. Actually, I can. With as many head-cases as are on this show, it makes sense that he’s being overlooked. His day to be axed will come soon.

Melissa (AKA Mom). Melissa is a hypomaniac but so far it’s working for her. Some of the judges have said she’s too over-the-top happy, but her glowing, busy mommy persona is winning out. Despite this soft exterior, you don’t want to mess with this mom. Two episodes ago, she let two of her competitors (Brett and Teddy) help her finish plating her dishes. I truly think she is naiive enough to believe they wanted to help her. But no, they were being patronizing. None of the men on this show think she knows what she’s doing. Then in the judging room they turned on her. It was fantastically vicious. Her defense mechanism? Tears and sweet shock. It definitely made an impression on the judges. They sent Brett home.  Then last episode, she had to partner up with Eddie. He rolled his eyes at her, was curt and rude. She was the perfect victim again. They sent Eddie home. In short, don’t mess with mommy.

Eddie got sent home, but he’s worth mentioning. Eddie suffers from persistent adolescence. I don’t know if there’s a special term for that. He’s a spoiled frat boy who such a schmoosy poser I couldn’t even stand to watch him. Two episodes ago he went on and on about this romantic night with his girlfriend – it got way to detailed. He’s a faker who makes my stomach turn. And he’s a food novice. He actually used Paula Dean’s recipe in the last show. He’s so unoriginal!

Teddy. Poor Teddy. He’s the most dysfunctional contestant on the show. The depth of his self-delusion and psychosis is so immense I think he must have been practicing it since childhood. Everyone thinks Teddy, because he’s so bi-polar, is coming completely unhinged. I think he’s always been this unhinged. Teddy reminds me of this adopted girl I knew growing up who was a compulsive liar. But she  did it for acceptance. She thought if she lied and made herself look better we’d all want to be her friends. This is Teddy. Teddy is a people pleaser in the worst way. He has no idea who he is. Everytime he thinks he’s going to get in trouble from the judges, he immediately changes his tune.

E.g., last episode, he claimed the dessert as his, then when the judges said it tasted nasty and store-bought, he immediately said he should get credit for the meatloaf (because they liked that one) – even though that was the combined dish he did with Debbie. Then the judges called him out on it and he immediately started crying and saying he’s sorry and they’re absolutely right. He’s scared. He’s insecure. His dysfunctional. I’m guessing he had abusive parents whom he constantly had to walk on eggshells around to please.

Katie. Oh Katie. When are you going to listen to the judges and stop trying to give them a nutrition lesson evertime you present food? It’s unappetizing, dear. And makes you look ridiculous. I don’t have any idea what she’s suffering from, other than dullness. She’s boring and will be kicked off soon.

Jamika, Debbie and Jeffrey are my top three choices for this show – I expect them all to go far. Am I the only one watching this show? Anybody else like it yet?