Surrounded by lazies.

Finally able to relax after a 13+ hour day traveling and working. Spent a little time one on one with GalPal afterward, and a little time with Chicagoist peeps. It's hard to describe what this sort of workload does to the brain though. GalPal looks at me and asks what's up with the vacant look in my eye, and I'm sure she's so tired of me jabbering about the 9-to-5 I can't bring myself to tell her I'm busy trying to solve problems in the back of my brain.

So right now I'm typing this and looking around my family room and what do I see? I see two cats, sprawled  not caring, and indulging in an ultimate case of the lazies. I think, for at least the next hour or so, I'm going to follow their example. I think it'll be good for this old soul.

Hey, remember that TV spot I said I worked on? Here it is!

I am so proud of this, you have no idea.

I believe in the power of breakfast.

A programI've been working on for months finally launched its creative assets into the world last week! I'm so excited to be able to share these items that I've been working on for Kellogg's. It all started a few months ago with this PSA…


And then we shot these little documentaries showing the power of breakfast real life effects in action at these schools. They were such terrific partners.



Head here to learn more about the whole, amazing program! There's more fun creative stuff to check out and share with your friends there.

Also, another piece of really exciting personal news around all this was the fact that I was asked to re-edit the PSA I worked on at the top into a 0:30 second ad for national television broadcast, my first as a creative director!

Pep up your Monday.

I feel like crud, how about you? I've been sick for two weeks now bit haven't ben able to take any down time to get better, so I'm just feeling worse and worse. So I'm doing anything I can to distract myself from the fact I feel like crud. Luckily for me Free Energy just released a new video for me to focus on and feel better for at least a few minutes!

This just feels right.

Still miss you so much.

The opportunities always surprise me.

My job can be extremely challenging at times. But I realized the other day that if a job doesn't challenge you, you don't get the chance to accomplish extraordinary things. Just looking back over the last couple weeks I realize that I've accomplished more extraordinary things in that span of time than most people in positions similar to mine get to do in a year. It's exhausting but hoo boy, it can certainly be worth it!

Truckin'.

I have discovered that non-stop travel actually has begun to have an effect on this old man's constitution. It's that scary realization that while in your head you're still a young dude, and by your appearance you still look like a young dude, your body knows exactly how old you are. Oof!

Yesterday was lovely.

You know what's great? Actually being able to spend time with your gal, leisurely taking in the day and wandering where your whims take you. It was definitely needed.

And it reminded me that no matter how busy I get, I've always got someone I can turn to for a little shelter from the storm.

Day off.

Gonna take advantage of this. Wrapped up the work I needed to do, so just gonna spend the day with my gal and enjoy her company.

Motor City.

Can't remember the last time I was in Detroit. Though I guess while I landed in Detroit I'm not actually staying IN Detroit. It's more the same thing as folks from Schaumburg telling out-of-towners they live in Chicago. Actually, this suburb really kind of feels like Schaumburg...

Comin' down the mountain!

Near the top of the mountain.

I'm in the midst of a bunch of filming for a work project* and found myself on a mountain in Colorado over the last few days. I was told the only way down from the location we were filming at was skiing or walking so I chose skiing. Sure, it's been ten or fifteen years since I last skied, but I've always liked it and always picked it back up, so why not?

Dude, mountains in Colorado are WAY different than the ones I've skied in Pennsylvania or Illinois. Their idea of an "easy" route is the equivalent of a black diamond (erm, super difficult) everywhere else! And the head of events sent me to the very tippy top of the mountain saying it was easier to get to the location we were shooting at. And when I say mountain I mean MOUNTAIN!

The short of it? I made it a little ways. And then at a point where you had to make a sharp turn right to take the green path over the mogul-laden path to the easy left, and some ski instructor decided to park his class in the middle of where I needed to go, I realized I lacked the skills,  took off my skiis, and walked past them. I put 'em back on when I hit the gren path, but even that "easy" path proved too much for me. At this point I was wondering what was wrong with me. But honestly? I got myself in over my head. I skiid a while longer and each time someone directed me to an easy path they were anything but.

I made an executive decision. I was going to get off this mountain without killing myself.

I would walk down.

And hour later I realized this decision might kill me anyway. Walking sideways so as to not fall over while carrying skis and poles turns out to be pretty taxing. I kept thinking I was almost at the bottom, so that would power me, until I turned a corner and realized, yup, I was still WAAAAAY on top of a mountain. I could see images of me frozen, Kubrickian Shining-stylee, in the snow.

But I'm an idiot so I just kept going. Until a ski patrol guy on a snowmobile (who, c'mon, was probably answering multiple calls of people seeing some idiot try to walk down the side of a mountain) pulled up and offered me a lift down.

The bottom of the mountain.

O.K., so something else I learned yesterday? As crazy as skiers and snowboarders are, a skier/snowboarder on a snowmobile is FAR crazier! What followed me climbing on top that snowmobile was four of the most harrowing moments of my life. You'd think those dudes take the easiest inclines down, but no; they go directly towards the steepest path down. That poor dude probably still has indentations around his waist where my arms were holding on for dear life.

I thought once we hit bottom I'd get a look from him and his buddies that would totally emasculate me but no, he dropped me off and was super cool. Wished me a good day and sai it was no big deal as I blubbered my gratitude. And that helped my self-respect a lot, even if the rest of me was aching and shaking and in agony from skiing and hiking.

My immediate response yesterday? I'm never skiing again. My response today? I'm definitely taking some ski lessons sometime in the near future. If that mountain taught me anything it's that I'm mortal and have limits so it's time to expand those limits again.

*It's awesome and I can't wait to share it with you when it's all done.

What's tomorrow? Valentine's Day!

I don't care for Valentine's Day. It's not a bitter thing; I've had girlfriends on that day for more years than now. It's not a "ugh, gotta be a boyfriend" thing; I like going out to dinner with a girl! It's more a "Jeebis, why's it such a hassle to get a reservation" thing. Which, by the way, I have a reservation and it's fancy BBQ and GalPal and I both love it and I fully intend to follow the sage advice of Dan Savage when it comes to wining and dining the person you love.

I hate how it makes people that actually do care about the day feel. There should never be a "holiday" that makes you feel like a failure for being alone. That's fucking lame.

No matter how old you are, basic things still surprise you.

So I'm in an elevated environment. Like, a mountain. And I couldn't figure out why I felt like crap, and couldn't breathe, and was constantly thirsty, and seemingly even more addicted to Carmex than usual AND THEN a denizen of the fair city within which I was (well, am) staying informed me that I'M ON A MOUNTAIN WAY ABOVE SEA LEVEL. And these are apparently things newbies like me encounter at high altitudes.

Which, you know, is something a dude with four decades experience of living under his belt would know, and once I went through the memory banks I did find info about high atitudes effecting people. But this is a terrific example of knowledge you know being different than knowledge you experience.

And that reminded me that no matter how much information I take in, it all means close to nothing if I'm not consuming experiences as well.

The Grammys.

What can I say? What's the point? The Grammys is now a show that gives away what literally seems to be four or five awards throughout the course of an evening seemingly built for bands to perform live music videos and flog their merch. You know what? I wouldn't even mind that if the performances were actually good, but they're not. So whatevs. What's the point of even complaining when it's something everyone already knows and will never change?

So I won't.

That moment when the phrase "what is WRONG with kids these days" runs through your head and you actually mean it and then are terrified that you thought it?

Yeah, it happened.

Donewaiting.

You can pretty much blame Rob Duffy for the fact I'm still writing about music and actually do so with a reasonably large audience.* DoneWaiting was arguably my first truly national writing platform, and I will forever be grateful to Rob for the opportunity he gave me and the doors it opened. The site is going dark at the end of next week but will live on as a print entity, so how's that for a weird move in today's online world? I think it's pretty awesome.

I had planned to travel to Columbus next week for the closing festivities and was looking forward to seeing all the Donewaiting peeps, most of whom I haven't seen since, well, my dad died.** Sadly due to some last minute scheduling changes I need to travel for work that weekend so I'm going to miss it. So I guess that means that Rob will just have to throw a launch party for the print version of donewaiting.***

*And you can blame Scott Smith for me still writing under the tankboy moniker, but that's a whole 'nother story.
**I was actually in Columbus for a Donewaiting party with the Woolworthy boys and was on my way home when my dad passed away. But I didn't know it then.
***Through the years I've never quite known the correct styleguide for writing "donewaiting." Is it DoneWaiting? Donewaiting? donewaiting? Let's avoid taking a stance and just use all three throughout this post.

Chilly!

The view from my office makes me go BRRRRR!

Need a pick-me-up? Here you go!

I think folks forget that at the outset The Darkness kinda out of nowhere. When they launched, metal like their's was both decidedly uncool and absent from the charts. But obviosuly folks were ready for it since their debut skyrocketed. Here's a little taste of the band in their earliest days. And if you ever doubted their insane love of Queen, then brance yourself for the 1:30 mark.


And yes, they are one of the best live bands around. Still.

Waiting for their men.

People are vey excited about the surprise announcement by Fall Out Bo that they're no longer on hiatus and have a new single, a new album, and a surprise show tonight at SubT. So excited they're already waiting in line. On North Avenue. In the freezing cold. And the nearly non-stop gusts of wind.

I hope for them it's an awesome show!

You're going to want to see this movie.

We saw Sound City last night and we loved it. You can read my review and then watch the clip below. In tandem the two will probably make you head over to immediately buy the movie.

This is how you promo your show.

Admittedly I'm nervous about the new season of Community sans Dan Harmon, but this catchy little ditty has me hoping for the best!