Night
the road driver passenger moving as one. and the motor is purring and I am purring but the wind keeps us humble with its roar. I feel the bike beneath my flip flops and the driver beneath my legs and as I rest my helmet adorned head on the leather covering your shoulder, I part my lips to let a rush of air enter.

Morning
and the road is driving at us, ready to throw her heart on our doorstep. It is sensory overload: moving images, layered and deep; information carried on sound; scents that pick up where instinct leaves off; feelings brought on by internal and external forces. And thankfully, in the privacy of my own mouth, I can still taste tea, and toast, and a hint of your kiss.

If you know me, you know I don't sit still.
It doesn't mean I don't miss you.
It doesn't mean I don't love you.

Song of the moment: Closer to Me. Dar Williams
You can leave this house, leave this town
Leave it all to me, Or you'll never leave the ground
Look at that tiny screen's too small for you
I think you should learn to dream Just like the dreamers do
What can you do with a day
What will you wake up and see
The farther you get, The closer to me
Am I the habit you're too tired to break?
I want you to love me With every step you take
What can you do with a day? What will you wake up and see?
The farther you get, The closer to me
Taj Mahal, Cameroon, back in time, to the moon,
Frozen lake, cypress trees, Florida's missing keys
El Dorado, Spain or bust, Eiffel Tower, Paris just Find your way in
You can leave this house, leave this town
All that's left to chart is Nothing less than your own heart
What can you do with a day, your day? What will you wake up and see?
The farther you get the closer to me
Down the river, down the road, Little Rock, Tokyo,
Dusty trail, Flagstaff, in a faded photograph,
Thunderstorm, Golden Sands, Cape of Horn, Pakistan,
Surinam, Highway One, Chinatown, smoking gun
Golden Gate, Baltic Sea, Painted Desert, Laramie,
Taj Mahal, Cameroon, back in time, to the moon
Frozen lake, cypress trees, Florida's missing keys,
El Dorado, Spain or bust, Eiffel Tower, Paris just Find your way in...

an excellent weekend!
guenduez susan lauren and katie, at Mike's BBQ. Lots of great people, plenty of Pimm's, and a second helping of euphamism toast :)

Mike and I went to dinner last night at the home of his old college roomate, Ben, and his fiance, Lucy. They were so sweet! Such a proper English evening! Ben and Lucy prepared this amazing dinner, steak and potatoes and mushrooms, all of it organic. Actually, even the brownies and ice cream were organic. Lucy works at an organic market, so I learned a bit about the food market in the UK. Basically, one in every eight pounds spent in the UK is spent at Tesco, a chain of supermarkets and minimarts. Now, in order to save you, their loyal customer, and extra 10 pence on your weekly milk, they are forcing the dairy farmers to cut their profits so drastically they can barely make ends meet. Additionally, they have opened so many stores, and forced out so many independent stores nearby (can you say walmart?) that the majority of England has no other alternatives. Legally, they can't open any more supermarkets without becoming a monopoly, so they have begun opening metro stores, which are smaller, yes, but if you've ever lived in the city you know you frequently go wherever is nearest, no matter how big or small it may be. Also, the don't adapt at all to supply neighborhoods with any of the specialty items they were accostomed to getting at other independent shops. Whereas a year ago I could have gone to Ben and Lucy's neighborhood and picked up some much needed EasyMac, that store is now out of business thanks to Tesco. So - bad for farmers, bad for consumers, bad for UK. GRR Tesco GRR! but, yay Mike Ben and Lucy. Also, the three of them are going for a weekend trip on Ben's parents canal boat. I'm a little jealous! I love the canal boats, they are so cute! We pass about 50 of them on Regent's Canal on my way to work every morning. ah, sigh....

What scares you? the threat of bombs? old men, posturing with big guns? governments, invading and refusing to leave foreign countries? Me, i am most afraid of the life not lived. To sit at home, never learn anything new, never find new ways to grow, scared to step out my front door: That would be terrifying indeed. So do your worst. You won't stop me, not like that.

Ah, life at Saatchi. We show up at 9:30. We leave at 9. We work at least as many hours as any of the creatives, with just as much drive and more vulnerabilty. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain if only you can come up with a big idea in time. But the big idea is only part. Dramatize the benefit, surprise and delight the consumer, tie it back into the product and wrap it up with a zippy line. Try to draw it in a picture, present it to the class, let them tear you down, let them build you up, and get ready to start it all over again tomorrow. Ah, agency life. Be who you are, talk to different people, learn something new, try something uncomfortable, break for a drink and dream up something amazing. There are ways to make more money. There are ways to make more art. But more is not the issue. Today, they walk in and say, hey, can you learn everything there is to know about new zealand and maybe capture it's coolness in seven words or less so people in the UK will drop everything to move there? and tomorrow, the challenge will be something completely different. and that is amazing, and fabulous, and challenging, and stressfull, and exciting, and your head gets so full of ideas you think its gonna pop and you can't write nearly fast enough until you find yourself lost in your own exotic adventure and then for a little while you can't think up anything new so you churn your early ideas around in your head and think of the greatest ads you've ever seen. and then you have another coffee and distract another team and then sit down to find "eureka!" the solution to the problem and then its time for round two and ideas are flying fast and furious and it's time to start your marker comps cause the meeting is first thing tomorrow and it'd be great to get out early at least one night this week. Or maybe you dont find "eureak!" intead you find "email!" and "newspaper!" and "toothpastefordinner.com!" or maybe you find your head is empty and thats okay too cause its only advertising, and no one is going to live or die by your pen but maybe, just maybe, one day you'll make the world smile. Have a drink, lather, rinse, repeat.