Today is Tuesday...

Tonight at dinner, we were discussing one of my little one's books, "Today is Monday." The book, which has a song that goes along with it (or vice versa), goes through all the days of the week, and the foods associated with them. For instance:

"Today is Monday
Monday string beans,
All you hungry children, come and eat it up!"

The discussion involved what food was on Tuesday (spaghetti), to which Mattio replied, "Tuesday isn't spaghetti, Wednesday is spaghetti!" When Ashlee went to correct him, he argued back, "Wednesday is spaghetti--it's Prince Spaghetti day." She had no idea what he was talking about.

But anyone from our generation surely remembers the kid on the bicycle, pedaling home furiously because it was Wednesday, and Wednesday, after all, was Prince spaghetti day. The commercial hasn't been shown in years, but it's pretty amazing that the association of Wednesday and Prince spaghetti still holds up. That's some pretty effective advertising, no?

So of course, I got to thinking about other commercials and catch phrases from my youth: "Where's the beef?" will always be associated with Wendy's; "I can't believe I ate the whole thing," Alka Seltzer (even better: "plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is"); and the famous anti-drug PSA, where the dad confronts the kid about his drugs: "I learned it by watching you!"

I could go on and on... I wonder how many ads that are out today are going to be remembered 20 years from now?

Packaging oxymoron?

While I don't drive a Prius, and my clothes aren't made from recycled organic cotton, I do like to think that I do my part for the environment. I recycle everything (seriously, our bin is overflowing every single week), I bring my own bags to the grocery store (and it absolutely infuriates me if I have a bagger that just doesn't know/care, and fills my bags only halfway and then starts giving me plastic bags. Ummmm... defeat the purpose, much?), and just recently, we started using compact florescent lightbulbs in the house.

I just changed one today... and as I pulled the new compact florescent out of the package, something struck me as odd: the package that my 4 lightbulbs came in--lightbulbs that are supposed to use less energy and last longer, and therefore be better for the environment--the package is plastic. Like the kind of plastic that you have to use scissors, or a knife to open. Like the kind of plastic that something like batteries come packaged in. Does anyone else see where I'm going with this?

I know I will recycle the package once I finish it, but... will everybody? Seriously, the whole marketing behind these lightbulbs is that they are better for the environment, because they use less energy. Don't you think that they'd be that much better if they came packaged in recycled cardboard or something?

Just one of those silly packaging conundrums that doesn't seem very well though out...

I gotta have more cowbell!

Just because the last couple of posts have featured youtube, I thought I'd throw this in as well:



One of my all-time favorites... I don't know what's funnier, the fact that Will Ferrell gets so lost in the character, the fact that Jimmy Fallon can't keep it together (watch him turn away to laugh on numerous occasions), or the fact that famed producer Bruce Dickinson has a fever, "and the only thing that will cure it is more cowbell."

Enjoy.

Clever Ad

I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of the Cingular/AT&T (or whatever company name they're going by today--seriously, could they flip flop back and forth a little more?) dropped call ads. I think the concept is a good one, but man, are they poorly executed. The actors are awful, the circumstances awkward... I'm just not left with the feeling that Cingular/AT&T is the company to go with if I don't want dropped calls. It's more like, I want to smack all those people with dropped calls, especially the doofy fiancé who is talking to his future father in law.

However, I finally saw the entire Roger Clemens commercial:


This is it--this is that great concept, with a great execution. And think of all the other ads that they could do: Karl Rove, calling the President to tell him he's going to retire (cut to Bush jumping up and down, throwing a child-like tantrum); Britney Spears, calling her mom to tell her she's getting married again ("But momma, only with your blessing!"); David Chase, creator of the Sopranos and the man responsible for the disappointing last episode, on the phone with HBO ("I think I'm just going to end the show in a diner")... the possibilities are endless.

Original Design Gangsta

Came across this today, and it might just be the funniest thing I've seen in quite some time:


I love how Pantone 187 runs through his veins.

Word of Mouth

I just received the new issue of How Magazine yesterday, and upon flipping through it, I found a poll: "Do you send out self-promotions around the holidays?" There were supporting quotes for both sides, but the one that really stuck with me was the last no answer. The person pretty much said something along these lines: "I'm embarrassed to admit that in the 12 years I've been doing this, I've never sent out any type of self-promotion. Almost all of my work has come from word of mouth."

And this is embarrassing, how?

Anytime I get business that has come from a past client, friend or colleague, it makes me almost giddy with pride. I feel that my name wouldn't get passed on if I didn't provide a stellar level of service (because I know I wouldn't pass on someone else's name if I didn't feel that way about them), so I must be doing something right--right? Every time I get a phone call, or email from someone who has gotten my name from one of my clients/friends/colleagues, I want to throw that person a party. I certainly am not embarrassed to admit that the majority of my business comes from word of mouth; and I hope that I can continue to boast that.

So thank you, thank you, thank you! to all those who feel that my services are worthy of passing on to someone else! And who knows... maybe one day I will throw a party; with the skills of all my many clients, it will definitely be diverse, if anything (and of course, fun... cause I am known to throw a bitchin' party).

Vacation, all I ever wanted...

Ahhh... just got back from a much-needed week off spent up in Cape Cod (contrary to the above photo, the majority of the week was sunny and beautiful. This was one of the few pics I had that didn't have one of my kids in it :). I spent the week relaxing, catching up on some reading, and getting inspired. I have some pretty cool projects that look like they may come my way, so I'm excited to channel some of my vacation-inspired creativity towards them.

Now, if only I could take a vacation every time I needed inspiration...

Bookmark this!

Mattio has this uncanny ability to find the weirdest, and the coolest websites. The other day he found a pro-breastfeeding Cafepress site selling t-shirts that say "Eat at Mom's." Completely random, yet hysterical. But he also came across a "mom" blog--basically an online community for mothers (something I've been thinking about doing for quite some time... if only there was another couple of hours in the day!), and also Mashup, a site who's slogan is "Social Networking News." Eh, not really something I'd check everyday, but...

The reason he pointed it out was because he found this post on it: Web Design Toolbox: 50+ Tools for Web Designs. Basically a list of different websites for developers and designers.

The first part of the list is basically cheap competition for me: DIY websites. Definitely not my cup of tea, as I'm a firm believer in "you get what you pay for." And if you're looking for a cheap, copycat site with an overused template, then by all means. But I'm a firm believer in individuality.

But the rest of the list, well... it's pretty freakin' cool. The developer side has links to pages that will create automatic rounded corners in CSS, or test your site in different browsers. But what really got me excited was the designer side: sites where you can create custom color palettes (brilliant!), links to sites with free icons and buttons, inspiration sites for web designers (which to me, are priceless). It's a pretty cool list to have stumbled upon.

Oh, and a quick softball update: Last week, my daughter's softball team won the state championship, beating West Hartford 3-2 in 7 innings. I am so proud of this team--it's a great group of girls and I'm glad mine was a part of it.