656,640 minutes

That's how long it's been. 

I was going to put it in days (456). Then I thought hours (10,944). But minutes seemed the most relatable. 

Unless, of course, you measure things in cups of coffee, sunsets, or love.

Before I get back to posting on things MORE of relevance than what I've been up to in these many days, I'm going to go through a brief recap of what I've been up to in these many days. Not as much for the 2.36 people that are reading this, but more for my own personal posterity purposes. 

After all, alliteration aides any ailment. 

Yes, that just happened. 


ANYwhositwhatsitmovingrightalong... 

Shortly after the last post, my creative director decided he didn't want to have a boutique agency any more. He didn't as much TELL me this, as I figured it out when I became the point man for all client meetings and relations. I didn't have a problem with this, mind you. I love taking on all aspects of agency work. But it definitely made me realize I needed to be looking elsewhere for continued employment. That said, I didn't want to stay in Texas anymore. So I started looking at agencies across the country, focusing largely on Portland, the Twin Cities, and Boston (apparently the city that has one main word around which the rest of their vocabulary is oriented).

While each of these cities offered a lot of things I wanted (northern climate, bike culture, good advertising agencies), something that happened in June on a trip to Saint Paul helped narrow the focus to the place that produced Owl City, Bob Dylan, and the makers of these fanTAStic films.

That something was of a more personal nature. 
You know, having to do with a girl. 
And asking her pastor and mother permission to pursue her in courtship. 

Yes, I do things in the old-fashioned, respect-driven type of way. 

So, focus narrowed, started getting interviews lined up, and ended up moving at the end of August. She came down to The Pass of the North, and helped me drive all my belongings in a truck 10 feet bigger than I needed with my car in-tow, nearly 1,700 miles in a generally vertical pattern. 

Yes, Chuck, we drove to the TOP of the country. 

Shortly thereafter, I was working with 7 different recruiters, and had interviews at loads of places. Ended up taking a Senior Copywriter position that wasn't QUITE the right fit for a variety of reasons on both sides of the table. And have since been doing freelance for a couple brands you might have heard of (ahem, 1 & 2) and a few more that are local favorites up here (Kowalski's most notably). Have had more interviews at agencies big and small, but nothing landed just yet. After the first not-so-good fit, I'm taking time to make sure where I land next is more like a driving glove and less like a pairing of a catcher's mit to an elephant tail. 

As it turned out, I spent more time posting via Facebook and Twitter, ever PLANNING on posting here. While that hasn't been happening, here are some of the top things from those other content sharing outlets:

:Perspective:

Soccer injury.

:Parody:

:Collaboration of genius: 

Professional, bar-raising inspiration.

:Hilarity:

Twitter Quotes:

@tgwthomas

"Getting even has never healed a single person." –Eva Mozes Kor

"Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic, and fear which is inherent in a human condition." -Graham Greene

"I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request." –Cpt. Barbosa

"To be upset about what you don't have is to waste what you do have."

Now that I have a more firmed up schedule and outline, posts should be coming with fair regularity. So, keep those 4.52 eyes peeled. 

Ouch. 

People are inspiring

Goodness gracious.

Such a long time since a post.

Not for a lack of desire.

Or things to talk about.

Rant about. Shout about.

Share and discuss … about.

It’s been …

… well, the litany of excuses could fill the page. So, let’s just say there are excuses and I’m tired of thinking of them already.

Something I wanted to write about a long time ago, when I first discovered it (and shared it with several people that I’m sure don’t read this) was this here video: 

It’s a fantastic 27-minute video primarily created to chronicle how a caricature artist works.

But, it proves to be so much more than that.

It’s inspiring.

Inspiring for the aspects of learning how to see someone.

Really see them.

Not just for how they look, but how the way a person looks outside shows whom they are inside.

All the details.

So the viewer sees the truth of the one they're looking at.

While many of us don’t know how to do this, this video might call attention to different details that can/should tell us more about those around us and in our lives.

Fear not if you're worried about being able to do this very well. For you must remember that our brains are more powerful than we give them credit for being (especially in others). So even when we don’t know how to look, we do see these details. And can access these subconscious acknowledgements later to reinforce why we like a person. Or don't.

But the video isn’t just inspiring for that reason.

It’s also inspiring because of the subject: Conan O'Brien. 

Surely there was no coincidence in choosing this magnitude of man for this study.

He himself is one of the more fascinating persons that exist today, for a few reasons.

1)   He’s famous.

2)   He’s talented.

3)   He’s real.

4)   He’s a performer with a sense of pride about his work, without a selfish pride about himself with passionate desire to relate to his audience in a genuine, interesting, educated and, of course for him, funny way.

Basically, he is a man of respect, which, in turn, commands it.

Inherently.

Many would chalk this up to him being such a media force in a media-driven age.

That he isn’t really all that great, but we think so because we see him everywhere on TV (and Facebook and Twitter and YouTube). An area of the world so inundated by idiots that anyone with half a brain or personality shines ever brighter.

However, as anyone that has true and genuine heroes and idols, like presidents or authors or moguls of any situation knows; humble, powerful and respect-worthy leaders who provide inspiration deserve admiration despite their locale.

You can see that in an article that was also recently posted by Fast Company (a great resource for, well, everything) on how Conan approaches creativity. Read it here (guide to creativity).  Here you see so many applications outside the realm of a comedian or TV personality.

Hmm.

This post seems to have taken a Conan-centric tone, but let me assure you that I have other heroes. Not that my heroes should be yours, or necessarily yours mine. Or that I feel a need to necessarily defend my choice of heroes.

But all my heroes (ALL heroes in general) are ones that employ the faculties of creativity by way of passion, education, preparation, tenacity and overall selflessness to the cause which they are leading the way in.

 

To Live Big, Dream Big

i had the fortunate opportunity to hear a great saying this past week:

"If your memories are bigger than your dreams, you're headed for the grave."

this really has stuck with me. 
particularly because i have the unfortunate burden of a nearly perfect photographic memory (more accurately called eidetic memory), and i have always struggled with memories and their general power over most of my life in many and nearly all ways. 


to digress for a moment, there is a near universal reaction when i tell people i have such memory skills. 
jealousy.

"man, that's great!"

"i wish i had that!"

"you're so lucky!"

yes, while there are certainly benefits to having a brain that processes information in such a way (e.g., whenever a teacher just before a test would say "class, put away your books and notes. you're not going to learn anything in the next five minutes that you don't already know" i wanted to say "ah-ah-ah, but i will!"). the thing most people don't think about is that i don't have a choice in this memory. i don't just get to remember the nice, happy, fun things in life. 
i remember EVERYthing. 
vividly. 


and it's constantly going, like a never-ending circular rolodex.
so, every heartache, heartbreak, disapproving look, negative comment, physical pain, weepy moment is recalled with vividness as if it had only just happened a couple hours before. 
and this goes back to at least kindergarten. 


but, like with most things, to every side there is an equal and opposite side. 


that said, i wouldn't give up this ability. it has helped me in many ways, when approached with the right attitude of course. 
i have found it to be very useful in being a good friend and listener. 
it has helped when coming up with ad campaign ideas to remember what i've seen done before so as to not repeat it. 
it has been superbly great in movie quote battles. or movie scene reenactments. 
of course.
:)




okay, so back to the topic at hand, memories versus dreams. 


what brought this to the presence of mind again, not that it had left necessarily, was seeing The Adjustment Bureau today with my Momma. the movie didn't really allude to or promote the same idea, but it was more a feeling i realized, and often do while watching movies. 


i LOVE movies. 
i love watching them, experiencing them, taking them in, absorbing them, and learning from them. 
and one thing that never fails is that i always see things that i can fully imagine myself doing or taking a part in, in real life. no matter the job or occupation or experience or place in life the main (and ancillary) characters are portraying, i see passions i have and fully can believe that i could achieve in life. 


this is, in part, due to the fact that over the course of my own life i have done and experienced quite a vast array of things. from high society events to the most bare-bones, wilderness endeavors and everything in between. partly this was at the prodding of family. some at the pushing of friends. even some personal goals in the mix. 


but, as i was watching the movie, i started to think to myself:

"i am ridiculous. why would i think that i would ever try to, or even want to, pursue a life inside NYC office buildings, wearing three-piece suits and aspiring to politics? i can't do that. not at this point in my life. i've missed the opportunities/chances/etc. to have such a life. i need to realize that the road i'm on has limited options and i need to live within them. and be glad about it."   

luckily, that saying i heard this past week immediately crept in and took over, moving me to think:

"you're never too old to dream. as long as you're alive, you can try for anything. and maybe i won't do the things i'm thinking of right at the moment, but to be able to think of them -- to see them as a viable option and possibility -- to DREAM of a life different from what i am experiencing now ... THAT is what keeps me alive."

hope.
excitement.
the ever-present notion that more is out there, and i will go after it. 


these are things that keep me smiling on the darkest of days. 
these are things that keep me smiling on the dullest of days. 
these are things that keep me smiling. 


here is an image to put to these thousand words:

and a great quote by an author i admire more than many:

ready for a break from "must-see events"

so, the oscars were yesterday.
and the grammys on the 13th.
and the superbowl on the 6th.

goodness.

if you know me at all, then you know that i am passionate about a great many things.
i love movies.
i love music.
i love sports.
i love people.
i love culture.

and i pay great attention to detail in all things.

so, in that, i have been quite overwhelmed with all these "must see" events.
i want to see them all.
i want to enjoy them all.

but i am so tired of it!
i mean, not tired as in annoyed ... but ever since the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear (that's just an article about it and the impact, more details on what it was and why here and here)at the end of October, it seems like there has been some notable event being broadcast that i just "have" to watch.
and not miss.
which, i genuinely do want to not miss.

but i also have been missing the disconnect from the world.
the passion for personal development rather than worldwide involvement.

don't get me wrong, i have still made time for reading.
just not as much as i'd like.
and certainly not as much writing as i'd like.
at least not personal writing.

the last thing i wrote of any note was this:

it isn't how you start.
or how you finish. 
or the journey. 


it's all of these. 
it's none of these.
it's you.
it's me.
it's us.


without
and together. 

but i wrote that in JANUARY.
and i haven't had time to go back to it and make sure it says what i was intending.
or that it even says anything at all.

i debated whether or not to even put it on here, but i decided that the only way i'm going to have any accountability to my writing is to put what i have in a more permanent place. well, at least a more viewable place that will make me want to be better at the thought of someone else seeing it.
and reading it.
and thinking about it.

even if there really aren't any eyes or minds coming in contact with it, or commenting on it, the thought that there could be provides an element of performance based critique that, at least in my experience, is crucial to the artistic expression.
because, having spent my life in many situations of having to communicate an idea to someone else (whether it be training someone in athletic endeavor, teaching grammar, critiquing an ad, explaining a movie concept, or instructing a partner in a dance move), it's not about what you say, but what is heard and understood.

so, while any form of art doesn't require being understood by the audience (and there are most certainly pieces that need only be created by the creator, not for the viewer), in the long run if you are only talking to yourself, you aren't saying anything.

this image kinda says that general thought for me, on why you need to get your ideas out of your head and in front of other people:

ANYwhositwhatsit, a lot of thoughts just kinda vomited onto the page here.
guess that's what happens when i don't write anything for awhile and have a lot of thoughts.
hopefully it made sense.
quite possibly it came across as a lot of disconnected thoughts and ramblings.

over the next few days i'll post some new things that will address each one more specifically.

but, getting back to yesterday being the oscars, here were some of the best moments of the show, not addressing all the thoughts of who won versus who deserved to, or really any mental meanderings on the actual awarding that took place. you know, the catalyst for these videos.

and, after the videos from the oscars, there is one more that is demonstrates some truly great creativity in showcasing a great talent for an oft-overlooked skill. proving, yet again, that how something is perceived gives just as much value and credence to it's actual inherent value. synthesized, you have to make me see what you see, for me to care the way you care.
communication.
word.

please to enjoy::


this isn't the whole song, but it gets the essence. it's Anne Hathaway singing a version of On My Own from Les Mis (you can view the original vocalist here). i was quite pleasantly surprised that she can sing. and very happy to see James Franco doing something fun and silly at the Oscars, to live up to the promos, that in all other ways, he and Anne did not. more on that in another post. here's the video!


this was the finale of the oscars. a truly great song by a truly inspirational group of kids. and definitely comes at a time that we should start appreciating public servants to our children. (click here to read about who and what PS22 is):


being a huge soundtrack fan, and in an era of auto-tuning being the rage, this was one of the happiest surprises for me in the broadcast. "she's so glad he doesn't have a shiirrrrrt!"


and in the vein of great music, this was a cool segment. it lets you see that we al have different tastes and opinions.


and here is the last video, the one mentioned at the outset of sharing all these. it's unrelated to the oscars, except that it's great talent.
but this is at Carnegie Hall and a few years ago. though it's dated, still quite amazing.

what is going on here?

there are so many things rumbling around in the old noggin'.

to start things off, here is a video of one of my favorite songs.
one of those that just always puts me in a good mood.
gives me the goose bumps.
makes me smile. on the outside face portion. and the inside heart portion.



and then there's this.
i have had this, and a whole series of fantastically art directed quotes about all sorts of creative things.
this one is one of the most powerful to me though:

and i've been reading a lot of great things, mostly c/o Bill Watterson. 

i LOVE Calvin & Hobbes. 

and going back to reading from the very beginning, i am realizing just how much every aspect and character of these strips formed my belief about life.

and what is fun.

and why.

and that Bill Watterson is a true hero of mine. 

but also Dave Barry.

check some of his awesomeness here: http://www.davebarry.com/.

both have incredible minds.

that i wish mine was like. 

i have moments.

it is their EVERY moment.

now time to get on some of that action. 

go after it.

hunt it.

kill it.

eat it.

process it.

and then serve it up. 

delicious. 

what?

yep.

more about love than lust

being that it's Valentine's Day, thought i'd share this:

i've been playing this particular song, practically non-stop, for the past few weeks.
it's by a guy named Andrew Peterson.

it's called Dancing in the Minefields.
and it's about marriage.

providing a unique perspective on what love is.
that it's difficult.
hard.
and requires more work than anything else.

but it's more worth it than you could ever imagine.
that the "only way to find your life, is to lay your own life down."
and, that it's "an easy price for the life we have found."

my favorite line is "i'll walk with you through the shadowlands, till the shadows disappear."
because he's quoting from Clive Staples L. ... and it just creates this perfectly wonderful image on paper and in my mind.

i don't want to take away from the artistry he's created, so here is the video.

p.s. - ALL the lines are great.
poetry of love.

obligatory super bowl commercial post

so, the Superbowl was yesterday.
and, of course, this is THE day for advertising.
getting to write/design/create/produce a TV spot for the superbowl, for advertising type peoples is, well, our superbowl, for lack of a more appropriate phrasing.

this is a picture that will let you know about how this post will go, just so ya know:

as i'm sure you've read within in mere seconds of each spot coming up on your TV screen (and will hear about for months and months, basically until next year), how AWFUL the ads were.
mediocre at best is how some will put it.
others will at least throw a bone to whichever ad they particularly enjoyed.
but still say "eh, it was okay."

and always, ALWAYS, the near involuntary and obligatory comment of "these ads used to be SO good. what happened?"

yes, the ever present "Remember when?" mentality.

and i can't stand it.

for one, if nothing else be remembered, most advertising is created with a first and foremost principle, after which the rest of the ad is created: Get the audience's attention.
well, these ads already have your attention.
you're ALREADY watching them.
attentively.

so that job requirement has been met, and after that first step, it's kinda a free for all.
and the fact that the viewership numbers are in the tens of millions, means that all these monday morning quarterback critics need to take something else into very serious and real consideration of fact:
You are not the only targeted audience member.

if there are one or two ads that are relevant to you, you're at average.
getting the intended amount of ads meant for you.

think about the people you were watching with.
these are your friends (presumably) and i'm betting you don't all share the same taste.
in food, clothing, cars, phones, professional aspirations, etc.

and that's with the people you DO know.
and there are millions of people, from all over the country watching.
and these are not hard sell ads you're seeing.
no one is having to be won over, per se, because, again, attentiveness is already achieved by nature of the venue.

so, give it a rest on all the negativity.
if it didn't meet your standards of good, it probably wasn't intended for you.
not everything will be.
in general.
but especially in advertising.

is that harsh?
do i sound bitter?

eh, i'm okay with it.


and, one last thing ... these are still WAYYY more enjoyable, on the whole, than whatever else you're seeing inbetween your re-run episodes of Seinfeld or Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
deny it out loud, but i know you think it in silence.

yes, i know.
and you know.
and now we all know.
that we all know.

ya know?

so, with that, here are my favorite spots ... you can view them all here: http://superbowl-commercials.org/

i LOVE slapstick.
this is great.
too bad i hate Pepsi.


this is just so good.
the thought, the direction, the music, and, man, the tagline "imported from detroit" ... one of those "i wish i had written that!" ... i mean, it's just a great, classic, powerfully American/anti-American attitude ads. i could go on, but just watch, and please, if you comment on nothing else about this post, i want to hear at least what you think (love, hate, otherwise) about it.


and this is just great as a salute to the audience.
and really shows that for as long as we've loved television, we've loved watching football on it.
and that in our fan rivalry we have camaraderie.


and this is just hilarious.
looks like a PSA, and then isn't.
and in an era of over-saturation of PSAs, i welcome this with open arms.


and i'm just way excited about these movies:

until it's written

so often, in fact most of the time, i don't know what i am writing until i write it.
to some people, most i have found, this is a foreign concept.
but that population is made mostly of non-writers.
or people that aren't close with writers.

ones that share their strange, weird, incomprehensible process.

but, as one of my professors at the VCU Brandcenter, Mark Fenske taught me my first semester at the school (then called the Adcenter) was that you don't wait for the idea.
you go after it.

in my experience that involves hunting for it.
scrounging for it.
looking under the most random rock in a field of air.
fighting the idea that you're a hack.
believing it for minute.
then fighting it again.

and then there's the fight to work too much.
to not take a break.
because if you don't feed your brain with stimuli, what will you have to produce anything worthwhile with?

this is kind of my own version of a relatively common phrase i have heard a lot of ... well, an expanded version anyway:

"If you spend all your time pouring yourself out, and don't let anyone/anything pour into you, in short order you'll be empty and whomever or whatever you were pouring into will be as empty as you. Then neither one of you will have anything but disappointment and dissatisfaction."

so, anyway, all that to say, and here we are, moving right along ...

do it, even when you don't feel like doing it.
even more so when you don't feel like doing it.
whatever the IT is that you have, that is worthy of your noble pursuit and action.
because it is at that time especially, that you will find yourself more proud and glad you did.
because that is where you will find lasting joy, rather than temporal happiness.

don't believe me?
try it.

you'll see.
oh, you'll ALL see.

speaking of seeing, here is something really cool that i found when searching for the best bio for Fenske.
also my first semester at the Brandcenter, he gave us an assignment in his class titled Creative Thinking, that was as follows:

Men, be women.
Women, be men.*

*Don't follow these instructions.

so, the day he gave us that, he came to class in full drag, to show us exactly what he DIDN'T want us to do (and, for most of us, his disapproval was enough motivation).

but, on him being in drag, it was pretty dang incredible considering he wears something ridiculous like a 16EE pump, was awesome.
here you can see all the heavyweights of advertising in similar garb, to promote a very important message.

please to enjoy.

Rooster Cogburn and Johnny Cash versus Boy Bands

this past weekend was interesting.
filled with a lot of things.
done.
experienced.
and that includes doing nothing at all for a good stretch of time.

which i am a HUGE fan of.
down-time.

yep.
big time fan.
and, i think i could be an all-star if there were a competition for it.
you know, what with not being wicked overweight or anything,  yet being phenomenally talented at being so incredibly lackadaisical in many ways.

ANYwhositwhatsit, with all the things i did this weekend (including seeing the latest Coen Brothers' film, True Grit), i was more excited about getting back to work today at my new agency: Two Ton Creativity. which is a great feeling. to WANT to come to work.

here is just one sampling of some cool, fun, enjoyable stuff that has been produced prior to my tenure here. i love anything that successfully promotes a certain culture. even if it might be construed (or, rather, misconstrued) as sexist/ism. i guess i'm more partial to this in that there is now a new movement to counter the Metrosexual movement with something called Retrosexual. you can see a few different ideas of what it means here and here and here.

please to enjoy this cool ad.
there are more, of course, but i like this one a lot.



also, here is the trailer for the great movie i saw this weekend (well, the one i saw in the theater, as i saw my average of 6 movies this weekend):

a post of other's posts about things i want to post

so, there are several sites that i frequent.
some for inspiration.
some for perspiration.
some for other "-ations" altogether.

but you don't get to know all that.
so there.
ha. ha.
HA.

anyway, i have been passionate about all things related to creativity for some time.
mostly as it pertains to the "longing, wish i could do it, never will be able to, sometimes have moments of clarity" kind. but, i've found that most creatives have a seemingly dualistic nature about them: huge ego and huge self-esteem issues. you promote yourself as one, and believe yourself to be another.
basically, every good creative person i know doesn't ever believe they've "made it."
which i think is important.

once you believe you've completed the journey, you can't go any further.
kinda how that goes.
so, if you think you've arrived at the mountain top of creativity and are "it," you just removed yourself from the conversation.
maybe not to an unknowing audience, at least at the outset.
but those that know what good is, know that you have to stay hungry for it. don't ever get satisfied. complacent. comfortable.
realize your comfort zone is a grave.

here are some things that have helped me before and still:

my primary source of inspiration for as long as i have been able to read and think, which, consequently, helped me learn how to think smarter and funner-er-er.
Calvin&Hobbes

starting out folks, here is a GREAT free thing to view:

Open publication - Free publishing - More students

a great blog on advertising, this post being most relevant (and recent):

things you shouldn't be distracted by


and, of course, my home page for years now, ffffound! that has all kinds of great things from design and photography to just cool stuff, like these:

There are different kinds of good.

just started yesterday at a new agency.
this one: Two Ton Creativity.

it's so crazy to FINALLY be at an ad agency.
like, for real.
not doing satellite freelance work out of my apartment.
or just interning.

and, especially, to be THE go-to person for the agency in any capacity is insane.
it's a small agency.
like, less than 6 full-time staff small.
and they hired me to be, essentially, THE Social Media Department.
along with being a freelance Copywriter, as the CD is the only writer here at the moment.
so that's super cool, too.

anyway, it's overwhelming, exciting, fun, challenging and overall great.
especially because it's about 8/10 of a mile from my apartment.
and across the street from my dad's office at the Chase building.
cool.

on that note, here is an article that i think is great.
and certainly relevant to advertising folks.
but really anyone pursuing anything that has an element of creativity to it.

please to enjoy:

What kind of Good do you want to be?

25 JANUARY 2011 NO COMMENT

It was 1994. Sure, I had spent a couple of years on the client side and a couple of years on staff at a small Atlanta agency.

But this was Chiat Fucking Day.

The place that I saw in all those award show books. The agency that had created the incredible “1984″ commercial for the Macintosh. This was Real Advertising.

There was a popcorn machine and a caterer and there were these crazy offices that weren’t even offices, where you just checked out a laptop and a phone and found a perch somewhere. There were vibrant colors and hip people and tables that looked like diner booths and the whole thing was rather overwhelming.

A friend had moved to NY to work there, and she was nice enough to get me an audience with the creative director, Marty Cooke, whom I’d read about as one of the 25 writers worldwide included in The Copy Book.

And when they had a creative department meeting and some British lady came in to share some reels, Marty actually invited me to sit in with the ”real” creatives. I was on cloud nine.

But then it was time for the rubber to meet the road. It was time to show my book. They don’t make enough Speed Stick for a moment like that.

At the time, it was 100% real work, from the real clients I was working on at my agency in Atlanta. To characterize it as mediocre was to be generous.

Marty sat down with me and thoughtfully went through each piece. He found some things to like. He asked some questions about the thinking that went into each piece. And then he turned to me and asked the question that has resonated with me in every job since:

“There are a lot of different kinds of good, Stephen.

What kind of good do you want to be?”

I have since learned that the answer to this question is so important to your success.

It’s not whether you’re talented or untalented – it’s whether your talents match where your agency is going.

It’s a decision some creatives never manage to figure out. They curse their surroundings or their bosses or their clients and never stop to realize that YOU are the only reason YOU’RE in an incongruent situation. You took the job. You made the choice. And you came back in this morning.

Let me give you an example. After quitting my job, reworking my portfolio and turning down nine different job offers in the late 90s, I took a position in the Dunkin’ Donuts group at Hill Holliday. It was by far the funniest group in the agency, run by a group CD who had torn up the Mercury Awards and was one of the best humor radio writers around. If I had really stopped to think about the situation, alarm bells should have gone off: ”this is not a fit. You are Not That Funny.”

But Hill was a big name in a good town and I didn’t care. They were in the books, and I just wanted to be a “real creative.” And I figured a “real creative” had to be awesome at Everything, and I would just work hard enough until I was.

I managed to get some good work produced. Even managed to satisfy my boss with a bit of funny radio. But every day was like clean-lifting 800 pounds. It. Was. So. Hard.

I had always thought of HHCC as the place with Ernie Schenck and all the great, thoughtful John Hancock work. All work that I thought of as, very me. But this group and this account were another flavor entirely. It wasn’t a fit, and that made it twenty times harder.

After we came back from Christmas break, my bosses sat me down and told me that because my work was so truth-based and smart they were moving me out of their group to “the bank.”

(Cue the 1930s Dust Bowl photographs and music with lots of minor chords.)

The Bank. The hardest, least loved group in the agency. I went home that night and tossed and turned and tried to decide if I was going to quit. I decided not to decide.

But then here’s what happened. I was, indeed, a better fit for the bank. One of the best, sanest creative directors in Boston joined Hill Holliday to run my group. My new partner and I clicked better. And we got to work on a lot of other projects beyond the bank. Damned if they weren’t right. The banishment was a blessing. My new group was a better fit, and my life got considerably better.

Back to that day at Chiat NY.

After hearing Marty’s critique, I realized that what it meant was that I was nowhere near a job at Chiat, that I wasn’t their kind of good. I cursed myself for the stupid career choices I had made. In 1990, I had been offered 3rd quarter advanced placement at Portfolio Center because of the little portfolio I’d managed to put together from the client side. I can’t begin to tell you the rock stars who ended up in that class. But I thought, “why pay money to learn advertising when there’s an agency that will pay me?”

(I hear the echoes of that flawed logic a half-dozen times a year when young creatives bring me their not-quite-baked portfolios.)

But you know something? Every journey has its rewards. I learned unique things and was exposed to unique situations in my 7 years of working in that Atlanta agency. Their goals were different than my goals, but they were good, smart people.

I’ve written before about my decision to throw away my book and become a different kind of creative. It was certainly a less-glamorous path than going to portfolio school alongside a bunch of future ad gods.

But I think if I hadn’t been forced to reinvent, I wouldn’t have been as incredibly motivated as I was. I wouldn’t have worked as hard as I did, or met the incredible people I met teaching at Creative Circus, people who’ve become like family to me and taught me lessons that have been vital in my own growth.

Our unique paths are what make us uniquely creative, and I’ve finally learned to feel blessed by mine.

- Stephen Curry