doom?

Read this: Critics Fear Collider Could Doom Earth

Crazy.

T-minus 1 month

Exactly one month til Mike and I move into our new apartment in wonderful Austin! In honor of our impending move, this post is dedicated to our new apartment...

The floorplan... The model...

The pool...

The view...


The creek...

The bike path...

The swim hole...

CEO bootcamp

Check out this article USA Today published about the important lessons CEOs learned from their first jobs.

I have so many friends who didn't have to work at all during high school and college, and others who worked but not for a substantial amount of time. I never thought it really mattered, but maybe bagging groceries, brewing coffee and serving Chinese food will come in handy:

"USA TODAY reached out to dozens of executives who now run or once ran major corporations. Thirty-two responded, and although their ages range and they grew up diversely in big cities and rural towns, all worked as teens, eight of them before age 11."

... and now I'm watching as many of my friends are trying to start their careers. So many of them are freaking out because they aren't being offered their dream position with dream pay in their dream city. I guess you can't blame them. We all came to college with delusions of grandeur; the idea that we would put in a good effort and be hansomly rewarded by the white collar gods. I think parents with connections are about the closest thing I've seen to divine intervention.

We're Generation Y- we have no patience... we expect to get what we want... and we expect to get it now. BUT, as the CEO of SPX said, "A successful career is built incrementally, one step at a time."

amen!

Food for thought: Intelligent people 'less likely to believe in God'

for crist's sake...

Today in the beautiful state of Florida Governor Charlie Crist dropped his support for the federal government's ban on offshore oil drilling and endorsed McCain. Crist says it's because Florida families are suffering from the costs of fuel and that his "heart bleeds for them," but give me a break. LAST YEAR he urged lawmakers to reject the legislation that would allow drilling as close as 45 miles off the coast of Florida, which was also on his platform when he ran for Governor in 2006. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Many speculate Crist wants to be considered as a possible running mate for McCain. I could see that, being how he suddenly changed sides on the issue to support the presidential candidate's view. I guess it's more important to be on the side of the person who may advance your career rather than the side of the people who elected you. Reading about this issue today, I learned that Florida politicians have long opposed drilling because it could have a negative impact on the beaches/tourism/Florida's economy (duh), but also because it could interfere with weapons testing and military training in and over the Gulf of Mexico. TAKE THAT, REPUBLICANS!


Reflecting on this ongoing offshore drilling debate really got me thinking about the environment. Most of us feel powerless when it comes to government legislation and we may have to deal with it when they approve offshore drilling, oppose carbon taxes, rewrite the endangered species list, etc., but there are so many little things we can do to personally help the environment. Anyone who knows me understands how much I love the environment. I consider myself a bit of a hypocrit, because I preach so much about conservation and don't do as much as I could... but I do try. Like how I tried to get my co-workers to turn off their computers and monitors at night, but none ever did- Now I just race around and at least turn off their monitors before I leave. Sure, it is a silly thing to do everyday, but I take pride in it.

Here are some facts (mostly from MSN):

• Turning off a 75-watt computer monitor for 40 hours a week might only save $4.38 a month, but it reduces CO2 (greenhouse gas emissions) by 750 pounds, burning 450 fewer pounds of coal each year!
• If Americans replaced just one incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent bulb in their home, it would save enough energy to light 2.5 million homes in one year and prevent an amount of greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of 800,000 cars.
• If you bring your own cup to Starbucks you get a 10 cent discount. Ok, so it doesn't seem like much, but you'll save on waste. Also, Starbucks gives out free bags of spent coffee that can be used as "green" fertilizer!
• If every household in America replaced one roll of toilet paper with a recycled postconsumer waste roll, 424,000 trees would still be standing. Look for eco paper towels and napkins too. If every household used recycled napkins, we would spare one million trees.
• By skipping pre-rinse on your dishwasher, which is a useless cycle anyways, you'll save 200 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released and $40 a year.

I'm not sure how much people care about the environment, but I know people care about themselves. Here is a great article: 13 easy, inexpensive way to go green. They are relatively cheap things to do that will save you a good deal of money. As an added bonus, if you make any small effort to help the environment, I will personally give you a pat on the back!

are they comparing the office to prison?

There aren't many people who like Crispin Porter + Bogusky because of their reputation of pompous attitudes, but this is kinda funny. They recently started offering their Boulder employees free transport to work in the form of a 25-person, biodiesel bus. Leave it to CP+B to take a logical, eco-friendly idea and turn it into a spectacle. The "Disruptive Thinker Transport" is designed to look like a prison bus and the driver even wears a warden uniform!


Read the whole article here: 'Prison bus' draws double takes

silly Gore!

Gore endorsed Oabama last night and his speech was fantastic. I may not be a diehard Obama OR Gore supporter, but I enjoyed everything about this speech.

My personal favorite highlights:

"I remember when one prominent Republican wondered out loud whether the Democratic nominee, and I quote, 'really is grown up enough to be president.' Another used the phrase, quote, 'naive and inexperienced.' Yet another said, quote, 'the United States cannot afford to risk the future of the free world with inexperience and immaturity in the White House,' end quote. Who are they talking about? Every single one of those quotations came from the campaign of 1960, when the Republicans attacked John Fitzgerald Kennedy for allegedly lacking the age and experience necessary to be president. Richard Nixon's slogan in that campaign was 'experience counts,' to which John F. Kennedy responded, and I quote, 'to exclude from positions of trust and command all those below the age of 44, would have kept Jefferson from writing the Declaration of Independence, Washington from commanding the Continental Army, Madison from fathering the Constitution, and Christopher Columbus from even discovering America.'"

"If you care about food safety, if you like a "T" on your B.L.T., you know that elections matter. If you got poisoned, lead-filled toys from China or adulterated medicine made in China, if you bought tainted pet food made in China, you know that elections matter. After the last eight years, even our dogs and cats have learned that elections matter!"

HAHA! LOVE IT!

crappy meal

Mike and I were driving through McDonald's on Saturday morning and saw a mother and child going in... nothing strange, except the last thing this kid needs is more McDonald's. This kid should be eating some egg beaters and turkey sausage, not a happy meal (I'm giving him benefit of the doubt by saying he ordered a happy meal and not a value meal).

Here's an alarming statistic-
"Nearly one-third of U.S. Children aged 4 to 19 eat fast food every day, resulting in approximately six extra pounds per year, per child."

Granted, I realize the FAT issue cannot be completely blamed on fast food and poor parenting... I never see anyone riding bikes anymore. Schools are getting rid of physical education because of budget cuts. Video game sports have replaced actual sports and some people consider the Wii to be adequate exercise. The cost of healthy food has skyrocketed, leaving its less-healthy counterpart deliciously more affordable. I just feel bad for these little kids who are probably going to be tormented because of their weight and then face a lifetime of health problems. "By the time an obese child turns six years old, his/her chance of becoming an obese adult is over 50%."

We ended up passing on our McDonald's breakfast that morning, and this article will keep me from craving chicken buscuits for quite a while: SO What's in that Happy Meal Besides the Cheap Toy?,

Gross! Delicious, but gross!

To sum up this completely random rant, It will be nice to get out of Gainesville. Small town and swampy weather aside, MSN ranks Austin as the 10th healthiest city in the US (and it's still not that healthy!)-
"Austin earned one of the highest scores in the category of physical activity, but one of the lowest in health status. Residents had one of the highest scores for vigorous activity and in the number of gyms and health clubs per capita. But they also reported some of the highest rates of diabetes, hypertension and arthritis."
(I'll blame the diabetes on all that delicious Mexican food!)

scratch one off the bucket list!

salty dog saloon

The best writing I've ever seen on a bathroom wall...

great work by BBDO

This is very outdated, but I love it nonetheless.

I'm a nerd... and I love any form of nontraditional advertising.

the G-ville bucket list

Happy Friday the 13th!

I've started this blog as a way to keep everyone posted on my last weeks in Gainesville and the exciting move to Austin.

Sara will also be leaving Gainesville, so we've decided to create a list of things we MUST do before we leave. So far our list includes:

• eat in the VW van at Satchells (yum!)
• swim in the UF fountain
• see a drag show at the UC
• take a picture with the Albert and Alberta statues
• paint the 34th Street Wall
• write our names on the graffiti wall in Balls

I'll also use this blog to post my favorite links, pics, videos, etc.

Enjoy! :)