And he rebuilt his own website…with a little help.
Stoli didn’t help a bit.
He Is My Brother
March 12th, 2007 · 4 Responses
→ 4 ResponsesTags: Dogs · Family · Glebelands · Work
Becoming Burlington
March 6th, 2007 · 22 Responses
I will start with an apology to the likes of Aaron Draplin and other Portlanders who are unhappy with (…or LEERY of…) the Vermontification of Oregon. I guess when you combine enough transplants from one area of the country in a new one, they begin to recreate the societal norms of the zone they hailed from.
What I am finding is that between the career, relationship, client/ agency drama and overworked creative friends around here, Portland is starting to feel a lot like Burlington did. Recent transplants from Burlington have landed mostly at Nike, after stints in southern California. Many Burlingtonites made it here directly from creative agencies to work at Nemo, Merrell, Keane, Adidas or freelance themselves. All in all, Burlington, Vermont has supplied over 50 creative, action sportsy, account/ project management-types and product-minded people from similar jobs back east in the past 5 years.
I was going to begin the creation of a Burlington family tree. But I don’t want to piss people off by publishing everything I know about them on Vinceland. But don’t think I didn’t consider it. All I can say is, I am glad there is such as familiar group of people living within a drive of each other in Portland, all working in similar positions and industries as we all came from back east. There’s something nice about it, and kind of amazing as well. We have collective power and a support network. We all get along for the most part, we all seem to enjoy the warmer weather, we all see each other on a mostly regular basis.
But there’s something that’s not quite right about the re-mingling of old friendships, work histories, and love bi-angles. I am not sure it’s helping any of us achieve what we came to Oregon to find: Growth through change. I can’t even believe I am saying it, because I am the dude clamoring for routine every day. I avoid surprises of any kind and hang on to daily standards as if tomorrow will be the last time I’ll get the chance to do the same exact thing I did today.
I wonder if we’d all have met more people, learned new things, picked up skills along the way, had we not stayed so close to the familiar. I wonder if the dramatification of relationships, the publicizing of career paths gone bad (why publicize the good and jinx it?) and the generally incestuous Burlingtonification of Portland will continue as we all tread warily close to familiar trails with familiar stories. The gravity and comfort of this friendly group seems to be drawing us all into a vortex of weekend plans, monthly engagements, never-ending text message/ email trail madness. I know we’ve all drawn outsiders down with us into the wormhole that is Burlingtonitus. I can name them, but I won’t.
Consider this a warning to those on the fringes of this web we Vermonters weave, this virus-like expansion of creatively minded, marketing and product management ladder-climbers. It’s an eternal connection, another lifelong guilt trip on your mind, another link in the chains that keep you bound from learning and new experiences. Maybe I’m exaggerating, but it’s my damned site and makes a point that’s been stuck in my head for weeks.
PS: I got really mad at a woman in traffic today and tried to yell “Fuck Off!” at her after she yelled something at me. My window was only open 2.5 inches which hopefully allowed for some form of expletive to reach her fat-ass, redneck ears. But it forced me to yell with my head half-cocked sideways in order to position my mouth for the most volume and hate spewed her way. Well, my verbal release did not do enough to extinguish the force inside that comes from a rare place in me, the place people associate most with other Scorpios. It’s the revenge place.
Anyhow, sorry for the angry tone of this recent entry. Sometimes I feel like the big, green Hulk inside…and words are my pounding.
→ 22 ResponsesTags: Fellows · Life · Meghan · Portland · Society · Vinceland · Work
Living the Dream
March 1st, 2007 · 5 Responses
We used this phrase a lot. So many of my friends were living the dream at some point in their life. I was sure of it. Some people thought I was living the dream, at some point in my life, some might still. Living the dream was about doing things that everyone else wanted to do, but never could, for whatever reason. It was about snowboarding for a living, playing music for fun, sleeping in late, drinking late, riding all day, making money doing something you loved.
Living as a human on earth means you have the chance to create a dream and live it. Everyone has that chance, every day. Everyone lives their own dream, day in and day out. What did you dream about yesterday? Makes you wonder if you’re living the dream you want to, or the one you have little control over. Makes you wonder what happened to the dreams you had, or the one you might have tomorrow. It’s become obvious to me that dreams change. Life is a process, dreams are organic and every experience I have affects the dream I am currently living.
Freedom affords us the ability to dream and the chance live those dreams out. We live on a planet, that happens to be near a star, and happens to be a place where we can breathe, grow, eat and prosper. It might not always be that way and it wasn’t always that way. But today, our planet and our lives allow us to dream and have a chance to dedicate ourselves to living life according to our own ideas. There are people like us on earth without that chance, or at least with a much more limited chance that you have. And there are forces working against our dreams like the IRS, DMV, Local PD, Parking ticket giver-outers, and customer service personnel.
If you found out for the first time, the moment before death, that you could have lived out whatever dream situation you wanted to, no matter how far-flung an idea, how bummed would you be?
The other thing that I’ve been thinking about is how each of us can drastically affect other people’s dreams with our every day words and actions. We can be downright stifling to a dream. A passing comment, a fight, a sharp remark, a nasty look. All of them can squash an idea for a dream that’s not even materialized, or one that’s been brewing for years. I think of all the people who stomped on me over the years, without even realizing they changed the course of my life and potentially the lives of people I come in contact with. We live together and affect each other in connected ways we won’t understand, ever.
Another thing that occurred to me recently is that everything you can know about yourself can be found in a mirror. I don’t think people spend enough time examining themselves in that way, and being honest about what they see. Here’s where I see myself as a member of the human race today: Cosmos> Universe> Galaxy> Solar System> Planet> Earth> Land> North America> USA> Oregon> Portland> 17 Se 3rd Avenue> Man> White> 33> Married (Overweight, Lazy, Broke, etc…)
I understand that everyone, every day, is living some form of a dream. They are either in control of the dream or not. They are either happily living the dream or not. They are either living the dream or not. Sometimes, I see people doing things and saying things or not doing anything at all, and I wonder, out loud “What’s going on with you today?” What’s going through my head is: “What did you wake up thinking you really wanted to get accomplished today?” or “What direction are you headed right now that’s going to improve your current situation or someone else’s?” The scary truth is that I will never know what dreams float around in other people’s minds. Someone may be dreaming of me, about a moment when I did them wrong, and what they will do to get back at me. How will I ever know?
Wayne Coyne on perception, courtesy of Aaron Draplin.
I will end this with a story of complete stupidity.
- I ordered a Domino’s pizza tonight. Stupid.
- I forgot to ask them to have the driver call me when he got here. I’m on the 5th floor. Stupid.
- I walked down the stairs to wait for the pizza delivery. Stupid.
- I waited outside in the rain for a bit. Stupid.
- I went back inside and waited longer in the lobby, watched a random dude in the doorway who scared me. Dumb.
- I went back outside when the random dude left to stand in the rain and wait. Stupido
- The driver finally pulled up, and I moved towards his car to signal I was the dumbass who ordered. Stupid.
- The driver did not react, but picked up his phone and proceeded to dial and talk for a few minutes. I decided to be nice and wait a bit. Stupid.
- The fog in the car blocked my view of him, but I looked straight at the driver and might have waved, but I did not approach the car. Stupids.
- Eventually, the driver got out of the car, after having used his cell phone for a few minutes. I watched him. Stupid.
- The driver got his stuff, and proceeded to walk right past me and up the door. He began looking at the directory. Stupid.
- I was the only one standing outside the building. I said “I’m the one who ordered”. He said, “How was I supposed to know that?”. Dumb.
- He said he tried to call upstairs but there was no answer. Stupid.
- I said “Why didn’t you just ask me, since I was the only one standing here in the rain?” Dumbass.
- He proceeded to tell me that he delivers to many many people and that’s why he got a cell phone. Told me there used to be pay phones everywhere he delivered, but now they are gone. He looked around aimlessly, while my pizza hardened. He had the look of John Candy about him, with a little Carrot-Top mixed in. Kept going on and on. Stupid.
- He continued his story as he carbon copied my credit card, handed me my stuff, I left no tip, said nothing. Stupid.
- He tried to salvage the situation with a “have a pleasant evening, enjoy your pi-” Sorry dude.
→ 5 ResponsesTags: Life · Society · Vinceland
Wiki Your Ass
February 21st, 2007 · 1 Response
Soon, the Internet will provide every answer you will ever need. And you will help provide new answers.
Your mind will be directly connected to it, wirelessly, at speeds that will allow for instant-er gratification than your crap, overpriced connection does right now.
READ/ LEARN: How to Escape the Headlock
Some wikis that need to be written, reviewed and updated include:
- How to be the perfect human at any age.
- How to smoothly integrate intimate relationships, true friendships and work relationships each and every day.
- How to eat poorly, remain lazy and get healthy all in one.
- How to steal money from others without the guilt and threat of incarceration.
- How to make love like a pro all the time.
- How to get back what you lost, and lose what you don’t want, today.
- How to live like you want without destroying anything, including the future.
- How to get to the nearest friendly, inhabitable, earth-like planet on a budget.
- How to avoid pain and suffering of any kind, forever.
- How to bring celebrities back from the grave, and send others there sooner so they stop sending the wrong messages.
- How to end stupidity, superficiality, inequality, violence and anger of any kind, in any language.
- How to be right in the end, every time.
- How to play the drums like a the guys do in every song you love.
- How to get people to do things for you for free, no matter what the circumstance.
- How to live a fulfilling life without question or hesitation.
- How to write better using every word ever conceived.
- How to ignore bank service fees, overdraft fees and all interest charges without worry.
- How to live the hairless life.
- How to live the stinkless life.
- How to live life successfully without ever doing laundry.
- How to learn everything that there is to know in seconds.
→ 1 ResponseTags: Instrument · Life · Society · Vinceland
The Poopy Peanut
February 18th, 2007 · 3 Responses
Things have been pretty serious around here lately. So serious that between work trips, Meghan and I found time to move into our new house, sorta. We’re almost there.
We also found time to fly to New Jersey for my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary, where I spoke and listed memories from our time in South Orange. I am currently at the hotel pool in Livingston, NJ, watching my nieces and nephews swim, be loud and figure out how to be a person around here. So, it’s time to loosen up.
Some days, I am a concocter of words, and sometimes, they come to me in the most unlikely of places. At times, I need to remember them, and find a place for them later. Sometimes, they never find a place, but maybe they will. When something pops in there, I try to remember it, and sometimes I’ll write it down, save it for later.
There was a time when my friend Shem and I would exchange word concoctions (he’ll love “poopy peanut”). The idea was we might come up with non-sensical combos of words that simply were fun to say together. We laughed for hours at phrases like “fruity pork chops murphy”. No point, just fun.
Someone should use Poopy Peanut for something good. No charge.
Perhaps for a band name: The Poopy Peanuts, or simply a rock band called: “Poopy Peanut”. I am sure they’d rock and succeed on some level.
Think of the image that comes to mind with this phrase. How vivid, how brown. How thoroughly human. Experience the poopy peanut for yourself.
What about a dance club, I think the name is memorable and would draw people from miles away. Come to the Poopy Peanut, dance your life away and drink to your hearts content. Chase life away at the Poopy Peanut. Say it again to yourself, out loud.
I think the name could be useful for a children’s toy. They’d never know the difference between the brown, stinky peanut and a “Mr potato head”. What’s the difference? Both brown, both dirty, both built of an organic matter in an oval shape, both with deep personality rife with meaning on so many levels…
Anyway, Poopy Peanut came to mind the other day, I won’t get into detail as to how it popped in there. I believed it was worth sharing, and I still do. I hope it delivers some inspiration to use words in whatever way makes you happier. See things, name them, share them.
I’ve got a bunch more stuff to get out here, so I am going to move on. Right now, Shem is laughing, and coming up with his reply to “poopy peanut”. Perhaps it will top “fruity pork chops murphy”, but I doubt it.
Imagine it. Visualize. Enjoy.
→ 3 ResponsesTags: Life · Society · Vinceland