I was just looking for a stapler.

Anger Management

Not quite Avenue Q but entertaining

Especially the Ma-na-ma-na at the end.

Delivery at CFD

These arrived at Cross Fit Durham during our warmup. 

Jamie: What are those?  A dresser set from Ikea?

Bystander:  Jerk Boxes.

Jamie:  Who's inside?

Very Funny Cross Fit Durham. Make us lift our bodyweight the day after Thanksgiving.

1 Ground To Overhead @ bodyweight for each year you are old
(100 – your age)*10 reps Double-unders
Partition the work in any way you like.  There is a 30 minute time limit.

I can' do double-unders (jump rope but the rope goes under you twice before you land).  Typically the scale for that is 3 singles per double.  That would have meant I had to do 1,980 singles.  100-34=66*10=660*3=1,980.

Fortunately the scale for double-unders wasn't three singles.  Instead I had to side jump over my barbell.  I remember doing this type of jump on the bleachers for ski-team dry land training.

That pink thing is me, mid-air.  It kind of looks like I could be tightrope walking the bar.  I did not do 660 jumps (there was a time limit on this one for fear everyone would be there until dark).  I eek-ed out 330.

I did complete 34 ground to overheads.  Wasn't lifting my body-weight (my one skinny plate on the side there looks so lonely and lame).   When it comes to weights there's very little I do "Rx" (as prescribed).  I scale for safety and ability.

When I initially saw the photo below I thought "Wow, what the hell type form is that?"  Then I realized in this shot I was just stabilizing the barbell so I could jump over it.  Phew.   My form is far from perfect but I would like to think it vaguely resembles the movement.

Had I not been working out I would have observed how people partitioned this out.

How did I miss the casting call for Chenault in The Rum Diary?

Telling people "I'm from Connecticut" and treading water are specialties.  

Doing both at the same time?  Dream Role.

I invited a pal to see this film not realizing it hadn't been released.  

If it's not here today, then when?  

Sharing and Substance

I took my time sharing news about my new job.

In part, it was so significant for me personally I was quite happy just having it to myself and for myself.

Prior to blogging about it I used the news as a prompt to reconnect with friends.

I'm delighted at the support and excitement for me.  I've also had folks express admiration for my bravery.  I don't perceive it as such but that's another story, maybe a post.

Several folks expressed a genuine interest in knowing more about what I would be doing and asked for updates as I got into the work.

This might be a vestige of the world I come from but I'm trying to determine what I can disclose about what I'm doing (particularly when it's in progress).  I don't have the shorthand to describe the work either (I took simplicity of not having to explain much past "I work in advertising" for granted).  I'm not entirely sure exactly what I'll be doing.  Part of my job is for me to invent it based on where I see a need and have an interest - that will evolve with exposure.  And I have so much to learn.

It's possible I'll have an opportunity to blog on my work site.  You know I'll cross post them here.

Of course I will continue to post about silly inconsequential stuff but I do hope to share more of the guts of what I'm doing.

And more pictures, regardless the topic.

Day Three

Just now I realize I don't have a work phone.
This is not an oversight.
I could get one if requested, but it's not standard issue.

Day Two

Prior to being full time I was at the lab when I was coming from or on my way to the agency.  And apparently, I was always dressed up (=not wearing t-shirt and jeans).

I dressed up on Day One.  We had someone from a corporation visiting.  It was my first day.  I kind of like "dressing up" - especially when it's not required.  Unbeknownst to me, there were bets out on how long that would last.

On day two, I arrived in a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers.  A retro fitted t-shirt, designer jeans and sneakers, mind you.  What happens when I wear high heels and a pencil skirt tomorrow?  How are they defining "'last"?

Day One

At the end of the day before my boss jets off to Abu Dhabi to speak at the invitation of a prince he pulls me into his office and asks me "What do you want to learn while you're here?"  I'm delighted and dumbfounded.

Basking in the glory of unemployment

I had three glorious days of being unemployed.  Today being the last day (note the time stamp on the blog.  At 5:00 I felt like everyone else because I would be going to work the next day).

There wasn't exactly that 100% break where there is truly no work to be done because I've already been working the new job prior to my official start.   I didn't let that stop me (too much).

Highlights of the stint was sweatpants, ugly but warm and comfortable sweater, Cross Fit at 11:30, apartment very messy when I am in stuff bomb mode or apartment very clean when I feel like cleaning it.  And books (reading them).

I actually bought a book on Amazon that I've already read.  And, I have no intention of selling it back.  I got the book from the library, renewed it until someone else put a hold on it and even then I was slow to get it returned (I think they're going to build a new wing of the library with my overdue fine).  The book is referenced so frequently I felt it necessary to have around.  

I also read this while I was at it

Next up is below.  Fortunately we have a lab copy.

à bientôt

Last day at McKinney.  Doesn't feel as surreal as I thought.

The agency isn't going anywhere.  And neither am I.

I've not woken up every morning for the past five and half years and gone into the office.  

Many people send some type of goodbye e-mail when they leave.  After some deliberation here's what I wrote.  

***

Subject: à bientôt

Today is my last day at McKinney.

On Monday, I'm headed up the road to Duke to work with Dan Ariely at The Center for Advanced Hindsight.

Dan spoke at McKinney during the summer of 2009 and everyone got a copy of his book, "Predictably Irrational."  

We all make a living in an industry that relies on irrational consumer behavior.  

I'm going to be taking a closer look at it.

McKinney provided inspiration for this next step.
Thank you McKinney.
Thanks to all of you.

à bientôt*
-Jamie


*French for  "I'll see you later, goodbye for now."  

I'm up the road.

I run into McKinney people all the time around town.  

Really, I will see you later.

***

Ok, this was surreal.

It's called a changeover

I've spent the last 12 years making a living in an industry that relies on irrational consumer behavior.

I'm going to be taking a closer look at it.

On November 15th I'll be starting a job at Duke University working with Dan Ariely at the Center for Advanced Hindsight.

If you're thinking "Huh?" know that I am too.  I'm working on my elevator speech.

To start, I'll be working with corporations to explore the same questions asked in advertising world.  I'll just be doing it through the lens of Behavioral Economics. 

This feels more like an evolution of my advertising career rather than a departure from it.  


See, a movie doesn't come all on one big reel.

"Every time you make a PowerPoint Edward Tufte kills a kitten"

I admire Edward Tufte's work on analytical design.
If I were the type of person who owned books his would be in my library.

About two weeks ago I was reviewing an award entry that included a chart.
I understood why the author laid out the information as he did.

I thought I could best it.

The author joked that there was no "besting" the current chart but he was open to alternatives.

In search of inspiration I borrowed and paged through "The Visual Display of Quantitative Information."  I sketched out a chart and was delighted when the author chose to use it.

Imagine my surprise a week later when I was out of town, meandering, looked up and saw a gallery sign that read "Edward Tufte."  I must have conjured him.  Imagine my delight when Tufte himself was in the gallery offering ad hoc tours of his sculptures.

Huh, sculptures?

Whaddya know?  Edward Tufte is a sculptor.

Initially I was surprised but sculpture makes perfect sense as an evolution of his work.
Plus, when you're Tufte you can kind of do whatever you want (he said so himself).

His work is mostly large scale and lives outdoors.  He's very keen on exploring the relationship between the piece, the space it occupies and how it changes (with things like light and weather).  He spoke about "ambulatory seeing."  That's a professor's way of saying "You can walk around the piece and experience it in different ways."

My favorite example of sculpture/environment is Magritte's Smile on display at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum.  "Magritte's Smile" is a gigantic steel fish.  It hung in the museum courtyard enclosed by glass corridors.  The reflection of the fish looks like a fish in a fishbowl.

There was a better image of this on display at his gallery that really felt fish-tank-like.  Also, the people walking through the hallway looked like they were underwater with Magritte.  Google Images couldn't find it which has me wondering if it actually existed.

And here's snap of ET from my high tech camera

My body isn't always in the right place. But my sense of humor is.

Thanks to Joel for a lesson that left me imagining the barista at the Starbucks Hilton wearing a bow tie dancing on the coffee counter. 

"There's a Saab in it" is an observation about a movie, not necessarily a recommendation.

I kept expecting George Clooney to talk about his backpack.

The film is based in Ohio.  Of course I'm thinking about "Up In The Air."