Rebel Yell

This weekend marks my 10 year High School reunion and, boy, does that make me feel old as hell.

All in all, while I wouldn’t call High School the “best years of my life,” I had a hell of a great time and look back with mostly fond memories. Despite the warm fuzzies, my initial feelings about a reunion were mixed. With the advent of Social networking and whatnot, I really didn’t see a need to attend a reunion. Besides, as far as I can tell, ours was organized via Facebook anyway. I could find anyone that might be attending on Facebook – if I was that curious about their life.

The reunion was scheduled at a sports bar in St. Charles and two hours of well drinks and some pizza/bar apps were included in the $30/ticket package. I looked over the details and began to weigh my options…my thoughts went like this…

A. Wow…$30 seems like a lot for well drinks and bar food in the ‘burbs. I could see a concert with that money.
B. Ugh. I don’t really like that bar.
C. I don’t have any family left in St. Charles, so I would have to find somewhere to crash or get a hotel room.
D. Holy crap, is it really $30/person?
E. Meh, fuck it. Not going.

My decision was made. It would probably be fun to see some people, but overall, I was mostly uninterested. Not a biggie. Besides, I’d have to have someone watch my dog, and frankly, I figured a 15 or 20 year reunion would be more interesting anyway. It wasn’t that I disliked anyone that would be attending or organizing the event. Actually, quite the opposite. Those people are good people, it just wasn’t my thing.

Next thing I knew, I started seeing Facebook status updates and e-mails asking me if I would be attending the “Rebel Reunion.” Turns out, some other folks from my High School graduating class decided to throw their own party, on the same night, here in Chicago. One of the organizers owns and runs an art gallery and donated his space for the event. They were offering a four hour premium open bar with finger foods for half the price. My mind again weighed the options…

A. $15 is reasonable and I can bring the boyfriend for only $5 more. Nice.
B. I love art galleries.
C. OMG I can WALK there. If it’s lame I can WALK home.
D. Ohhh, I bet people will turn this into a thing.

Turns out, people did, indeed, turn this into a thing.

Pleading messages started to appear on discussion boards. “Why does it have to be the same night? Why can’t we all just get along?” I found these messages to be a bit strange. Why does it have to be the same night? Because, otherwise, it wouldn’t be an alternative reunion, it would just be another reunion…and people would still find a reason to be mad about it. While I recognized that some people might think that the Rebel Reunion was divisive, I looked at it differently. It simply provided an option for those who would not be attending the “official” reunion. Besides, I find it difficult to believe that the Rebel Reunion crew is poaching potential attendees of the official event.

In addition to the pleas for cohesiveness, I have also recently spotted status updates to the tune of “The Rebel Reunioners support Bin Ladin,” “The original reunion has better people going” or “The Rebel Reunion is for losers.” Really, people? Really? While these antics are all very amusing to watch from my desk chair, I am left to wonder how much we have really grown in the last 10 years. I’m also wondering if this sort of thing is precisely what attendees of the Rebel Reunion are trying to avoid.

I don’t think the organizers of the Rebel Reunion had the initial intention of upsetting anyone or rocking the boat. I also don’t think they planned their reunion with the intent to be disrespectful or cruel to the organizers of the other. I think they just wanted to attend a different kind of event. At the same time, I think they are smart enough folks to know that some people would take it the wrong way and the event might not be well received by everyone. I can’t speak for them, but I’d be willing to bet that they are ok with that.

As for me, I am looking at the Rebel Reunion as more of a party or gathering than a reunion & I actually think it will be pretty cool to attend a party in the owned gallery space of a fellow graduate. Besides, I can WALK home and that rules.

Don't say I never made you cry

Beautiful advertising, beautiful message. Wonderful job, RP3 Agency.

This looks familiar

Just sayin'

Whole Body Cleanse. Night 1

Warning: This could get graphic

Tonight, I begin a journey.

Tonight, I start a cleanse.

Apparently, I have been drinking the hippy juice (Becky - pretend to look surprised) and decided that I need to detox my body. For years now, I have been filling my self with nasty, horrible, bad-for-me food. I quit smoking and took up stress eating. While I will never smoke again, I'm not sure this was a good trade. For this reason, I am back on the diet train. Choo choo baby.

I have been really thinking about making some big changes, but that's just it... it's only thinking. I need less philosophy and more action. After some thought, I decided to appraoch this new phase of dieting much the same way I approached quitting smoking back in 2007. At first, it's going to be hard. I will need to find other ways to handle the stress, other things will make me feel better when I am feeling down. I figure that maybe what I need a little jump start to this whole diet thing. This is where the cleanse comes in.

I have been hearing a lot about how amazing a cleanse can make a person feel. Apparently, the first several days are pretty terrible, but the physical payoff is amazing. Apparently, I will rid my body from a backup of years full of toxic sludge. That's right, folks. Some gross stuff is gonna come out of me.

This is what I am doing...

It's a Whole Body Cleanse!

What is "Fiber Fusion?" and What's that on the right? Does that say "Laxative Formula?!?" Holy Shit (pun intended)...what am I doing?

This should be fun.

Hi Guys -

Back in 2005, my cousin Liz experienced Hurricane Katrina on duty as a nurse in a New Orleans hospital. Shortly after documenting her experiences on her blog, she had some computer failure causing her to lose all of her pictures. Recently, a friend helped her recover the pictures she had lost, and her blog has been updated accordingly. I feel like it's important to share her story - but I think that I should let her tell it. If you care to read, her entries start here. When you get to the end of the page - scroll up and hit "next."

http://auryn24.livejournal.com/298313.html

Song Thursday

Reminds me of really good times and always makes me smile.

In my life, I have loved them all

Everyone has their "Top Celebrities" that make them all hot, right? Well, these are mine. You might say I have a "type."

Below are my top 10 (+honorable mention)

Honorable mention to Michael Ian Black. Funny is Sexy

#10. Paul Rudd. Funny and ridiculously good looking. He borders a bit on "pretty boy," but I'll forgive him.

#9. Ron Livingston. Fuckin' A.#8. Luke Wilson. Easily the most desirable brother.

#7. Hugh Laurie. My old man crush. Yummers.

#6. Adrien Brody. I have a "thing" for big noses.

#5. Jemaine Clement. He fights Adrian Brody for my top 5 position on a regular basis. It's nice to have men fictionally fight over me.

#4. Demitri Martin. Big nose and funny - are we seeing the pattern?

#3. Jason Schwartzman. How many Jews have made my list? A lot.

#2. Jon Stewart. Love Love Love him.

#1. Johnny Depp. Step away. I will cut a bitch.

Your turn. Gimme a top 5.

Superbowl Monday

I have a WICKED case of the second-day-stupids after a few too many beers on Saturday and Sunday. Either way, it was worth it. The Superbowl proved to be entirely more interesting than I could have imagined as the Cardinals managed to step it up and keep it close. I was also pleasantly surprised that Bruce wasn't as boring as I thought he would be. He even managed to tea-bag all of America during the halftime show.



While I did watch the game, being in advertising makes the commercials a bit more topical in my office on Superbowl Monday. We don't chat about the game - we analyze the commercials. I have to say, HUGE disappointment this year. My favorite ended up being one of the e-trade commercials. I hate that stupid baby and maybe it's just that I have a special little place tucked in my heart for Mr. Mister.- but this was was just too good...



I also liked this one from Monster.com...



The Doritos ad elicited a chuckle, but the crotch shot at the end was a little gratuitous and predictable.



Budweiser was shockingly disappointing. Several ads were focused on bringing back that "America Pride" bit that they have been fostering for so long. I'm a little surprised that they continue down sentimental street after all the backlash surrounding their takeover by foreign InBev. Maybe it's just me, but they just didn't resonate this year.



Even their "funny spots" didn't do much for me.



I mean...what happened to the comedy gold they brought us in the past? Remember this gem from 2006?



Pepsi did alright this year with the SNL MacGruber spoof...



But they fell flat with the Bob Dylan/Will.i.am spot. I mean, really? Will.i.am is the next Bob Dylan? Just because you set a Barack Obama speech to music and get your Celeb friends to sing along - it DOES NOT make you the voice of a generation. Also - Jack Black is NOT the new Belushi.



I think this one may have been the biggest loser of the night. What were they thinking? What kind of douchebag thinks that being insulting is the key to selling a product?



Anybody else have any faves?