Etsy is My New Besty

Maybe I'm behind the times because everyone else seems to know about this already, but I just discovered an awesome new website called Etsy. It's an online marketplace for handmade goods. They have everything from jewelery to pottery to photography to greeting cards, made by independent artists all over the world. Most items are very reasonably priced and shipping is crazy cheap.

I also just discovered artist Ashley Pahl, who sells all sorts of cool note cards, stationary and other things. Ashely has a contest going on her blog to win a $10 gift card, good for the purchase of something on her Etsy page. Check it out. I want this card and this one, they're so pretty.

Not-So-Super Ads

Football is the greatest sport in the history of the universe and the Super Bowl is the greatest day in the history of the greatest sport. I love the Big Game for many reasons- the game itself, the parties, the stories behind the players and coaches, the history and most of all, the commercials.

You see, although I'm a huge football fan, I'm a huger marketing nerd. Clever, targeted advertising fascinates me. My favorite part of graduate school was reviewing examples of great ad campaigns, looking at print ads, watching commercials and discussing their strengths and weaknesses.

That being said, I was sorely disappointed with the Super Bowl ads this year. In 2008, we had jewels like Bridgestone's "The Scream," E*Trade's "Baby Trading 1" and "Baby Trading 2" (my personal favorite,) and Pepsi's "Magnetic Attraction" featuring Justin Timberlake, which made me squirt a beverage out of my nose. Those commercials grabbed my attention, kept me engaged, made me laugh and most importantly, I remembered the product.

Maybe we can blame it on the economy and companies not having the budgets to let their agencies get the creative juices flowing, but I just wasn't impressed this year. Maybe I was just upset that Peyton Manning didn't make an appearance and the E*Trade baby golf ad wasn't that funny. Whatever the reason, I only enjoyed a select few and think they deserve some attention.

I thought Bridgesone had another winner in 2009 with "Taters." I was intrigued my Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head driving down the road, so I wanted to keep watching. The product was prominently featured and Mrs. Potato Head's angry eyes were darn funny.

CareerBuilder's "Tips" reminded me of Bridgestone's "The Scream" from last year. Any commercial featuring a woman screaming her lungs out is sure to grab attention, but the key is to make it funny and not obnoxious. They succeeded, making me laugh hysterically because I could relate to daydreaming about porpoises and wanting to cry everyday because I was so disrespected and hated my job so much. (Not my current job!)

Teleflora's "Flowers in a Box" also got a giggle fit out of me. From the annoying, overweight woman who complains that she never gets flowers to the line, "No one wants to see you naked," I laughed from start to finish. The ad made a lot of sense too - you never know what flowers in a box will look like when they get delivered, it's so much better to send fresh ones!

My favorite ad campaign of Super Bowl 2009 had to be the Miller High Life one-second commercials because the premise was so clever! According to an article in the Boston Herald, Miller was blocked from buying Super Bowl ad time by Budweiser's exclusive contract. So, they bought air time in one-second increments on local NBC affiliates carrying the game. The ads were a continuation of a spot that ran last year featuring a delivery man ranting about Super Bowl ads.

I suppose those who didn't know the history behind the campaign were confused by an angry man yelling, "High Life!" on their television screens and perhaps thought they were seeing things. Miller got so much free publicity surrounding the campaign though, I think it was worth it. They got around the competition, spent a whole lot less on advertising and got their message across to those who knew what was going on. Oh yea, and it was hilarious!

Lions, Potatoes and Electric Toothbrushes, Oh My!

I have always had an active imagination. Sometimes that's a good thing, but more often than not it leads to some pretty crazy dreams. Some of those dreams qualify as nightmares, as I'm also the biggest scaredy cat on the planet.

It's been happening since I was little, these crazy dreams. My family thinks I'm off my rocker when I tell them the stories. I have a recurring nightmare in which something terrible happens, I run to dial 9-1-1 and the call won't go through. My dream book tells me this signifies a feeling of helplessness. I've also had many dreams in which I'm running at top speed and suddenly find myself in the air. Not really flying, just running above the ground. There have also been a few about falling, but I always wake up with a start before I hit the ground.

The dreams get much stranger than that, though. Once, I dreamed my entire family turned into giant hairy potatoes and tried to kill me. Another time we lived in a swanky penthouse apartment and my father brought home a lioness as a house pet. I remember feeling so terrified it was going to eat me. In yet another dream, my grandparents took me on a mining expedition underground and we traveled by donkey.

For awhile, I was having heart-stoppingly terrifying nightmares that were the creepiest things I've ever experienced. In my dream, I would see a scene from my bedroom with some kind of critter flying around in it. Sometimes it was a shadow, sometimes it was a spider running across the ceiling, other times it was a bat (that comes from the real-life time there was a real-life bat in my bed).

My dreaming self would see this thing, freak out and wake myself up while having a heart attack. It's a very unpleasant way to wake up. When I opened my eyes, I'd be looking at the exact same scene that I saw in my dream, minus the critter. I'd leap out of bed and usually run down the hallway, slamming the door shut behind me to keep the critter inside. It took me a few steps to realize that I was dreaming and in fact, there was no critter. This got really old for my family after awhile.

Slowly, I graduated from running down the hallway like a maniac to just leaping out of bed. Eventually, I'd still wake myself up having a heart attack, but I learned to calm myself down and realize nothing bad was really happening much quicker than before. I haven't had one of those in awhile, but I'm sure it will happen again.

Even though the critter dreams have stopped, I still dream vividly on a regular basis. Sometimes, timely events show up in my dreams. Just this week, I found myself part of a convoy driving to an abandoned house in the desert with McSteamy from Grey's Anatomy as our prisoner. When we got to the house, he killed everyone except me and one other person, then forced us to drive him somewhere. There was also something about an electric toothbrush kit, but I don't remember how that came up.

I'm quite sure McSteamy showed up because of a Grey's Anatomy preview that showed him hunched over, veins bulging as he screamed out in pain. It startled me (not really scary, I know, but this is how my brain works) and so, my imagination turned him into a bad guy. I also went to the dentist last week and she suggested I switch to an electric toothbrush.

I'm going to start using this blog as a dream diary. Partly, to share the things that my crazy imagination comes up with and provide entertainment for the two people that read this blog. I'm also hoping to keep track of these stories and identify trends. I've already spotted a few. Maybe someday I'll learn to control my subconscious thoughts - anyone know a good hypnotist?

E*TRADE Baby is Back!

Adgabber posted a link to outtakes from the new E*TRADE Super Bowl commercial and the baby is back! This is great, "I want to punch the economy in the face."

Lost Keeps Me Awake at Night

I'm usually a zombie on Thursday mornings because of the Lost adrenaline rush that hits me every Wednesday between 9 and 10 p.m. Kind of makes it hard to go to sleep at a reasonable hour when your heart is pounding from smoke monster attacks, disappearing islands and a shirtless Sawyer. The two-hour season premiere this week did not disappoint, it was full of things to make you jump out of your seat, hit rewind on the DVR and say, "What in the name of Daniel Faraday is going ON?!"

NineDaves posted about the New York Magazine list of Twenty Questions the Fifth Season of Lost Must Answer. The smoke monster is number one on my list. I have nightmares about it. Leave it to me to be afraid of the most irrational aspect of the show. Also, WHAT was up with the church/laboratory scene at the end of the episode? I used to think the island was Purgatory, until the Oceanic Six ended up back in the real world. Unless it's not the real world they're actually in. Maybe it's hell. And they're have to go back to Purgatory. Maybe I'm completely wrong. Now they're bringing this religious aspect back into it and I'm all confused. I just want to KNOW!

"I always say shopping is cheaper than a psychiatrist." - Tammy Faye Bakker

I need to seriously consider joining Shopaholics Anonymous. I buy things compulsively, particularly shoes and purses and sometimes expensive shoes and purses. Walking through the mall or shopping online, I will stumble across something that I absolutely MUST have. If I don't buy it on the spot, I obsess over it. I check for it to go on sale. I dream about it. Inevitably, I purchase it. This bag from Anthropologie is the object of my latest desire.

I first saw it while shopping in San Francisco over the holidays. The bright colors stood out against the black background like the Northern Lights shining in a dark, winter sky. (OK, it's not really comparable to a natural phenomenon, but it's PRETTY!) The best part was the clearance price! The original $118 price was crossed out in red pen and what I thought read $29.99 was written below. It was going to be mine.

Apparently, twos and fives can look very similar in scripty salesperson writing because when I got to the register, it rang up $59.99. Ouch! I had already spent a boatload of money on my trip and could not justify dropping $60 on a purse at the time. So, I put it back and shed a little tear.

It's been haunting me ever since. Diligently, I check the Anthropologie website weekly to monitor the price. If it goes down ten cents I'm buying it. Who am I kidding? I'm going to buy it regardless. It's only a matter of time. However, instead of buying it on-the-spot-because-I-absolutely-have-to-have-it-right-now, I'm going to wait until I save up enough money to purchase it and still be able to buy gas. What good is a fancy new purse if you can't go anywhere to show it off because you have no gas?

Obamarama

January 20, 2009 was truly a day for the history books. The first African American president of the United States of America was sworn into office. A man who has promised change for the better. So many Americans are counting on him. He gave us hope and now we wait for the promises to be kept.

The media has been all over the historical significance of this event. Some people are annoyed by the hype and think it's been taken too far. Others don't believe Barack Obama will bring about the dramatic changes the country is looking for. They talk of disappointment and failure instead of hope and change.

To all of the neigh-sayers, I say bah humbug. Are you sick of hearing about how history is being made? Turn off your t.v. and read a book. Maybe you'll tune back in when a negative story makes headlines again. It won't be long, we are in a recession after all. For now, let the rest of the country enjoy positive news while it lasts.

Does the connection to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. make you roll your eyes? I hope they don't get stuck in the back of your head. Dr. King was murdered a mere forty years ago and now a black man is president of this country. That's a big deal.

Does, "Yes we can!" make your stomach turn? Perhaps it's because you can't connect to millions of your fellow Americans who have joined together in celebration. When is the last time we had something to collectively celebrate as a country? It's been a long time. I feel bad that you can't be happy with the rest of us, but don't put a damper on our celebration. Occasions like this don't happen every day.

Are you tired of Obama being portrayed as a god-like savior who is going to fix the world's problems with the snap of his fingers? So am I. He's not and not all Obama supporters think that way. The ones that do are loopy. He is a man with many flaws just like the rest of us. He will do many things in the next four years, but miracle-working isn't on his to-do list.

Personally, my greatest hopes for the Obama administration involve an end to the Iraq war and an economic upturn. I don't expect either of these things to happen over night. Change is difficult and painstakingly slow. America must be patient and remember that whatever happens, it has to be better than the past eight years. I believe the card below from someecards.com says it best.