So I wrote a book

If you work in advertising long enough, you will meet dozens of people with dreams about making a movie, recording an album, painting a collection or writing a book. I’m the latter.

For years, I’ve worked on my first book. I did the research, wrote it all by hand, transcribed it, edited it, edited again, edited some more, edited a final time, edited a final time after the last final time, looked for information on how to publish and published... In a small blur of a moment, I went from working on my book to having it out there. It’s self published so I expect skepticism because who is anyone to judge their own work as worthy of publishing. It’s digital so there won’t be a book signing... for now. But it’s mine... it’s alive, it’s out there and it’s called Only Human.

It took about 7 or 8 years from inception to publication, it has vampires that don’t sparkle, it’s got angels and demons, it’s got werewolves (just don’t call them that) and it’s got my vision of what I think should be published. Yes, people read it and gave me their feedback, yes I did make changes based on what they said... the thing is that I did all of it. There weren’t no caprices from a client, no account executive suggesting another word, no creative director questioning its merit because it is not aligned with their vision... it is all mine (well except the cover because I can’t design for shit).

At this time, I’m excited, because even if it doesn’t blow the roof off the place and become a best seller, it’s out there. Sure, I know thousands of people self publish daily and that there is a ton of junk publishing done by people with a dream... and I’m one of them. I’m one of those people who put his all into one literary effort in the hopes of connecting with someone else, of entertaining them, of making them think.

When I tell people about my book, I’m not asking for charity, I’m offering an opportunity to sit down with my brain and a vision of a world I’ve created. I’m asking for you to read with an open mind and to find more things to read. I’m asking for a chance to be more than an ad guy with a dream.

So if you’re curious about exactly what I’d put my name on, check out Only Human on Kindle. Here’s the cover so you know what you’re looking for:

Cheers

That time I interviewed for a job I didn’t want

The common conception is that you need to make a fantastic first impression when you interview because hell, you want to get out of Dodge, right? So what happens when you go to an interview out of curiosity? Well... a LOT happens.

A dozen or so weeks back, I got a random call from a random agency setting up a random interview... My impression was that, heck if they called me, they know what they want because it seems they’re sharp as a tack....................... the reality was a little different to say the least.

Instead of the well organized flowing meeting I knew wasn’t going to happen, I had an awkward 40 minute conversation with an ACD with professional ADD. Don’t get me wrong, the guy who interviewed me was super nice and I’m actually quite clear we could have countless buddy moments and great beer-versations... but during the “interview” we talked about him and what he was doing for more than half the time.

As my brother pointed out, that was all on me because I should have steered the conversation towards getting a higher paying job than what I currently have... but I couldn’t help but let things be and not force anything because it didn’t feel right ever since I arrived.

From the get-go it was awkward because I arrived about twenty minutes early since I wanted to beat traffic and wasn’t 100% sure about where the offices were... When I got there, the guy who was going to interview me was like.... what??? You’re early? It was funny and I was able to fill out paperwork and save time in the long run.

When he was finally able to get back to me, we get to talking and he goes like: “so why are you here?” and I immediately switched things on him and said, I think that’s a great question I think you could answer, because I got a call from you guys and would like to see what you guys need.

That’s when I took my psychology pose and an ACD basically told me all that he’s doing, how he thinks he’s coming off as crazy and that he wants to diversify his skills to be ready for anything... Talk about knowing how to butter up a prospect by telling him you’ve got a PHD and are studying for your JD to be prepared for anything that happens..... and I’m supposed to push to get this job? Interesting.

So there we sat and talked about life, what he’s doing, what I’m doing, why I got out of advertising in the first place, that I just didn’t like having to work late and weekend because people didn’t get their shit together and were irresponsible and that working with a mentally unstable person (the bad crazy not the good crazy) was anything BUT fun. Seriously, by being honest I ended up shooting my foot like twelve times not because I didn’t know what I was doing, but because I was EXTREMELY clear that they didn’t make a great first impression and that I wasn’t interested in what they were selling.

The reason is simple, first impressions are a two way street and if a job doesn’t deliver the goods in the BULLSHIT process where you are being fooled into taking a shit job, then why bother?

Cheers

Dove: Thought Before Action

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When I grow up, I want to be like Caine

With every day that passes, I want to be more like Caine Monroy. This is thanks to George Monroy for letting Caine do what he wanted with space, cardboard boxes and his imagination, Nirvan Mullick for being kind enough to document this young boy and for Caine himself, for insisting on a dream to have his own arcade.

The story in a nutshell is as follows: Two years ago, Caine asked his dad if he could use the leftover cardboard boxes from his used auto parts store to build his own arcade. His dad said sure. He built the arcade. He had his own t-shirt made, two offers for customers to play ($1 for 5 plays or $2 for a fun pass worth 500 plays), a system to give tickets when you win and even a security system to verify the authenticity of a fun pass… this is a 9 year old kid we’re talking about. All he was needing was customers… or at least A customer. In comes Nirvan Mullick one day because he needed a spare part for his car, sees the arcade, has his mind blown away and asks Caine’s dad if he could make a documentary… the video was made, it was submitted to festivals, and it went viral… Now there’s the Imagination Foundation, a non-profit organization to promote creativity among children, Caine has a scholarship to pay for his studies and people all around the world have jumped on board to do creative things with cardboard.

This is a kid who had a dream. Some people may say he brought it forth on a small scale and that if it weren’t for Nirvan, he wouldn’t have the recognition he has, and there may be a point somewhere within that commentary (although a stupid point I might add). The fact still remains, small scale or large… he brought his dream to life. He took an idea and turned it into something tangible. He did what the vast majority of the world doesn’t have the vision or the balls to do for their entire lives. He thought of something, said he wanted to do it, and did it.

For this alone, Caine is one of a handful of people I look up to in my life. So to Caine, here’s to you man. Going to East LA is officially on my Bucket List thanks to you and I hope I can do something as special as what you’ve created.

Cheers,

Ps.: I really hope you keep this up, because I’d love to see a full size cardboard arcade to promote creativity, green initiatives and education among young people. Think about it, instead of boring kids with lame textbooks, this could be the beginning of an integrated education movement where kids are shown how to create rather than bored with adult words that fail to entertain, communicate or educate.