Suite Sensations

Those of you who know me know that Im a sucker for a good Hotel. 1000 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets, turndown service and down pillows make all the difference to me when it comes to spending the night elsewhere. In a last minute debacle I snagged a hot ticket to This Event in Washington last weekend and I called my personal travel concierge to make something happen. Lucky for me, my personal travel concierge was free and decided to accompany me, so off we were to DC for a fantastic weekend at my new favorite DC hotel, The Mayflower. It’s so totally your fabulous socialite grandmother’s hotel, but who doesn’t enjoy a nice wall sconce and paneling every once and a while, even if they are a bit dated and Miss Havershamish? We both snagged huge suites and I loved every minute I spent in it.

We decided to check out the Smithsonian’s newish Udvar-Hazy Center waaaaay out by Dulles Airport on Saturday. The drive was hell but the place was amazing.

I’d also like to thank THIS GUY for putting up with our social antics. He was a gracious tour guide and im glad to have finally met him.

Full Circle Moment

Our Roving billboard in Columbia SC today

I've been quiet recently because work has overtaken my life. We launched a huge campaign today and it's been great to see the many hours of brainstorming and late nights come to fruition. ED in 08 is real today! "Ed" was born in front of my eyes about 2 months ago and now he's visible through hundreds of thousands of dollars in online media that I've placed, along with millions of dollars in tv and print..all for the largest single issue-focused campaign initiative in campaigning history. 60 million dollars thanks to Bill and Melinda Gates and The Broad Foundation is going to go along way to help reshape Americans thoughts on education and energize a non-partisan constituency.

NY Times Article

http://www.edin08.com/

For those of you who don't have kids, get involved. One of the push button issues they are championing is year-round schooling. So think about your summer vacation sans screaming kids. Hows that for motivation?

Penis Power for the People!

Atlanta's Public Access TV presents....

Nappy Beheading

I wish minority groups in this country would stop looking for reasons to be offended and focus their energies on fixing the obvious problems within their own communities.

The black community continues to deliver mixed messages about hate speech. They seem to expect the rest of the world to adhere to their standards of acceptable speech but seem to do nothing to stop their own use of the very same words within their community and outward through the media and entertainment.

I feel the same way about the gay community. We often encourage altered-over-the-top gay behavior within our community walls, yet we get very upset when we are judged or stereotyped by those behaviors outside in the straight ‘world’.

You can’t have it both ways. If you’re offended by the word nigger, then stop using it, stop buying albums that contain that word and start acting within your community to put a kibosh on the use of it.

If you don’t want to be type cast as a drag queen or effeminate queer, then stop stuffing dollars down drag queen’s dresses at the gay bars and refrain from referring to your best friends as “girls”.

There’s nothing I hate more than a good old fashioned double standard; and minority groups are full of them. Pushing a political agenda during ‘opportune’ times is a pathetic kick-em-when-they’re-down strategy that shows serious lack of leadership and direction.

Im not offended by anything really. I learned long ago not to empower idiots who spew low-brow comments by getting upset over them. I refuse to help accomplish their mission.

LA Confidential

Britney Bites!

I'm a firm believer that only risk takers and those who think outside of the box really get ahead in this world. Recently I had some training at work on presentation delivery from a company called oratorio. In preparation for our class, we had to put together a presentation that we would be delivering for the purpose of a group critique. Mine started out as a joke... "How interactive media could save Britney spears"..but as I jumped into it, it took a turn for the better and I got serious. I delivered it to the class, and received great feedback.

So,I said why not.. dug around and found Britney's new publicist info and sent it to him. Not only did I get a call back, we are now negotiating a deal to implement and manage several of the ideas I presented.

The whole experience has reiterated several things to me:

1. Dont be afraid to use pink background and a half-naked starlet on the first slide of your presentation. You gotta play to your audience.
2. Oftentimes good ideas are born out of bad ones.
3. Go Big or go home! Media is all about creativity, ideation and out-of-the box thinking. Do it!

Caribbean Casablanca

I'm going to St. Maarten this summer with 8 friends. Even though the trip is 3-months away, Im so excited I cant stop looking at the incredible photos of the island. Cant wait to do it up french-carib style.

My Social Unconsciousness

I know it's no secret to anyone who knows anything about Austin, this town is full of environmentalists, conservationists, vegans, vegetarians, hemp lovers, pot smokers, tye-dye wearin, granola-lovin people. Im the only neighbor on the block who doesnt "compost" or faithfully put out my recycling bucket every Wednesday. I drive a German car with a big ass gas tank and I leave lights on all the time. Im a bad person who's killing our earth one paper-towel at a time.

When I came home today this note was stuck to my door. It's advertising a "gasoline free" lawn service. I was intrigued, so I called these guys. Sure enough they are "gasoline free"...what they don't mention on their flyer is that their prices are almost double the cost of any other reputable lawn service in town. You would think that not having to use gasoline would actually decrease the cost of the service. Evidently not. I guess it's like buying the organic produce at Whole foods..less pesticides should equal less cost. Not whatsoever!

The 'environmental/global' movement needs to regroup and rethink their pricing strategies. Wal-Mart has recently figured it out and has started opening healthy, good-earth, environmentally-conscious grocery stores similar to Whole Foods. In typical Wal Mart Fashion, their costs are 1/3. So i guess all the socially-aware millionaires running Whole Foods better take notice or they may have to sell off a few of their hybrid cards to help pay down the mortgage on their 'green' McMansions.

Costa Rica Remembered

It was exactly one year ago Today that I left for Costa Rica. I enjoyed a full circle moment last night as I hosted the divas from Dallas, Kerri Butler and her fabulous friend Megan, at my house. Kerri actually recruited me for the position in CR and it was her dynamo personality that enticed me to push all the forward through the process. I worked under her husband Scott and I’m really glad we all got to experience the ups and downs of Costa Rica together. Being the only Americans in the crowd we often leaned on each other for a much needed sense of normalcy.

We ate at Sandra Bullock’s new(ish) restaurant here in town, Bess Bistro. It wasn’t noteworthy, but certainly a decent meal. We shared stories of Costa Rica and got each other caught up with our present lives and probably shocked neighboring tables with our wine-enhanced topics of conversation. Thinking about Costa Rica, Kerri made an observation that she and her husband both felt like our departure form CR was premature and that they found themselves actually missing it sometimes. I definitely feel the same way. While living there had its (many) challenges, looking back on it, I realize what a unique and valuable learning experience it all was. I could have stood another 6-12 months of it.

I often think of Francisco and how I must have turned his life upside down. He experienced a whole new level of living through me and it left him just as fast as it came. I still hear from him periodically and he reiterates how much he misses “us”. I know that even if the adjustment period has been hard for him, I left him much better off than I found him.

I miss the little things. Grocery clerks fighting over me when I walk in the door because I tipped them 1 dollar. Not having to fill my own car up, the view across the Santa Ana Valley from my living room windows, Loreana washing and ironing my sheets EVERY other day, the beautiful beaches, rainforests and most importantly I miss the people I got to know there. In their own ways they left an imprint on me that I still carry to this day.

As my life in the states continues to change and move on, I know that the Costa Rica I experienced will always retain a special charm that I hope to revisit and relive again very soon.