Bus Riding

Coming to you live from the CTA #151 on Michigan Avenue I’ve got the news of the day!

BlazerMania came on strong last night as the Blazers beat the Houston Rockets at home in game 5 to send it back to Houston.

In a time of layoffs, bailouts, Swine Flu scares and economic uncertainty it sure is nice to have the home town team take a negative and turn it into a positive.The Blazers management staff saw the writing on the wall and made a change. They took interest in their fans (buyers) and improved a fading product.

Why is it that consumer companies can’t do the same thing?

Twitter…It Happened

Check my blog post from late October where I responded to a blog post that said blogging is dead and that Twitter is the new social media means of communication. Turns out blogs are still rocking but Twitter has blown up over the last 8 weeks.

I’m on the Twitter kick myself actually and I’ve had a good time following my fair share of celebrities and media members that write about clients. A few friends have also latched on to the 140 character format, but I’m not sure if Twitter will ever be big beyond the media industry.  I’ll check back to see how that assumption is coming in a few months.

Japan

I went to Japan last month for a couple of weeks and it was awesome to say the least. I was completely impressed with the efficiency that the country runs with. Whether it be Shinkansen (bullet trains), commuter trains, or subway lines, they were always on time and ready which was easy to appreciate as a foreigner.

We couldn’t have been more impressed with the Japanese people as they consistently did their best to help us in situations when we were lost, confused or simply couldn’t read Japanese. No matter what type interaction we had, the people were so helpful and nice. In Japan, there are three levels of propriety in speech and strangers are always greeted with the highest level of proper speech.

The clothing was crazy for sure. With 12 million people in Tokyo, we were treated to a plethora of individuality, even in a groupism culture. Hair, boots, pants with to waistlines to provide a fake sagging affect, all were a sight to see and that doesn’t even include the Harajuku girl styles!

It only took 5 minutes back in the States to realize that we don’t have it all figured out. As a country we lack the ability to be inherently be respectful and accommodating. I wouldn’t mind if the U.S. stole a little bit of the technology and helpful culture from the beautiful country of Japan and I would recommend anybody to take a trip to see it first hand!

Behind the Times

It seems as I write this, that I am dating myself and wasting my time. According to a recent WIRED magazine blog post, Blogging is now a thing of the past. Apparently the new thing to be doing is Twitter. As for reasons why blogging has begun its descent, the author cites the problem that bloggers do too much thinking when writing their posts. Apparently the wave trend is for people to quickly Twitter whatever is on their minds as quickly as possible without putting too much thought into it.

I’m sorry for disagreeing, but I can’t really see how taking time to consider and develop intelligent thoughts in blogs is a bad thing. And clearly I’m speaking on behalf of other blogs I read, as my blog isn’t the most thought-provoking avenue of discourse. But really, have we come to the point where THINKING is a waste of time? And how much thought did this author put into his entry and why did he make his point via a BLOG, the very communication tool he deems irrelevant? Maybe he should have put more thought into that…

Cheap shots aside, I really enjoy reading the thoughts of those people who do blog, and I have no fear that blogging will not cease to matter in the near future. Although some people take to their blogs to rattle off their passionate testimonials regarding politics and sports, among other things, I value a good blog. I value the fact that people are passionate about something, anything, that they feel the desire to spend time to write it all down. If nothing more, it allows people to get things of their chest.

So in the spirit of Halloween, allow me to reserve space for the blogging headstone:

Here lies Blogging. A useful, if not overused, medium for expression:

1999- ??

Quick Fun Fact

For all of my loyal readers…cricket, cricket…there is something I wanted to bring to your attention.

If you look at the picture of the Chicago skyline at the top of my blog,  you can see the building where I work. The farthest building to the right is the AON Building, which is where i spend my days.

I’m up on the 64th floor and it is crazy to be working in the third tallest building in Chicago on a daily basis. No, I’m not scared about any terrorist craziness or things like that, but I did have a weird moment one Friday afternoon when I had to wait more than 5 minutes for an available elevator to take me down. Kind of scary!

Growing Up in the Real World

Now that I am paid a salary, and no longer an intern, I’m finally taking steps towards being a responsible adult. With that step, I’ve decided to start saving money, now, in order to have it in the future. In reality, this is much more difficult than it sounds. It is hard to see that money in my bank account and not spend it!

It seems that there are endless opportunities to blow money at every turn, and deciding to save it has been a big lesson for me to learn. In all honesty, I’m really proud of myself and I feel that down the line I will be very happy that I had the discipline to save now, when the money is already tight.

(Insert depressing breakdown of the current American economic situation)

Hot Town, Summer in the City

Slacking on the blog is clearly my style at this point. A style that is obviously beginning to fade. I know, I know. I need to step up my blogging, get creative, make up words… First word: Blogability. Basically it means something that can be blogged about, an extension of another made up word, Blogable. I’m going to test topics in my every day life for their BLOGABILITY (it already sounds like a keeper).

Speaking of my life, Summer has been busy busy! Here’s a list of the things I’ve been doing in no particular order:

-Jack Johnson Concert in Wisconsin

-A-Frame vacation in Brown County, IN + Indiana University Tour (Rob’s visit)

-Dave & America’s Birthday Trolley in Chicago

- Family visit: Abby, Sean and Chas = Craziness

-Fireworks on Lake MIchigan

-DG Wedding in Indy + Harter Family Reunion in Seville, OH

-Coldplay & Santogold concert @ United Center

-Getting a REAL job: Assistant Account Executive @ Edelman (about time, believe me)

The busy times are exactly what I was craving when I moved away and I look forward to more action through the end of the summer moving to the fall.

The Friendly Confines…

We all remember how we used to play catch with our friends in our backyards but now that I’m a big boy I’ve got something even better in my backyard: WRIGLEY FIELD!

Living in the North Side of Chicago allows me the luxury of close proximity to one of the most famous ballparks in the world. It’s been fun to take in a few Cubbies games in the famous Bud Light Bleachers. I’ve done my fair share of partying but those bleachers are some of the wildest parties you’ll ever encounter.

Get there early, get there late, get there drunk…just get there because it’s always great to walk out of Wrigley Field after a Cubs win to 40,000+ singing “Go Cubs GO!

In a Relationship…

Well since I’m the habit of updating all my readers on what’s been going on the last 5 months (‘hey mom’), I figured everybody should know that I have a new lady friend. She’s also my girlfriend, funny how that works out .

We met at the birthday party of a mutual friend and we’ve been hanging out ever since. Our friends all get a long too, some a little too well but it’s going great. Lindsay and I have become the new phenomenon: Chrinsay. Don’t act like you aren’t impressed!

Studio City

After almost two months of living on Sali’s couch I finally took the plunge and got a great little studio in a centrally located apartment building.

IKEA supplied me with all the essentials (and a spinning headache) and I was on my own in the big city.

I quickly learned that moving across the country and buying everything to furnish an apartment is not the slightest bit cheap, but it was kind of fun to pick everything out and see it all come together.

Luck was on my side and for the past three months I’ve had a blast living on my own just two blocks from Lincoln Park and Lake Michigan.

Come over and see it some time…