The 100 Day Project: 100 Days of Writing

Posted on April 6, 2015April 12, 2015 Posted in 100DayProject, LifeTagged 100 Days Project, Amwriting, Collaboration, Creative Writing, Creatives, Freelance, Projects, Sharing, Social media, writers, writingLeave a comment

I am super excited to participate in the 100 Days project. The Great Discontent created this event that starts today. Long story short, you commit t 100 days of creating whatever your heart desires. You can read more about it here.

I’ve committed to 100 days of creative writing. While I’ve been a busy bee in the freelance realm, my personal creations have fallen to the wayside. Furthermore, I’m taking the opportunity to meet and appreciate fellow creatives out there, which is something I’m incredibly stoked about. Anyone else participating in the project? Let me know and we can support each other! 🙂

3 of the Worst PR Fails in 2014

Posted on September 24, 2014September 24, 2014 Posted in HumorTagged Fail, Media, Misogyny, NYPD, Police Brutality, PR, Public Relations, Robin Thicke, Sam Pepper, Sexual Harassment, Social media, tumblr, twitter, YouTubeLeave a comment

Celebrities and people with considerable authority are human, which means they make mistakes. Fortunately for them, most have the financial means and common sense to hire PR teams to help make them appear more intelligent than they are. In layman’s terms, PR firms are there to put the fires out when our precious idols/constituents fall from glory. Most of the time these unsung heroes get the job done and quite well, I might add. However, there are times when even the best laid plans fall flat on their faces. So here are the 3 most laughably terrible PR fails of this year.

NYPD Twitter

Earlier this year, the NYPD took to twitter to help scurry up some goodwill for their department. For those who don’t know, it can be said that they (NYPD) definitely do not sit at the popular table in school. In an effort to get some city love, the department asked New Yorkers to post photos of their encounters with the police to twitter with the hashtag, #myNYPD. Instead of getting the love they so desired, the NYPD twitter account was trolled with photos of police brutality. With their less than friendly reputation, it’s hard to believe they didn’t see that one coming.

(Protect and serve!)

Robin Thicke Q&A Session

Between his marital woes, horrible song lyrics (that he allegedly did not create), and creepy VMA performances, you’d think this dude would keep his head low, or at least have a PR team to tell him to STFU, but Robin Thicke is that gift that keeps on giving. The music channel VH1 asked their twitter fans to join them in a Robin Thicke Q&A using the hashtag #AskThicke. With his popularity in the toilet, how on earth did they think this was a good idea? Right out the gate, Thicke was hit hard with scathing questions about his marriage, music, and overall douchebaggery and it was quite the sight.

Sam Pepper’s “Social Experiment”

Youtuber Sam Pepper is infamous for his grotesque and frankly sexual assault-ridden pranks. He’s done everything from lassoing girls to creepily asking girls for kisses on camera. This guy is a grade A garbage and yet, millions of people follow him. It wasn’t until his recent “prank” which occurred a few days ago, that landed him in some serious hot water. Pepper went around asking girls for directions while secretly pinching their butts. In the video (which was taken down) these girls were visibly uncomfortable and were not happy at all. Pepper’s prank was met with some serious criticism from fellow Youtubers which led to a campaign to get his video off of YouTube. Facing a ton of negative press Pepper hastily puts up another video (which was taken down also) of a woman grabbing men’s butts (as if that’s ok too). To add icing on the cake, he goes on to make a third and final video where he justifies his social experiment by explaining that men deal with sexual harassment too and that it’s underreported. He even goes on to say that the latter two videos were done with consent (but offers no proof) and it was all in the matter of bringing awareness to men’s plights with harassment. Some of his followers bought his poorly constructed explanation, but others quickly pointed out the inconsistencies in his execution. Either way, it was one of the worst covers up to happen this year.

Moral of the story is that social media can be a tricky thing to navigate, especially if you are lacking in the intelligence department. Furthermore, it’s best to get a good set of eyes to ensure your “well thought” plan doesn’t backfire. Lastly if you did have a PR team backing your idiocy, you should fire them promptly and seek better council. What other PR disasters occurred this year? Let me know! 🙂

Live Like It’s the 90s

Posted on June 30, 2014 Posted in Humor, LifeTagged 90s, Commitment, Communication, Flaking, friends, Generation Me, Generation Y, Going out, Humor, Millennials, Movie, Saying No, Showing Up, social anxiety, Social media, textingLeave a comment

Ever notice how difficult it is to commit to say, anything?

Remember when you made plans with friends to meet up at the movies? Well back in the dark ages, there was no way really communicate with your friends, your parents just simply dropped you off at the theater and you all magically showed up. What a concept?! I’m sure this practice seems archaic to younger folks, but back then, when plans were made, you kept them, because there was no way to back out.

The one thing I love about technology is that we can instantly get in contact with one another. It also allows us to be flaky little sons of guns as well. Since we can easily talk to each other and make plans, it ultimately gives us the option to say no right up to the event itself. Why is it that we don’t follow through with plans then turn around and complain about not having reliable friends? It’s like a never-ending conundrum. Let’s be honest, how many times have you made plans to only bail on them at the last minute? I’ve done it more times than I’d like to admit. Interestingly enough, I was talking about this with a girl I met at the dog park today and she admitted to being in the same boat as me. So in an effort to live more organically, I’ve decided to opt into a more 90s kind of life.

When I make plans with friends, I’ve decided that unless I’m having a dire medical emergency, I’m following through. I’m going to pretend as though my phone does not exist and that texting has not yet been invented. Why? Simply because if I “don’t have the means to communicate” I have to assume that the other person is waiting for me therefore making me obligated to show up. I’ve actually done it a couple times, and dare I say, I’ve enjoyed my outings. So here’s to a little personal responsibility and enjoying each other’s company “IRL” 😉

Have you ever bailed on a friend for whatever reason? Let me know 🙂

Oh Social Media; How You’ve Ruined Me

Posted on February 4, 2014February 4, 2014 Posted in LifeTagged Anywhere but Here, Beer Goggles, Comparison, envy, Filter, Food For Thought, Instagram, internet, Millennials, nostalgia, pinterest, Porn, Self Indulgent, Selfie, Social media, Spiderman, tumblr, twitter2 Comments

Social Media is the beer goggles of people’s lives. A person’s life is a 3 in reality; add a filter, it becomes a 10.

Social Media is like the porn of real life. It’s doesn’t show all the gross stuff, just the “finished product” which in itself is nowhere near the real thing.

Don’t believe me? Look at your friends’ pins on Pinterest, their statuses on Facebook, their photos on Instagram, or their posts on Tumblr.

To be fair, these apps allow us to capture great moments of our lives and to hold on to them. They also create this sickening nostalgia that makes people believe that everyone else is better off than they are. We’ve created a vortex “anywhere but here” or “why not me?”. We are constantly in comparison with each other whether it’s intentional or not. I for one am definitely guilty. Let’s be honest, how much time do you spend trying to get the perfect shot to put on some social media site instead of actually enjoying the experience itself? If I had a $1 for every nostalgic quote or super snazzy photo that I’ve come across (or have done myself) on a daily basis, I could prolong being a bum for an eternity.

– Here’s a photo that I took in San Diego. Worry free TJ living it up. What you don’t know is that I was stuck on conference calls and dealing with my maniac boss on the majority of my stay and that I was miserable. Such a perfect life, go on, envy me.

I always hear that “millennials“ are self indulgent and are never happy with what they have. Well, if older generations had the same technology to connect and interact with people all over the world when they were younger, do you really think they’d be any different? I think not.

I can’t speak for everyone, but for me, I’ve noticed that I have been caught up in this cycle. Being 20 something and still figuring it out with every step that I take, it’s easy to look at a bunch of filtered photos and super positive status updates and feel like the world is in on something that I’m not. Don’t get me wrong, I’m incredibly fortunate to have been able to take that picture in San Diego and to have even gone. I’m just merely pointing out that not everything is as it seems.

My new goal for myself is to take a chill pill on being caught up with social media and actually give this “real life” bit a shot. Of course I’ll still blog and use these apps, but in moderation. I don’t hate social media, in fact I think it’s a great tool. I mean for me to be able to talk to someone across the country let alone the world in real time, it’s incredible! However with great technology comes great responsibility (You can thank Uncle Ben for that one… hehe). Bottom line is no one person’s life is perfect, no matter how many filters or philosophical quotes they put on it. Especially me, I don’t have all the answers (Kanye’s rant at Sway came to mind as I wrote that, lol), and I certainly don’t pretend to. Everybody poops; and chances are it is smelly 😉