Girl, You've Got Cojones: Life Lessons Learned Surfing.

During a surf session out in the big and mushy waves last week, a crusty old fellow gave me the best compliment I could ever receive:

“Girl, you’ve got cojones.”

On my previous wave, I took a late takeoff and went straight down the face for Mr.-Toad’s-Wild-Ride. I barely made it. But sometimes, barely is good enough. That’s one of the valuable lessons I learn over and over surfing. It always amazes me how much the ocean and surfing can teach me:

Live life. Now. Surfing isn’t like tennis or basketball where the courts are always available for a practice session. Wave conditions are a temperamental thing. When there are waves, you surf today. They may not be there tomorrow. The takeaway – don’t live life in the future, waiting for the time until you graduate, get that job, get that promotion, get that house. Life happens right now.

Live on the edge. A wave is a precious commodity. Yet, if you don’t push yourself, you’ll never get better. So when the board is locked in the face, it’s time to cross step and make your way towards the nose. (Guess what my New Year’s resolution is.) What’s the worst that can happen? I’ll fall and waste a perfectly good wave. But there’s always another wave coming.

Let it roll over you. A big holy-mother-of-god mountain of water appears right before you. What do you do? Turtle roll you and your board over and let the wave pass over you. Then you paddle like hell to get out of the way before the next one hits. Things in life don’t always run smooth, but the ability to let things roll by, then try to improve the situation is a nice skill to cultivate.

Sometimes you just have to go for it. If you think too much, you’ll miss out. A moment’s hesitation on the paddle and the wave can pass you by. Yes, it’s advisable to put a little forethought into things like having a kid or starting a business. But if you waited until you were 100% sure, nothing would ever happen.

Don't be afraid to look like an idiot. Perhaps one of the most valuable lessons I've ever learned. If I was that self-conscious, I would have aborted at my attempts at surfing years ago. It’s taken me years to become socially mediocre at the sport. And usually, people are encouraging. (Just don’t get in the way of their waves.)

Enjoy the downtime. Sometimes when you’re in between sets, you just have to sit, watch the horizon and wait. This is when the magic occurs. A young inquisitive seal may pop his head out of the water for a closer look or a pod of dolphins may swim by. You never know what might happen.

Savor the bliss. Feeling the wave behind you, carving down a face, it’s 10, 20 or 30 seconds of sheer heaven. After a wonderful morning session, I never feel more alive, more joyous or more blessed. And that’s the attitude I try carry with me throughout the day.

There's more to Cabo than Cabo Wabo.

Hacienda is the place where Sinatra, John Wayne and Raquel Welch hung out back in the day when Cabo San Lucas was a sleepy fishing town. Times have changed but Hacienda is still the place in Cabo, just steps from the marina and downtown. (And speaking of Cabo Wabo, Sammy Hagar made 200 million licsensing his booze brand!)

Visit the site here.

See the brochure:  Steps

How do you keep the heart in your art?

One afternoon this week at theHIVE I had a serendipitous chat with artist/painter/blogger/music wonder Susie Ghahremani of boygirlparty.com. I am always fascinated watching Susie work because there is no computer on her desk at the Hive (Oh, she’s digital all right with a site, shop and blog.) In the morning she was doing preliminary sketches in a journal and in the afternoon had the paints out.

Susie mentioned that she had a little time before beginning a new project and was using the downtime to do some personal work. She said something like, “ “If it is passion for art that inspired me to become an artist, how do I retain this passion when I paint for a living, how do I keep art from becoming something I have to do rather than something I love to do?

The answer is simple, mix it up.

Susie mentioned she was enrolling in a session of the Artist’s Way, which would involve writing

Likewise, as an interactive copywriter, when I’m looking for some creative growth, the last thing I want to do is begin writing the Great American Novel. In past year, one of my greatest creative outlets has been volunteering with Art Corps, a group that brings art into the classroom. Volunteer teachers attend a workshop where we make the project ourselves first before teaching it to the kids. These workshops are a uplifting opportunity to make art and chat with other people, most of who aren’t “artists” either.

What do you do to mix it up and keep your work your fresh and the passion strong?

Image copywright boygirlparty.com.

Word Girl Wednesday: The Thesaurus for people who think visually

Word Girl Wednesday is a new addition to my blog where I’ll be sharing some tricks of the trade.

How do you find just the perfect word? Or is it the precise word. Or exact word.

The easiest way of course is to use the Thesaurus feature under Tools menu. The turn out for the perfect looks something like this:

It's quick. It's easy. And it's predictable.

One of my favorite resources is Visual Thesaurus. It’s is an interactive dictionary and thesaurus which creates word maps that blossom with meanings and branch to related words. In other words, it’s a dictionary for people who think visually. Type in a word, click on an answer and dive into more possibilities.

A dashing collection of holiday billboards.

As a freelance interactive copywriter, I still always welcome the challenge of a billboard. You have only seven words and half a second to get your message across. (How many times have I slowed down just to read a too long message.) The holidays are an especially fun time with plenty of holiday carols, motifs and traditions to play off of.

This billboard by the San Diego Zoo is a visual pun on the sleigh pulled by Santa’s reindeer. This billboard ran last year as well, proving that some holiday traditions are worth repeating.

One of my favorite holiday billboards is this one by Wells Fargo which first ran I believe in 2007. It plays off the iconic stagecoach, with the nose of the lead lighting up red at night. Simple, clean and clever without being cutesy. It ran for numerous years and then last year was replaced by the billboard below which runs more on the cutesy side.

TEDx San Diego. People spreading ideas.

Well, TED came to San Diego yesterday. It was a mind-blowing experience.

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. You've probably heard of the people who speak at the flagship event held every year, major leaguers like:  Bill Gates, Seth Godin and Bill Clinton. The TED website is one of my favorites where you can listen to or watch riveting talks by remarkable people.

Yesterday's local event was TEDx San Diego (x = independently organized.) How do I describe the day? My brain is overflowing. 22 speakers each gave a 15-minute talk offering inspiring new ideas. Some of my favorites included Marty Cooper, inventor of the cell phone and Bill Toone, who brought a new twist to conservation. Jake Shimaburkuro simply rocked the ukulele.

I had high expectations for TEDx San Diego and was so delighted when TEDxSD completely exceeded them in every way. I was completely unprepared for the community aspect of the event. The tagline of TED is “Ideas Worth Spreading.” The speakers were only a springboard. We were encouraged to meet new people and form new connections. We were asked to sit in a new seat next to people we didn’t know for every session. And instead of asking the typical what do you do questions, we were encouraged to ask “What do you love to do?”

These were some of the amazing people and fellow San Diegans that I met:

David Michael Bruno is the manager of online marketing at Point Loma Nazarene University. He started inspiring blog called 100 Thing Challenge, a project focused on breaking free from the constraints of American-style consumerism. He has a book about 100 Things coming out by HarperCollins.

Jamie Miller is an architect and founder of Urban Fabric Architecture. He proposes building office space out of shipping containers, so the building can grow with the needs of the company.

Joanna Wasmuth loves connecting people and resources to reduce poverty. Over lunch, she talked about her travels to over 25 countries where she saw unimaginable poverty. She is currently a strategic microfinance consultant at World Vision.

Sunni Black was a childhood hero of mine. She was a trainer and performer for many years for the Bird Show at the Wild Animal Park (now known as the San Diego Zoo Safari Park but don't get me started on that.) I loved that when I asked her what she studied in school she said she was an art major.

TEDx San Diego closed with the idea that what happens after the conference is what’s really important. We were encouraged to keep in touch with those new people we had met and encouraged to make a commitment to do something, whether professional, personal or volunteer in the upcoming year.

More stories on TEDx San Diego : TEDx San Diego draws top thinkers to San Diego.

TEDx San Diego wants ideas to turn into action.

The joys of co-working.

Co-working at theHIVE has been so rewarding. I've met so many people and have learned so much from meeting people in different industries. I love the creative sparks that fly when passionate people come together.

Seth Godin recently wrote a post entitled Good-bye to the Office. And he states that with technology people can work from almost anywhere. So why have an office? He gives 7 reasons why people still cling to the idea of an office.

  1. That's where the machines are.
  2. That's where the items I need to work on are.
  3. The boss needs to keep tabs on my productivity.
  4. There are important meetings to go to.
  5. It's a source of energy.
  6. The people I collaborate with all day are there.
  7. I need someplace to go.

Well, as a freelancer, almost none of this applies except 5 and 7. I do need a source of energy and I do need someplace to go (otherwise I may be wearing the same black yoga pants for days on end.) What I missed most about the agency environment was the collaboration and interaction with my fellow creatives.

Recently, some gals from theHive started a Creative Breakfast. We're almost all self-employed and share the desire for camaraderie and accountability. Good friend and fellow Hiver Alexix Rodich spoke so eloquently about our breakfast in her blog for the Washington Post. I left our breakfast motivated and so very inspired.

I'm not even at Not at BlogWorld in SD.

(Courtesy of wearethedigitalkids.com)

No, I'm not at BlogWorld. No, I'm not even at Not at BlogWorld in SD hosted by @interactivem and @downtownrob. (That would be #bwe10sd.)

But some of my favorite blogs right now:

MOTY Notes: Stories of Imperfection

Great tales of motherhood and life by Kathryn Proulx, wife of Lemonade the Movie creator Erik Proulx. Kathryn has a wicked sense of humor. (I dig Erik's blog Please Feed the Animals too.)

We are the Digital Kids

Insights by Amanda Mooney, a digital kid and account supervisor for the strategy team at Edelman Digital. (I also like how the photos in her masthead always change.)

Frank Chimero

I'm so insanely jealous of designers who can write.

Learning the value of water.

In support of Blog Action Day 2010 Water

Here in the paradise known as San Diego, we live in a desert, importing up to 80% of our water. Yet it’s easy to take water for granted.

You turn on the tap and water comes out. Right?

But would we use water differently if we had to go to a well and carry our water? I remember backpacking as a Girl Scout and planning how much water we would have to carry on weekend trips in the desert. The recommended amount for a strenuous trip was one gallon of water a day. But one gallon of water is eight pounds.

In many places of the world, fetching fresh water is the primary task of women and children. A 2000 report by the Asian Development Bank stated that of the 300 million people living in the Asia–Pacific region, one person out of three have no access to sources of safe drinking water within 200 meters (that's 655 feet) of their homes.

So the next time you want a nice workout, go fill up an empty milk jug with water, stick it in your backpack and then go walk around the block. Add in a couple of steep hills and you just might work up a sweat. And hopefully you’ll also gain a greater understand what many people have to do for the water we take for granted.

Here's a couple of ways how you can help conserve water:

Helpful tips on how to save water. San Diego Water Authority

Ways you can help protect our coastline and water supply.

Surfrider Foundation, San Diego Chapter

How to plant a native plant garden. Because green lawns are so overrated. The Water Conservation Garden, Cuyamaca College

Taking the lessons of art to heart.

ArtCorps from Anne McColl on Vimeo. Volunteering with ArtCorps is one of the most rewarding activities I participate in. It's a group dedicated to bring more art into the classroom. The kids try so hard and sometimes they get hung up on perfection. The big lesson always is just go with it.

So being an interactive copywriter, I just had to make a video. No, it's not perfect but I have to remember the mantra I always repeat to the kids, "You have to start somewhere. Just get it down on paper." Produced using an iPhone and iMovie.

Luerzer's Archive and the Death of Advertising

Years ago as a young copywriter, I used to subscribe to Luerzer’s Archive, a great magazine filled with the latest uber cool ads from Amsterdam, Latin American and even upon occasion, the United States. I stopped subscribing after something called the Internet was invented. Why look at pictures of a broadcast spots when you can actually watch the actual clips on the Internet.

A few days a go, a big, beautiful, fat 24-page direct mail piece came in the mail, urging me to subscribe once again.

The cover read: A glimpse into the future of advertising.

Then I look at the tagline under the masthead: Ads, TV and Posters worldwide.

Ads, TV and posters? Is that really the future?

Luerzer's does have every print campaign since 1984 and every broadcast spot since 1985 in their online archives.

Get a free one-day test of Lurzer's Archive Online Service. Enter this code: LAFOL

May the Force be with You

I proudly tell my Star Wars-obsessed children that this is my client. (And one of the funnest campaigns I ever had the joy to be even remotely part of.) The response: "When are you working on barbie.com?" This is a great example of a viral video, over 2,000,000 views on the Darth Vader video. A good Was supported via email, facebook and email as well as site.

Fun at boygirlparty.com

One of the most amazing things about coworking at theHIVE is meeting all the diverse creatives that work here. Of course that means a simple trip to the kitchen can take a 1/2 an hour because you have to stop and chat and check out their latest projects. One of the newest Hivers is Susie Ghahremani of BoyGirlParty.com who can often be seen hunched over working on her fabulous illustrations. She paints. Yes, she paints!

What I admire about Susie (well besides the fact that I LOVE her illustrations) is how well rounded she is.

First of all, she's a successful editorial illustrator who's worked with the likes of Martha Stewart, the New York Times and Craft: Magazine.

She's got a great website where you can view her work and shop.

And she still has time to do her own work to participate in shows. You can catch her creations this Saturday, July 10 at Ray at Night, an art event in North Park. Her art opening is hosted by Warp 9 Imaging at 3820 1/2 Ray Street. She'll be showing 25 minature paintings and other work.

You can see all of Susie's work at boygirlparty.com.

Follow her on Twitter @boygirlparty

photos courtesy of boygirlparty.com

When copy really counts.

I've made a career as an advertising and interactive copywriter (or digital copywriter or web writer or whatever else ya wanna call it) for a host of clients including Hawaiian resorts, fish tacos and shoes. This was some of the most challenging copy I've ever written – The Law Office of Warner & Szakall. The subject matter - child advocacy – is a serious issue. The fate of children's lives and futures are at stake here. The goal here was to be conversational, reassuring and non-intimidating.

Boy wonder Joey Pfeifer was the designer (and now with Happy Cog OMG!) Joey had the great idea of making this site a one pager to make it more accessible.

See the site here.

Curate: musty and crusty no more.

Back in the day, curate was a word with crusty and musty associations.

Originally, a curate was a dude in a long block cloak who was an assistant to a pastor or rector at an Episcopal parish.

And there were art curators at museums, who if they really wanted job security had English accents and Ph.D.s in Art History. At the zoo, there were the Reptile Curators, Mammal Curators and Marine Life Curator. (They all had Ph.D.s too.)

But recently, the word curate has become, dare I suggest it, cool. Design blogs are curated. Art/music/culture events are curated. And even the merchandise in fashionable boutiques is curated.

Thank goodness, because we need curators more than ever.

Just think how much bombards you everyday on the Internet. You could spend hours wading through all the crap to find the rare things that that inspire and make you say, “Damn, that’s good.”  The home page for Brain Pickings says it takes almost 200 hours a month to edit and compile content for that amazing site. And just like the curator back at the museum, who selects are pieces to be seen as a collection, a digital curator selects items than may change in meaning when juxtaposed against other items. So really, the act of editing, has become an art form in itself: the art of curating.

Of Waves, Water and Women.

A guest post I did for Athleta Sportswear, a division of the Gap. Friends that play together, stay together.

Sometimes I like to joke that I haven’t made any friends since elementary school. I have, but two of my best friends are still my oldest friends. (Old meaning length of time.)

I grew up around the corner from Barbara and Donna and have known them since I was 6 or 7.

In grade school, Barbara and Donna bought their dad a skateboard with clay wheels for his birthday and we all took turns trying it out. On roller skates we made the transition from metal to clay to polyurethane wheels. (And I still have a chipped tooth, the result of falling in their driveway.) After school, we played kick the can and whiffle ball with other neighborhood kids.

Then in junior we were on a bowling team together—The Gutter Girls. As our team name suggests, we placed last in the league. In high school we were in Girl Scouts together and hiked the Grand Canyon, canoed the Colorado River, and even learned to play poker.

Fast forward more years than I care to admit and we’re still friends. Over the years, life has grown more complicated with careers and other commitments, bu

BE COMMITTED. For the past 10 years, we’ve had Girls Night Dinner once a month. It is sacred. No significant others. No husbands. No offspring. If we didn’t have a schedule, months could go by before we’d get together.

MAKE MEMORIES. Dinner is one thing but we still create memories together. Whether it’s camping at the beach, walking dogs or going surfing, our relationship is still growing and evolving.

MIX IT UP. Over the years, we’ve continuously added to our repertoire of fun. As teens we lusted after surfer boys and settled for boogie boarded. Now adults we’re surfing ourselves. (Why let the guys have all the fun?) Ten years ago, we all took up kayaking and enjoy paddles in the ocean, harbor and bay. And this year, we’re flirting with stand up paddle surfing. (But you’ll have to wait for another blog post to hear that story.)

And at the end of our lives, if all we can do is sit in rockers next to one another at the retirement home, we’ll know it’s been a good journey. Together.

More Surf Stories:

Girl, You've Got Cajones: Life Lessons Learned Surfing

Baby on Board