What's Next

2008 will go down in history as one of the most historic and monumental years. In 2008, we saw a swimmer win 8 gold medals, a woman run for the presidency of the United States, Wall Street drop, a tremendous amount of layoffs, a hike in gas prices, and a black man elected as president of the U.S.

And even though those things came to be in 2008, they couldn't have happened if there was no 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, and so on. 03' effected '04, '04 effected '05, and the ups and downs of '05 effected '06, '07 and '08. As we go into the new year, we need to look to "what's next?". The idea of "what's next" allows us to look forward to what is to come. Honestly, it seems that '09 is going to be a very difficult year for all of us, especially economically and financially. But try to keep in mind that we have to plant our seeds now, and wait for the harvest period. I think the biggest saying for '09 will be, "I can't wait for 2010"; but understand 2010 won't just come...we need 2009.

MinoHD Camcorder

My boy Brent just bought the minoHD camcorder, and it is RIDICULOUS. The device can fit into your pocket, it has a flip-out usb drive, HD (which is a huge deal), but maybe most importantly, it is $230. I've been hunting for camcorders for a while now, and I haven't found one that my pockets really like yet....That whole schpill was just my way of saying I'm gonna buy it soon. You can purchase it here if you want one too.

Michael Dibdin's Detective Novel Series (1 of 9)

A couple of weeks ago, I started reading this series of detective novels by Michael Dibdin, which are all based around Detective Aurelio Zen. I love the whole "who done it, and why?" thing. I don't really read much, but Cabal was the first, out of the ten book series, that I have completed; and the writing style, story, and pacing of the author gave me reason to go knock out the other 8 books. I'll keep you updated to let you know how those are.

Christmas Gifts

Every year, millions of kids and big kids anticipate December 25th. It's usually the time to receive packages of "stuff" wrapped up in nice paper with a bow or ribbon on top. Now that I have made the transition from kid to big kid, being at the tender age of 22, the 25th day of the last month of the year isn't as much anticipated as it has been in years previous. That may be because gradually there has been less and less nice paper and ribbons under our nicely decorated tree. However, this may be one of the best Christmases that I have had.

As a kid, the thing to do with the "stuff" that you get is to play with it for a while, and then never play with it again. You can only anticipate "stuff" so much, because "stuff" barely feels the void that all of us naturally have inside us. (Here comes the corny part), "Stuff" has a price on it: $199 for an xbox, $699 for a HDTV, $3.99 for a transformer, etc. Things that have monetary value can be earned; for ex. you can earn $60, 000 a year, because you're so good at your job...However, in the truest since of the word "gift", a gift can not be earned. Christmas is what it is because of the gift that we received, Jesus. We did not, could not, and will not ever earn that gift; and family is the same way. Even though that fat man in a red suit didn't come through on my Christmas list this year, it doesn't matter if I was naughty or nice, because, like every year, I have 7 great gifts who I can celebrate with.

Interview #6

This is #6 of my interview series. This may be one of the silliest "interviews" that I've done. I try to do something different with everyone, so with this one, I did it in a fill-in-the-blank style. I went to high school with Rosco, and since then she seemed to always be into fashion, and being silly, just because. Anyhow, she'll tell you more about herself in this interview; enjoy. (The words in blue are the questions, and of course the words in black are her answers.)

My name is Rosco Spears, and I'm an ill-advised nonconformist. Currently I'm mastering the criminal justice field (working toward my master’s degree..duh..hype me). Don’t ever wonder what I’m going to do with my degrees because I have no idea. Get off my back; but 5 years ago, when I was in high school, I thought I would be either a drug dealer or working in the psychology career field. If I wasn't in school right now, I probably would be in NY living that life...you know...THAT life. The biggest influence in my life has been my mom. She’s pretty much the man with the master plan and she holds the keys to lots of cities. iHeart her..she’s the bomb..the thing is..I’m light weight easily influenced...(in a good way, of course).

This is kind of corny, but seeing artwork, hearing music, looking in magazines...all that shit influences me to do cool things with my life. Also, movies like Super Bad, Step-Brothers and Juno have been very influential in my life…kind of molded me into the woman I am today; Michael Jackson definitely hasn’t been influential in my life. Maybe one of the biggest misconceptions people have about me is the weird idea that my life has always been as good as it is right now…I think I’ve gotten punk’d in my past and lived the life of a soap opera actress.But yeah; that may be because I hold shit in a lot...because I’m pretty cool..maybe. Or maybe just because I was afraid of being judged..but whatev. However, one thing people don't know about me is I def don’t look like what I’ve been through.

I have a blog called: IllAdvisedNonConformist.blogspot.com (that i share with me...aka Lia Day). It's about FASHION, art/literature, music, and absolute complete randomness. To me, the definition of "fashion" is: do what the hell you want to do!!! I freaking hate trends...like...a lot. My best thing in life is going in my closet and grabbing random pieces to throw on...those are always my best fits. Hands down. iHeart mismatching. It makes me very happy. I think it makes the world go around. (as you can see..I don’t quite have a definition...just lots of thoughts).

Sneakers make me very happy...like a lot...as well. My favs are blazers because I think they’re kind of ugly and I love grandpa cardi’s with a lot of my heart. By the way...never underestimate the power of a good thrift shop or goodwill. I guarantee you’ll be the only person wearing whatev you buy. Like seriously. That’s practically the only way I live my life nowadays. iHeart premium denim so that’ll never change..but who can beat a dope ass sweater that’s $3.29..are you nuts? Oh yeah..with that being said..let me mention…be yourself. Besides tattoos..fashion is the absolute best way to express your individuality. If you’re trying somebody else’s style out..people will acknowledge you as a big fat fraudulent phony..style comes from within. Do you..not other people. That’s irritating. I think I just got pissed.

Fashion/style is 76.4% of my life (we’re going to leave family and all that kind of important stuff out of the equation for now) and everything else..I think is the other 23.6% of my life. My favorite designer might be myself because I’m pretty dope they say. Ok wait..really? I couldn’t dare pick one designer to coin as my best...that’d be insane. Jeremy Scott is an alien...google him...and Anna Sui is the man too (she’s from the burbs of Detroit...google her too). Well...wait. Are you crazy for asking me this question Mr. Curtis? Because I think you are. You’re a crazy man. Crazy man you are.

When I grow up I want to be co-owner of a magazine entitled Ill-advised Nonconformist...duh. I’d also like to be a major fashion stylist. I can’t wait for rich people to make me rich for going shopping for them.. perhaps own my own clothing line..well the thing is..i want to do a lot. Like a whole lot. Sometimes I’m an artist (check out my work if you’re in the grand rapids area at Sanctuary Folk Art (Division and Fulton...google it) so I’d def love to put more time into that and make big bucks off it. And umm...yeah. I’d love to be a professional traveler too..I think that’d be waaay dope. I want to have a private jet for some reason instead of a car, and house in New York (I’m not going to get to naming different cities and countries...that’d be crazy..hopefully I’ll have enough big bucks to do my thing all over the world though). If I could give someone advice about being successful, beyond "grindin" or "working hard" it would be: well the thing is..i am in no position to be giving any adult advice. What does I have any idea being having no advice for? I was wondering if somebody could offer me some…or no? After I’m successful...I’ll let you guys know mass tips. For real. I promise.

NBA Videogames

Yesterday, I played NBA 2K8 for the first time on xbox360. It took me a while to get used to the controls, and there are some things that I don't like about the game...one thing being that I keep losing. Anyhow, when I got back home, I was thinking about how much fun some NBA videogames in the past have been; which leads me to post a very nostalgic video of, yes you guessed it, NBA JAM TE:

Trish Sie and Siri Brunford

In the November issue of Creativity magazine, I was finally introduced to the directors of 2 of my favorite tv spots/music videos: Trish Sie and Siri Brunford. I always find an interest in what people were doing before they got into their career paths, and during my introduction with them, I found out that Trish was running a dance studio before she became a director; and Siri was a weather presenter in Paris...that's crazy to me. Anyhow, below are 2 of the videos that I enjoyed from them:

Trish Sie


Siri Brunford

My Christmas List

Dear Santa,
I know the economy has been crazy this year, and over 20,000 elves have lost their jobs, but I've been pretty good this year and I was hoping I could have a couple of things under my tree this year. The list is as follows, in no particular (I've provided pictures for you):

1. iPhone



2. 20'' iMac


3. Apple TV

Pretty Nice Kicks

In January, you may see me with these on. I love the "undefeated" logo on the side of the right shoe. I've always been a fan of concept shoes; I believe the concept for these shoes was a war bomber jacket. If I wasn't doing advertising, I would definitely love to work on concept shoes.

Look...not there, but there.

In church on Sunday, my pastor said when he was learning how to ride a motorcycle, he needed to learn how to protect himself from other drivers. So in the class he was taking, there was a car parked on the street (set up by the teacher) and the instructor told him to get on the bike and ride towards the car, and at the last second before you hit the car, look towards a safe place and turn to go that way. So my pastor got on the bike, rode towards the car, and at the last second he began to turn, but his eyes were still on the car; so the bike was wobbling and he almost ran right into it. When he came back to the instructor, he told him, "You almost did it right, but you didn't look to where you wanted to go, you were looking at where you didn't want to go." My pastor got on the bike and tried it again, and sure enough when he looked to where he wanted to go, all his energy went there, and he was able to avoid the parked car.

When you're focused on where you don't want to be, your energy stays there.
You have to look to where you want to be, and your energy will follow.

New Object

On my site, in the "ONGOING" section, I added a new object (object 9). Check it out when you get a chance.

Good News....

Last week when I touch-downed in Detroit for Thanksgiving, I received a phone call from TBWA/Chiat/Day, NY, informing me that I was 1 of the 8 chosen for their Youngblood internship program. This was and still is very exciting to me; If I do what I need to do, I feel like this is a great beginning to my advertising career. We'll see what happens...

Where were you?

I sometimes think about where people were when they came up with great ideas. I'm sure some of them come while watching tv, sitting on the toilet, dreaming, raking the leaves, or taking a shower. It's funny how extraordinary things can come out of ordinary routines.