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October 29, 2006

Halloween is Hellafun

Every year is usually the same. I have great intentions of going out and grabbing all the right ingredients for an elaborate costume, but the weeks and weekends fly by, I go nowhere, and usually fall back on some crummy white trash-based outfit. That’s boring and really, it kind of depresses me. Can’t I just follow through for once?

A few months ago, Danica and I were chatting about Halloween costume ideas and she gave me a great idea. The premise is to be someone who doesn’t have a lot of money, but is extremely creative in making a costume. Resourceful, if you will. Furthermore, imagine an adult with a child’s mentality and them thinking that the costume that they just assembled is the most fantastic and realistic thing ever.

Easy, right? It shouldn’t take too long... I mean, all you gotta do is grab the right materials:

This was a two-weekend process and easily the MOST involved costume I’ve ever created. But the results were incredible outstanding creepy.

Yes, I’m already thinking about next year.

Posted by Seth at 11:37 AM | Comments (2)

October 20, 2006

Mi Escritorio, Su Escritorio

A borrowed post from Danny over at Werlew.com...

An Arkansas Razorback football. Fake and ex-co-worker name tags. Several nerd books (CSS, HTML, Usability, etc.). Client color palettes. A bad ass Swingline stapler that I swiped from Heath’s desk. Some old trucker-style hat, photos, and toys (slinky, silly putty and yo-yo). Oh, and my collection of water bottle caps (only from bottles I’ve drunk, stacked two high per slat).

My sweet Tenka 24 jacket that I scored in Carthage, MO for $22. A genuine Herman Miller Aeron Chair (minus the lumbar support, for whatever reason). A large window that overlooks Central and Southwest Boulevard (ask about the crazy drunk dude or the bike pimper).

It’s a place where I spend 40+ hours a week. It’s not enclosed, nor does it have solid walls. I can hear my co-workers’ phone conversations or even their stomach growl. I get a bad glare in the morning and by noon all the sunlight I want. But it’s home.

What does your desk look like?

Posted by Seth at 01:43 PM | Comments (2)

October 18, 2006

The Whole Truth

I think I’m a pretty modest person. I think that because I’m not one to overly shill my agency’s work. Sure I might toot my own horn from time to time (anyone else think that’s a weird thing to say... tooting your own horn... isn’t there a rumor that Marilyn Manson had a rib removed to do just that?), but overall, while being proud of my, and my agency’s, work, I usually let the work speak for itself.

Some work that has recently spoken for itself in the past few years is the Shatto packaging that SHS has produced. It’s been written about several times, appeared in Communication Arts and garnered several awards for it’s simplistic design.

This great work wouldn’t have come about without the passion that the Shatto family has. Now that I’m beginning to work on the account, Matt Shatto invited me and Todd out to see cows, their farm and how they bottle the milk.

Spending several hours on the farm, I felt as if I were in an episode of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. We walked in the fields with the cows, petted some calfs, mixed some feed and even milked some cows.

The greatest thing about this client and the work is the product itself. Shatto milk isn’t an inexpensive item to shop for. Aside from the $1.50 in glass deposit (which some consumers are swallowing to collect the bottles), one half gallon is approximately as much as a full gallon of plastic-jug milk. Last month, I decided to give it a shot.

I’ll be honest with you, I don’t want to ever have plastic-jug milk again. In fact, when I went to the store a few weeks ago to get more milk, all that was left was whole milk. Whole. I don’t think I’ve had whole milk in about 10 years, usually, just the thought of it makes me gag. Everything else I had tried from Shatto was good, so I gave this a shot, too. I wasn’t disappointed. Their milk is so fresh and good, the whole milk almost tasted sweet.

If you live in the Kansas City area, I cannot suggest a finer local product. Try it if you can, you won’t be sorry. President Bush even enjoyed a glass with the Shatto’s recently... if THAT’S not one hell of an endorsement.

Posted by Seth at 10:02 PM | Comments (4)

October 12, 2006

Spam(med) A Lot

It seems that more and more these days I’m getting spammed. I get email spams at home on un-used email addresses. I get email spams at work. I get comment spam (not as much anymore, though). I even get contact form spam. This all in addition to regular, good ol’ junk mail – aka tangible spam.

I laugh every time a new spam slips through my spam filter – which, by the way, seems to be more and more – because the subject lines are becoming more and more... hmmm... creative-ish:

What in the world does any of that mean? I immediately mark them all as junk and move on with my real mail, but it really begs the question that if I’m receiving more and more spam, is everyone else, too?

The one thing that I’ve never understood about spam is that how can it be cost-effective to push out as much crap as they do? Is it really someone’s business model to spam people like crazy and hope they score money from some sucker? Maybe so, I suppose that’s why phishing is so prevalent.

But I just can’t wrap my head around the idea of actually clicking on anything in those emails. Nor do I think anyone else does...

Apparently, I’m wrong. According to page 11 of this study of how men and women use the internet, six percent of men and five percent of women have “ordered from spam.”

What are they ordering!?! Vioxx? Replica watches? Stocks you’ve never heard of?

If you’ve ordered from spam, let me know so I can forward all of mine to you.

Posted by Seth at 02:01 PM | Comments (1)

October 03, 2006

When “Just Making Sure” is Too Much

Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we? In December of 2003, I had a gallstone attack. Worst pain in my life. So bad, I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy (winks at Scoot). At the time of this gallstone attack, and subsequent ER visit, I was informed that my bilirubin count was elevated. The doctors were a bit freaked out... I recall them saying, “you should be as yellow as a banana right now.” Oddly enough, I wasn’t.

An elevated bilirubin count can mean several things – bad things. Hepatitis, pancreatic cancer, cirrhosis, etc... Like I said, bad things.

Right, I know... what does bilirubin do? Ever get a bruise and it turns yellow? That’s what billirubin does (basically). For me, it gives my skin a yellowish tint pretty much all the time. When I become fatigued (due to lack of rest), or I’m near being sick, my eyes take on the same yellow tint as well. It freaks people out. To me, it’s normal, I’ve always been this way.

Some people (and doctors) tell me that I just still have jaundice. Which isn’t true, because that would mean my liver is damaged.

[Continuing the flashback...] When I returned to KC from my horrible gallstone attack incident in Arkansas, I had to schedule a surgery to have my gallbladder removed. So I went to the doctor to have all of my labs taken care of before the surgery. Gasp! Surprise, my bilirubin count was elevated. What to do?

The surgeon, of course, was concerned. So we waited a few days and tried the test again. Gasp! Still elevated! What gives? Is my liver damaged? Am I jaundiced?

The surgeon sent me to a specialist on an un-planned visit. After talking to the specialist for about 20 minutes, it was determined that I have Gilbert’s Syndrome – a condition that affects 5% of the population... the condition - an elevated bilirubin count that doesn’t effect the body whatsoever.

...

Present Day

Last week I went in to the doctor to make sure I wasn’t getting another sinus infection (they seem to happen more often as I age, for whatever reason). Sure enough, I was. After writing down a prescription of what I needed to take, my doctor, of five years - mind you, asks me why I’m so yellow. So I explain to her that I was diagnosed with Gilbert’s Syndrome, blah blah blah and it’s all in my medical history – which she was reading while I told her.

Apparently, that wasn’t good enough. She sent me to get some labs done and the next day I was to come in and get a ultrasound on my liver.

WHAT!?! Here I was, feeling all justified for the past 2.5 years that I was just a part of the 5% affected by Gilbert’s Syndrome. Now she has me all worried about my liver and cancer.

I called today to check on the results of my tests. $5 if anyone can guess what I was told... that’s right, everything looks good, even the ultrasound... but my bilirubin count was......... wait for it...... waaaait..... elevated. NO!!!

Now I get to go see a specialist, again. Are you kidding me? Being thorough is good, but when is it too much?

Posted by Seth at 11:41 PM | Comments (3)

October 02, 2006

The Rocky Run

So I’m looking at the ol’ belly and I decide it’s time to start running again. When I moved to the Crossroads area, I was excited because I had a more urban area to run in – and I did just that for a while. Then the summer hit and I was playing softball, so that was my workout (riiiiiiight). Well, softball is over and it’s time to get my energy levels back up.

When I was running in the spring, I found a route that was around three miles, but not overly challenging. The Crossroads has its share of hills here and there (most notably where the new Performing Arts Center is being built), but otherwise it’s a flat area... nice for runners.

One day I’m running East on 20th Street and as I’m crossing Main, I see the Liberty Memorial staring right at me. The next day, I mapped out a route and took off for it. It was a nice run, until about the first mile checkpoint – which occurs halfway up the hill to the memorial. After a pretty massive hill and 150 total stairs, I made it to the top, gasping for air. To make things worse, some other runner flew up past me as if it were child’s play.

Yes, you just read that right, 150 stairs. Ugh! But I’ll tell you what, for as much pain as you feel after doing it the first time, it’s awesome to know that you didn’t stop one time all the way up. Slowed down, maybe, but never stopped.

I call it “The Rocky Run,” and I can’t wait to fly up all 150 stairs to the top. Hell, I might even one day have the energy to jump up and down when I do it.

Want to see it in Google Earth?

Posted by Seth at 11:36 PM | Comments (5)