Mo & Life

Ode To Doug.

Tue, 18 May 2010 19:58:38 -0400

Exactly 4 months and 2 days ago (January 16, 2010), I lost my father. I know that outliving your parents is something that we are warned of since childhood. But that certainly doesn’t make saying goodbye to them any easier.

Almost 6 years prior to my father’s death exactly, my grandfather passed away, and I somehow worked up the courage to speak at his memorial service. I remember being beyond nervous and overwhelmed with emotions. I’m not exactly the strongest, most confident public speaker and this type of speaking was harder than most. But, I had an extremely close relationship with my grandfather and I figured that this was the least I could do for such an amazing person. Miracurously, about a sentence or two into my grandfather’s speech, an overwhelming calmness came over me and I was able to gracefully get through it. To this day, I swear he was there with me helping me through.

Over the past 6 years, my dad had reminded me of that day and would go on and on about how proud he was of me and how beautiful and real what I said about my grandfather was. And then he would say that he hoped I could do the same for him one day. Of course I would get mad at him for even suggesting such a thing. For, in my mind, there were many years to go before I’d have to even think of saying goodbye to him.

It turns out, that day came a little sooner than I had envisioned and unfortunately I’m not the type of person who likes to disappoint people if I can help it. So despite the fear and anxiety that led up to the moment - I did the best I could to commemorate my father. I decided to attempt to celebrate my dad’s twisted humor and unique personality, which was what most people loved most about him. Myself included. I figured if it was appropriate to use the word ‘testiclees’ at anyone’s funeral - it would definitely be his.

Ode To Doug (below is what I wrote and read at my father’s funeral)

I think its safe to say that growing up as one of Doug’s daughters wasn’t your typical childhood experience. It was much weirder. And I’m so grateful for that.

For most people, a routine errand like a trip to the grocery store with dad is certainly not newsworthy. Well, when my sisters and I were much younger, it wasn’t uncommon for my dad to strike up a conversation with the cashier as were checking out. More often than not, upon noticing my dad’s gray hair, the lady behind the register would ask: ‘Sir, are these your granddaughters, they’re beautiful!’ My dad would respond, with a proud grin on his face: ‘No mam, why this is my second litter.’

As the majority of this room already knows, my dad was rarely serious. Which I think we can all agree was part of his charm. In an attempt to appear so at times, he’d sit us down, as if he were about to share some very insightful life views and begin, ‘In the famous words of testiclees….’ For a long time, I failed to find the humor in this, and whole-heartedly believed that this Testiclees character must be a very wise Greek philosopher or something.

One of my dad’s favorite things to do in life, was to eat. Most days, he would ask my mom what we were going to have for dinner while he was still eating breakfast. So, at the dinner table, he had a few tactics to ensure that my sisters and I would clean our plates. If telling us to ‘eat this, it’ll put hair on your chest’ or chanting ‘yum, yum, eat em up!’ didn’t work, he would go on and on about the poor, starving children in Potomac, Maryland that would love to be eating our dinner. And for many years this worked on us. I was convinced that Potomac was a sad, povern stricken place. And I’d feel awful wasting my food. It wasn’t until much later that I realized the irony in all of this.

My dad had a great gift of making the ordinary things in life, exciting. Being allowed to sit on the kitchen counter, for example, meant becoming ‘a counter cricket.’ And don’t ask me why, but this was a big deal.

I learned many valuable life lessons from my dad. One that I’ll share with you today is the proper way to count your knees. On a family vacation to the Outer Banks in North Carolina many years ago, my sisters and I spent an afternoon with my dad in the pool. It was at this time that he decided to sit the three of us on the edge of the pool as he stayed in it, to count our knees. ‘One knee, two knees, three knees,’ he began until he ended at 9 knees. We may have been young, but my sisters and I all understood that we each only had two knees and there was no possible way that three sets of knees could add up to 9. We kept voicing our argument to Dad, who each time would listen, but then count our knees again and end at 9. Everytime. We were completely confused, and after several minutes of arguing and recounting, my dad finally revealed his secret. My sisters and I had of course forgotten about our ‘Hi-neys.’

I could easily stand here all day if I were to recall even half of the wonderful memories I shared with my dad over the past 28 years. But don’t worry, I’m not going to do that.

For as long as I can remember…whether I was leaving a room or leaving town, my dad would call to me, ‘Hey Maureen, would you turn your hat around so it looks like you’re coming back?’ And more importantly he’d always remind me to ‘Be brave’ in any situation. So today, I’d like to ask him to do the same. I love you Dad. So much. And I promise I’ll ‘be brave.’

"They’re not advertising ideas; they’re ideas worth advertising. ” -Gareth Kay"

Wed, 05 May 2010 21:20:37 -0400

““They’re not advertising ideas; they’re ideas worth advertising. ” -Gareth Kay”

- The new creative team and getting it to work

love this :)

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 16:36:54 -0400

love this :)

"Don’t expect the worst. Don’t expect anything. Just roll with the punches. Things are..."

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 16:29:07 -0400

“Don’t expect the worst. Don’t expect anything. Just roll with the punches. Things are going to turn out far better than you fear.”

- my horoscope today :)

The Tap Report. Where the only news is water news.

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 23:38:57 -0400

The Tap Report. Where the only news is water news.

There's Hope In Rain. It even has the power to save a life.

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 23:36:25 -0400

There's Hope In Rain. It even has the power to save a life.:

Check out our site! For the second year in a row I have worked on UNICEF’s Tap Project. And this year, I was given the opportunity to lead our team. However, the objective changed a little this time around.

Rather than focus solely on the restaurants and driving people to them during world water week, like we had in the past, UNICEF challenged us to come up with additional fundraising methods. So we did.

We came up with a way for the Tap Project to live beyond world water week. And reach far more people than the ones here in Richmond. Our campaign invites people to donate $1 for every inch of rain that falls in their city. $1 is enough to provide 40 days of clean drinking water for a child. Go to www.hopeinrain.org and make rain count!

"What could have been, if you had stayed at that sausage fest of a party just a little longer."

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 23:22:16 -0400

“What could have been, if you had stayed at that sausage fest of a party just a little longer.”

- What could have been (The Man Dance)

A guide to find your daily creative inspiration...

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:07:25 -0500

A guide to find your daily creative inspiration...

"If you know that you’re fucked - then you’re not! If you think for a second that..."

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:50:00 -0500

“If you know that you’re fucked - then you’re not! If you think for a second that you’re not - then you so totally are.”

- Martin Atkins / rockstar & unbelievable Friday Forum Speaker

Tip #6: Don't procrastinate. I promise to elaborate on that thought at some point later on... -Jamie Barrett, Goodby

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 02:13:10 -0500

Several months ago, we had the pleasure to listen to Jamie Barrett speak to the Brandcenter during our weekly Friday Forum where we received the advice titled above along with an abundance of other valuable career and general life advice.

But I feel like there’s so much to take seriously about tip #6. Aside from the clever way Jamie decided to get his point across, it goes without saying that he couldn’t be more right. Too often in life, we put off things. All types of things. Work. Projects. Exercise. Cleaning. Relationships. Even the exciting and wonderful things. Like chasing our dreams or telling someone you love them. And is there ever a good reason to put these things off? Usually, no.

There’s something to be said about taking full advantage of every minute we are given. About doing what you say you’re going to do, when you say you’ll do it. About not putting off tasks until a ‘better day’ or continuously talking about the things you are ‘going to do.’ We all know that actions speak louder than words, but how many of us truly act on those things? Who can honestly say they don’t procrastinate? Even a little.

I’m going to do the best I can from here on out, not to procrastinate and to do all those things I truly want to do and say I will get around to. So I’m going to stop talking about it right now and start doing.

-M

"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that actually do."

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:02:31 -0500

“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that actually do.”

This year at the Brandcenter, I have been given the fabulous...

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:26:00 -0500

This year at the Brandcenter, I have been given the fabulous opportunity to be part of Richmond’s Tap Project. A local, but important part of the national campaign/movement that was started in 2007 by Droga5. It’s a really great feeling to have a role in something that truly makes a difference in the world while doing what I love. Advertising.

About a month ago, accompanied by 2 second year Brandcenter students, I traveled to New York City for the official 2009 Tap Briefing at Unicef to represent the Brandcenter. Being the only student sponsored city was a bit intimidating, but a really awesome opportunity as well. We presented Richmond’s work from last year among several of the most successful, talented agencies in the country. We met so many amazing people, including David Droga himself, and were able to see first hand what a huge impact the Tap Project has already made. I definitely left the briefing with a wealth of inspiration to do even more this year!

A phrase we are told over and over again as Brandcenter students is that ‘it’s all about the big idea.’ And that one, simple, big idea can be extremely powerful. Well…that’s exactly what Mr. Droga did. He created a brand out of nothing essentially with tap water, and is saving thousands of lives. So for anyone who thinks that advertising doesn’t matter, perhaps this campaign will cause them to feel differently.

I look forward to seeing how big of an impact we have this year and hope to help make the Tap Project a well know brand.

-M

VCU Brandcenter

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 22:06:46 -0500

VCU Brandcenter

Hi.

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 22:04:00 -0500

My name is Maureen! Welcome to my blog.

I’m enjoying/surviving my first year as a Brandcenter ‘master’s candidate’ in the Creative Technology track. What does that mean exactly? Well that’s what I’m continuing to figure out. And loving it.

Yes, the Brandcenter is as demanding as I was warned, but I’m enjoying every second of it! I’ve met so many great, new people and I’m learning so much.

I look forward to keeping you updated and interested throughout my wild ride here in Richmond for the next 2 years.