WhipperSnaPR

We have a new house guest! Four of them, actually, and they are not shy at all! Meet the squirrel family living in the alcove above our bedroom window. They’re very cute, but I’m afraid they will chew right through the attic floor and right into the bedroom, which is something Pigpen (the kitty) would love!

Foldger’s is trying to reach out to the 20-something consumer. They’ve got me; my parents were strict foldger’s drinkers and I’ve been drinking it since I was about 10. But, to get the rest of this target market, they’ve launched a new micro-site to help us night-owls “tolerate mornings.”

From BizJournals:

The trick to success, however, is sell-through: Will the space move people to buy Folgers, a 150-year-old brand that generates more than $1 billion annually?

Procter won’t begin to measure that for a few months, Bello said. But even if the site does not sell Folgers, the effort — which cost a fraction of a traditional TV spot — should energize others at Procter to compete more creatively online. That alone would make the effort worth it, said Pete Blackshaw, chief marketing officer at the Cincinnati office of Nielsen BuzzMetrics.

“Procter needs to do a lot more experimentation,” he said. “They need to re-energize their Web marketing, and this appears to be a promising step.”

They’re definitely on the right track, but I’m not about to evangelize their brand just yet.

Bottom line: Last Kiss was worth the $10

My biggest complaint would be the actual theater, which was packed with countless freshman girls: “Um… like, would anybody split a small popcorn with me, I haven’t eaten since my pizza binge at 2am last night?” … “Sorry Brittany, I’m not eating till after my date with Brad tomorrow night, but don’t you love my new Gucci sunglasses? I feel ultra cool wearing them in a dark movie theater!”

But if I must narrow my critique to the actual movie, the biggest downfall would be all the drama. The characters, especially “Jenna” played by Jacinda Barrett, reacted to everything in such a dramatic fashion. Lots of chasing each other around, whining and screaming. At least the screaming wasn’t nearly as bad as Dakota Fanning in War of the Worlds.

Oh, and the move website needs some work. I really don’t like it

Most people have severe reactions when any conversation turns to the topic of Zach Braff. So, I may offend some of you but I refuse to apologize. I am a Garden State junkie.

I saw the movie during a sneak preview and, to be honest, I almost walked out half way through. It just wasn’t doing anything for me, and then, I gave into the quarter-life crisis, self-pitying plot line. I’m just a sucker for it all.

I walked out of the theatre singing its praises and I’ve yet to stop. I own the DVD and have seen it about 75 times; I downloaded the soundtrack and according to my itunes, I’ve listened to my favorite track, Such Great Heights by Iron & Wine, 115 times (All other track plays are between 45 and 91).

So, you can imagine my excitement when I bought tickets to see Last Kiss when it opens tonight at Boston Common.

I already got the soundtrack and I love it! So, you can also imagine my horror when I saw all of the negative comments about it online The worst part is, I’ve resigned myself to admit that most of it is true. Oh, the pain of it all! But, this list is heartbreakingly true, yet amazingly funny and a must read!Zach Braff’s 10 Easy Tips for Writing Films About Twenty-Somethings®

My favorite….

I have to judge for myself, I’ll let you know how it goes…

I’ve been playing this game for about a month now and I still haven’t won! We developed it for the digial magazine company, Zinio and all you have to do is find 10 differences in two seemingly identical magazine covers in under 30 seconds. Easy, right? Well, not for me. I find it so amusing that I work for an online gaming company when I am so bad at playing computer games!

This is really sad because there’s a limited number of magazine covers, so after you’ve played for a while, you start to see repeats. I’ve been playing/testing this game for a month; I’m definitely seeing duplicates! I’m just too slow I’m so addicted and I’m determined to win.

I only have till Monday, though. Then, we release a new game, a fighting game (check back for a link soon!). I totally suck at that one!

Any seasoned Bostonian knows to expect complete havoc during labor day weekend. It really does look like the Uhaul convention is in town for the weekend. After almost two and a half years here I thought I would have learned my lesson, but there is one thing that I’ve consistently forgotten each fall…. the immediate and constant influx of traffic.

I first moved to Boston in June 2004; I lived in Back Bay and worked in Swampscott (I’ll have to complain about ‘reverse’ commuting on the T some other time). On labor day weekend that year, I moved to Fenway with my parents excursion pulling a Uhaul. Absolutely Crazy! The worst part though, was when I was late to work the entire following week; my already hour-long commute had turned into a two-hour long nightmare due to the huge influx of traffic on the green line. I learned to hate boston students while I was also learning to be one myself.

This year, I’m now working in Lexington. (I have a masochistic track record of working in Boston “suburbs:” Swampscott, Newton, Lexington. I’ve only worked in the actual city for 3 months, and oh how I loved that commute)! So, first I was taking the T to the bus to Lexington and my commute was about an hour. Then, Josh moved here with his car! Because parking in Cambridge is so ridiculous, I drive to work every day to take advantage of free parking. The month of August was amazingly easy. I loved my commute! However, immediately after Labor Day, it has become absolutely hellish.

Lesson learned: students suck, especially the ones with t-passes or cars

I guess I need to work on my own media training. I’ve given two interviews in the past six months, one with an AP reporter about using itunes to watch TV shows and the other previously mentioned interview about zipcar with the Toronto Star. This is all I have to show for it… nobody would even know it was me referenced in this story… ugh

So far, my record is disappointing. It only gets worse when you look at my friend’s records; both Josh and Ari (see December 4, 2005) have been referenced (yet, I’m the one in PR! frustrating).

Being a young whipper snapper, there are parts of life and work that I have yet to figure out, like a work/life balance.

For example, I’ve worked till midnight the past two nights in a row and here I am, at 7:30 a.m., checking my email to make sure everything is ok on the work front. I used to do this on a daily basis at the old job, but that was out of necessity and an adolescent fear of being yelled at. Today, I do this because I’m working on some important projects with tight deadlines and I don’t want anything to fall through the cracks.

I’ve had bosses tell me I work to hard and other bosses tell me I don’t work hard enough. If it were up to Josh, I would probably work about 50% less. If it were up to my friends, I would drop my work at exactly beer o’clock, no matter what. If it were up to me? Well, I just don’t know…. that’s a balancing act.

I’m sure this is a question all young whipper snappers ask themselves. How much is too much? Too much work, too much fun, too much coffee, too many cocktails, too much ass kissing, too many asses to kiss, too much self-loathing…. I’m balancing a desire to be the best at what I do, gain more experience,get a raise, earn more respect , and build a successful career with a desire to uphold my previous and free-spirited lifestyle, have fun, be the best friend and girlfriend I can be and build a successful life.

This work/life balance has been referred to as lirking in the past: living and working simultaneously, 24/7. Somedays I agree with and relate to this post, other days I feel the opposite. As a libra, I’m perpetually trying to find the perfect balance, but I also recognize this is something that will haunt me till retirement.

Today holds great significance for me. It is the first “First Day of School” that I didn’t have to go to school. For most people, this is an occassion to break out the bubbly and celebrate. Instead, I feel the need to somberly sip a glass of red wine and hold back a few, dramatic tears.

Before I finished grad school last January, I had been in school for 21 straight years and I was good at it. I was never a valedictorian or even an almost 4.0 student. Grades-wise I was pretty average, but I loved being a student. The student lifestyle suits me so well! To be honest, I’m not so sure I’ve enjoyed life as a big kid the past 9 months. The past few weeks have provided an abundance of reminders that I am no longer the care-free student I once was. Lately, all I can think about is healthcare, dental, 401K plans, rent, mortgages, condo fees, bills and credit ratings. It totally sucks!

The worst of all these big-kid worries is the student loan debt. I paid for most of my own education since my second year in college and I’ve finally begun to feel the pinch.

Enter pearls of wisdom. I supose one benefit to being a big kid is the feeling of freedom to expound and pontificate ones so-called wisdom. And, if you want to measure the value of one’s wisdom by cost of education, I’ve got a mint worth of pearls! To all those newbie college students out there (especially my freshman sister) …

Student loans are great - they helped me get a very highly valued education; they opened countless doors for me - but they are as equally dangerous. Beware! Pay attention to everything your lenders say. Save everything! Open every piece of mail even if you think it it junk mail… they really do all look the same and don’t use your loans as a crutch. Keep a steady job; even if you can only work one day a week at the Gap, do it! You’ll thank yourself for it about six months after you graduate! Oh, and when you graduate, start saving immediately! Those free six months go by fast!

Cheer’s new laundry detergent, True Fit, has a pretty cute website and an interesting promotion campaign. I heard of it through a Daily Candy dedicated email. The product itself is intriguing; I’d try it if I wasn’t too much of a glamour queen to do my own laundry. This is a perfect spot to plug my laundry service; these guys have greatly improved the quality of my domestic life. I now enjoy complete freedom from laundry!