Saturday, February 28, 2009

Mindless documentation of my haircut

Thanks to YouTube and the flip camera, I document everything. My life is just so interesting that I know everyone wishes they had a live Megan-cam, almost like a live video yearbook recording the activity in my apartment.

In my shameless downward spiral of self documentation, here is a meaningless recap about the day Karlee and I cut our hair.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Why car trips don’t take as long as they used to

A small revelation I had today that is probably obvious to everyone else.

As you grow, time feels like it’s moving faster because every second is a smaller portion of the collective seconds you’ve experienced in your life. Time doesn’t change, only your relative perspective of time changes.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

That Girl


One day you wake up and realize that others have branded you as that girl. What exactly that is, varies from person to person. For me, that girl = cat girl. It starts with one simple pet that inspired multiple cat gifts- everything from kitten-laden bags to cat coffee cups. One gift spawns another.

I attribute my implied affection for cats on multiple factors
1. I am an only child but only had cats, mom didn’t like dogs or other children.
2. I’m not athletically gifted therefore I could never be a “sports” star.
3. My love of used books; used books store owners always have cats.
4. My need to use all gifts I receive. People spot me using the cat paraphernalia and naturally assume I love cats. This fuels the cat gifting cycle.

NOTE:
I do actually like cats. I just find it amusing how everyone thinks I’m obsessed with them so much so that I’ve destined myself to become the crazy cat lady in my later years.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Merry Baskin says "be scared and hungry"

Executive in residence, Merry Baskin of Baskin Shark, gave us some great insight on planning to be a planner. Meanwhile, I couldn’t help but ogle her British dialogue.

A few things I picked up from Ms. Baskin:

Gumption- a word I should have known, but didn’t because I’m a writer without a vocabulary.

Jam pot – Jelly jar

Namby Pamby- a slang term used to describe cookie cutter work

A monster of a bath- a big ugly bathtub

Saturday, February 14, 2009

W+K & Nike inspire

We took a charter bus to Wieden Kennedy and Nike headquarters, and for once, I actually am exciting about working.

Nike let us take a sneak peak at its "hive," where creative concepting takes place. We were awed by Nike's white board table tops allowing for collaborative brainstorming and shocked to see sewing machines at cubicles rather than computers.

Wieden + Kennedy let us scam off their free coke machine, explore the "nap" room, and take a look at some of their up and coming campaigns while picking the brains of the hot shots working there.

To say thank you, a crew lead by David put together this sweet video. I don't think I have ever looked more like a zoom kid in my life.

Thank You Wieden+Kennedy from Kim Karalekas on Vimeo.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Snuggies do exist!

As mentioned in a previous post, I didn't think people actually bought the snuggie. Today I was proven wrong by these young men attempting to raise money for poor and hungry children.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Institutional change leads to individual change


I don’t know what changed my mind about paper coffee cups, but I do know that our systems set us up for sustainable failure.

Our culture believes in the power of the individual to create change, and yes one person can make a difference, but our system banks on people caring enough to want to make change.

For big change to come, institutions must conform to user habits, instead of users conforming to institutional habits.

We all know we could carry our own coffee cups, but it’s a nuisance. Instead of making users remember to bring their own cups, coffee shops should offer sustainable solutions in themselves.

One brilliant idea from a fellow aha-er, Darice, is the edible coffee cup. Think of the sustainability behind ice cream cones; what if there was a coffee cup equivalent? Darice recommends the chocolate coated biscotti cup. Or what about a collapsible coffee cup that fits in your pocket?

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Space design and Peter Lawrence

3 Take Aways from Peter Lawrence of @issue:

1. Innovation happens through chance encounters- You can’t “plan” to brilliant. We think best when we are near the coffee pot.
2. Collaboration solves problems- Knowledge is a sustainable resource we must share.
3. A physical space can change a culture.


For more, visit the other blog.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Story Telling with Salt


The Smallest of Grains from Monica Sellers on Vimeo.
Monica and I recently discovered the wonders of salt.