Rambling.

Last night I went to see "La Traviata" at the Metropolitan Opera. A thing of perfection. The Verdi soaring and gripping. The performances mesmerizing.

But what really stood out was the post-modern staging. They had reduced things to their elemental best. Everything was limbic and primal. Black, white and red when there was life in the dying Violetta, and merely black and white when death was present.

At one point, the essential inanimate character in the performance, a giant clock was lit in such a way that it reminded me of the melting clocks in Dali's "Persistence of Memory."

Somehow towards the middle of the opera I thought of an anecdote I once read about the great French film director Jean Renoir. He shot, during World War II, one film for famed Fox producer Darryl F. Zanuck. Things did not go well. Renoir left with this remark: “Goodbye Mr. Zanuck: it certainly has been a pleasure working at 16th Century Fox."

Milton Rogovin, 1909-2011.

I just read an obituary in "The New York Times," of a noted photojournalist who died last Tuesday in Buffalo at the age of 101. You can read the obituary here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/19/arts/design/19rogovin.html?hpw

Here's a bit of what the Times had to say about Rogovin: "Mr. Rogovin chronicled the lives of the urban poor and working classes in Buffalo, Appalachia, and elsewhere in the world for over 50 years. His direct photographic style in stark black and white evokes that of the socially minded work that Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange and Gordon Parks produced for the Farm Security Administration during the Depression. Today his entire archive resides in the Library of Congress."

What I particularly liked in reading about Rogovin's life is that he was an optometrist while he was establishing himself as a photographer. In fact, he didn't even have his own camera until he was 33.

So many of us in the advertising business forget along the way that our non-advertising work will probably never make us a dime. We have to keep our "optometry" businesses going. But that doesn't mean we should give up that which enriches us emotionally.

W. E. B. DuBois, described Rogovin's Church front photos as “astonishingly human and appealing.” Unfortunately, sometimes our paying work doesn't allow us to act that way.

To all the people who tell me it's time to leave the business.

Listen, I like to complain. I don't like accepting things as they are. I don't like accepting stupidity, pomposity, bombast. And there's a lot about our industry that sucks.

But I have fun in this business. Doing good work, helping clients, colleagues is enriching.

Complaining is our right.

Lay off, ok.

O tempora! O mores!

Some times you just have to throw up you arms.

Yesterday I had a less than fruitful meeting. The work I was presenting was summarily sullied, schmised and otherwise murdered.

Naturally, I started fighting for the work. Using those so often overlooked techniques, logic and common sense.

It was my account guy who cut me off. He did it with this gem: "Let's leave that snowball at the top of the hill for now."

What more can I say?

Hiders and Seekers.

I've been hit with a spate of rejection of late. Some work I've done has fallen on hard times, my ideas rejected for this reason or that. It's given me pause.

It's given me pause and this is what I've come back with.

In our world, in the agency business, people and companies can be divided, roughly, into two camps. There are the Seekers and the Hiders.

Being a Hider is safer. They are pooler-outers. Keepers of the status-quo. Their creativity and innovation is expressed in fillips and refinements. Nuances and touches. Waves, they don't make. They can, as Yogi Bear used to say, "meld into the forest."

Being a Seeker is a pain in the ass. A pain in the ass to everyone around them. They try new things, Seekers do. They come forward with work and ideas that nobody asked for. Often Seekers are loners. Sharing with no one until they're ready their dissatisfaction and disdain for business as usual.

As you've probably guessed, I am an eternal Seeker. A stranger in a strange land, always looking for a more ambient place. As ye Seek, so shall ye be rejected. You deal with it. And you keep trying.

Straight lines.

I did a lot of scuba diving on my vacation. 19 dives in all on reefs and walls that are considered some of the most beautiful in the world. I was guided on these dives (I'm not confident enough to dive solo) by some very intelligent and experienced dive masters.

During one dive, our dive master noticed an ancient, sea-life encrusted anchor, dating from some well-bygone century, probably from the days of sealing wax and sailing ships. When we got back on the dive boat, I asked the dive master how he noticed the anchor. He replied, "I have a friend who told me 'there are no straight lines in nature.' And I saw a straight line and knew there was something man-made."

There are no straight lines in nature.

It occurred to me then and there that in our business--on the creative side--we fight a battle against straight lines. Clients and groups often want them. Straight lines work in research. But story-telling, jokes, information is best delivered with a bit of crookedness--we need a twist to make life interesting.

Maybe all that diving gave me water on the brain.

The power of slow.

Most of what I've been doing on vacation is scuba diving. Two dives every morning, in fact. Here, moreso than any place I've ever dived, the guides are slow. Their movements are deliberate. They linger and examine their surroundings.

As a New Yorker I've always tried to get places fast. I know every shortcut. The best subway lines. I get things done and done quickly,

Until this trip that was always my approach to diving, too. But going slow has taught me a lot. You see just as much, and you see deeper into what you see. What's more, your air lasts longer so your dives are extended.

I don't know if I'll be able to abate my pace once I return to civilization.

But I may just try.

From the South Seas, a ditty.

Avast, dear readers. Here's sumthin' I picked up in a seaside tavern this hollyday.
Tis Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

"Who's that knocking at my door? Who's that knocking at my door?
Who's that knocking at my door?" said the fair Young Maiden...

"It's only me from over the sea" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
"It's only me from over the sea" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

" open the door, you pox-ridden whore!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
" open the door, you pox-ridden whore!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

"What if I should lock the door? What if I should lock the door?
What if I should lock the door?" said the fair Young Maiden....

"I'll smash the lock with my diamond-hard cock!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
"I'll smash the lock with my diamond-hard cock!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

"What if my parents should come home? What if my parents come home?
What if my parents should come home?" said the fair Young Maiden....

"I'll kill your pa and then your ma!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
"I'll kill your pa and then your ma!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

"Are you young and handsome, Sir? Are you young and handsome, Sir?"
Are you young and handsome, Sir?" said the fair Young Maiden.

"I'm old and rough and dirty and tough!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
"I'm old and rough and dirty and tough!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

"What is your intention, sir? What is your intention, sir?
What is your intention, sir?" said the fair Young Maiden.

"Oh, off with your shirt, so you doesn't get hurt!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
"Oh, off with your shirt, so you doesn't get hurt!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

"Will you take me to the dance? Will you take me to the dance?
Will you take me to the dance?" said the fair Young Maiden....

"To Hell with the dance! Now off with your pants!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
"To Hell with the dance! Now off with your pants!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

"Will you vow to marry me? Will you vow to marry me?
Will you vow to marry me?" said the fair Young Maiden....

" no, we won't wed. Getcher ass in the bed!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
" no, we won't wed. Getcher ass in the bed!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

"What's that thing between your legs?" What's that thing between your legs?
"What's that thing between your legs?" said the fair young maiden.

"It's only me pole to shove in your holes!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
"It's only me pole to shove in your holes!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

"What if I should have a child? What if I should have a child?
What if I should have a child?" said the fair Young Maiden.

"We'll smother the bugger and for another!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
"We'll smother the bugger and for another!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

"What if we should have a boy? What if we should have a boy?
What if we should have a boy?" said the fair Young Maiden.

"I'll take him to sea, teach him to like me!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
"I'll take him to sea, teach him to like me!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

"What if we should have a girl? What if we should have a girl?
What if we should have a girl?" said the fair Young Maiden.

"I'll dig a ditch and bury the bitch" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
"I'll dig a ditch and bury the bitch" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

"What if you should go to jail? What if you should go to jail?
What if you should go to jail?" said the fair young maiden.

"I'll smash down the walls with my forty-pound balls!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
"I'll smash down the walls with my forty-pound balls!" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

"What if you should get the chair? What if you should get the chair?
What if you should get the chair?" said the fair young maiden.

"I'll absorb the shock" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
"I'll absorb the shock" said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

Vacation.

I am taking some time off from Ad Aged while I am on vacation. I'll be back Wednesday, January 13th.

Have a happy fucking New Year.