Let me start out by saying that I am a very lucky and blessed guy. I am thankful for it, I thank my GOD for it everyday and only ask for his protection of my family.

Some could say that I have it all.

I cute house in the tony Mt Lookout triangle, a good job that pays me to be creative(and write a blog or two and FB on company time.) Friends that look after me, argue with me, put up with my rants and raves and moodiness and cockiness. My parents still live on Cliff Rd in North Bend. My in-laws are the best that best can be.

But today’s about my partner in life, today’s the 16th anniversary of the marriage to my lovely, wife, Linda. So here’s the story;

A long time a go I lived in Mt Adams row house. It had a great OTR view of Music Hall & Union Terminal, sunsets everynight. It was utopia. Sort of. My neighbor was a Delta Flight Attendant named Polly, we had great fireworks parties together. I’d bring my motley crew of friends, Kegs of Hudy, she’d supply her Delta friends, fresh from the Chicago base. One, in particular was a stunner…always dressed to the nines, totally accessorized, and shoes to die for. She was Polly’s best friend. She was totally out of my league. Sweet but with a hint of reality, she know what she wanted, so I thought. A pretty girl, no doubt a cheerleader, prom queen, heartbreaker, a flight attendant that you can’t help smiling at or flirting with.

I was married, then I was not.

I gave myself a good length of time to get over it. My friends never let me sit still, we partied are ass off back then. I had the Hudy/Schoenling Advertising account, which meant that I had a frig busting at the seams with beers and ales. Debachery.

One day, I asked Polly if she thought that Linda would even consider going out with me. She enthusiastically concurred and then began pushing me to ask her out.

Then, at a Friday Night Club, at Neons, I saw Linda with her friend, Mel(another story, another blog). She knew that I had gone threw an ugly breakup and was getting over it. I told her that I was OK. To this day, I don’t know if Polly told her about our conversation. I asked Linda if she was seeing someone special, she said no, which was a lie.

I called her on a Wednesday for a weekend, I was very nervous, gun shy. I had it all planned out with lots of options about what we could do. So I worked up the courage to ask a beautiful girl, way out of my league, out. My face was flush, heart pumping.

Got the message machine(sigh).

I just went for it right then and there, trying not to sound desperate, I presented my weekend of first date options. I had great seats for a Reds game on Friday, Or. Saturday, Two front row…

The machine cut me off so I had to call back to continue.

Two front row tickets to Tower of Power at Bogarts PLUS a soul food pre-concert bash at Keith ‘n Gumby’s.

or

Sunday we could go on a top-down Westside tour in my trusty Rabbit convertible.

Then I hung up…then called back to say she could do all activities or group them for a fun filled weekend.

Ask her which one she picked.

Since then, my life has been complete. We courted, we married, moved to the suburbs, had two kids, couple of cats and now an adorable dog. My life is not perfect but i can’t imagine not being married to Linda.

Thanks for calling back Linda, I love you, Happy Anniversary.

We worked together on all my favorite recording sessions. It was always a awesome, belly laughing experience when you had Tommy behind the mic. He brought so much joy to producing a commercial. My friend, John Murray and I would just roll tape and get every ad lib, just to laugh at later. Click to play this spot from my D&E demo:

LaRosas’ Italian Lesson

Tommy could have been a excellent stand up comic, but he was so much more than that. He could sing, he brought character to every voice over. And the characters themselves used to make us laugh for hours.

But Tommy was a great friend. Always. I might not see him for years but when we see each other it was always like we just did a session yesterday. I had the pleasure to shoot quite a few rounds of golf with Tom, it was always the highlight of the week.

One story that I remember vividly was on a golf trip to Myrtle Beach. I drank too  much Jager the first night. Tommy gave me some memorable advice, Michel, all you need is time. I went to bed early, felt shitty at the tee off the next day, buy the end of the day and a few beers, I was back to 100%. Time. Click to hear One take Tommy at his best.

Star64 Drinkin

I wish I had more time to hang with all my old friends, Tom, Curt, & John. It was a great foursome. The time we spent together was priceless. Family life takes over those carefree days. I never lost touch with Tom but I didn’t get to spend the time I needed to catch up, laugh and just hang out with someone so extraordinary.

I wish I had more time to spend with you, Tom.

It all started here

The Friday Night Club was born at a tv commercial pre-production meeting in thr mid 80′s. I don’t remember what we were shooting but the central players were Jameison Fuller, Producer/Director of Jameison/James Productions, Richard Craig/Copywriter, D&E, Jerry Donadio/Jay Gilbert Productions and me, Michel Keidel, AD/Producer, D&E. We met at the now defunked bowling alley, Glenn Schmidt’s Lanes in Newport, KY. Now we could have met in my office or J/Js office, but it was Friday and we usually did happy hour anyway, so we cut out early and went bowling. The pre-pro discussion lasted all but 5 minutes, we bowled and drank and talked about how boring the local watering holes had become. A lot of agency types went to Ogden’s in an alley downtown, it was clicky. I worked at a small up and comer ad agency and the Sive and Northlich crowd wanted no part of me or my peops.

So on that Friday, we decided to find some new places to meet after work. Our quest was to find distinctive dive bars, neighborhood juke joints and local legendary bars, close to downtown.  They had to have three distinct qualities; cheap & cold bottled beer, some sort of musical entertainment- a good juke box or band playing later, and finally- something to do, darts, pool, dual flash bar bowling, shuffleboard.

We would call it the Friday Night Club and everyone was invited, everyone. Marketing folks, creatives, long lost friends, family.

We found lots of places.

At first we just called each other, on Friday, decided where to go and went. I’d call you and 5 others, you would call your friends and boom, it’s a party.

So let me back up a skosh, I’m an art director, an artist actually. With the help of my talented coworkers, Ann Small, Steve Weinstein, designer friends, Keith Beckelheimer & Gumby Umbinhour and donated strip tac sticker paper for Libby Remley, we made beautiful stickers so we could identify who was with us. They were stored in an old cardboard 2.25 film can, which I still have. Thousands of stickers were designed and hand cut and stuck in bars across the city. The stickers were the only perk, very collectable and came to be the essence of the FNC spirit.

So we did this every Friday for year or two. D&E had a postage meter, we had just got our first Macs and laserwriters, we assembled a list and started sending out post cards. They were very creative, we took turns doing them. We decided to go to an every-other-Friday schedule, to cut down on odds of DUI trouble. The core group ebbed and flowed, the group started dominating the bars we went to. We widened the circle to the far reaches of the metro area. A few hearty souls went to my hometown of Cleves, twice. We were routinely asked to come back and several bars wanted us every Friday, we resisted. So many good times were had. John Murray and I would play a game of darts for a round every FNC. It was a hell of a ride.

I landed the Hudepohl/Schoenling beer business off of the experience. My Mt Adams apt was stocked with beer for years. So many bars to remember, luckily Steve Weinstein and I went to the top 50 or so and took pictures for full page Enquirer ad to promote Cincinnati. The headline: Cincinnati, a great place for a cold one.

After 10 or so years we slowed down to once a month. It made it more special. As a group, we were only ejected from of two bars, City View for throwing cake and cussing and Mulligans for cussing or something. The FNC record was 98 folks at Frie’s with Cory’s a close second at 96.

So what happened to the FNC? I got remarried & had two kids. My lovely wife, Linda, flies for Delta and leaves on Friday, comes back on Sunday. So I had to stay home on Fridays. I tried to pass it off to the next generation, it takes work and dedication to keep it going.

So we took 15 years off.

Last month I asked Linda if I could have one Friday a month to go out for a beer, she knew why. She will be flying to Paris this Friday but will definitely make the next one.

The future of the FNC is this. We’ll go month to month, starting this Friday, 11/4 at Fries. No more post cards needed because we have Facebook and Tumblr. Join me for a beer or two after work this Friday. Get a sticker or two, bring your friends and ask them to like us on FB. Take pics and post on the Facebook page & Tumblr site. Who knows where this will go but as long as everyone has fun, drives carefully and get’s home safe. we’ll give it a go.

To those of us born 1925 – 1970. To all the kids who survived the 1930s, ’40s, ’50s, ’60s and ’70s… First, we survived.

Being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank ,while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes. Then, after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets, and, when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps, not helmets, on our heads.

As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.. Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. We drank kool-aid made with real white sugar. And we weren’t overweight. Why? Because we were always outside playing…

That’s why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. –and, we were okay.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem..

We did not have play stations, Nintendo and x-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD, no surround-sound or CDs, no cell phones, no personal computers, no internet and no chat rooms.

We had friends and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from those accidents. We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand, and no one would call child services to report abuse. We ate worms, and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given bb guns for our 10th birthdays, 22 rifles for our 12th, rode horses, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and although we were told it would happen- we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little league had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment.

Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, and inventors ever. The past 50 to 85 years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas..

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If you are one of those born between 1925-1970, congratulations!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good. While you are at it, share this with your kids, so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn’t it ?

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves”.
-Abraham Lincoln

NOTE: this text was emailed to me several times, I didn’t write it, I lived it and loved it.

Shut ‘er down Mr. Speaker. Don’t back down, I’ve got your back.

and then I posted an article about how the shutdown is not really a shut down. You can find that link here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110224/ap_on_re_us/us_what_shutdown

Where's the Senate Budget Bill, Harry. We passed ours 40 days ago!

Both these posts got the normal right/left bloviation as usual from the usual suspects. It makes for good reading throughout a rather boring advertising day. Poking liberal/progressives with a stick is fun, it’s a hobby.

“Hey Keidel, as a fed, I’ll tell you that everything won’t go on as usual if a shutdown happens. Although you’re absolutely right – This could have all been avoided if the Dems simply passed their budget last year. As someone that is going to be directly affected by this (my family as well and most of the people in DC), I find this infuriating. Governments shouldn’t be so fucking infective that they shut down.”

“In this economic climate, it’s actually quite unlikely that the Republican led congress will reimburse our salaries, especially those voted in by the Tea Party movement. So federal employees, as disliked as we may be by the masses, are being used as “pawns” by the politicians. Personally, and obviously unobjectively, I find it infuriating. We vote those sonofabitches into their benefit-filled positions so they can pass budgets and make laws and they simply don’t do their jobs, but they still get paid, still have benefits. I do my job, daily and I lose my salary and my benefits. And I’m hung out to dry to cover my mortgage, rent, car payment, daycare, etc.”

“A shutdown is a big deal. And it’s going to make things a mess. Fuck, if people think that your average federal process takes a long time now, I can guaran-damn-tee you that once federal employees are brought back on from the shutdown, depending on how long that is, it’s going to be a long time before they’re caught up and serving the public in a timely fashion.

Just my two cents pal. How’s everything else by you and your fam? All good?”

Ok, my eyes are wide open. Point taken. I sent back a note that I would cover his mortgage and buy a diaper or two, which I would gladly do. He would never ask though.

I'm smarter than you, dawg.

It’s February in Ohio, dark, dank, cold and depressing, I’m in serious need of some sunshine and sand between my toes. I don’t feel like working for clients that don’t respect me today. I pity the fool that comes in here and ask me to make to “pop” today. Question my pantone color selection and you may see 185 red. Don’t ask me stupid questions or say to me “don’t mind me asking”. I fucking mind today.

Is this the midlife crises that I have been expecting like the onset of type 2 diabetes? Is this what I’m feeling?

I don’t expect you to answer for me. I will grapple with this myself and today I write a story about it. Comment if you want but know that I am doing this for me and me alone.

So, I turned 50 two and half years ago, we had a party, I drank way too much tequila. I was hung over for 3 days. I had fun and I think everyone there did too. Linda certainly did, she has not touched the Patron since. It was a mix of my westside buddies minus a few of my best old friends, my FNC buddies and my newly adopted HP/Mt Lookout/Kilgour Parents that have diced that I’m OK for a westsider, conservative. I expect that to be the start of my midlife thingy. It wasn’t.

It’s happening now.

But it’s not what I expected. I’m not looking to cheat on my wife or leave my family. I love her and my kids so much.

I’m not looking to buy a Harley and some leather chaps and get a tat and an earring? I’d rather have a Stella scooter- all tricked out. I’m sure all my friends with new motorcycles would be aghast at me riding with them in a sissy red Poe’s scooooter. Don’t care. aha.

I’ve also started to go to mass on Sundays. I’ve been to a different church each Sunday. Big beautiful Catholic churches all over the city. It’s been thirty five years since I’ve really got down on my knees and prayed. That’s been good, but I’m noticing that it’s much more emotional than I remember. I can’t explain that. Something changing deep inside me and it’s good. Very good, but I’m starting to act like the new speaker of the house, if you can see what I’m saying’. I’ve never been a cry baby till now.

And then there’s politics and the world revolution and the bumbling presidency of Barack Hussein Obama. It bugs to no end how callus and lawless that man has been. I should not let things that I have not control of bother me but for the first time on my life I am actually freaked out about what’s going on in the world. I was not a big W fan but I’d take him back in a New York minute over this progressive ass wipe. Hell, I’d rather have bill Clinton(not Hillary-wfw).

And I thought I would feel better after this November’s historic shellacking.

I don’t.

Not with all this greedy thuggish union protesting going on in WI and now my state, OHIO. I’m a proud tea party member and I’m pissed off at the mockery that is happening. This is not about the middle class worker’s American Dream being taken away by evil GOP Governors, it’s about the unions that work for the government contributing to their healthcare and retirement like we all do. Union busting, OK damn right, screw them and their socialist agenda and sheer bribery of the Democratic party. And for the cowards that leave their states to avoid a vote, cut them off, fire them, fuck em. Yes that’s angry rhetoric. Not civil. What they are doing is not right and it’s about time somebody stands up agains the stupidity that’s going on.

And that fact that gas prices will necessarily skyrocket this summer, I’m going to get me the Stella. It’s all by design by the progressive movement to cause chaos-buttom up, top down, inside out(the heart part). Why are we not drilling for oil everywhere right now? Obama and his minions like Cal Sunstein has regulated it out of business. EPA is regulating against the will of the people. Obama’s decided that he will decide what’s constitutional and what’s not. WTF? His healthcare bill now stand unconstitutional according to the law. That has not been overturned yet, I don’t think it will be, it’s over as far as I’m concerned.

I’m going to deal with this anger. Have to. Thank GOD we have the internet and other than mainstream media to get our news from. My guys won the election and I will stand with Gov. Kasich. And in less than two years we throw the bum out of the white house and clean up the mess that the left always leaves behind.

Hopefully then I will have found a new direction for my life. Maybe teaching, or art.

Look out world, I’m getting a scooter.

My heart goes out to all the families that have lost or have injured loved ones. This was a heinous murder. The shooter was a loon and deserves the death penalty. How can there be any reasonable doubt that he did it? He did it. He’s guilty.  He should be advised to plead guilty to stop the pain on the families that he has reaped havoc upon. He is crazy, but so what. It’s no defense in my book.

What happen within hours of this attack was equally heinous.

The blame game started immediately, it was particularly vicious. And all one sided. Left blamed right, right defended itself, left pushed harder, right hunkered down. It was butt ugly. The Sheriff was dead wrong in his assessment and had no proof that there was no connection to anyone on the conservative side, but he shot his mouth off any way. Facebook erupted with teeth mashing and hand wringing. One friend posted that he “knew this would happen”. WTF.

I posted that I’d rather play angry birds than try to defend the conservative line. Looking back, it was all such bullshit.

This was and is no connection to
A/conservative talk radio,
B/ Sarah Palin, Rush, Glenn, Fox or anybody but the shooter
C/the leadership of the POTUS was called onto the carpet and again I was disappointed by Obama response

I’m getting tired of being painted as an extremist just because I vehemently disagree with the Democratic/Progressive policies.
And I have to say, the shit I see on TV and see on the internet about hatred and crap from my side–I don’t see it that way and my story today is to explain why. First some facts about me:

I’m conservative first.
I do vote mostly Republican.
I am a proud Cincinnati Tea Party Member.
I watch Glenn Beck every night, I DVR it. I like Glenn.
I watch the O’Reilly factor on Fox every night.
I like FOX news, it is fair and balanced. It is damn it.
I read Rush Online, WSJ online, DRUDGE, Townhall, Cincinnati.com everyday.

So I feel that I’m an expert on all of these people because I actually watch, read or see it from the source.  That does NOT mean that I’m brainwashed by them. I occasionally watch MSNBC, John Stewart, Mahar on HBO, Nightline , just to get my ire up. During the election I watched both conventions and challenged my friends to do the same, they would not. I have asked my progressive friends to watch Fox or Glenn, they will not. They get their talking points from third party sources that are colored with their brand of propaganda. I have a problem with that.

To quote Pete Rose, “If you haven’t tried Gold Star, how can you get in on the talk or even form an opinion.” If you don’t get your info from the source, you’re just getting here-say, third party, tainted, quotes about what is said.

So let me take each one separately.

I went to all but one Cincinnati Tea Party event. In saw no hatred. None. Sure there were some signs that were questionable, mostly funny, but no hatred. There were no arrests, no crime.

Glenn Beck is honorable man. There’s no hatred or any call to violence on his TV show. I don’t listen to his radio show, the TV show has been nothing but inspiring. He encourages his watchers to do their own homework, to question with boldness, to make a connection their GOD and to be non violent. The lies and distortion about Glenn Beck have been directed by George Soros and his band of ugliness. Glenn has proved that Soros tentacles have no boundaries. Again, if you don’t watch the show, your opinion is invalid. If you can prove him wrong with facts, do it. Real facts not bogus Media Matter bullshit. The left so hates Glenn they end up slobbering all over themselves. They want him dead.

O’Reilly is the Ted Baxter of Fox news, he’s a major blowhard BUT he plays the fair and balanced game better than anyone on TV news. The Factor always has both sides to the story, always.

Fox News is a force to be dealt with and the left main stream media hates it. It not only lives up to its fair and balance tagline, but personifies what TV News will be from now on. The ratings speak for itself. If you are getting your news from NYT, Obama approved, Huff Po, you are not getting news, just hateful rhetoric. Plus Fox has the smartest and most beautiful newscasters on the planet. Who else compares?

Rush is rush, I don’t listen to the show but I love his website. I go there for the links, same with DRUDGE. Rush is not afraid of either side and tells it like it is. I don’t read or see the vitriol or hatred, sometime caustic and opinionated but not threatening or violent.

The ugliness, vitriol and hatred came from the left last week, it really pissed me off. Their policies have been debunked and proven to be a complete failure again and again. They so what to silence the right by attempting place blame and project their hatred. The majority spoke in November and they are desperate and sometimes despicable.

I sure hope this blame game comes to an end. We need to fix our economy and the government cannot do it. It’s up to the individual to make it better by bettering themselves. Small businesses need to be unleashed, unregulated.
Sniveling must end.

For those of you that don’t really know me, my name is Michel and I am an advertising creative. My title is Creative Director, I fancy myself as a creative story teller. My discipline was that of an Art Director, I will explain that later.

The two events that happened week were related. Here’s the story…

Be Different

On last Wednesday, I attended the annual Cincinnati AdClub Cannes Awards luncheon, brought to us by USA Today and sponsored by(crap I can’t remember). We had a dude from Bridge Worldwide talk beforehand about his french y french riviera experience. It was interesting and I have to admit some envy, OK a lot of envy, raving frickin’ jealousy, but I digress. The one thing that I do remember because it’s still stuck in my craw like a hamburger stick with the little red plastic crap on the end.

He said there was a discussion about removing the “Advertising” from the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival which they actually did. Henceforth it is now the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. WTF!

When exactly did Advertising become a four letter word or the “a”-word.

On Saturday, I attended the Kilgour Fall Event. They made me feel great by gushing about what a good job I have done over the years on their “graphics.” In my line of work(advertising) it is very rare to receive platitudes or be celebrated and I truly appreciate being appreciated. My pro-Bono work gives me great satisfaction in that respect, because it’s great to be able to give back when I have gotten so much.

But. I did more than just the “graphics.” There’s a concept in there some where.

Splitting hairs, you ask?

In my mind, Advertising is the root/core of what I do. Webster’s defines advertising as 1 : the action of calling something to the attention of the public especially by paid announcements. I would add the word “persuade’ in there and targeted public too.

It’s the concept behind the action above. It starts with the homework of finding out what exactly we’re selling and to whom we are selling to. It involves the emotion of the experience of the brand and how to tap into that emotion to persuade them(whoever they are) to action(buy). I’ve found over the years that there’s only one way to do this well.

Tell a story.

So I use all of these tools to tell a story, starting with a objective, then strategies to reach the objective(s), executions of the strategies using a plethora of creative techniques and concepts, and finally the craft of art & copy to create the thing. I said thing because this works for campaigns, ads, the ugly trifold pamphlets, Outdoor, POP, websites, banner ads, TV spots, tweet campaigns, facebook fan pages, all that voodoo that medo and my friendsdo so well. Why we make it so complicated is beyond me. Confession, I do know why, it’s all about billable hours.

To me, Advertising is the Genus of the species and Branding, Packaging, Interactive, Graphic Design, PR, TV & Radio production, and many others are the sub geneses of the species. All very are important to a marketer to deploy on their brand development. But, the creative CONCEPT has to be KING, all the other stuff is delicious icing on the cake. Mere delivery vehicles. It doesn’t matter who creates the concept! So often I see stuff without a core concept, just snappy or sloppy technique.

When I started my career, thirty years ago, I had two paths from which to choose. One path was to go into te graphic design side of the business and find work at one of the many fine Cincinnati Design Studios. They did mostly packaging work for a huge dualithic consumer package goods marketer and soap maker. The second path was to land a job at one of the local/regional advertising agencies. They work on all the big companies advertising campaigns and that meant my first love TV and second Radio(storytelling). I chose the later. Proudly.

Lately, I have seen the Design Studios become the dominate force of the local creative scene. The advertising agencies have gotten smaller and more scarce. It’s a shame and I don’t like it. Admittedly , ad agencies have caused much of their own demise by over charging, excessive mark-up and blantant arrogance. We made it too damn hard to do business with us by bring impossible to work with. Too much beatdown is not good for business.(Ask any client)

Now, LPK, Landor and the likes offer services that ad agencies used to do, product and market research, branding, packaging, the spinoff were the Digital agencies like Bridge and Hyperquake. They design and create. They craft experiences and content. It’s all good. But what about the storytelling? What about the selling? The persuading? The art? It’s there, but you have to hunt for it.

So what do I care if they take the Advertising out of Cannes or I’m applauded for being a gifted graphic designer. I guess I don’t care all that much, but it’s not me.

I’m advertising artist and storyteller and always will be.

Once they found out that I had some skills, I became the go to guy for graphic help. I did this gladly, it is a noble cause which i have trouble saying no to.

But I have some scars, here’s the story.

9 years ago, our boy Cary was in kindergarten with Mrs. Braffman. We love her. Her class was controlled chaos from start to finish. Judy is the kind of teacher that loves her kids, and with who knows how many years, she’s got the teaching down pat. So when asked to do something for her year-end present, I jumped at it. I did a ink drawing of the school and Jen Raabe had a matte made with all the kid’s fingerprints on it.  It was very cool and hangs on her wall to this day.

Now the deal was, that the gift was to be put on the bid ‘n buy table  at our school carnival and the parents of our class would bid it up to make money for the school. We had a new principal, Angela Cook, that year, it was her first carnival, as well. Ms. Cook started bidding against us. She wanted the drawing. It got crazy, we finally out bid her BUT I got corralled into doing another drawing specifically for Ms. Cook. So I did the drawing, made a scan, silk screened 100 prints for the next year’s Bid ‘n Buy and gave the original to Ms. Cook. All was hunky doorey. So I thought.

That class of parents were, shall we say, very enthusiastic and overly involved, and I was sucked into a 9 year project of public school branding project. The old logos were pathetic. We had a Bronko instead of a Mustang. The typography was horrible, the wareables was a mess. So I agreed to take the branding project w with a committee of Kilgour Moms. They kicked my ass….for months…version after version-rejected. The Mustang  was too mean or  to happy. The school logo was too artsy or too plain. Finally the year ended and  Ms. Cook made the final decision on a new school logo and a new sports logo. God Bless her.

From there, it was March Madness t-shirts(which were fun to do), and sports booster newsletters(also fun) and the brand style guides that everyone ignored. I was actually told that my sports tee shirt designs were …well, one mom said “We need to design some shirts that kids(her kids) will actually want to wear”. Zing.

I did a website design for the PTA only to be ripped for being too…corporate.

At Kilgour Elememtary, we have a Spring Carnival. Did I mention that we are a Cincinnati Public School? It’s a real money maker with a 5K race. My designs for it were shitcanned.

Then we moved the Silent Auction to the Fall, four years ago. I, of course, was asked to do the invitation and other campaign materials. It was nice, pedestrian. Very successful. The next year, my friend Amy let me do my thing, no committee, just do it. We were moving back to our newly remodeled school and I did a panorama photoshop number of the new addition. I’m very proud of it. Amy set a new standard for me on all these kinds of projects and I  want to thank her for that. It’s gotten better every year since.

From then on, when asked to do a Kilgour or any other pro bono project, I lay out my rules of engagement, first. I will do the best ______insert project_____ for you that I can possibly do but you have to accept the artwork as is. No committee, no meetings, no presentations. I’ll get everything donated or as cheap as possible. It’s worked out great since then. This is my last Kilgour Event. It’s a little sad.

But that original class of parents that I mentioned before. They are all at Walnut Hills HS, now. They call then the Kilgour mafia because they(we) are taking over. I left my mark on Kilgour, my logo is on the gym floor, on the wall and on the flag.

Don’t forget me, Kilgour.|I won’t forget you and the friends that we made while involved with our wonderful neighborhood school.

Well, it’s time for that to change.

But I have questions that need to be answered first.
Like if I disagree am I supposed to keep my mouth shut?
What if I’m being asked to go against my principals?
Am I not allowed to dislike something?

I’m not a hateful person, at least I don’t think I am. I don’t hate you. I don’t hate Obama or Olberman or Oprah(I don’t like them much, though). I’ve been told that if the idea wasn’t mine that I thinks it sucks, sometimes… I just want to improve upon it. Is that bad?

I think that that is my core problem, I want to make things better. And my better may not be the same as your better. I don’t like stupidity or goofyosicity. I don’t like meanness or selfishness or righteousness. I’m guilty of all of this from time to time.

Another problem I have is that I have trouble saying NO to a noble cause. I’ve gotten better at it by applying some basic rules of engagement for my non-profit-do-it for-free projects. Simply put, let me do what I do and I’ll do it for free. If it’s work, you have to pay for it.

I’m not a bad guy, I think I’m a good guy. I worry about what people think of me and what I will end up being when I’m done being. I worry about taking care of my family. I worry about my business and my career and how it plays in the scheme of my life. I like my life but want it to be better. I like where I live, my city, state and zipcode. I want it to be better too. And if there’s anything I can do to make you better, just ask.

I realize that being positive has to be balanced with a wee bit of the neg. Otherwise, I’ll just be annoying.

So what do I do? How do I become the Mr Positivity that I want to be? But do you want me to be Mr Positivity? Really?