Working at ION is a kick so far. These pieces aren’t my best work, but now that I have some freelancers on board to do the heavy lifting, this whole editor bag should only get better.

Epiphany: It’s fun to be on the masthead. It’s more fun to have people notice you’re on the masthead and get all complimentary about it. Not that I haven’t been on the masthead before, but in this instance, I’m really enjoying it.

In other not-so-important news: I’m addicted to that Sony BRAVIA commercial (and the Jose Gonzalez song that goes with it). I’ve been passing it on to everybody I know. The most irritating reaction so far has been from people who feel compelled to point out that the commercial wouldn’t be so good/beautiful/sad if not for the song.

No … really? Or should I say, obviously?

The other day, when I commented on how strangely sad the whole thing was, someone actually said, “Yeah, but it wouldn’t be if it weren’t for that song. Picture it with, like, ACDC playing or something.”

What I wanted to say (but didn’t, though three different people made similar comments) was ‘Why? Why picture it with ACDC playing? ACDC isn’t playing. This song, on the other hand, is playing.’ Saying I should imagine away the music, perhaps in order to pretend at some sort of hyper media awareness, is like looking at a painting and saying, ‘Yeah, it’s good, but imagine if there was no red in it.’

Like, what the fuck are you talking about, my dudes? Do you understand a single thing about advertising, humans, choices, or the world? You don’t sound smart.

Look, we all want to sound smart. And yes, the song is a big part of what makes the commercial sad, but pointing that out doesn’t make you special. The song is literally a deliberately chosen part of the commercial. It’s all one carefully constructed piece of art. You can’t separate the film’s various components. Or rather, you can, but there’s no good reason to do so. The fact that the song is what makes the commercial sad means the team that came up with the concept did a good job creating a sad commercial. The fact that you feel compelled to tell everyone you noticed means you need to get over yourself.

ANYWAY.

I spent yesterday morning (10 a.m. to 12 noon) at a vodka tasting. I think that sentence actively conveys what was weird about it.

Admittedly grumpy,

Jen