2010: What I Saw, Read and Experienced

At the end of each year, I catalog books, films, museums, movies and more that I was lucky enough to experience. For me, it's a good way to keep track, take stock and also suggest to others. This year was especially a big travel year with jaunts to Istanbul, Israel, the West Coast and multiple trips to France, including Paris and Provence. Will probably update more as more things come to mind. Sorry if it formats like crap; trying to update the look of the blog at the same time. 

Also: Be sure to see Bryan's great holiday message around food on his blog. 

BOOKS

Fiction:

• Freedom, Jonathan Franzen
• This Is Where I Leave You, Jonathan Tropper (good family funny)
• Attention. Deficit. Disorder, Brad Listi (and my tnb publisher/editor)
• Super Sad True Love Story, Gary Shteyngart
• Then We Came To the End, Joshua Ferris (Finally read this — hilarious)
• Overexposed, Susan Shapiro (My writing prof)
• Imperial Bedrooms, Bret Easton Ellis

Nonfiction:

• The Mesh, Lisa Gansky
• How the States Got their Shapes, Marc Stein (interesting)
• Everything is Going to be Great, Rachel Shukert (funny essays)
• How Did You Get this Number?, Sloane Crosby (funny essays)
• A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace
• Everything Is Wrong with Me, Jason Mulgrew

FILMS

• Precious (January). Disturbingly good.
• An Education (January). Haunting.
• Client 9: Eliot Spitzer. Couldn't get through the second half but a good history.
• Exit Through the Gift Shop: Banksy. Is it true or not? Love the mystery.
• Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. Good rental.
• The Kids Are All Right. Love strong women.
• Kick Ass. Surprisingly funny.
• The Social Network. This was surprisingly good.
• Greenberg. Funny, but not that funny
• Iron Man 2. Silly.
• Eat, Pray, Love (August). The food is as pretty as Julia.
• Fair Game (November). Good melodrama, acting. Love spies.
• The King's Speech (December). Stunning and funny.
• Tron (December). Fun to watch but weak plot. Galactica spoiled us for Sci-Fi.
• Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps (December). Just awful. 
• Somewhere — (December) Stunning Sophia Coppola and Stephen Dorff.

ART & MEMORIALS

• Israel: Well, the whole country is a dig. Not sure if I'd consider Masada a museum, but it is a UNESCO site and a huge experience. Yad Vashem of course too. (Incidentally, one cannot find shaving cream in Safed.) Just go if you haven't. Some photos here.
• Lisbon: The Museum of Tile/Azulejo (Seriously)
• Istanbul: Hagga Sophia, Basilica Cistern (stunning), a 16thC Synagogue with permission in advance and too much time at the Four Seasons. A few photos here. 
• The Modern Kitchen, MoMA, New York
• Le Louvre, Paris (November)
• Avignon: Palace of the Popes (July); the Museum of Corkscrews
• Raymond Depardon photography at Le Biblioteque Nationale Mitterand, Paris (November) 
• Julia Child's Kitchen, Smithsonian, Washington, DC (October)

CONCERTS + UNIQUE EXPERIENCES

From The Rally for National Sanity
on National Mall, Wash., DC

• Rally for National Sanity in Washington, DC. (October) Unique experience on The Mall. Thank you, Julia, for flying in for it.
• Carmen, at the MetOpera in HD (January) 
• David Sedaris reading at the Apollo Theatre (November) Hilarious. He also collects jokes.
• Jonathan Franzen reading from Freedom at McNally Jackson
• Pop-Tech in Camden, Maine (October). Science meets social engineering. Read the TFT post.
• Agency.com Wake. The very very final end of a very long story.
• Delivering the keynote on creativity at Belgium Direct Marketing Association in Mechelen, Belgium. Read the TFT post.
• A week at The Cleveland Clinic in Ohio (Thanks, John)
• Sam's Bar Mitzvah (!)
• The Search for the World's Greatest Salesperson, including two live TV interviews in Australia and Philadelphia. Story behind the experience here. 
• Shorning of the Sheep at Blue Hill at Stone Bars
• Creative Workshop at Chateau du Touffou.
• Gay Youth Pride Concert (December). Charming, but not Glee.
• Ben Folds performance at The Beacon, NYC (December). This surprisingly sucked.
• The lights of Dyker Heights with Eitan and Dina. (December)

FOOD EXPERIENCES (gets its own category)

• Lunch with Bryan Fuhr, Julia and Rachel at The French Laundry (October).
• Lunch under a tree at vineyard Michel Schlumberger
• Thanksgiving in Paris :: Le Retour VII. This year, the theme was Renaissance. Still not exactly sure why. Ann's photo collection here. 
• Learning to eat Raclette with Bridget and Thomas
• Eating at Bisto Au Coin, Washington DC, forgetting we were there 10 years ago

PUBLISHED

• "How to Talk to My Dog", The Bark
• Embrace Branding, The Jewish Forward 
• "Spare Me Your Shekels", "When Should We Get Naked?", "A Good Sport", in The Nervous Breakdown
• "Second Chances" on This I Believe about how my first boss Dennis Ferrone taught me to write ad copy.
• Tons of columns in The Faster Times, now bi-weekly.

Untitled

New posting up at The Nervous Breakdown: 

Spare Me Your Shekels

have a look at this one and the earlier ones.

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PopTech : Blog : "Marriage Was Invented to Get In-Laws"

Spent several days at the PopTech conference in Camden, Maine. Theme this year was around Necessary Failures, Accidental Discoveries.

Well-orchestrated, series of sub-topics around emotions, violence and gulf stories. Expert talks from both science and social entrepreneurs. Here's one great one by Stephanie Coontz from Friday.

PopTech : Blog : "Marriage Was Invented to Get In-Laws"

Secretary Clinton: "Tomorrow Will Be Better"

Advertising Places: the Local, the Proud, the Disappointingly Bland

New column up at The Faster Times. Wanted to cover more about marketing cities, states, countries and the idea of "Place." A recent JetBlue campaign, integrating the I Love New York icon, was the catalyst but it brought up lots of famous and utterly forgettable efforts. Please share, comment at the article and retweet it for me. Would love to get some good discussion going. For the article:

Advertising Places: the Local, the Proud, the Disappointingly Bland

Embrace Branding at The Forward.com

Published my first op-ed in The Jewish Forward, part of guest editor Sam Apple's Insane Ideas for Jewish Future series. Wrote it in Safed, Israel of all places. Have a read and please share and retweet.

Embrace Branding – Forward.com

New posts up at The Faster Times, The Nervous Breakdown and This I Believe

Vacation in Israel got me behind in essay writing but now I'm catching up.

First, to be timely, it's politics and election season. I know it's not a very nice (and admittedly, possibly naive) thing to say but here's the new The Faster Times ad column: Advertising Politics: The Best Ads are the Negative Ads. In it, there's also a personal anecdote from a college campaign which just came back to me. 

On a more personal side, a recent overdue visit to the dermatologist had me thinking about our expectations when we go to the doctor. So up is my second post at The Nervous Breakdown for which I'm now a contributor in the memoirs and essays sections. I love this online magazine, some really terrific writers, writing, book reviews and even a book club you can join. On the trip, I started TNB creator Brad Listi's novel Attention. Deficit. Order which I recommend. Quite good + funny. You can also keep track of my TNB posts here.

Separately, I just learned from This I Believe that my essay was accepted. Really honored; it's such a storied show and project capturing voices and deeply held beliefs. Mine is about an important lesson I learned from my very first boss, Dennis Ferrone, which has stayed with me. You can find the essay here.

Caples Awards : Entries are Open

The deadline for the John Caples Awards, the biggest international creative direct show, is Sept 30 with a late fee for Oct 4. I'm the head US Judge and exec committee member and I have to tell you from the inside that it's surprising how few of the hard-core digital agencies enter this show, especially when they could do so well. The categories are varied (by medium) and the judges are all creative directors from around the world. It's worth a lot of points too towards Won Report, which is like the Gunn Report. 

Each year I judge and look at the winners, I'm impressed by the work but a bit annoyed that so much of the top winners are from Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Germany and the UK. The US really needs to do better and enter more. I think it's unusually unknown in the US, probably drowned out by not just One Show but the Andys, the Addys, the New York Festivals and more. 

Please help spread the word and get your awards coordinator and creative director to consider the best work to enter. 

Advertising Print: This Will Be A Brief Piece

New column up at The Faster Times. A depressing experiment looking at magazine advertising. Please share the piece, tweet it and add any thoughts or comments at the bottom of the article itself.

Advertising Print: This Will Be A Brief Piece

Lycos is back! Alta Vista lives!

Do you think e-Rewards needs to update
their search engine questionnaire?

Just took an e-rewards survey for something and was wondering why the questions seemed odd (Broadband vs. Narrowband?) until I got to the last one about which search engine I used.

Not only was Google not listed, but Netscape, AltaVista, Hotbot and Lycos were.

Who knew the old web was still the new web. Very exciting.

Emergency Fabulous

New piece published on The Nervous Breakdown. Inspired after a party at which I shared our go-bag and realized how many items had expired or needed to be replaced.

Advertising Small Business: Feng Shui from Graceful Space (Part 2)

Now the series in The Faster Times advertising column on small biz gets specific with features on individual businesses, like my buddy from high school, Gwen's. Be sure to read it, retweet it, share and comment (there, not here):

Advertising Small Business: Feng Shui from Graceful Space (Part 2)

Advertising Small Business: Adventures in Overwhelm (Part 1)

New series focusing on very small businesses and how they approach marketing and advertising.

Please comment (at the article on The Faster Times, not here), retweet and share. Plus, there's a LinkedIn discussion group you can apply to join. You might help an entrepreneur and a dream. Advertising Small Business: Adventures in Overwhelm (Part 1)

Movie Advertising: ‘Now More Than Ever’

New The Faster Times column up about film promotion. The topic seemed fairly obvious after two brutal weekends in a row of heat and taking refuge indoors. Please comment and share (at the column, not here) if you can or if you like it or have other thoughts. Eager to hear. Here's the link: Movie Advertising: ‘Now More Than Ever’

Advertising Health Care: When Worry Works

New The Faster Times column up, post-Cleveland Clinic experience. Check it out and please retweet, comment (there, not here) and share.

Advertising Health Care: When Worry Works

Cannes Seminar Finale Intro Video

Some old radio spots

Stella D'oro Baked Goods: Leslie & Louise (:60)

  
Download now or listen on posterous

StellaDoro_LeslieAndLouise.mp3 (1259 KB)

Stella D'oro Baked Goods: My Sister Liz (:60

  
Download now or listen on posterous

StellaDoro_MySisterLiz.mp3 (1264 KB)

 

Nathan's: Becky (:60)

  
Download now or listen on posterous

Nathans_Becky.mp3 (1422 KB)

Nathan's: Four Brothers (:60)

  
Download now or listen on posterous

Nathans_4Brothers.mp3 (1412 KB)

 

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Cannes Awards: Follow-up from Festival

New in The Faster Times: Cannes Awards Roundup: More Blogging, Less Bragging. Please read, share and comment (there, not here). Plus check out the new membership offer if you chose me as your favorite writer.

ShortTakes: Gigondas, France.m4v

OgilvyOne Worldwide Seminar Promo

Promo to our live event on Monday in Cannes.

At the NYCWC Write Your A** Off Write-A-Thon

Gwen, her friend Pauline and I are the New York City Writer's Coalition annual write-a-thon Raising money for free writers workshops across the city. Writer Nicholas Dawidoff is lunchtime speaker. Picture of is 'prompt station' if you get stuck. We're also doing a workshop at 2PM.

The space in midtown is the library of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen and the Center for Independent Publishing. Beautiful.

Worked on a submission for This I Believe and next week's column for The Faster Times.

What We've Learned So Far

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

What We've Learned So Far

View more presentations from OgilvyOne Worldwide.

Internet Week, Tire Safety Month and Father’s Day: June is Busy with Awareness

Publishing the new The Faster Times advertising column a day early this week: Internet Week, Tire Safety Month and Father’s Day: June is Busy with Awareness

Talks about Internet Week in New York City but also about all the awareness weeks and months in general and what they accomplish. Please add your comments and thoughts on this at the article (there, not here) since I think it's a rich topic and I'd be curious for other data and thoughts you've seen in doing work around them or inspired by them.

Photo by Shapeshift

New on The Faster Times

Writing the advertising column now for The Faster Times, publishing on Tuesdays (or Monday nights). Second column up called Advertising Jobs: 5 Great Careers You Don't Know. Trying to make each one timely, fresh, useful and insightful.

Please read, share and comment (there, not here).

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Advertising Jobs: 5 Great Careers You Don’t Know

Second column in The Faster Times: Advertising Jobs: 5 Great Careers You Don’t Know

Hope you'll read it and comment (there, not here) and even join The Faster Times as a member — and choose me as your favorite writer when that's setup. I think this is a great topic and I'm sure my summaries don't do the career paths justice but opening up opportunities especially during such a tight job market hopefully is help to some people who want to get into the business but don't see all the openings that actually exist.

Faster writing

Excited and honored to become the first advertising columnist in The Faster Times. Great paper. I try to lay out my principles for it in the first post. I'm trying to do it weekly or bi-weekly depending on how much of a groove I can get into but Tuesday looks like it'll be my regular publishing date.

Support The Faster Times by becoming a member, and choose me as your writer! There are great bonus gifts too for all levels of membership from $12-60.

There's a slew of good columns so I must be in good company.

• The Generic Foods Investigation (readers voted among two choices the investigation could be between)
• Brief Observations by Sarah Silverman (!)
• Unsolicited Advice by Rachel Shukert
• Nostalgia by Eryn Loeb

The NthWord

My favorite new magazine is one I'm admittedly I'm in.

The nthWord issue #6 is out with a piece by me on advertising getting back to selling. I wrote in this winter even before The Search for the World's Greatest Salesperson debuted but selling was obviously on my mind.

I like the creativity and sensibility of nthWORD. If you flip through the current issue and the archive you'll see what I mean about what they choose to include and how they present it.

From their mission statement: The nthWORD is an online magazine that serves as an exhibition for writers and visual artists. Our purpose is to transmit a juxtaposition of visual and textual information to people who are passionate about ideas, words, and images.

Thanks nthWORD for letting me a part of Issue #6.

Jamie Oliver's TED talk: Teach every child about food

Watch and support ABC's "Food Revolution," story of Jamie Oliver trying to help reform food behavior in Huntington, WV. Airs Friday 9pm or watch whenever.

Some tips on selling from Ogilvy

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Some tips on selling from Ogilvy

View more presentations from OgilvyOne Worldwide.

The Search for the World's Greatest Salesperson

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Yes I was in a fraternity

This might surprise you since people are more comfortable with stereotypes, but yes, I was in a fraternity.

I liked it - Sigma Phi Society at Cornell. Ezra Cornell IV was a brother too. I've been thinking about this lately because it was a period of my life where I deviated from the traditional route and did what I felt like doing.

Some really terrific people and a strong entrepreneurial business bent. It also opened me up to a non-Jewish world which I think I needed from where I grew up.

And yes,the house was gorgeous, we had a cook and an endowment — and there was a squash court.

I in stanbul

Bryan Fuhr and I were in Istanbul. Jotting down experiences & places before I forget them:

26 Thursday — Bryan and I walked to Ortakoy Pier until we could check into our room. Nap. Cab to Taskim Square to walk along Isikai Cardessi, the main pedestrian shopping street. (more Flatbush than Champs Elysées) Western chain stores. Big crowds. Had rooftop drinks at 360, a modern bar/restaurant in the Masir Apartments followed by dinner at Boncak in the little streets nearby. Good local, inexpensive place, seafood. "Full of cheer" remembers BJF.

27 Friday — Started with breakfast at the hotel before taxi to hunt for the 15th Century Ahrida Synagogue in Balat, the Jewish quarter. We had secured permission to attend in advance and a had a 1030a appt. The taxi driver had no idea where it was or what it was and was about to drop us at a Greek Orthodox Church until we realized that the cross is probably not the right symbol on the door. Took another 20 min. before we saw the Hebrew letters. There was no answer at the gate to the synagogue complex but a man found us there and went to get the woman with the key. She arrived with four dogs, very pleasant but odd. It wasn't a tour but an self-serve appointment. She double-checked our identity and showed us in, pointing us to the sanctuary. "No photos," they both reminded us. The sanctuary was imacculately restored with benches and a raised podium, a Sephardic tradition. Bryan says it was like being in Noah's Arc, which is an apt description in Turkey, especially considering the Sephardic design can connote resembling the boats used to transport them there from Spain and North Africa. We stayed just a short while, and on the way out asked if we could make a donation. She realized I meant Tzedakah and went and got the Tzedakah box. Glad we set this up in advance since it was an unusual and meaningful detour.

Asked our next taxi driver to go to the Grand Bazaar. "Gate 1" we said, just like the concierge recommended. The bazaar was exciting and nicer than I expected. Only a few doors in, we found ourselves in a carpet store (SLRD predicted "You'll buy a rug even if you don't mean to") and, then, there we were in their larger gallery around the corner having Turkish coffee and traditional tea. Omar, Kurdish, from southeast Turkey introduced himself, and explained the tradition of making rugs. We learned a lot about what to look for in terms of stitching, color, the use of carpet (introduced to hurt the animals less whose back it was draped across). It was fun and not much pressure though we realized we would buy something which was fine. The stories and knowledge were worth it, anyway, plus his line about dowry and finding a wife: "First, look at the mother; then get the daughter." We decided on a rather unusual inexpensive rug for our foyer -- minimalist, using goat hair and black sheep ink. We left happy and with it in a smart, portable tote.

At some point, we realized we had been in the Arasta Bazaar, not the famous Grand Bazaar. We were embarrassed, of course, until we read in one of the books that this was the alternative bazaar for those overwhelmed by the Grand one. Now we felt like insiders. The afternoon was wandering the rest of Eminonu and the old city, finding the real Grand Bazaar (where I shot a Short Take - will be up soon; Youtube is blocked here), the Spice Market (less aromatic and impressive than we expected, though we did arrive during prayer and lunch hour when things got quiet) where I tasted my first non-allergic Turkish Delight candies.

28 Saturday — Started the morning with a 20-minute ferry ride from right next to our hotel to the Asian Side to Kadikoy. It was a commuter ferry so it was fun. Bryan wouldn't let me sing "Let the River Run" but we did get great city views and perspective about the city's relationship to water. Passing the Selimiey Barracks where Florence Nightengale lived and worked, we spent only a few minutes in Asia but went to the old Haydarpasa Railway Station where the Orient Express used to pick up service. There, we got a ferry back to Eminonu, where we climbed up to the Sultanahmet and visited the Haghia Sophia, Justinanian era structure which was later turned into a mosque. The church is stunning and beautiful and the book says for over a thousand years, it was the largest enclosed structure in the world. Afterwards, we crossed the street to the Yerebatan Cistern (underground cistern), which is a stunning marvel. You can wander among the underground water system and at the far end, see two unusual Medusa sculptures, one upside down and one on its side.

Spent a little more time wandering the Sultanahmet, sitting in the park, visiting the other Four Seasons Hotel (good bathroom spot) and then wandered back down the hill and crossed the Galata Bridge. I thought this famous crossing of Golden Horn would be more significant but it was kinda gross and just crowded with fisherman. We walked up the edge of the other side to the Istanbul Modern where we stopped for lunch in the nice bistro. Explored the museum a tiny bit but then cabbed back to the hotel for R&R before going out again in Beyoglu for dinner to Changa.

29 Sunday — Bryan and I started the day with an architectural tour of mosques via Context Tours (same amazing travel tour we used in Rome). Also on the tour was the wife of a colleague who's also a fan of this tour company. The first was 16th Century Sehzade Camii (Prince's Mosque), then the dramatic and enormous Suleymaniye Camii, built just 10 years later, then down the hill to the 17th Century Yeni Camii (New Mosque), which has the distinction of having been built by a woman (a Sultan's mom, if I remember correctly). Max, our guide, made special note of the increased use and different use of tile throughout the mosques.

Walked across the Galata Bridge, taking the funicular up the hill to shopping street Isiklal Cadessi again where we hunted for the cool little cafe, Kafe Aya (photo left by Bryan Fuhr), Max had recommended to us for lunch. It's on a little side alley right off Yenacarsi Cadessi, off the main drag of Isiklal Cadessi. "Take a right at the ugly monument at the intersection of Isiklal and Yenacarsi Cadessi and a quick right at the bookstore" were Max's directions.

Took a taxi back to the hotel and ended up in one of those situations everyone talks about but now we've experienced first hand. the driver took a very long route back (via the beltway) to our hotel, resulting in a fare about triple it should be. When we were far north of the Bosphorus Bridge, it was blatantly obvious to us. We called him on it but it was a challenge with the language barrier. We got back to the hotel and told the valet about it to help us negotiate out of it. We explained what happened and offered what the fare should be from the Taskim area and got him to take it.

Bryan's headed to the Hamam and oh, no, work starts now.

Let the knowledge flow

Recently came across Flowtown, a new service which gives you social network info on folks you know or don't. It's helpful in marketing, of course, because it gives us better behaviorial insights - a tighter picture of what you really use and how you consume media. Just from an email address.

This is a big deal in connecting the one to one email model and its databases with the looser modern world of social media networks. They've operated so separately, I think we can all expect to see more of these connections moving forward.

Aside: My first reaction hearing about the service before I saw it was wasn't excited; in fact, admittedly, I was a little creeped out. A guy from work told me about it in a bar and I panicked coming home to check it out and see what I could find on myself. I think it was that private eye seminar I took at the Learning Annex a few years ago. Through Flowtown, I saw my own social network memberships but frankly it's no different from what people can learn about me otherwise. One can opt-out of a lot of stuff and the service seems very much on the up-and-up and plenty of brands are starting to tap it for more sophisticated social marketing.

What was funnier was today's postings via twitter about how foursquare has begat the Please Rob Me site, which can help robbers figure out when you're not home. Now that's a social marketing backfire.

Getting picky about retailers

We're getting choosier about at which retailers we spend our money. First, we started to focus on more local businesses -- the hardware store around the corner on 9 av (it's funny with hardware stores, rarely do we remember the actual name), Murray's Bagels, New London Pharmacy instead of the big chains all around us. The Huffington Post brought to attention the Move Your Money effort, which got us very excited and has re-focused our attention on the choices we make. This also includes our food, wanting to know where it comes from and what ingredients are in it.

Competing with my locally-minded fetish, though, is my long-time obsession with rewards programs which are best provided by the big scaled retailers. I like Duane Reade's rewards program, so I sneak in there a fair amount. Those $5 coupons are as addictive as the scratch-off cards I buy on Fridays. CVS stores are always nice, clean and carry lots of what I need in a semi-attractive way. Their self-check out is also innovative so they get points for that. I would probably join the CVS program if I wasn't already committed to DR's. Only so many little tags can go on my little keychain.

What I know I don't like is Rite Aid. Despite the constant surveying with every receipt, Rite Aid seems to not only not care about the state of their stores, but worse, they don't carry much in terms of green-friendly products. Try buying toilet paper made of recycled paper there. The several I've been in don't carry it and when I ask floor staff, they don't really care. Today, I tried again and was so frustrated I put back another $35 in products I planned to by and walked out. I found what I needed at the supermarket and then wrote in a note to their customer service.

Target, of course, has been a long-time favorite store and a destination when we leave the city. It's a cult favorite for millions. The first few years, it was fun to shop there and we'd pile up the cart with all sorts of things, discovering do-gooder Method brand there and also their house brand, now called Up and Up. This past week, though, we both realized we were kind of tired of Target. Was it really worth the effort and shlep? Was the idea of it and the commercials for it more fun than the actual experience of going there? Shouldn't we spend our money at neighborhood stores instead? The answer, so far, is yes.

Going to think more about which retailers are in/out for me and why that is. I'm not trying to be complicated; just trying to be thougtful.

2009: Culture Year in Review

Every year, I post a summary of a lot of the things I saw, read, did, experienced in the last 12 months. I'll add a little commentary and links where I can if you want to see more or buy the book at my Amazon store or elsewhere. Share your favorite experiences from 2009 too please.

BOOKS

Nonfiction:

• King of Madison Avenue, David Ogilvy biography, by Kenneth Roman -- poignant and detailed biography of the legend. I read this the month before I came back to Ogilvy and it was worth it.
• Five Men Who Broke My Heart, Susan Shapiro
• Only As Good As Your Word, Susan Shapiro -- good advice for writers from my writing teacher
• The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (memoir)
• You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas, Augusten Burroughs
• How We Decide, Jonah Lehrer
• The 4-Hour Workweek, Timothy Ferris -- shocking approach to life, including don't watch the news. If something's important, someone will tell you.

Fiction:

• Speed Shrinking, Susan Shapiro -- hilarious & my teacher's recent novel.
• Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout (Short stories) -- excellent collection. Won the Pulitzer.
• It's Beginning to Hurt, James Lasdun (Short Stories)
• East of Fifth Bliss, Doug Light (novel) - great East Village story, and by former colleague at Ogilvy
• The Vast Fields of Ordinary, Nick Burd - first novel from a great writer. Recommend buying it, reading it plus also good way to support emerging writers.
• How It Ended, Jay McIerney

FILM

• Objectified — a documentary about objects
• Julia & Julie — The better Meryl Streep vehicle in 2009
• Where the Wild Things Are — stunning
• A Serious Man - Quirky Cohen Brothers picture
• The September Issue, documentary — The real Devil Wears Prada
• A Single Man — Tom Ford's film. Beautiful and haunting.
• Up in the Air — killer opening credits and music
• The Hangover — finally saw this
• Avatar — didn't see it in 3D and it was still good.
• OSS 077: Cairo, Nest of Spies - French sendup of Bond and Austen Powers. Not great.

ART & ARCHITECTURE

• Musuem of Art & Design, New York
• Brooklyn Museum
• Rubel Collection, Miami (Feb)
• Shepard Fairey Exhibit, ICA Boston (April)
• Museum of Handbags & Purses, Amsterdam (March)
• Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (March)
• Anne Frank House, Amsterdam (March) - Book tickets in advance!
• Congress Hall, Philadelphia (April) - Went with Adam. Ran for president.
• Dwell House Tour, Brooklyn (May)
• Frank Lloyd Wright Exhibit, Guggenheim (June)
• Intrepid Museum (July) - not as good for kids as you'd think
• Sistine Chapel, Rome (Sept) - worth waiting on line in the rain for 2 hrs
• Roman and Imperial Forum, Rome (Sept) - worth doing a private tour
• Salk Institute, San Diego (Oct)
• ArtHome, Palais du Tokyo, Paris (Nov) - food meets design/art. Read the review.
• Louvre, Paris (Nov) - re-visited Venus de Milo, Winged Victory & La Jaconde
• Cite L'Architecture, Palais Chaillot, Paris (Nov)

THEATRE/MUSIC

• Met Opera Backstage Tour (March) - we took my parents on a saturday afternoon and it was a good way to see behind the scenes.
• Alan Cumming, Rose Hall (Feb) - if you can ever see him in person or perform, do it.
• Next to Normal (June) - thought it was going to be another coming out musical but it was not. recommend it if you love bold lyrics and heartbreaking story.
• U2, Giants Stadium (Sept) - amazing spectacle
• Aida, Met Opera HD - got to eat popcorn and watch live opera. (November)
• Brief Encounter, Noel Coward, St Anne's Warehouse Brooklyn (December)

WROTE/PUBLISHED:

• Minding the Snore, New York Press
• Talk to Me About My Pet, Our Town and West Side Spirit
• Clean Plates -- I only named it. Jared Koch wrote it. Fabulous guide to healthier eating too
• Real Simple Life Lessons Essay -- on my mugging when I first moved to NYC (waiting to hear)
• Advertising Age DigitalNext pieces (5)
• Lots more - will update