Don’t overvalue your talent. Every agency is packed with it, and you’re expected to apply yours every day.

Writing this blog saves me $125 a week in psychotherapy. What keeps you sane?

The most observant creative wins.

One man’s quirkiness is another man’s livelihood.

Know whom you’re talking to.

In a perfect world, ideas are worth more than executions. In the real world, there are clients.

Based solely on its consistent delivery of a simple promise, what is your favorite brand? And what is its promise?

For me, that’s an easy one: Nintendo. Nintendo’s focus on accessible fun has never wavered. And playing a Nintendo game still delivers a sense of wonder and excitement that its competitors have never managed to achieve. Just hearing the name “Nintendo” makes me happy. Can’t say the same for Sony or (yikes!) Microsoft.

A good mentor is worth more than money or awards (and will probably help you get more of both).

Your grandmother is thrilled just to see you. Your partners expect more.

Complain less, and be more resourceful.

I have actually been to a village in Africa built entirely out of sticks and cow shit. Homes. Made of shit. 

See? One way or another, everything’s about advertising.

Believe in yourself, because nobody else really cares what you do.

Does originality truly exist, or are we just rearranging stuff?

A brilliant excuse is worse than a lame, off-strategy, pun filled noncept.

There were already too few hours in a day, and then they pull this Daylight Saving Time bullshit. Am I the only one who still hasn’t recovered?

Correct grammar is not optional!

I’m pretty sure my inability to think is directly related to my inability to sleep. But I’m so tired, I could be totally wrong.

Friday Question: Can you tell when you’ve hit the wall? What does it feel like?

As you can tell by the time stamp of this post, I ignore the wall at all costs.

Note to bloggers: Your anonymity confounds and disappoints me.

Since I am a teacher, a father and an advertising copywriter, I spend almost all of my time solving other people’s problems.

Be of your time.

Whether you’ve designed it or not, everything you do (including the type in your emails) is designed.

Friday Question: How much influence does your environment have on your process and productivity?

Destiny is a myth.

If you want something done, give it to the busiest person you know.

   This is a paraphrased quote from my late grandfather, Meyer Balser, who had lots of these quips. Another great one was, “McDonald’s has the best flapjacks in the City of Atlanta!”

The unemployed are a phone call away from being underpaid.

Your affection for puns is nothing to be ashamed of.

Your turn: There’s a fine line between ______ and ______?

There’s a fine line between honesty and hubris.

There’s a fine line between innocence and willful disobedience.

There’s a fine line between process and procrastination.

There’s a fine line between edgy and clueless.

So far, what neither ad- nor design-related project has inspired you the most?

A few years ago I had an hour or so to kill on Manhattan’s upper east side when I noticed The Guggenheim was having a Frank Gehry exhibition.

It rocked my world. I could see, right there on tables and in sketches, how the most creative mind in architecture created, from idea stage to fully realized buildings. I was moved to see both his brilliance and how his creative process is so similar to ours as ad and design creatives. 

Then, a year or so later, I saw that Gehry had designed the trophy for the World Cup of Hockey. Not just another building, the trophy was a dramatic, soaring confluence of Gehry’s talent and his passion for a sport. 

Marry someone smarter than you.

I realize this is only possible for half of us.

Do what you do so well it looks like you’re showing off.

The successful dig minutiae.

In a street fight, I bet Smart Copy kicks Visual Solution’s ass.

What is your all-time favorite band name, agency name or font name?

Inspiration has its own timetable.

To my knowledge, Photoshop has never come up with a good idea.

The ethics you choose to follow now will follow you forever.

Never underestimate the underdog.

That applies to designers, art directors, copywriters and sports teams. 

Friday Question: After smiling, what’s the first thing you do when that killer idea pops into your head?

It’s impossible for you to manage your partner. Don’t even try.

However, you should try very hard to manage the page together.

Comic Sans is the typeface of the Antichrist.

If I am elected, I will see that every man, woman and child gets a headline.

Writing more makes you right more.

This blog is an ambitious experiment. How long do you think I can keep it up?

I have no idea why I got into this thing, and now I have no idea how to get out.

This blog may be ugly, but at least it uses real apostrophes.

There’s a difference between what’s right and what isn't.

Don’t take your friends for granted. One day, they may need you.

If you haven’t already, you will work for an asshole.

If you haven’t already, you will work with a hack.

How long do you you think you could go without a computer?

My Mac is fried. It can’t connect to the internet, some apps won’t open, and it restarts from sleep instead of waking up. I wonder if I could just ditch the whole computer thing and go some silicon version of vegan.

Six months from today, I’ll be 44. I can’t believe how stupid I still feel.

Learn to trust your gut. You’ll have a much better life.

A daily blog is a daily hassle.

Start over. A lot.

Please describe your relationship with your computer.

   I have a love/hate thing going on with my computer. It’s useful and entertaining, but it’s also a ball and chain. 

Feed your passions. One day, they’ll feed you.

Expectations suck.

Listen.

Brevity is underrated.

From whom or what have you learned the most?

   Every time I have to write a bio, I mention my kids. 

   My role as a father has been my proudest, and my kids have taught me some of my most important life lessons. Plus, they’re hilarious.

   So who (or what) has taught or inspired you?

In advertising, your ability to succeed is based 10% on your talent and 90% on how well you deal with idiots and egos.

I digress for a living.

Doers do. Talkers make resolutions.

Save all your receipts.

If you are really creative, almost everything is tax deductible.

What’s more important, ads or asphalt? Why?

Deadlines don’t give a shit about your technological snafus.

A neglected body always gets its revenge.

I want to have triplets so I can name them Jayded, Cynical and Realystic.

A real creative never takes a day off.

It’s time for some time off. How will you spend it?

Have a great weekend. And be sure to take the poll in the upper right-hand corner.

Kids are cute because they don’t overthink.

Less is rarely more.

Karma is real.

Tag lines that contain the word “life” make me want to end mine.

The Friday Question: How do you procrastinate?

   My Nintendo DS is not actually a toy. It’s a finely-tuned tool of procrastination, diabolically created as part of a Japanese government mission to gain global dominance by sabotaging American workplace productivity. 

   So what do you do to procrastinate? Take the poll on the right side of this page. And then get back to work, for the sake of your country.

Your opinion is the only one that matters.

Be careful. The light at the end of the tunnel might actually be a train.

Not an entirely original thought but posted as a tribute to all my students who are currently mired in week-10 sleep deprivation. 

You are pretty much exactly as good as you believe you are.

My son loves me. I made a person who loves me. How cool is that.

Don’t work harder. Work more.

I am a writer so I might as well write.

So I’m in. I have a podcast, and now this. We’ll see what happens.