Practice makes perfect

Do you play a musical instrument?

If so, how much do you practice? How long did you have to practice and perform the “Grunt work” before you could start playing pieces efficiently?

If I decided to learn to play guitar today, I wouldn’t be playing the songs I want to play by tomorrow. I’m going to have to learn my notes, practice my chords, and memorize them. If I consistently practice every day for an hour at 5 P.M, in a few months I’ll be better and will be at a level where I will begin to play some quality songs.

But I have to practice consistently or I won’t be playing guitar as well as I could be.

If I skip practicing a couple days, try to cram it all in at one time, or worst of all, not practice at all for an extended period of time, I’m not going to be the player I want to be.

Advertising is very similar. Ultimately you want to see increased sales, but you have to build up to them. Your message and advertising has to stay consistent as you “practice for those increased sales.”

The media world is so fragmented and there are so many messages bombarding viewers, it takes time for them to see your message, learn who you are, and put you top of mind.

…And just like practicing the guitar, your advertising has to be consistent and steady. If you practice the guitar for 5 straight hours on your first night, you won’t be playing classical guitar the next day.

The same with advertising. If you devote all your advertising to one short time period, you won’t see the maximum results right away.

The worst thing you can do is to stop practicing all together, then the only sure thing you do know is that you will not become the player you want to be.

Here is the lesson. To successfully learn how to play a musical instrument, you have to have a planned out, consistent practice routine. You can’t skip days, cram, or stop practicing.

Same thing with your advertising. You need a planned out and consistent message campaign. When you have that and you stick to it, the results will come.

What exactly is time off?

Warning, I'm typing this "off the cuff." Not internal "checker" is not turned on so take that for what its worth.

I've been thinking lately. What is "time off"? What is a weekend off supposed to be? Is it a day where you have nothing to do? If you spend and entire day off at the park and visiting relatives does that still count as time off?

Those closest to me know that I can be a bit of a prick when it comes to my time off. I want my Sunday off to consist of NOTHING planned. I can literally wake up in the morning and go to sleep at night having had nothing planned to do.

What I'm finding out is that when you have a full day of absolutely nothing planned, it's nice but its not as rewarding as getting out there and socializing at a park or taking a road trip. The human brain needs stimulation and interaction. Too much time alone gets depressing.

That's why I never complain about going to work because while it pays the bills, it also keeps me active and interacting with others out there. If I didn't have that, what would I do?

My Favorite Album of All-Time

Well after more than 10 years of never really knowing for sure and having new music and albums come and go, during my drive to Lexington this morning I finally made up my mind about what my favorite album of all-time is.

I have a lot of albums I really like but I have never been able to pin down which one is my definitive NUMBER ONE favorite. But that is no longer a problem because this morning my mind was made up.

...But before I spill the beans, here are some honorable mentions. Keep in mind these albums are not just albums I "like." these are classics in my book.

3rd Runner Up

Metallica: "Black Album"

A true classic. The Black Album was responsible for me entering my teen years. Although it didn't really take place during the album's actual release date, it was the album that propelled me into my teenage years. 1998 and 1999. My favorite story is being stuck on a ride at the County Fair because the lap restraint would not unlock. I was stuck with my ear about 2 feet from a giant speaker piping out "Enter Sandman."

I bought the album the very next day.

2nd Runner Up:

Tool. "AEnima"

This band is weird but I love them and this album has been a favorite of mine since 2000. Maynard's voice is so unique and his lyrics are amazing. Their videos may be a little far out but I can't criticize somebody for being different!

I always thought it was funny how religious groups went after Marlyn Manson even thought he was doing nothing more than getting publicly. At the same time you had Tool with REAL far out beliefs on religion, many which were more threatening and nobody paid attention.

1st Runner Up

Daft Punk: "Discovery"

I was up early one morning and the weird Japanese anime video for "One More Time" was shown on MTV. I'm not a big fan of anime or anything but something about it just grabbed me. The next day I saw the album in the mall and bought it figuring I would a least like a few songs off of it.

Almost 10 years later, the CD is still sitting out in my truck being listened to at least once a week. It's the catchiest, best dance/electronic album ever. Some purest say it sounds too much like disco but who cares. It's great. Go buy it.

I can't embed it but watch the video that got me hooked here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH-0s0pRleg

...And now for my favorite album of all time.

Weezer: "Blue Album"

This album is perfect.

It was one of the first albums I got which steered me into the world of rock. My cousin Andy and I got it roughly around the same time. I remember singing "Undone, the Sweater Song." as a confused 13 year old.

I still listen to this album all the time. Not only are they the most catchy, well-written pop songs ever, but the mixing and production is so perfect. I've yet to hear an album that gives it's guitars the "Crunch" sound this one gives them.

Every song is a must listen, and what can we say about "Say it Ain't So."?

I remember ploying through that song on the video game "Rock Band" when it first came out. (I can sing it really well).

...And of course I haven't mentioned the behemoth that is "Buddy Holy" and the Happy Days music video they made.

It's a great album and today I make it official. As of right now, it's my favorite album of all-time. Nobody should be with out it. Here are some highlight below.

Holiday

Buddy Holiday

In the Garage (live)

Only in Dreams

Undone: The Sweater Song

ear-X-tacy's new location. A shadow of it's former self.

During the past few months I've reverted back to buying albums in the form of CDs instead of iTunes.

While I love iTunes, it doesn't replace the experience of buying a CD, taking off the plastic wrapping, and browsing through the booklet while you give it it's first listen. You just can't replicate that online.

So when it came time to buy my latest purchase "Warp Riders" by The Sword (a fantastic hard rock band I might add). I decided to go old school and buy the CD. But rather than go out to the nearest Best Buy or Wal-Mart, I decided to do the right thing and support our awesome local store ear-X-tacy.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I've never shopped there before, but just not lately. Today for whatever reason, I thought it was important to support them instead of the big box stores. I knew they had moved locations and were struggling a bit. Owner John Timmons had said the increasing rent was just too much.

So today I traveled to their new location hoping for the best.

I was pretty let down.

Tucked away in a small shopping center next to a wedding photography service is the new ear-X-tacy. The store is MUCH smaller and the building lacks the character of the old location. It's as if all of the great albums and genre labels were ripped from their old location and placed in an empty warehouse. They looked so out of place.

There were several other customers in the store, and that was pretty good for 1:30pm on a Friday.

While the employees and the overhead music still give you a taste of what ear X-tacy once was, it's nothing but a memory. I know that anybody who spent much time in their old location will feel sad in this new location.

I applaud John Timmons for being so positive about the move, but I have to imagine deep down he is sad to leave behind their previous building that gave them so much of their character.

And the worst part of all this is I'm the reason why ear X-tacy suffered. I hardly ever bought my music from them. Even during my time living just off Bardstown Road, I still got a ton of my music from iTunes and Best Buy.

I felt a lot of guilt when I left that store today. It's a cliche now but we can't let one of Louisville's best stores fail like this. I'll try to make sure I buy my music from them and hopefully it's not too little too late.

ear X-tacy's website

Stress doesn't end at "hired"

If there is one thing I've learned this past week, it's that starting a new job is a stressful process.

I always thought that the most stressful aspect of starting a new career was actually the job searching process. Once you got the job, everything from then on was icing on the cake.

Well it's more complicated than that.

Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of stress that goes away once you get the job you have been looking for but it's pretty intense during the first month or two of the new job as well.

My wife Kayla is a perfect example. Having recently graduated from school to be a medical assistant/LMR, it has been tough these last few months while she looks for a job. So you can imagine how happy we were when she finally got a great job with an office within one of Louisville's largest hospitals.

But with a new job, comes a new type of stress. The job search may be over but after the first full week in the new job, Kayla is more tired at the end of this week than she has been in a long time.

The new job is good and she is doing very well so far, but the mental endurance it takes to learn, watch, inquire, perform, meet, remember and practice can be very tiring. Especially in a very fast paced medical environment such as the one Kayla is in.

AND on top of all this, your body has to adjust to a brand new sleep and work schedule, which is more difficult than one might think.

So while the new job is great and I'm positive Kayla will get it down in no time, it's a good lesson that during the career searching process, the mental stress doesn't end when the HR person calls and says "You're hired."

What the Tweet?

So I've been a pretty heavy tweeter for a while now and one of the main questions I always ask myself is what constitutes a professional tweet from a personal tweet?

Working in the advertising field, I like to tweet various topics about my profession such as great original cable programs and ratings highlights. I also like to occasionally network with other individuals like myself. It's fun and a great way to meet new people and learn.

I'm also a heavy tweeter when it comes to my personal life as well. Luckily I've gotten away from some of the bad habits such as tweeting what I'm eating for dinner and various photos of my dogs. However, I do send out a lot of random tweets about TV shows or sports I'm watching, and what my wife @porterkn is up to.

So the question I've been asking myself these last few months is this:

Should I pick one or the other?

The Career minded Tweeter: Do I keep my tweets to professional quality where I network and time my tweets out evenly throughout the day with various facts and linked related to my field?

OR

The Constant Stream of Consciousness Tweeter: Where I tweet about everything I'm watching or reading, along with what food I'm eating and voicing my nasty opinion without a care?

I'm concerned that if I tweet too much about my personal life, I'll annoy my professional followers but if I stick to the dull professional tweets, thats not very fun either.

Well tonight I decided that I'm over-thinking this entire subject. Twitter wasn't designed with any particular goal in mind except to simply tell people what you are doing. So that's what I'm going to do. If that means a tweet about the latest in cable TV advertising is followed by a tweet involving my dog's bathroom habits, so be it.

At least I'm being myself.

Thoughts? What kind of tweeter are you?

My "don't tweet and drive" story

So it's not smart to mess with your iPhone while driving. You shouldn't be tweeting, surfing, watching, emailing, listening, playing, managing, facebooking, or weather checking.

We all know this and if you all are like me, here is your quote:

"I know it's extremely dangerous to tweet while driving and I SHOULD stop."

Well consider me STOPPED.

Before I go into great detail about the Breathalyzer test I had to take, let me set this up a little bit.

It was mid-afternoon this past Saturday and I was leaving from my part-time job at The Home Depot to head home for the evening.

While on the road, I'm checking my updated tweets and emails. I felt I was doing a pretty good job of multitasking my phone and the road in front of me but as you will find out, apparently I wasn't...

I pulled in to my local grocery store(which I am currently mayor of by the way) to buy a 6-pack of beer and a couple groceries. while spending about 10 minutes in front of the ice cream section trying to make up my mind, I noticed the crazy old Jay C security guy was REALLY following me around.

Dude, I'm not going to steal this extreme moosetracks ice cream. I would gladly pay $20 bucks for it. It's like chocolate crack.

Anyway, he keeps following me around, but I figured it was just my imagination.

On my way home, I notice a couple County police cars following me. No big deal, I put my iPhone down and try to be the best driver I can be.

They light me up as I turn on HWY 150.

While pulling over, I'm trying to think of any reason at all why they would be stopping me. My license plate is up to date, all my lights work. I then see a second police car show up with it's lights on as well.

The first officer walks up to my window, and I notice the second one looking through my passenger side at me. He is probably taking a long hard look at the 6-pack of Blue Moon on my passenger seat.

With the standard cop tone, the officer says "Sir, the reason I pulled you over is because we noticed you drifting through a stop sign and swaying side to side on the road.

"Have you had anything to drink today?"

I honestly hadn't had a beer in the past three days so my answer was "no. I'm on my way home from work."

The cop starts questioning me about where I work and what I do etc. Then he asked me to take a really deep breath and breathe in his face.

My first thought is, "Oh crap, I bet I have really bad breath right now."

Then he says, "Would you be interested in taking a Breathalyzer test?"

"You actually had an off-duty Jeffersonville police officer following you as you went to Jay C.

He called in saying you were driving erratically."

Geez, so I had a bunch of cops staked out for me outside the Jay C store while I was getting my ice cream and beer. Maybe they even called the old security guy and told him to follow me around.

The officer comes up with the Breathalyzer test and there I am on the side of the road taking a test to prove I'm not drunk driving.

"You're clean," the cop says with a slightly surprised tone.

Me being the honest person, I told him the truth (Because it's not an Indiana law yet).

I was on my cellphone and I will take this as a sign to kick the habit.

The officer seems pleased that I told the truth and they let me go.

So here is the lesson. Experts tell us that tweeting and driving is just as bad if not worse than drinking and driving.

Well they are right because I got pulled over for drunk driving, had to breathe in an officer's face, and took a test just to PROVE I wasn't driving under the influence.

That's how bad my driving must have been, all because I was looking at updated tweets on the phone.

So I no longer look at my iPhone while driving. I'll just have to make do until I arrive to where ever I'm going.

Maybe all these people are right, that I really am a horrible driver. After all, this marks the SECOND time I have been wrongly pulled over drunk driving.

-Alex