Poster Child

Coming To A Power Pole Near You

Regardless of your politics, you can't argue with the fact that a certain campaign poster was the hands-down winner in the recent Presidential election.

So, graphic arts enthusiast that I am, when I had the opportunity to create my own version of this iconic visual piece, I was all over it.

But wait.

What was my word? My message? My mission statement?

This would require some thinking, and anyone who's read even a couple of my posts knows one thing: I'd rather be doing something else (other than thinking).

So I borrowed a word from the hallowed tradition of advertising:


I don't know. It felt a little...forward.

So I tried another sure-fire advertising nugget (it shows up a lot in the Auto Trader, anyway):


For some reason, Jon Bon Jovi thought this was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. (You know, if he's got something to say, he should just say it.)

Morticia and Gomez came up with this one, apparently based on the phrase I use most throughout the day:


Naturally, I exercised my executive veto on that one.

So then I took a deep, meditative breath and went with the first word that came to mind:


Kind of a downer.

Seeking fresh ideas, I called a few friends and asked what word they thought best described my general position. The results were unanimous:


Fine. What the hell do they know?

The right message - my message - still eluded me.

It was at this point that I figured I'd fall back on a tried-and-true approach that's never let me down through relationships and parenting and a dog's breakfast of careers.

That's right, I hauled out a rigorous, scientific method known as "hit or miss." Because I can't always get my hands on quality...but I can do quantity 'till the cows come home:

* sigh *

None of these were working. Crunch time.

Dang it! I paced. I tugged at my hair. I chewed the hem of my jeans.

And then it hit me. Of course! It had been right there under my big nose all along!


* You can make you very own images here. (Prepare to kiss off several hours of your life.)


I have to share this post by the consistently hilarious Marinka at Motherhood in NYC. I laughed so hard I scared the dogs, who then bit me. She'll be hearing from my lawyers.

And thank you to VaBookworm at Confessions of a Bookworm for this little beauty:

She says she's painfully shy but she also claims to spend a lot of time shooting a bow and arrow in her backyard. A woman of mystery and contradiction. Visit her blog if you dare.