caffeine withdrawl

Image by terenceleezy via FlickrI have been having headaches for the last couple of days and had no idea why. It wasn't a hangover, I didn't feel sick, and I was well hydrated. After the third day I got worried, then i remembered that I had not had a cup of tea in days. While in Vegas I stayed away from energy drinks and tea because I was simply too busy.

I never considered myself addicted to caffeine so I was shocked to see how much it really effected me. This made me think about how you can get so used to something you don't even realize. Sometimes in life we just get so used to something that we don't even know how much a part of life it becomes. This doesn't always mean a bad thing. Sometimes you don't realize how much people become a part of your life. This happened to me when I left for home for my freshman year Christmas break. It was only until then I realized how much living with my friends in my dorm really shaped my life. I was so used to going back after classes and seeing them, that it was hard to be away from that comfort.

Its weird how some things can really connect in your head. It took me by surprise how a simple caffeine aversion lead me to realize how much I put my life on autopilot. I need to stop living by weeks and start living by day. Sometimes you just forget what you did yesterday completely, and that isn't ok. People need to live for the day.

Ancient ceremony, modern philosophy

Image via WikipediaWhen I was in Vegas over the break I went to a tea shop and participated in a gongfu tea ceremony. This is a Chinese tradition and it consist of many mall cups of tea and a very ritualistic way of drinking it. I have read about the method of tea drinking, and have always been intrigued to try it. But I got more from the people, and not the ceremony itself.

Before and after the ceremony I spoke with the main woman in charge. I was enthralled by her passion for her traditions. She brought this tradition with her from china with the goal of sharing it to the world. She didn't care about the money she made from the teas she sold, but instead, she cared about the people she sold to. She saw her job as merely a gatekeeper. She showed people the power of relaxation with tea, and would do anything for the customer to feel satisfied.

This drive really affected me because it was another true tale of happiness. She didn't need a huge paycheck or a nice car to be happy, she woke up every day with the goal to help people, and whatever else she got was extra. A lot of people could learn from her about how to enjoy life, and how to appreciate what you have.

Failure of cooking

Image via WikipediaIn my previous post I talked about embracing the fear of failing and just going on a limb and attempting. While that sounds great for writing your new ideas, it didn't apply too well to me and cooking. I have never been someone to cook, favoring eating out and easy make meals. But I decided to go to central market, buy some ingredients, and attempt to cook.

As I went through the store I was charged with energy because I was finally going to try to cook. I bought all the things I needed, a steak, oil, and a spice rub. I could see the finished product in my head and it was looking awesome. I rushed home, found a pan and began to prepare. This is where everything started going downhill.

I overheated the oil, and when I added the steak, it freaked out. I am not over exaggerating, the oil went from a calm liquid to a raging torrent of pain. Oil was flying everywhere with the loud pops of bubbles and surface tension. I quickly turned off the stove and ran to the other side of the room to avoid any more burns.

When the popping and hissing finally stopped I went in and surveyed the damage. The steak was the color of charcoal, and my kitchen was covered in oil. As I went about cleaning I thought "well the worst is out of the way, now I know what to expect". I took this failed dinner and turned it into a learning experience. I saw the extreme of error and can now work to get better. I mean, what worse could of happened trying to make a steak?

Fresh notebook syndrome

Image by edwardkimuk via FlickrI always have the problem of writing in a new notebook. When I go to a bookstore I always see moleskin notebooks and think "man I could really use that to jot down some ideas". So I buy them and then they just sit on my desk. Every time an idea pops up I think "is this really notebook worthy?". If you are a fan of Seinfeld then you can relate this problem to Elaine's "Spongeworthy" dilemma. I feel like this notebook will be a pristine record of my rise from college kid to millionaire entrepreneur and I want it to be perfect.

My friend told me her solution to this is to completely destroy the first page. Write anything that comes to mind, draw anything you imagine, and just fill the page. This will negate all of your worries and allow you to write freely. Now some readers may think this is just stupid and are thinking I should just write, but its not a uncommon problem. A lot of people are held back attempting something because of the fear of failure. A lot of bloggers put off posting because they want every post to be perfect, and in the end, end up abandoning the project entirely.

My advice is to just jump in and start writing. Notebooks are meant to be imperfect, and if you edit your ideas then you might lose a good one.

In the company of others

You are the median of your ten closet friends. This statement has changed the way I see myself. It also rings truer than the old proverb of “you are the company you keep”. It’s amazing how other people can influence your life.  

I have a friend who is the extreme bad example. He is a slacker and addicted to multiple substances, but he is still really close to me. We have a close bond some people just don’t get because we are so radically different. What I learn from him is what not to do. He treats life as an experiment, willing to do anything just to see what it feels like.  I take his mindset and try to incorporate it into my life, but just to a lesser extent.

Another friend of mine is a triple major here at SMU. I met her at AARO and ever since then she has been dedicated to the school. She is mock trial captain, a member of both a professional and social sorority, and still has time for grades. I look to her as a motivational person because she helps me keep my school in perspective.

My third friend is the idealist. Him and me can talk about new business ideas and theory craft them for hours. People say that when we are together we think every idea is the next google or Facebook, and its true. He believes in the “land of yes”. Which means you always agree until there is a good reason to disagree. This mindset is what helps me try out my new websites and business pitches. While others say “its already been done before” he says “yeah, but I can do it better”.

These are just a few of the reasons why I truly believe in the statement said above, and I think it relates to everyone. Friends are here to influence you through life, and shape who you are. So embrace it and enjoy the ride.

Food as Art

Over the years great chefs have made names for themselves not by the taste of their food, but the design of it. The last few years have been a boom for food creatives. These people are using food as a medium for their art.
After eating at a few high end restaurants in Vegas I realized how entertaining this could be.

At a sushi place named sushi samba, they use the dishes as a visual as well as taste experience. The sushi was placed in shapes, the sauce was used to design the plate, and the lighting all accentuated this. It's funny that this reminded me of advertising.

Advertising has a purpose, to inform. But it can also be a form of entertainment. Creative people have known for years that if a message is engaging and fun, people will pay more attention to it. This is a lot like the creative movement in food at the time.

While this fusion of form and function is good, it can be overdone. Some places I went to tried to hard to obtain the "wow" factor and ended up making the taste suffer. This can happen with ads; try something too experimental and the originals goal could be lost.

The key to the equation is balance. Create something edgy that grabs attention, but remember what your overall goal is.

When the scaricity model dies

Image via WikipediaI have been watching a lot of reports about the economic shift in the entertainment industry. People talk about howthe iPod, Netflix, and Amazon have drastically changed how consumers perceive entertainment. We used to live in a world dominated by hits. What I mean is that space was limited and retailers only wanted to stock products for the lowest common denominator for people. This lead to a lot of missed opportunities and products.

Now we live in a world run by hits and misses. Both take up the same amount of space so who cares how many each sell, they are now on equal ground. If you give the consumer the ability to choose and go as deep as they want, they will find new products and niches that can make you money. This made me think about comprimises in life.

People often compromise to achieve something or to stay 'in reality'. This could be as small as not being with friends to study, or as big as changing majors because you feel like your dream job isn't financially secure. That is the scarcity model, in today's world everyone's talents can be used to make a living. Look at how many people make money blogging passionately about their topics.I believe we are in the middle of the abundance economy, which means everyone has an outlet and a chance to do what they love.

Flight delays

Image via WikipediaSo what do you do when you find out your flight has been delayed?

Due to weather or something I will be spending four hours in the lovely Las Vegas airport. Watching people pour their money into slot machines, carry around over-sized souvenir drink glasses, and generally looking hungover; this is what I get to occupy my time with. While looking at all of these things I realized how much of an escape from life vegas is to people.

People gamble with the hopes of winning big and changing their lives, they drink to get away from inhibitions and problems. This shows just how people really want to live, and how they want to be different from their day to day lives. This made me think about how I escape my reality.

I generally like to play video games and write. These activities help me zone out and get away from all my problems like school or friend drama. I can definitely relate to the art of Flow, and it really does make a big difference in my life. Being able to focus on just one thing really helps put everything else in perspective.

Getting caught up in everything

Image via WikipediaI have only been away from SMU for a day and I can already feel the effects. I feel slowed down, feel like I have more time, and can just relax. Its amazing what getting away can do for you. I am currently in Las Vegas with my family and I am really enjoying myself, but not because of the activities.

Waking up I realized that I did not have a million things to do. I wasn't stressed about class or homework, or even what all my friends were doing. It was this feeling of unconnectedness that really lead to me slowing down. I could just enjoy the time I was having here.

What  I really understand from this is that you cannot be in one environment for too long. I have been at my apartment and SMU for months without a break and realized how a schedule and routine can take over your life. I started seeing every day by what I did per hour and tried to optimize my time. While that kind of mind set can help productivity, it is not good to stay in for that long.

Another thing I realized was how easy blog ideas for deanelazab.com have been coming to me. Now that I am not in my usual routine I am seeing different things and relating them to what I write about. Basically everyone should realize that there is more to life then your immediate surroundings, and getting away from that surrounding can really help you.

If you sell with sex, at least do a good job

Is there a positive way to sell with sex? Too often advertising agencies just go with something that will work, and do not really care what implications the ad will have. But a reason for them to do this is that it is effective: sex sells. Agencies have known this since the birth of advertising and why should any one campaign be looked down upon if that is the generally accepted belief? Here are some examples of good and bad advertising with sex.

 The advertisement above took a very low-brow approach to marketing its shoes. The advertisement says nothing about the shoes and just shows some attractive women. While this really doesn't cause explicit harm, it isn't helping the industry either. This ad has no real copy to be seen other than the logo, and is just used to grab attention.

 Now this is another sex sells type of ad, but at least they are mocking themselves for doing it. They blatantly  mock the images other companies use to "suggest" sex.  I actually find this ad entertaining because of the nature and the target market for this product. A body gel for men, who enjoy looking at girls. This one makes sense in its context, sure old spice could have done a different ad, but they decided that this one worked. At least they put effort into the copy and not just an image of an attractive girl.
 The difference between these two ads shows the effort put into the campaign. Old spice knew its market,  knew that they wanted to still be funny and witty, and used that image appropriately. Sketchers just wanted to get some attention on its shoes and decided the best way was for a shock image of two attractive girls to gain attention.

Viral Ad Woes

Are viral ads deceptive? Sure, but aren't they also entertaining? This clip was one of my favorites when I was in High school. I showed a ton of my friends because I thought it was an ingenious idea. I remember when this released and people believed it was real. When MTV posted an article about how Activision creating this ad, there was a huge public back-lashing. People immediately discredited the video and starting talking about how bad it was.

This made me think that these people were simply overcompensating for being tricked. No one enjoys being told they were deceived. But Activision did it in a way that really brought us closer to their brand. They showed a committed fan and his friends making a video that showed guitar hero in a new light, and I think that it sparked a real discussion about the upcoming game.


In the end I think people should view viral ads as a experience, not a lie. The agency tries to immerse you into the brand by pretending to be just another fan, but they are actually stimulating discussion. This can lead to a lot of entertaining content, and come on, its better than watching an ad talking about the new tracks in the game and how it is better than rock band.

Are our identities held back by our "identities"?

The newest social network Path launched this week, and it made me question a lot of things. It is built on being personal and has a friend limit of 50 people. Its reasoning is that they know you censor what you put on Facebook and Twitter because of how public they are, and that you want to have a service to just talk to friends.

This made me think about how we censor our true identities. We all say we want people and friends to love us for who we are, but then we lie or make images of ourselves that show only one side. We try to show who we want to be, not who we are, and this may hurt us more than it helps. If everyone just stopped worrying about what others thought, then I'm positive the world would be a better place. But currently we are too entrapped in what we want to become to just be content with ourselves.  Do we also deny our natural progress by trying to fit ourselves in a mold we wish to fill out? Creative people are told that they should not follow their dreams because there is no money in them, and some conform to this. Do they deny their true selves because they see themselves as someone who needs money to be happy?


I know this post is a lot of questions, but if I had all these answers I'm sure I would be on some motivational speaker circuit and having my face on my #1 best seller "Dare to be you" or something equally as cheesy. 

Fear of your expectations

Have you ever wanted to start a new project, but the fear of failure stops you? I remember when I first got my apartment that I thought I would learn to cook. In my head I had this vision of cooking every night after class, learning new recipes, and really experimenting. The closest thing to cooking I have done all semester is baking a frozen meal in the stove. I wondered why I never attempted to cook and it was not the fact that I didnt have the time, resources, or drive. It was the fact that I didn't want to fail.
This feeling of breaking the first barrier inhibits people from doing a lot. I remember when I first wanted to start playing paintball. I kept convincing myself it was the weather, or that I was busy. But it wasn't for those reasons, its because you don't want to not leave up to your expectations.
To get over this obstacle, I realized I need to expect to fail. If you set yourself with high expectations, they will actually hold you back more than help. 

My creative work

When I got my blog review grade I was pretty impressed. I felt like I put a lot of work into this project and and was happy with the grade, but one thing was apparently lacking; personal creative work. This made me think about what is technically considered creative in what I make on a day to day basis. My conclusion was my professional blog at deanelazab.com. Every day I put a few hours into creating a post, moderating, and spreading my blog. But then I thought about how this was just type, and maybe not considered "creative". I then realized that I create something else everyday. This product is intangible, but still measured. It was my online identity.

I spend hours crafting not just a blog, but my identity online. I show myself as a professional in the social media world, and doing this is what I consider creative. I take type and use it to personify on a screen. I create the illusion of knowing me without ever meeting me in person. It might be my fever that is making this seem like an amazing idea at the present, but I like it.

The power of doing nothing

I know that sounds like a corny title, but it really describes what happened to me today. I woke up today and realized that I have been working on school, being with friends, or working on deanelazab.com pretty much non stop for a month. This lead me to being stressed out and feeling tired constantly, and I really wanted to make a change. I sat down with my friend and asked him how I should go about doing this and we discussed how I could start taking it easier.


After a while of talking, I thought of how little I watched television. I then decided that I was going to try and just lie down and watch tv for a night. This was a lot harder than it sounds. I have grown attached to my computers and social networks, and it took this experience to learn just how much it affected me. When I was laying down I kept thinking that I should check my phone or check my computer. It took a lot to just sit there unconnected to the world. I realized how much I feel the need to be connected to the world, either through friends or news sites.


After this day I actually did feel more relaxed. I learned that it is ok to disconnect from the world and just be by myself.