Saturday, May 07, 2005

Overheard in New York

From Overheard in New York:

Tween chick #1: So when we went to Canada, we had deer.
Tween chick #2: Really? Doesn't it have a special name too?
Tween chick #1: Yeah. Verizon, like the phones.

Woman: Every time I try to explain it to you, you don't understand--
Man: I'm killing your dreams?

Little girl: My birthday is next week.
Woman: Oh? What sign are you?
Little girl: I'm Italian and Jewish.

Girl #1: Sorry I'm late! Brian and I were discussing the logistics of turning my Statue of Liberty figurine into a bong.
Girl #2: It's always something with you.

Guy: So in your fantasy life you're a scholar? That's ridiculous!

Chick: I got a washing machine at home but it don't fit. I got too many clothes.
Guy: Ain't you never heard of loads?
Chick: What you mean?
Guy: Doing it once at a time.
Chick: Shoot, I be doing clothes forever if I do that shit.

Black guy on cell: Yeah, it was actually all right. We were both circumcised.

Receptionist: Do you have an appointment here?
Guy: Yes, I'm the 3:35.
Receptionist: No, you're not.
Guy: Oh yes I am.
Receptionist: This is gynecology.
Guy: Ah.

Girl #1: I have no idea what happened, but when I woke up my bed was full of clam chowder.
Girl #2: Really?
Girl #1: Really!

A Rose by Any Other Name Would Still Be An Ad Agency

In my first post, I explained our name. In short, in botany, the cambium is the layer of cells between the bark and wood that grows. Each year's cambium cells become another ring of growth. Since our job is making things grow, it's an apt concept. But there are other reasons a botanical term is particularly appropriate for us.

Hard as it is to believe, people weren't knocking down doors to offer me writing jobs after I got my English degree. I dithered around for a while, and even became an assistant vice president for a commercial mortgage lender. The turning point came when I was asked to interview at an agency with a horticultural client. Did I mention my dusty degree in horticulture?

That was Brighton Agency, and at the time, their biggest accounts were Valent U.S.A. and later Sandoz (later bought by BASF).

Jonathan and I were a team at Osborn and Barr, working on Merck Crop Protection and Monsanto. We do know our way around a soybean brochure.

What's more, Jonathan is the original Earth Father, a naturalist by avocation and a conservationist in practice, with long-standing ties to that movement. My heart is with him, but I haven't logged the hours to earn that distinction.

Choosing Cambium Creative as our corporate moniker was a natural extension of the most general purpose of marketing, while also serving as an apt allusion to our photosynthetic backgrounds.

That said, I want to make it clear that our experience goes far beyond agriculture, but that's another discussion. Read all about it when our website, www.cambiumcreative.com, goes live in the near future.