VIvian and I went over to Easley yesterday, to call on a prospective client. Can’t say who the prospect is, but I can tell you that it was great to be in Easley. There’s just something about Easley.

Back in the last century, when I moved here, I was under the impression that South Carolina was made up of the 60 sophisticates that worked with me at Henderson Advertising, and about 1.1 million toothless bubbas. But the longer I stayed, the more I realized that much of South Carolina was sophisticated (and perhaps that I was the bubba). Out of this learning came the concept I call, “The Easley Syndrome”.

For some reason, Easley, South Carolina is a watershed of world-class wonderfulness, sometimes disguised as ordinary folks (maybe even a little bit country). Easley is the birthplace of the world’s most successful kayak manufacturer. Easley is the home of one of Southern Gospel Music’s finest pianists. Easley has a world-class web printer. Easley is the hometown of one of the biggest club acts of the late 70s and early 80s (second only to Leon Russel), a CCM band called The Rob Cassels Band. At one time, the strongest woman in the world was a 16-year-old girl from Easley. Easley has more Congressional Medal of Honor winners per capita than any other town or city in America. Also, Easley is the home of one of the best kept secrets in the healthcare industry (nuff said).

Some places are just like that, I guess. Jackson, Mississippi has more than its share of great writers, for example. And Pittsburgh turns out more than its share of NFL quarterbacks. But Easley, SC ought to be a wide spot next to a railroad track. And somehow…it’s a full fledged syndrome. Who would have thought it?

That was the last time the Volatility Index closed this low. Today, it closed at 38.85! ’Scuse me while I do the little learned optimist dance.

I remember the day the space shuttle fell apart, and the pieces fell all over Texas. You could get really famous if you got hit by a piece of space debris. You’d be in all the papers for a week or so.

And I remember when a big old sink hole swallowed a car near Pittsburgh, back when I was living up there. Of all the ways to lose your car, that is one that would make the papers.

Used to know a woman who slept with a sauce pan on her head. She lived in a bad neighborhood, and she said you never know when a stray bullet is gonna fly through your bedroom.

My college friend, Bruce Call, was delivering papers in Xenia, Ohio, when the biggest tornado in the history of the state ripped through. There was Bruce, riding his bike like the wicked witch of the west, through a tornado…dodging softball-sized hail stones. He actually lived to tell about it. There are certain places where you just don’t want to be a certain times—like on the sidewalk where the piano lands when the piano-movers rope breaks as he’s delivering the thing to the fourth floor walk-up.

So far, the Lord has been good, keeping us from those places. But, since pride is a bad thing, He has also kept us from being in the right place at the right time. Today, we talked to some folks who would be perfect clients for us. They believe what we believe. They sell what we buy. They’re a little weird, inexactly the way we are. Unfortunately, they just hired an agency…right before we got there. We’re not giving up on that one. Could still happen. Maybe a project. Maybe something down the road.

Wrong place. Wrong time. Could be worse. Could be a falling Boesendorfer.

Umpqua
Wal Mart
McDonalds

Let’s see whose PR spiders get here first.

People who know Anne and me know that we eat red meat about once a decade. Well, this year, we decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day by having a cheeseburger and fries (we’re really boring). So, we started about a month ago, asking all our carnivorous friends for recommendations regarding burgers and fries. We got Sonic, Fuddruckers, Wendy’s (my dad’s fav)… But our nephew Jonathan came with the definitive recco. Five Guys.

So, Friday, Anne and I saved our calories all day, so we could do the celebratory injection of nasties into our arteries. We cruised in around 5:30. Place was filling up with large moms and their less large kids…and some teeny-boppers with turbo-charged metabolisms. We walked up to the counter, apparently looking like vegans in a slaughter house. The girl at the counter took one look at Anne and said, “You don’t want the famous burger. The little burger will be plenty for you. The famous burger is two quarter-pound patties.” So, we looked at each other, had a quick discussion of the potential damage to our circulation (and waste lines), and ordered two little cheeseburgers and a bag-o-fries. Mine had lettuce, tomatoes, mustard, and jalapenos.

We munched on the shelled peanuts while we waited (with much anticipation) for “NUMBER 78!” Our number was finally called. We brought the grease-stained back back to our table and began to unpack the feast. We gave thanks. And then, simultaneously, we bit into our burgers. It had been years since either of us had tasted that taste. Beef! With the crunch of cool iceberg lettuce. The slurp of tomato, dripping slightly. The tang of jalapeno afterburners.

Then, we dug into the fries, dipping each one into our little ketchup cups (catsup is for wimps…this was ketchup). The grease made them slide down sooooo smooth. We expected that we would be waddling around for a day or two–red meat remains oozing from our pores. But surprisingly, it has not been a problem. That, I guess, is the benefit of going for the good stuff.

Of course, we are still not big red meat eaters. But this has been a good experience. So we may be increasing our burger frequency. Maybe we’ll do it again for Independence Day. Who knows?

Today, unemployment hit a 16 year high. This is our company’s sixteenth year in business. So, the economy is beginning to look a lot like uncharted territory. For us, and I guess for a lot of other people. Of course, there is history. There is 1992, 1982, 1970s, 1930s…, and we can certainly learn from all of those times. But right now, we are in a time in which some things are different from those times. The banking ship that is currently stuck on a sandbar is a very different vessel than banks of any previous time. Sophisticated, fast-paced investment instruments that arose over the past 15 years (which somebody called financial weapons of mass destruction) make this mess more complicated than the one addressed by the new deal.

Also, the world economy is more connected than ever. And the Internet makes everything move faster. Here’s a question…if the Internet made the economy rise at a record pace in the 1990s, and made transactions happen at a record pace, then will the Internet make EVERYTHING happen faster…rises…falls… and will it make the peaks higher and the valley’s lower?

In any case, we find ourselves with a new paradigm. In the life of our company, we have never seen an environment like this. I wonder if its time to get back to basics. By basics I mean…as 1 Thessalonians 4: 11-2 says…

And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; that ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.

Quiet life. Do our own business. Work with our own hands. Walk honestly. Lack of nothing. Sounds pretty good to me.

Of course, as of today, we know him as Mr. President. But about a year and a half ago, when he came to McAllister Square Mall, here in Greenville, Barack Obama was just an interesting idea. Today, he drew a couple million. That day it was a couple thousand. Of course, he could make a speech even back then.

For the past couple of years, we have done something really cool at Christmas time. We invite our friend Carl Blair over to paint with us. It’s like art class, except the art teacher is a serious business artist. And we all get around a table and paint the artwork for our Christmas mailings.

This year, we threw C.B. a curveball. We prepped the canvases with an under coat of silver and gold metallic. He seemed to think it was cool. He did the first painting by himself. Started with the sky. Worked his way down. Then, he used the ends of the brushes (the part without the bristles) to scratch through and reveal the metallic. It was so cool. So, among other things, Carl Blair can hit a curveball.

In other news, our friend Curtis came to visit from San Antonio. He is a former (and perhaps future) youth pastor, who is using his graphic design skills right now. He has a nice time meeting C.B. at our office. In fact, God seemed to like the two of them together, because the next day, while Anne, Curtis, and I were having coffee at Starbucks, who walks in but Carl and his friend Carol. They sat with us and chatted for a while.

Then, later that night, Curtis, Anne, and I went to Flight for dinner with…Carl Blair (and our best art dealer friend, Sandy).

Curtis had the sniffles, so he stayed at the house and snoozed and relaxed while Anne and I made a Saturday run to Asheville for breakfast with the sisters. Kind of overcast day. Curtis will have to come back when he feels better…and when Asheville feels better too.

Then, we ran around, got artisan bread, listened to Revival Hymn, made black beans and rice, and generally had fellowship with Curtis. And at 4:30 Sunday morning, we got up to take Curtis to the plane. But we wanted to adopt him.

It was three days of little unexpected treasures. Silver and gold. I love that song. Don’t you?

I’m off to Rock Hill tomorrow to visit a prospective client. I will be meeting Vivian at 7:20 in the morning here at the headquarters for the two-hour drive. So, one thing I can be thankful for is that the coffee maker will be up about five minutes before I am, and the coffee will be fresh and hot. I guess that’s two things. We’re praying for a great presentation, a good conversation, some new friends, and an agency | client relationship that will last a long time.

Smart little brother is back in town. Could you feel the lift in the median IQ of South Carolina about 7:00 this morning? He said the secret conversations with those people about that thing are going well. Nuff said.

We’re off to American Grocery. I’ll give you a review. Yeeha! Good times.