iv whitman's profile

I'm 40. I like it. I also like having 40 acres in the Ozark Mountains. I like chasing snakes there. I also like what I do for a living: advertising. Yeah, I know. Most people think it's a sleazy business. And they're right. Which is why I probably enjoy it. Right now I'm convincing people to buy more ice cream, teddy bears and hamburgers than they ever thought possible. It's a good feeling. I also like unexpected combinations of things. A few weeks ago I had dinner with some friends at Archie's in La Mars, Iowa. Archie's is a restaurant. But Archie's looks like a funeral home. A little disconcerting until you walk in and see a tractor trailer's worth of Christmas ornaments decorating the place. I had a 22 ounce bone-in tenderloin that night at Archie's. I also had two cabernets from Oakville, California that were amazing. One bottle has a label that was a Liberty Dime. Yep. That's right. No paper. No words. Just a Liberty Dime sunk into the bottle. It was cool. The other bottle was one of 480 bottles. This wine was sold in two places: Archie's in La Mars, Iowa, and Newport Beach, California. So it came as no surprise to me that a few minutes later the owner of the restaurant and I were talking and I find out he sold a former client of mine The Hotel Pattee in Perry, Iowa, for fifty thousand bucks. It just so happened that this former client could see the Newport Yacht Club from their front door in Corona del Mar, California. Corona del Mar neighbors Newport Beach. Freaky? Not for me. I like stuff like that. I like Kansas City, too. That's where I live. I like that it's not too big and not too small. It's just right. I like that Morrissey played here two months ago and that The Reverend Horton Heat will be playing two months from now. I like that one of my clients is Reverend Horton Heat's brother. That makes it cool. I like that my company is in Howard Hughes' old TWA headquarters. Every now and then when I'm working late I wonder if his ghost will tap me on the shoulder and politely tell me to watch out for bacteria on door knobs. And if I'd like to have a few tissues just to be on the safe side. Or if I'm really concerned, he has a roll of plastic I can wrap my office in. Just to keep the bad stuff out. I also like that this building where I work has a 35-foot rocket on the roof. And I like that you've read this far. Because most people would have given up by now.

Weird experiences. The weirder the better.
Cycling. I just bought a new bike two days ago. And it is sweet.
Traveling. I love waking up in a hotel in the middle of the night and wonder where I am for a second.
Spending more time with my wife. She's amazing. But she's busy herding our kids from one place to the other.
Art. Don't know why. Colors and shapes and textures just do it for me.
People. They are the most fascinating thing on the planet.