Prangster in Chicago

5 hours in Milwaukee

Hey, Milwaukee? You're funny. Not funny haha, but more funny weird. Like that stuffed animal orchestra. That was hilarious and a bit odd. And at Leon's Frozen Custard, where I decided against a frozen custard and had a soft serve cone instead, only to be told that the soft serve is frozen custard...what the hell, Milwaukee? The funniest thing though, was when we were getting back in the car and a local lady walking along the footpath said hello to me, so I smiled at her then got in the car and closed the door. I put on my seatbelt and was ready to head to the next snack location. Except I looked out the window and she was still standing next to the car, still talking to me. So I rolled down my window and she asked if we're having a fun day, if we're from Illinois, if we're staying late or heading back now. I shot back a round of one-word answers: yes, yes, later. It was suspiciously friendly behavior from her, right? Then she mentioned that she was also heading to Illinois to visit family and I thought, "A-ha! She wants a ride to Chicago! No eye contact!" But moments later she wished us a fun night in her funny accent, waved goodbye and walked off all chipper. After I rolled the window back up I realized the woman was just being crazy nice. And I remembered that sometimes America is crazy nice. And I'm sometimes a bit of a jerk.

Otherwise, Milwaukee is also delicious. Good beer, good cheese, good ice cream, good pizza, good brownies. And on the way back to Chicago, there's an outlet mall where I got a pair of $390 shoes for $47. But that wasn't funny haha either. That was funny mua-hahahaha!

Hello meat

Last night's dinner was Argentine steak at Tango Sur. BYOB and no corkage fee. Less than $80 before tip for 3 people. Ridiculous. I came home and fell right asleep. Pretty nice start to the 4-day Thanksgiving weekend...

You're welcome

We launched a massive corporate site last week and got these personalized glass plaques from the client. It's a beauty, isn't it? This baby will join other corporate gifts in my drawer like the baseball cap, pens, t-shirt, water bottle, b-school sweatshirt, college football jersey, reusable shopping bag, cookbook, CFL light bulb and the biography of a U.S. president (Lincoln, I think). I also got a ladies' watch with a red alligator strap last year, but it went to Ebay heaven.

The desk has been sold

Here's the news: I'm leaving VSA to go home to Taipei for a while! I'm already counting down my last month before I fly back on December 15, and I'll be there until late February. To those of you who follow the lunar calendar, yes, I'll be in Taipei for Chinese New Year to eat my way into the Year of the Tiger. Rarrrr!

Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to get my act together and actually blog. You know, before this site turns from Prangster in Chicago to something vague and directionless, like Prangster on Hiatus.

Career lessons from the season finale of Mad Men

I watched the season finale of Mad Men last night and I loved it. I squealed at last three times and yayed my heart out when Joan came back. The basic storyline was that Sterling Cooper was being sold to McCann Erickson, and the Sterling Cooper partners wanted out. So over the course of a weekend, they hatched a secret plan to get fired from their current contracts and steal key talent, clients and supplies so they could start fresh.

The episode was so incredible I watched it again tonight and took away the following lessons about life at the office:

1. Be a hard worker first. Be likable second.
Pete is agonizing to watch. He's so awkward and desperate and intense. In the previous episode, Lane the British boss man passed him over for the Head of Accounts position, choosing Kenny instead. Lane said Pete looks like he's working too hard at it. But wait, don't you want someone who works really hard? So it made sense when Don and Roger picked Pete to be the accounts man for the rogue agency. Pete's not the guy you're going to be friends with outside of the office, but you know he's going to work hard and be loyal.

2. But working hard isn't enough.
Not everyone who wants a promotion gets it -- no matter how hard they work. And not everyone who gets a promotion deserves it. It's kind of like landing a job. So if you work really hard and want a promotion like Pete, or you build up the courage to ask for a raise like Peggy, you need a backup plan because there's a good chance it won't work out.

The day Don and Roger asked Pete to go AWOL with them, Pete had an interview with Ogilvy. And after Don turned down Peggy's request for a raise, she talked to Duck about moving to Grey Advertising. Duck even gave her a fancy Hermes silk scarf to make her swoon. She should totally sell that on Ebay.

3. Your skill set is your best bargaining tool.
Lane jumped the British ship to go rogue with Don, Roger and the others. They needed him because he knows how to run a company, manage money and cut costs. None of the others know how to do that, so he negotiated to get his name in the lobby. In the same way, Harry, who started the television department, basically invented his own title and job description. He has no idea what he's doing, but no one else knows that. So he got to go along for the ride too. I still don't know if he's smart or just lucky.

4. We're all nervous poodles. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.
When Peggy said to Don, "You just assume I'll do whatever you say. Just follow you, like some nervous poodle," I realized that everyone on Don's creative team is a nervous poodle. Not just Peggy. The reason why they act like that -- and why I'm like that myself sometimes -- is because there's a level of respect that comes with having a leader you look up to.

I'm a little bit anxious (okay, sometimes I'm really anxious) when I present ideas and I think that's a good thing. It means I'm working with people whose opinions actually matter to me, and I care about doing a good job. Having said that though, poodles still need to pick their battles. Two of the best scenes were when Pete and Peggy made Don spell out just how much he values them.

5. Nobody cares if you take a sick day.
Well, they're probably concerned for a nanosecond. But the point is that you shouldn't have to cough into the handset when you're calling in, or practice a gravelly voice before you start dialing. Pete called in sick so he could interview at Ogilvy and when Don and Roger stopped by, he put on a bed gown and scruffed up his hair to keep up the act. They didn't give a crap.

5. Be a good idea to have around.
When the team was preparing to rob and pillage the office for supplies, no one had a clue where anything was. So Roger called Joan, who rallied the team and the movers. When Don saw her, he smiled and said, "Joan. What a good idea."

A lot of people have made note that when Joan came in that day, it was the first time in three seasons that she'd worn pants. But if you think about it, isn't it Joan who wears the pants in the office anyway?

See you soon, Tokyo (and Janice and Helen too)

I can't stop researching things to do in Tokyo! It's like a part time job. I've decided to stay in the city three extra days by myself after Janice and Helen have both left. The plan is to keep exploring and eating, and see how lost I can get by myself on the Tokyo subway system. The best part is that Tokyo is pretty much like New York to me. I've been a handful of times already and done most of the tourist stuff. Now it's just about taking the time to absorb and enjoy whatever the hell I feel like.

Here are a few things already planned:

- We're staying at Hotel Claska. It looks incredible. And between the three of us, the room rate won't be bad for three nights. It's got a gallery space, restaurant/bar, a book shop and these modern tatami rooms. I booked through Tablet Hotels. The location could be a little out of the way, but that means we get to explore a new neighborhood.

- Helen and I will be doing our Uniqlo and Beams run before we meet up with Janice. Mmm, Beams. Hopefully Helen and I won't slip into "dead mode," where we turn into shopping zombies from dehydration and exhaustion.

- We're going to have a nice, long reunion dinner on Saturday night. Location to be decided. The three of us haven't been in the same city since maybe 2006, which is far too long. We first became friends in Year 9 (or was it Year 10?) because we had to sit alphabetically in home class in an Asian huddle: Chen, Chen Chow, Cheng. Helen and I annoyed the crap out of Janice by speaking over her every morning. Then she cracked and crossed to the dark side.

- If I can swing it, I'd like to take a class at Freedom University. It seems similar in concept to the School of Life in London. Most of the classes are focused on communications, design and the arts, with the English-language classes taught by the guy who used to head Patagonia in Japan. The web site is mostly in Japanese so I cold e-mailed to ask about the class schedule. I hope it works out because then I'll have a legit excuse to buy lots of Japanese notebooks and pens. And Bad Badtz Maru stickers.