Second Glance
With all of the distractions that we face every single moment of these overly informed, visually over-saturated, social media/Internet-driven modern day lives, it’s hard to stay focused.
When it comes to creation of any kind– whether it’s art/writing/design/fashion/music… I think a good rule of thumb is to attempt to make it worth the second read, a second glance, a second visit, a second listen– worth a second second in a world in which time is everything.
Personally, this theory translates to my everyday life decisions. Don’t do anything that’s just not worth your precious seconds. Here’s to staying true to yourself, and to having integrity in everything you do.
“Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.” -Cecil Beaton
Image via: Tang Yau Hoong
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I was a Podcast Guest! Listen to me on Streddo’s Fashion Insiders
Last week I had the pleasure of being interviewed by fellow lady bosses from Streddo– an LA-based consultant company that offers free resources for emerging brands and designers. Amazing! I'm so impressed with how this company supports up-and-coming brands....
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10 Emotional Stages of Anyone Who’s Ever Had to Move
Congratulations! You’re moving into a brand new home. Let the decorating ideas begin. If you can survive the move first.
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Thank You, President Obama
An entry from my diary written November 4, 2008.
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8 Essential LA Survival Skills (for my 8-Year LA-versary)
No, I don’t want to go to the Walk of Fame with you. This month marks my eight year anniversary of moving to Los Angeles, or my LAversary, if you will. Below are some of the amusing and unusual unspoken rules of this incredible place I now call home.
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Do You Have the Grit
“Actually I have this thesis that the world runs on luck, the question is what you do with it. Everyone gets lucky for some amount in their life, and the question is, are you alert enough to know you’re becoming lucky? Are you talented enough to take that advantage and run with it? And, do you have enough grit? Do you have enough resilience to stay with it when it gets hard? The difference between people who succeed in the long run, and the people who don’t is, frankly, that optimism. [The feeling that] you got lucky… and now it’s yours to make awesome.”
Quote from an interview with Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger on one of my favorite podcasts– NPR’s “How I Built This” with Guy Raz (sidebar… how amazing is that name?).
So, do I have the grit?
Meh, I guess.
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Another Year, Another Fucking Blog
I’ll admit that I’m a failed blogger. And yet I can’t help to do it, so here we are. I don’t know how in my 33 years of living (especially during the 17 of which was under the roof of my late-poet-father) I’ve never heard this quote by William Faulkner until recently – “If a story is in you it has to come out.”
The phrase sums up the reason I’m here, typing this. Writing literally haunts me. Call it compulsive or whatever. I’ve journaled consistently since I was eight years old and writing to me is the equivalent to my coffee or alcohol consumption. I suppose I could live without writing, but it would take a convulsive detoxing process. Just kidding about the alcohol thing (I think). The point is, I can’t help but write. It’s a bit of a curse, really.
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3 Millennial-Friendly Resources to Keep Up with Politics
Here’s your way to catch up on all-the-political-things, quickly and for free if the headlines in your Facebook Newsfeed have informed most of your election knowledge. anyone else feel like this has been the longest presidential election cycle...
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10 Phrases to Replace Saying “Sorry”
It’s time to eliminate “sorry” from your repertoire. Lena Dunham touched on an all-too-familiar feeling in a recent essay Sorry, Not Sorry: My Apology Addiction on a topic that so many of us can relate to.
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5 Apps to Stay Organized in a Crazy, Over-Informed World
I’ll admit, I have a problem. A problem with absorbing and digesting information from the Internet. You’re here, too, huh? Welcome. Pull up a chair– I’m listening. I’m not here to judge you. Let’s all admit the truth of our Internet behavior, shall we? While we all publicly pretend like it’s shameful to waste time spiraling down the rabbit hole that is your social media news feed, you know as well as I do that we privately relish in doing so.
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Why I Quit My ‘Real Job’ (After Two Weeks) and Went Back to Waitressing (Guest Post)
For years I bitched and moaned about how I wanted to finally quit waitressing and get a real job. I fantasized about waking up early with purpose, listening to talk radio on my morning commute, having a fancy job title, and wearing cute outfits to work each day. Much better than wearing clothes infused with french fry grease, having pasta sauce dripping off my no-slip shoes, and being subservient to a bunch of asshole costumers. I mean I have a college education, I’m better than this – right?
After many attempts, I finally landed a great job as a Production Coordinator at a new company. How cool does that sound? Production Coordinator, ahh. I could feel my mom getting prouder by the moment. Read more after the jump.
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Confessions of a Former Salesperson: Rejection is a Way of Life
I believe that every person could benefit from working both in the customer service sector and the sales sector prior to pursuing any other career. This was my path– six years in retail followed by two years in outside sales. Both experiences taught me invaluable skills relevant to my job every single day. If you didn’t have the luxury (or as some might describe “horror”) of experiencing a sales job like I did, allow me to impart upon you some of the key lessons I learned that could benefit you today– immediately– in your own career, no matter the industry.
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TheSkimm A.K.A Your Daily Dose of World News in Five Minutes or Less
Between work, children, family, life and social media it’s likely (like us) you don’t make time to peruse the web to stay up-to-date on the news, politics, or what’s happening in the world. Perhaps like us (until recently) your daily dose of current events have been limited to small snippets of your mouthy politically-minded Facebook friends when they decide to rant and rave on your News Feed…or the occasional trending Buzzfeed quiz.
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9 Facts that Prove that Geena Davis is a Badass
Some facts about the Academy Award-winning Actress who is also a serious advocate for gender equality and diversity in the film industry and basically my (s)hero.
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Vows to Take Before You Become Parents
After recently officiating a wedding, the idea of vows has been on my mind– although not the type that you might think. My boyfriend and I are raising our beautiful and rambunctious daughter in a non-traditional setting. We are going on our fifth year of dating, fourth year of living together and second year of raising our unexpected and cherished little squirt. As LA transplants without family around, we were thrilled when my sister and niece decided to blend their family with ours last year, now living together with us in a large house in The Valley, with two dogs to boot.
read moreAbout Me
Mani O'Brien
Storyteller and Virgo
LA-based social media marketer and brand journalist Mani O’Brien spends her downtime raising a small human and ranting on this blog. Here you’ll find frequent cursing, a self-indulgent analysis of her 30-something existence as a mother, Millennial, digital marketer, almost-wife and astrology-obsessed feminist.
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