Pedro Picasso confesses

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3551357

As they say, confession is good for the soul.

Atman  Donating Member  (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-01-08 08:58 PM
Original message

OK, it's time to fess up...The reason I left DU (kind of) . And it's a GOOD one.   

I haven't actually left. I get to post every now and then. This is the now.

No, this isn't one of those long "I can't take it anymore" don't let the door hit ya on the way out posts. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Some background: as some of you may remember, I've been self-employed virtually my entire life. I've started a couple of businesses and, with the exception of a four-year stint in the home office of a major U.S. womens' clothing retailer, I've never actually been on anyone's payroll. I've been a freelancer or "creative consultant" for most of my nearly thirty-year career in graphic design, advertising and marketing.

Around the first of this year I was cruising Craigslist looking for some freelance work and found a rather interesting ad seeking a freelance-to-fulltime position that seemed almost too good to be true for this DUer...an Art Director position for an advertising agency that does nothing but DEMOCRATIC advertising! I responded. I received an e-mail at midnight on a Sunday night about a week later asking if I could come in the next morning. Being a freelancer, it was easy to open up my schedule. I went in...they gave me an office with a top-o-the-line Mac system with dual 24" wide-screen monitors.

I was in heaven. Not only was there no dress code (the full-timers were wearing jeans, t-shirts, Tevas, your basic weekend hangout wear), but the company also bought lunch every day. AND, there was a full kitchen stocked to the brim with organic foods and coffees, everything you could imagine. It was amazing. They liked the stuff I churned out the first day, even though I received more instruction on how to use the coffee machine than I did about the workings of the agency. They asked me to come back the next day. And the next. And kept calling me back, for nearly three months, paying me my full freelance rate for 8-10 hours a day!

When I started, I was told the office would be moving about 30 miles away in a few months. Hmm. No prob, not at the rate they were paying me. The day after the move to the new office I was called back for more freelance work. By the end of the week they called me in to meet with the principals of the agency. Despite the fact that I was considerably older than most of the people in the agency (the "girl" that hired me, a former Clinton campaign worker, is 27), they asked me to stay on full-time.

I accepted.

So, at 49 years old, I'm working full time, for only the second time in my entire life. It's awesome. I wear flip-flops and shorts to work. I come and go as I please (hours aren't important, just get the work done). The new office has -- get this, now! -- a chef who cooks for us three days a week. As if that all weren't sweet enough, the new office is located in a state park, and we frequently break to play Frisbee alongside the lake (yeah, it's on a lake, too).

It gets even better...right after I got hired full time, my wife and I responded to a listing in the paper for a house on another lake about ten miles from the new office. We were the first, and made an offer that weekend, and moved in six weeks later. Now, I'm out of the city, living on a beautiful lake in the boonies just ten minutes from my office -- doing nothing but Democratic political advertising. Did I say that already? From Oregon to Ohio, Connecticut to Colorado, I've been creating mailers and web ads for Democratic candidates across the country. Some of you have undoubtedly received the mailers I've created. I've done the campaigns for two of the three recent Republican-to-Democrat turnovers. I helped throw Woody Jenkins out of Louisiana!

I finally feel like all my time I've spent on DU and in "freelance politicking" has finally paid off, and I'm finally actually making a real difference.

The downside...I've been afraid to post much on DU because I don't want any conflicts with clients. So I check in every now and then, post a few remarks, but for the most part I just don't have the time anymore (though I work in place where they obviously don't mind if I cruise DU during down-time).

So there you have it. I'm not posting much, but I still read DU first thing (and second and third) every day to keep up with the headlines. I'm not as active -- I've even pulled most of the political content off my own web site -- but I'm still here every day.

Thanks, DU. I don't think I could have made this transition without the background this site has helped provide. Though it's still kind of weird working full time.

In this George Bush economy, the worst economy since Michaelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Pedro Picasso got a good job?

What's up with that?

And then in this George Bush economy, the worst economy since da Vinci painted The Last Supper, Pedro Picasso managed to purchase a nice house?

What's up with that?

Atman  Donating Member  (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-01-08 10:54 PM
Response to Reply #33

37. It's an awesome place! My wife or kids would be welcome.   

If my wife wanted to come in for lunch, she'd be welcome. It's a great business model, at least from the employee perspective. They keep the kitchen stocked so we don't feel the need to leave for lunch (or dinner, when it's busy, which it is). I don't even bother to make coffee or eat breakfast at home anymore. When I get to the office (at 9:30 or 10:00 most mornings) I know there is fresh fruit and low-fat yogurt and home made granola (the chef makes a batch every week). If we have to work late (more of that coming as the election season progresses), dinner is in the fridge. We even have a big gas grill out on the lawn and one of the employees cooks burgers or bbg chicken or whatever on the days the chef isn't in.

It makes sense...if you leave the premises, you'll take your full hour for lunch. But if you just have to walk down the hall and have a nice, professionally prepared hot lunch (or dinner), you'll eat up and be back at your desk in half an hour or less. But we make up for it by loose working hours, the ability to come and go as we please, etc.

A couple of the others bring their dogs in to hang out with them. One of the AD's has his kids in a couple of times a week. They don't mind, because one of the conference rooms has a 52" plasma screen and a Wii, and big comfy furniture.

It's really quite a place!

Liberal_in_LA  (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-01-08 10:44 PM
Response to Original message

34. what a great story!

Yeah, it is quite a story.

franksolich detects some stretchy in it, and is confused, because Pedro Picasso usually doesn't stretchy.

[DumbAss Tanker]

I suspect the well of money for Democrat political advertising will suffer a drastic drop in the water level long about mid-November.

[franksolich]

I suspect the well of money for Democrat political advertising will suffer a drastic drop in the water level long about mid-November.

You know, after posting this, I had some coffee and went outdoors to walk around censusing the cats (the cats were all accounted for, but spread over considerable ground), and thought about this.

I'm seeing a lot of problems with this tale, mostly stretchies.

Which surprises me, because stretching isn't one of Pedro Picasso's major characteristics.

[DumbAss Tanker]

I suspect the well of money for Democrat political advertising will suffer a drastic drop in the water level long about mid-November.

You know, after posting this, I had some coffee and went outdoors to walk around censusing the cats (the cats were all accounted for, but spread over considerable ground), and thought about this.

I'm seeing a lot of problems with this tale, mostly stretchies.

Which surprises me, because stretching isn't one of Pedro Picasso's major characteristics.

It is of course entirely possible that the entire tale is merely fantasy, spun to increase his juju and make the other lesser tribespeople jealous.

[Uhhuh35]

So, at 49 years old, I'm working full time, for only the second time in my entire life.

That's all you need to know about Pedro Picasso right there.

[USA4ME]

It's more than a stretchy, it's gotta be a lie.  The overhead costs associated with what he's describing compared to the types of propaganda he claims they're churning out and the prices they would have to charge the campaigns because of those expenses doesn't add up.  Much smarter to hire a proven firm on Madison Ave and know what you're getting, which I suspect the big players do. And they're the only ones who can afford to dole out the kind of money to purchase services from a place that has a full time chef, free lunch, and stocked refrigerators.

And having a company that designs ads and fliers "that does nothing but DEMOCRATIC advertising" is extremely limiting.  It's like saying that you're going to open a shoe store but only sell blue 4" heel closed-toe pumps in size 7, and that's it.

Nope, just not happening.  Too easy for someone to do the research and find out what this place is and where it's located, and I'm guessing it doesn't exist.

.

[franksolich]

While I was driving to town to get some milk, I thought about this more.

There's more holes in this story than in a pound of Swiss cheese.

I'll just deal with one right now, which isn't a hole, but it confuses me very much.

I've been afraid to post much on DU because I don't want any conflicts with clients.

Now, if the clients are exclusively Democrat, where would any "conflict" be, between them and Pedro Picasso hanging around Skins's island?

In fact, wouldn't Democrat clients actually encourage people to hang around Skins's island?

I mean, don't Democrats think Skins's island is the greatest thing since sliced bread?

Surely Democrat clients would be proud to be associated with someone associated with Skins's island.

Or am I missing something here?

[Ralph Wiggum]

While I was driving to town to get some milk, I thought about this more.

There's more holes in this story than in a pound of Swiss cheese.

I'll just deal with one right now, which isn't a hole, but it confuses me very much.

I've been afraid to post much on DU because I don't want any conflicts with clients.

Now, if the clients are exclusively Democrat, where would any "conflict" be, between them and Pedro Picasso hanging around Skins's island?

In fact, wouldn't Democrat clients actually encourage people to hang around Skins's island?

I mean, don't Democrats think Skins's island is the greatest thing since sliced bread?

Surely Democrat clients would be proud to be associated with someone associated with Skins's island.

Or am I missing something here?

"Reputable" Democratic organizations would have nothing to do with the DUmp.

"Reputable" being a relative term, I know.

[BEG]

So, at 49 years old, I'm working full time, for only the second time in my entire life.

That's all you need to know about Pedro Picasso right there.

Damn, you beat me to it.   

[BEG]

It's more than a stretchy, it's gotta be a lie.  The overhead costs associated with what he's describing compared to the types of propaganda he claims they're churning out and the prices they would have to charge the campaigns because of those expenses doesn't add up.  Much smarter to hire a proven firm on Madison Ave and know what you're getting, which I suspect the big players do. And they're the only ones who can afford to dole out the kind of money to purchase services from a place that has a full time chef, free lunch, and stocked refrigerators.

And having a company that designs ads and fliers "that does nothing but DEMOCRATIC advertising" is extremely limiting.  It's like saying that you're going to open a shoe store but only sell blue 4" heel closed-toe pumps in size 7, and that's it.

Nope, just not happening.  Too easy for someone to do the research and find out what this place is and where it's located, and I'm guessing it doesn't exist.

.

My husband works for a MAJOR toy company and they do SOME of the stuff (note I said SOME) he listed and have incredible monetary perks as well.  But his company has a HUGE budget, I doubt that a democratic ad agency has the type of budget that can afford most of these types of perks. 

[DixieBelle]

I smell more taffy being pulled than at a state fair. Take this for instance -

Pedro tells DU that

Some of you have undoubtedly received the mailers I've created. I've done the campaigns for two of the three recent Republican-to-Democrat turnovers. I helped throw Woody Jenkins out of Louisiana!

Check this out -

In early 1980, Jenkins was elected Democratic National Committeeman from Louisiana over the opposition of then outgoing Governor Edwin Edwards, but Jenkins resigned that position in October 1980 to campaign for Ronald Reagan for president, while Edwards stood with President Jimmy Carter.

In 1994, after twenty-two years as a Democrat, Jenkins held a news conference with Senator Phil Gramm, a Texas Republican, to announce his decision to change his party affiliation to Republican. Jenkins said that he felt conservatives no longer had any hope of influencing the direction of the Democratic Party.

And more on his recent May 2008 run -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_E._%22Woody%22_Jenkins

and we talked about the dirty campaign tactics here -
http://www.conservativecave.com/index.php/topic,7255.0/highlight,wood+jenkins.html

Very interesting story here on the election Jenkins narrowly lost -
http://www.townhall.com/blog/g/d85b8071-5bd6-4aed-9f50-e3b7fe98dca8

Let's hope that with Jindal in office the good people of LA wake up come Fall election time.

So basically, Pedro wants us to believe that he works in a PR firm (or something like it) that's a liberal utopia that's not above using dirty campaign tactics to smear a decent man? Why am I not surprised?

[franksolich]

Okay, I've spent most of the day thinking about this.

There's quite a few stretchies in the tale, but that's not what intrigues me.

I'm trying to figure out the motive of Pedro "Christian Dior" Picasso in posting this tale; it's not what it seems to be.

[Chris_]

So, at 49 years old, I'm working full time, for only the second time in my entire life.

That's all you need to know about Pedro Picasso right there.

And now he buys a house after being a contractor for a short while?  I don't think so.

We need a TiT photoshop of Captain Morgan saying "all DUers have a little Tom in Tibet in 'em."