truth

today

Hibernation

Prepare yourself, I've been in a slumber, but I'm starting to emerge....

25- Website

Creating this website was one of the more challenging tasks I've had to perform, but I'm happy to say I finally did it.
Cargo Collective made it quite the challenge, but here it is.

THE WEBSITE OF KARLA JO HANSEN

24- The Cage Rage

There are a couple of actors that I absolutely love, ones where I will watch just about any movie that they are in, like William H. Macy, Meryl Streep, Jake Gyllenhaal, and a select other few. There are also a few that no matter how good the movie looks or how good the reviews are I will not see it if they are in it. One of them in Nicolas Cage. I have never soon any of the National Treasure movies and refuse to ever see the Ghost Rider movies, or anything with him in it for that matter. I cannot bear to see his receding hairline on my television screen and simply choose not to watch his d-grade movies.

Here is a hilarious sum up of some of the movies he has done and the type of character he tends to play. 

23- Time Travel

I have been contemplating for a while over whether or not I will study abroad at all while I am in college. For the longest time I was so afraid that I would miss out on anything going on here in Eugene, and that I would not have as much fun. I realize now how silly that sounds and that by staying here in Eugene I am missing out on the wonderful experience that I could be having abroad.
My original fear was that I would not be able to graduate on time, I am a little behind in my advertising major and a was afraid that going abroad would make me even more behind. I didn't start my major until the end of my sophomore due to the fact that I am so indecisive.
When I graduated high school I originally wanted to study architecture, but after I wasn't accepted into the architecture program here at The University of Oregon I decided I would study graphic design at Portland State University. Part of the reason I didn't want to go to the University of Oregon was because so many of the students from my high school were going here and I wanted to be different. I then realized why so many people were going here,  because it is pretty awesome. So for my sophomore year I transferred to The University of Oregon and started studying business. After nearly a year of studying business I realized it was not for me, and I needed something that was more creative, which is why I am now doing advertising. I am not 100% about what I want to do in the advertising industry, but I know that advertising is the best fit for me.
Even though I am so behind in my studies I know I would really regret not taking advantage of this time in my life where I can actually live in another country. I might have to stay in school longer if I go abroad, but it would be worth it. I'm not sure where I would go, maybe spaying or italy, but I'm sure I would be so happy I went.

22- My Passion for Fashion

For a long time I was certain I wanted to work in the fashion industry as a designer. I have always had especial interest in fashion design and have wanted to start my own line, but with working and going to school I haven't had the time necessary to dedicate to actually making it happen.
I don't have the extensive sewing skills needed to do this and should take some classes before I make any big decisions. I have come to the decision that I will use my creative skills to continue in my advertising studies and let clothing design be something that comes later in life on my own time.
I've come to the realization that I cannot afford my taste, and that if I want to be able to wear the types of clothing that I like I am going to have to make them myself. I would describe my style as dressed down business type with a splash of grunge. Some of my favorite styles are shown below.

I love the sophisticated yet comfortable look of these pieces. I find a lot of my inspirations on sites such as Pinterest.com and Mamasarollingstone.com. I also find a lot of ideas on blogs done by other that are dedicated to their style.

Karla's Closet

Fashion Toast

I was originally drawn to the blog Karla's Closet because of the fact that we shared a name and now I come to look at it daily because of her daring and impeccable style. 

20- Sick Day

Because today I am feeling sick, and laughter is the best medicine.

Courtesy of Pinterest. 

18- My Utopia

It is hard for me to see myself anywhere else..

Why Oregon is one of the best, if not the best place to live:

1. You have the beach and the mountains all within a 2 hour drive.

2. It rains a lot, so everything is green.

3. No sales tax.

4. Some of the nicest people in the world live here.

5. Tons of delicious organic food.

6. No crazy bug problems.

7. The amazing city of Portland and Eugene.

8. Go Ducks (enough said)

9. An amazing variety of hiking, boating, and other outdoor activities.

10. It never gets too hot or too cold.

11. W+K originated here.

12. Amazing shopping (my favorite is NW 23rd and Bridgeport)

13. Delicious drinking water

14. Just your average day at the Oregon Coast.

17- Changing Gears

For the past four and a half years I have been a slave in the food industry, working as a server at Red Robin, and last week I finally did what I've been saying I am going to do for a long time, I quit.

FREEDOM! I've learned a lot from this job, like people are crazy and rude and that I really really hate 85% of the people in the world, as awful as that sounds. I've also learned that people will lie, cheat, and steal to save a couple bucks. I have met a lot of great people and made a lot of close friends and I would be lying if I said I wouldn't miss it. From age 16 to 21 I grew up here and it has greatly impacted who I am today, but as my sister so wisely put it "its only expanding your waste line, not your resume!" She often knows the best things to say. No longer being around all that delicious fatty food will for sure make my resent decision to go vegan easier!

There are many skills this job has taught me, many ones that are unexpected:
1. I've become very, very good at judging what kind of a person someone is. Whether they are going to order the salad or the burger no pickle add bacon well done. Whether they are having a water or a screaming red zombie (rum, rum, and more rum), it's something I've just near perfected.

2. I've learned what to expect for my tip, like if grandma's paying I know I won't be getting more than a couple bucks with a big smile (they always think they are being super generous, but all I want to do is scream IT'S NOT THE 50'S ANYMORE!). I find that the best tippers are those around my age, early 20's. They usually have a better understanding of the acceptable 20% tip that we expect.

3. Never apologize to the guest for something that you did wrong, you don't want them to know that something actually went wrong cause chances are they will take it out of your tip.  Just fix it and smile.

4. Leave your soul at the door, you won't need it here.

16- Naps

It's kind of hard to see so you can also check it out here. 

I love this, cause I love naps, and it's nice to know that they aren't just me being lazy but they are actually useful. I've always had some issues with naps, usually my quick 30 minute nap turns into a five hour siesta that ends up ruining any chance I have at being productive that day.

I find the best naps are those that you take sitting up in a chair, that way you can wake up and continue right where you left off on your homework. 

15- Forks over Knives

Today I watched a life changing video that I hope I find the strength to live my life by. Over a week ago my parents informed me that they were going vegan, hearing this from my Midwestern, right-winged parents was quite the shock. They told me about Forks Over Knives a video on Netflix that they had watched and they encouraged me to check it out.  Finally over a week later I watched it. I have always been a fairly health conscious person, especially being born with a long list of food allergies, but I never took my health as serious as I should. 

Forks Over Knives opened my eyes to they way I should really be living my life, on a plant based diet. The documentary showed people with all sorts of health problems ranging anywhere from diabetes to cancer, who were able to turn their lives around cutting out meat and dairy. It scares me how much the food industry and even our government has forced the idea on people that in order to be healthy you must have a balanced diet filled with meat and dairy, when really the best diet is one that has neither. Protein is present in many foods, and the body needs far less than led on. 

One of the most shocking aspects of this video was the studies that showed how animal based foods actually promoted the growth of cancer in the body. One of the points made by the doctors in this video that I found inspiring and convincing was that yes going on a completely plant based diet is extreme, but not nearly as extreme as the amount of medications or surgeries that you will have to have if we continue to eat the way we do.

The decision to live a vegan lifestyle is a huge decision for me and I'm sure I will have many slip ups in the beginning,  but I know that if I want to have the best life possible this is what I have to do.

Wish me luck!

You can check out the trailer here.

14-Monday Funday

I found myself pressing the snooze button more than usual this morning, every 5 minutes for an hour to be exact. You do the math. I'm dreaming of summer days and drinks on the beach with not a care in the world, yet summer often makes me long for the fall. Funny how that works. With the term starting to wind down I am beginning to reach that point of total self destruction, no longer having any sort of motivation to finish the term with the bang that I should.
Today is one of those days where all I want to do is lay in my bed and watch Netflix, I just started Sons of Anarchy, which turned out to be the worst idea ever. Whenever I find myself falling into a Netflix slum, where I just watch episode after episode of some mindless television show I make myself watch a documentary. I find that after watching a especially good documentary I get a little more inspired to get back to the real world and be passionate about something. One that I recently watched that made me truly inspired was the documentary Art and Copy. This documentary about advertising helped me get excited about this fascinating career path that I have chosen for myself.

13- Cultivate a Better World

I find this video so powerful and I love the message it is trying to send. I am very passionate about natural farming and I struggle to eat only organic food. I find America's food industry to be a terrifying thing and have first hand experience with the hazardous effects of it.
Chipotle does a great job with this video showing how they are different than other chain restaurants out there and what they are doing to make sure they have the best ingredients possible, something a lot of people including myself want to see more of.
The use of a recognizable song and artist, Willie Nelson was a great decision and was very effective drawing at the emotions of its viewers. The cute little farm animals were also very effective, embarrassed to say I teared up a little bit. Just a little bit.

12- Pressures and Lies of the Beauty Industry

Theses powerful campaigns made by Dove show how misconstrued beauty in advertising is. 

The first Video is called Onslaught, it shows all the images that this young girl sees daily. I think this is a great campaign because it draws attention to the fact that body image disorders start at a young age and the beauty image is partial to blame.

The second video is called Evolution and it shows the change that this women goes through in order to be placed on a billboard. The amount of photo shop used on the model is ridiculous and she is barely even recognized. This fuels the issue of body image disorders in the world as well. 

11- Goodbye Balloons?

It has recently come to my attention that the world's source of helium is rapidly depleting. I discovered this  one day when a little girl came up to me while I was at work (Red Robin) and asked me for a pink balloon. When I went to fill up the empty balloon nothing came out of the helium tank, after inquiring with my manager he informed me that we were temporarily out due to the shortage. This left the girl saddened and me puzzled. It made me wonder, what would happen if the Earth ran out?
Helium is a nonrenewable resource that is either made by the sun or decay of terrestrial rock. (learn more here!) Despite my original belief, helium is more useful than to make little kids smile, it is most commonly used in MRI scanners, radiation monitors, and is even used by NASA.
All these are far more important and had me concerned that if we are soon to run out of this very useful gas forever, and haven't yet found a replacement for it, why do we continue to use it for unimportant things like floating, plastic bubbles! What if this element is the secret behind the cure for cancer, and we are wasting it on balloons?

10-Things to live by

Written by the truly inspirational Regina Brett

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.

18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

45. The best is yet to come.

46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

48. If you don't ask, you don't get.

49. Yield.

50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift..

9-Your Move

I've never been a fan of advertising that feels they have to put down another brand in order to sell their own, so when Audi displayed this billboard in Santa Monica, California BMW responded in what I feel  to be the perfect way. The ad agency behind BMW's bold response was Juggernaut Advertising, a small independent agency based in Santa Monica, showing small agency's can do great things. The billboard battle was even told in Art an Copy, a documentary about the world of advertising.  The billboards were placed across the street from one another  creating an immense amount of tension. Audi's rebuttal was weak and poorly executed, showing the risks of challenging another brand to a duel in ads. 

8- Give it a listen

There is something magical about this song.
It is one of those songs that you can listen to over and over and each time you find something different you like about it.  I first heard this song last year around this time and still listen to it nearly daily.
The Weeknd is a different kind of music that borders between R&B and alternative.
It is amazing how a song can change the mood of a person, it makes it so powerful. I feel that I can almost completely change my mood just by what song I listen to.

7- What I Bring to the Table

I take great pride in the work that I do and take my work very seriously. I am never late, am a quick responder with emails, and I am ready to dedicate a vast amount of time to this project. I am artistic and creative and want a team member who is looking to scramble our minds together to create something truly brilliant. I am so very excited to get working on this project and see the amazing work that we will create.

6- New creative outlets

This year my mother gave me a sewing machine for Christmas, I think she's trying to domesticate me. The one I got is a much newer one than the one pictured here, but not quite as pretty, which is why I used this image. I am having much more fun with it than I anticipated and have found it a wonderful tool to get my creative juices flowing. Maybe I'll even one day make something with it that I can actually wear.

5-Lanvin Ad

I love this video, so unlike any advertisement that Lanvin would do. 

It's so funny to see how awkward the models are. 

4-Don't tell us what we can't do

THIS is great advertising. 

3-Perceptions in the advertising world

2-Get off your butt

I like to remember this every time I think I don't have time to do something, it might not always be running, I think this can be applied to just about anything we strive to achieve.