In Vegas, Baby!

I got to Vegas last night. I went in one straight trip from Reno to Vegas (and in 6 hours, even though my GPS said it’d be 9 and Google said it’d be 8). Speeding is my friend.

I knew I wasn’t in California as soon as I went to a mini-mart to grab something to eat. I asked if there was any fruit, and the clerk said no. I asked if there was anything healthy, and she said “…Nope.”

Awesome.

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I got pulled over for the first time on my trip last night! I knew it was just a matter of time. I forgot to turn my brights off when I was passing a cop (I forgot that I had them on), so he pulled me over. I thought for sure that I was going to get a ticket, having a Pennsylvania license in Nevada… AND the fact that he was a sheriff… but by the end of the conversation, he was telling me where I should go if I wanted a hotel and how far Vegas was. I am freaking lucky.

(Side note: I think my streak might be coming back. I was just telling Stan (John Carlton’s partner) that a while ago, I got pulled over 12 times without getting a ticket… and then I got 2 in a row. This is the second time since those 2 tickets that I’ve been pulled over and haven’t gotten a ticket. In fact, the last time, the cop ended up driving me home because I was so tired. It either pays to be a female, or I’m ridiculously lucky. Either way, I’m not complaining…

And yes… I really am that bad of a driver. :) It’s speeding mostly, though.)

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John Carlton’s Copywriting Sweatshop over the weekend was great! Brian and I met a lot of great people. Besides John, his awesome team (they really were great!), and the seminar attendees… David Garfinkel and David Deutsch were there! How ridiculously awesome is that? I got to talk with both of them… very, very cool and a great surprise!

At one point, David Deutsch accidentally ended up on my blog (we were trying to show copy that’s hidden elsewhere in the site but the address was hard to type and he ended up on the main blog part). After Brian and I’s “Hot Seat”, David came up to me and said “Happy Birthday” because he had been reading my blog! That made my weekend!

Other great things that happened…

*Fabulous information! Brian and I definitely picked up some great tips that are going to take our sales letters to a new level.

*I sat next to David Garfinkel the first day…and went to lunch with him, Brian, and two other attendees!

(Side note… John says exclamation points are kind of like “padding”, and you don’t really need them. He’d probably go into convulsions if he read my blog.)

*Our copy hot-seat wasn’t even a fraction as bad as I expected. Not only did we not feel slaughtered… but we were happy at the end, because John said some really good things! (Don’t get me wrong… he also said we needed to change quite a bit. :))

* John said that there are different states of people. “White” (this is most people – mindlessly going through their day-to-day jobs, in a permanent funk…), “Yellow” (being aware of your surroundings, doing things to make changes…”, and “Red” (being hyper-aware and constantly on guard).

He told us that all copywriters need to stay in at least their “Yellow”… but mentioned on the last day that I’m always in “Red”!

I know, I’m a nerd, I acknowledge this. But I was pumped!

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There are so many random stories that I should’ve blogged about. I need to make a “Road Trip Hall Of Fame” thing when this is all over.

I’m off to go meet one of my friends, but next time, I’ll have to write about…

* The crazy dude in the San Diego hostel that kept waking me up throughout the night and asking if he could sleep in my bed with me…

* The fact that I got a parking ticket in every major California city that I was in…

* How Brian embarassed me by pretty much auctioning me off to the highest bidder at the sweatshop… (we have such a love/hate relationship :))

… but if I keep blogging, I won’t have time to go make more memories!