Little Brett, Big City

  As my mother studiously wrote on the back, this little gem is from 1972. Look at me with that natural curl. And I wasn't even wearing any mousse!  Some of you have kindly asked how "The Book" is going. Easter eggs aside, I'm on the hunt for a literary agent for my finished manuscript. (Well, is it ever finished?) Seems like I've got a pretty darn good pitch, or "query letter" as they call it in the biz. So far, I've received 11 responses out of 25 pitches. Not bad since agents get hundreds of pitches a year, and they don't owe me a thing.  Nice replies usually, but nothing solid yet because of their current workload of projects, or my story just isn't right for them. More than one has mentioned that memoirs have been difficult to sell to publishers lately. Ruh-roh. Maybe I'll turn it into a comic book.  So if you haven't already, my Easter request to you dear reader is to sign up here for future installments of "Little Brett, B

Behold my first professional headshot in the Fall of 1988. It could also double as an 80s print ad for Clairol hair mousse. (Big fan!) The photo was on the back page of the MoundVue employee magazine I created as that semester's PR intern at EG&G Mound Laboratory, a Department of Energy facility in Miamisburg, Ohio. They basically made parts for nuclear weapons for the federal government. At least that's how I boiled it down. I never learned the real details because I worked outside the "perimeter."  All employees had to have a high-level federal security clearance. But due to a backlog in requests and approvals, mine never arrived the entire semester. So I was stationed in a small office building outside the main gates with about two dozen engineers, researchers and IT analysts.  They didn't have much to do since their jobs depended on access to classified information. I however was busy creating a 32-page internal magazine. So I had lots of employees to int

Savvy marketers have used 80s songs in commercials for awhile now, trying to appeal to Generation X by raiding our old cassette collections. I think it's cute, validating even. Banks and insurance companies now think I'm worthy of their products! I spent a dozen years working at VH1, so I appreciate the power of nostalgia.  Fidelity Investments has been my clear favorite, lifting "Saved By Zero" from The Fixx; "More Than This" by Roxy Music, and "If You Leave" from OMD—forever tied to Molly Ringwald and "Pretty In Pink," no matter what commercial it lands in. Last year I LOL'd when Geico featured "new homeowners" who were thrilled with their house's character, crown molding, and walk-in closets. But they had a rat problem. Flash to the 80s metal band RATT performing their first big hit "Round and Round" in the attic, bathroom and then the kitchen to the annoyance of the residents. For fun, here's my autogra