I had great intentions of heading to Connecticut this weekend past to enjoy the 'burbs and do fun for the soul stuff like pumpkin picking, getting claustrophobic in corn mazes, and going for big walks in the woods. I don't know if any of you poor souls were also planning on getting some fresh air in your lung cavities, if not, let me sum up this weekend in two words: trench foot. It bone soaking rained the entire weekend. Which is great for testing out one's ability to avoid bed sores on one's parents' couch, but not so good for …

Monty Python for me is a symbol of my awkward "no clue who I really am" high school experience. My "love" for the Pythons began as a façade -- I'd watch my intense, all-encompassing crush, mouth all the words, and renact scenes at Band Camp with the rest of the tenor sax section. I'd pretend I wasn't embarrassed when they'd do the bit from The Ministry of Silly Walks. Because that's teenage, pimply love, my friends.

Just when I think I'm about to go to just another campaign launch party, Hearst Magazines and the Italian Trade Commission throw two of the most fabulous hours onto the tracks of my party train and totally derail my brain. I had no idea that in a room pillared with light purple, floor-to-ceiling window frames and golden orange light-splashed ceilings, that I would be sharing classic Italian food and drink with some of my television favorites and a gossip rag editor with whom I'd shared Sheep Meadow space early this summer. All in the name of Made In Italy -- …

I always approach an event that is fearless in declaring itself a "schmooze" with trepidation. The word alone barfs up images of three-piece suits, power ties, leering men with bad teeth and worse breath, and women in tailored suits backed into corners by schmoozers struggling to secretly remove their weddings rings. Luckily, I've just got an overactive imagination; last night's VideoSchmooze event: "2009 Broadband Video Leadership Evening," hosted by VideoNuze Editor and Publisher Will Richmond, wasn't creepy at all.

Advertising Week is a blur by now to most if not all of you. In fact, some of us are probably in therapy hoping it will help us forget the hustle, palm squeezing, "what's it gonna take to get you into this banner ad"ing, and overindulging in small foods. Woven into Advertising Week were a ton of valuable MediaPost/OMMA events and I just wanted to link you up to the resources floating around about them. Some may even contain your smiling face, as many MediaPost subscribers are also speakers, winners, and minglers. Get ready to go BACK! IN! TIIIME!

All last week I had been so good at eating more healthy stuff instead of cramming as much cheese and bread into my piehole as possible. Then along came Friday, the night of DailyCandy's Midnight Music and Munchies (part of the New York City Wine& Food Festival), a blissful tour of discordant munchables and what they described as "lethal" bartenders. Grab a plate and let's get to City Winery so we can figure out when Bobby Flay is going to have me arrested.

Growing up in a small town (corn and cows outnumbered the amount of good teeth) you learn to do what you can with what you've got. That's probably the core of the Midwest mentality (not ignorance, as many entitled city types seem to think). In high school this took the shape of learning my mom's signature so I could write my own early dismissals, which landed me such amazing trips as the Eastwood Mall, Chagrin Cinemas, or ... wait for it...Subway. Let's hope that the kids lucky enough to attend Harbor High School on Governors Island absorb their special experience …

These are the events I love to cover. There is no pretense, no hierarchy of misinformed celebrity. It's just good people trying to do good things. People with big dreams seeing their dreams realized and supported. Also, the DJ was kickass. Imagine you're Adversity founding member, Julius Dunn II, and your mission is being supported by one of the "big ones," JWT. The connections must just build themselves like the line that kept building at the party buffet table. I think I saw three lonely cocktail wieners left by the time I arrived, and I wasn't that late!

As I write this, I'm thinking about the F.T.C ruling on disclosure. I like the idea of spelling it out for impressionable readers who are easily swayed by others' potential dishonest opinions. In the land of the rich getting richer and celebrities shilling for brands because they get swag for free, I especially like the necessary disclosure from celebrities. I hope bloggers/tweeters/whatevers see this for what it is: protecting the consumer and keeping the rest of us honest. I also hope that you trust me. It seems like a great time now to assure you that when I blather on …

You may think that when I hit the streets to cover this beat that I'm just interested in nailing someone for having a sloppy mini burger or hoping that someone give me the clipboard stink eye so I can skin them with some obscure army/toilet reference. Not so, my friends. Covering the social side of online (and off) advertising, marketing, and media gives me the opportunity to observe agencies/companies/publishers/etc priorities. You can tell a successful and happy company, or at least a successfully happy company by the vibe of their event. No matter how big or small, a company poisoned …