5 6 2025
day 21.5 : tools
just came back to let all my amazing readers know that i made the tool i was talking about . its not really as i described and i got chat gpt to do a bit of writing . ill probably work on it but for now its alright .
check it out here → madletter
5 6 2025
day 21 : data
i met with Laura Larson last week . we had a nice chat and she gave me some tips for finding work . today she texted me with a job posting for a social media assitant at translink ( the transit authority in vancouver ) .
for the sake of transparency , i'll share the cover letter i wrote them :
My name is Evan Stover, and I'm very interested in the assistant-social media and digital position at TransLink.
I've spent the past four years studying advertising at university, and for the past year I've also been working as a freelance advertiser. During this time, I've developed my skills in writing, strategy, design and production.
As a transit user, cyclist, and pedestrian, this seems like an excellent opportunity to combine my day-to-day experience with the content creation skills I have learned - and to ultimately create meaningful communications.
My resume follows below, which includes a link to my portfolio (esadvertising.ca), where you can find examples of both university and freelance work.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
Evan Stover"
i often doubt my own qualifications , thinking im not qualified enough to work as a professional in anything aside from service or labour ; while that is probably true , reading my cover letter makes me feel more qualified .
i don't really understand what a cover letter is supposed to be , but it kindof just feels like making an argument . starting with an argument sounds like a bad plan to get a job lol .
anyways i've applied to plenty of positions like this , but it's nice that Laura sent it my way . i'm thinking i should log more of my daily applications in this blog , to keep track of my applications and quality of my cover letters .
i'm not sure why i can't keep this blog consistent .
5 1 2025
day 16 : ideas
for me , the worst part of being unemployed is all the ideas i have . i wish i could dedicate my creative thinking to a cause , be it my personal outlets or a workplace i am sworn to . unfortunately without a job , my brain is dedicated to one master : money .
i can't help but come up with stupid money making schemes , realistic or not . ex : i realized sports cars tend to go down in value for 15 years or so after their release , and typically shoot up to more expensive then new after 30 years or so . thus i decided
i just need to buy 10 2007 aston martin vanquish s's and sell them in 15 years , then i'd make at least $500,000 . 
i don't think i need to explain why i shouldn't do this lol .
but this latest idea might have some merit . see i make an effort to make each and every email i send completely unique . i hope it comes accross to potential employers that i am not a robot , nor am i copy pasting my applications a hundred times a day .
yet upon consideration i doubt they notice ( it's rather hard to shoehorn in enough company specific info to dispell the notion the email might be copy paste ) . at this point i've probably written 100 or more unique emails , each one with a unique position .
so : what if i made a program that takes prompts for company name , hiring manager name , and a line about why i'm a good fit . then it could apply that info to one of the hundred emails i've written , and spit out an email for me to copy paste ! ideas ideas ideas
i'm going to watch thunderbolts tonight
4 30 2025
day 15 : nothing to report
15 days have passed since i started this blog . i've already run out of things to say , and nothing new has happened . i guess i'll run you through my daily routine for job searching so you can know what not to do .
i use a program i made called punk records as a central base for online operations . in punk records i have a bookmark group filled with job boards where i might find some work . i basically just check those everyday
apply for any new ones and then usually try and reach out to some people . so far this has lead to no interviews .
4 25 2025
day 10 : cocooning
as society has been moving towards the dreaded digital world , humans seem to be changing their behavior . now , i was born this century so i won't claim to be an expert on the change of society , but this is my blog so i will speak my mind god damn it .
I THINK : humans have historically been very reliant on each other , but in the 21st century , our reliance on humans is gradually being replaced with reliance on
computers . gasp .
ancient rome
the ancient romans seem to have had a fear of isolation , well from what i understand they weren't scared of being alone so much as they were weirded out by it . think about this , romans bathed together in communal baths .
i am willing to bet most modern young people find the idea of public pools weird . let alone public baths .
but now being alone is romantisized . it is seen as stoic and desireable . partying is increasingly frowned upon , and working from home is coveted . i want to work in an office , and i want to go party . but i'm still applying
to jobs using this glowing box in my room .
yeah i'm just venting lol .
4 24 2025
day 9 : hiccups
well i just missed about 7 days of job searching ... i guess i am a lazy bastard ... and i barely looked today . i wonder what would have happened if i had moved elsewhere . hong kong ? the uk ? i guess i can always try that one day .
do you need confidence to work in advertising ? what is confidence ? i think thats a topic for another day .
4 17 2025
day 3 : believe
is belief the opposite of trying ? last week the canucks scored 3 points in the last minute , tying the game ; trailing by 3 with a minute left must feel hopeless , i mean , no nhl team had ever won in that situation . honestly it would be insane to truly
believe you could win at that point , i doubt any of the players predicted the outcome of that game . they were definitely giving it their all in the last minute , but did they really believe that they would win ?
all i know is that when your back is against the wall , belief only goes so far . what matters is that you do everything in your power to win . whether or not the canucks believed , they pushed as hard as possible . it seems that belief is not all it takes to win ,
but if you give up , then you might stop trying . trying is all it takes to win .
4 15 2025
day 1 : why ?
hello . my name is evan stover . first things first :
why i don't capitalize my letters
because capital letters are the most pointless thing in the english language . please , please let me know if you ever find my writing style inhibits you from understanding my writing . obviously i wouldn't write like this for a client ( unless they asked me to ) .
but seriously , i'm just trying to make english a more functional and beautiful language . yes i've been told it looks unprofessional , but why ? clearly i have a comprehensive understanding of the english language , clearly i know how im supposed to write ,
so stop giving me a hard time for having fun with my personal writing style .
okay that probably isn't the first thing i need to expain , but i doubt anyone will ever read this anyways so whatever . i graduated with an advertising degree about 8 months ago from an art school in toronto called ocadu i have an advertising degree now , so i figure i may aswell make a go of it and try to make
some ads . last month i moved to vancouver without a job , my friend was looking for a roommate , and i thought it would be easier to get a job in vancouver if i lived here .
ive spent the past month applying and emailing agencies and ad people
with barely any response . so far i've met with Marc Stoiber and James Hearn , both very kind and experienced advertisers , but neither had a job for me . so now im left to fend for myself in this new city with basically zero connections . 'whatever , i don't mind the challenge' .
i also want to shout out a little blog called freelance english copywriter in hong kong by Mike Catherall , it was his blog that gave me the idea for this one ; although i'm not nearly as cool or passionate as he was .
i feel that a lot has changed since Mike went on his adventure to hong kong , so i'm not really sure how to handle this , but i guess i'll try and figure it out .
well that pretty much sums up why i'm starting this blog and what its about . i'll try and update it with my stuggles and successes as they come , and maybe this will help you in some way. peace .
published on april fifteenth two thousand twenty five aka right now ( for me )