Barnabus & Magda

Andy likes Coffee

So apparantly Andy from "The Office" was just down the street at Fido fixing himself a caffeinated beverage. A few of my coworkers saw him, but alas, I was stuck at my desk. Still pretty neat that an Office character was just at Fido. I'd take that over a country singer anyday.

Doodle Collages

This is what I've been doing lately when I get bored on airplanes.. or get bored anywhere really. Enjoy!

October's lost its Luster

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually looking forward to November.

P.S. Avoca's really done a nice job refurbishing the airport. They've even got free Wi-Fi. Go Scranton!

All's Good in the B-burg Hood

Thanks to everyone for the prayers and well-wishes! My dad's home, getting in plenty of relaxation and boring TV shows. I've been spending today hanging out couch-side with the ol' man, watching Rachael Ray and talk shows. I feel like I'm home sick from high school. Tonight Morgan and I are going out for some coffee. I REALLY wanted to go see 30 Days of Night, but sadly, Bloomsburg's lameness is ever prevalent and it's not showing in the area. Boo. Tomorrow my parents are taking me to the airport and tomorrow night I'm headed to the Roller Derby! And probably out Sunday night for my Bday. I'm definitley headed to church Sunday morning and might head in to work for a little bit Sunday to catch up on some revisions before Monday. We'll see. It will be nice to get back to Nashville. It was SO wonderful seeing my family, and my dad's doing great, but I do miss my apartment and my bed.

Emma sent my dad a HUGE box of fruit and cheese from Harry and David. I really do work for a phenomenal company. Emma gave me a whole week off to be with my family and sent my dad a beautiful get well gift. We really are blessed.

Be careful what you wish for...

The last few weeks I've been complaining about being homesick. Unfortunately, I made a surprise trip home this week for less than happy news. For those who don't know, my dad had a massive heart attack yesterday. I left work right away and flew home to be with the family. The whole story is a bit crazy. He's doing really well now, but I'll explain the story a bit.. God was really with our family yesterday.

So anyway, Sunday there was a craft show in Benton and my mom was selling some stuff and my aunt and uncle had come down from Massachusetts for the day. My dad had gone to the show and was walking up a hill and started feeling this weird pain/discomfort. Almost like gas, like he had to burp but couldn't. When he got to the car it went away, but he wan't really feeling right. Not sick, but just not right. He had trouble sleeping and had been really tired for the last few days.

Yesterday he went in to work same as usual. One of the guys from the other end of the plant needed his glasses repair kit so my dad walked all the way to the other end of the plant. He started feeling the weird gas pain discomfort but this time it was worse than Sunday and he had to stop and rest. Then he walked all the way back to his office and was feeling really bad. He tried taking some baking soda and tums but it wouldn't go away.

At that SAME MOMENT my mom had called. She had left her purse in my dad's van (which is crazy cause her purse is like another appendage. She never leaves it anywhere!). My dad used that as his excuse to leave (he NEVER leaves work, and probably would have waited if it hadn't been for the purse). Anyway, he and my mom waited for my sister to get home cause she was out shopping then went to the ER. At first they thought maybe it was a stomach thing, having to do with ibuprofen. Then they took some xrays or something and the DR's eyes got HUGE. She said "Mr. Schena, you're having a heart attack."

It turns out his main artery was 100% blocked. They miraculously were able to put in a stint and clear the blockage. As they were putting in the stint his heart had just started to shut down. He shouldn't be alive. The Dr. said usually when they see this kind of blockage the patient has either collapsed and died or dies on the table. He's actually doing really well. Joking around with the nurses. He's a total goofball as usual. While he was on the table he was still with it, they had him on local anesthetics, so he goes to the doctor, while only inches from death "geez, maybe i shouldn't have had that third hot dog last night." He also started spouting off lines from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in the elevator post-surgery, demanding his cigarettes from Nurse Ratchet. And burping when they go to check his breathing. So basically, my dad's back to his old self. He's got great color in his cheeks and is in good spirits. He's been moved from the CICU and is now on a regular floor and we're hoping to have him home Friday.

So anyway. All is going well at the moment. We should be hearing about test results and whatnot tomorrow. I'll be home for the rest of the week (which I feel totally guilty about, with missing so much work for conferences and vacations this month as it is). But I have to say, it's SO good to be home. Be with my sisters, my mom and dad, Auntie Laurie, Auntie Sandy and Mimi. All I have to say is super thank you to God. He's really been watching out for the Schena clan this week.

AIGA Plug

And another quick note.. AIGA is awesome. Seriously. I just went around and perused some student work (there's a portfolio review going on). These students here are having their portfolios reviewed by Debbie Millman and Michael Beirut not to mention many other prestigious design firms around the country. If you are reading this and are a design student, seriously, get involved in AIGA. Skip out on a few drinking nights and try and save up to go to one of these conferences or see if you can get in on one as a graduation/christmas/bday gift. AIGA is the one place where ALL designers are on the same playing field. You can meet the big wigs and top names, talk shop and ask questions over drinks. It's a great opportunity.

Plus, free T-shirts and paper samples galore!

AIGA NEXT in Denver!

Hey kids. So I got in to Denver last night. Headed over to the conference and got a ton of free crap, free food and drinks. Good times. I ran into Nate Voss from B A Design Group (he spoke at ThinkTank Nashville). He's a cool dude. There was an after party at the Hyatt Grand (not to be confused with the regular Hyatt). I met a random group of designers from CA that drove to Denver in an RV (very cool). Met up with Nate again and met some kick-ass design students from Chicago. There was a dance-off (which is pretty funny when in a group of total design nerds). I've met a whole mess of people, most of who's names I've immediately forgotten, but I rememer the faces. The speakers today were pretty good. Got to listen to the guy in charge of Starbuck's Design Department. Very informative. Also got to listen to Michael Beirut and Armin Vit (among others) speak about the future of Design Writing. Also quite informative. Marian Bantjes spoke. And if any of you KU kids remember a fella by the name of Ryan Smoker, he was involved in this little reality show/Design-Off called Command-X that was way cool. They had to re-design the packaging for Jimmy Dean Pancakes & Sausage on a Stick. Anyway I talked to him for 5 minutes and exchanged cards. GO KU!

The theme of the NEXT conference is, of course, what is "next" in the world of design which also makes me think of what's next in my career. Will I take on new freelance? Do some volunteer design? Learn some new skills? Come up with new ideas to move forward at Emma? Speaking of which, Emma's a freaking awesome company. I know you're all sick of me saying it, but it is. And just about everyone I've talked to hear has heard of us, used our service, or know someone who has. Makes me happy!

Sorry this post is disjointed and random. Despite the great time I'm having, I've also got a nasty cold. Not fun my friends.

I hope to take and post more pictures soon! Be safe, Be happy, Be healthy, Be nerdy!

Regional Verbage

Everyone is familiar with pop vs. soda, dinner vs. supper, sprinkles vs. jimmies, hoagies vs. subs etc.

I learned a new one over the weekend. On your car, when you turn your lights on high, I call it your "high beams" as does my family and friends back north. I was in a rental car in MN driving down a woodsy road and had to use my high beams and remarked how it's been awhile since I've had to use them (Nashville's a pretty well lit place). My friend Jessica didn't know what i was talking about. She insisted they were "brights." She had never heard the term "high beams" before.

I found that kind of interesting.

kitties!!!

More pictures of my potential new fuzzy friends! I'm pretty certain I'll be taking two of them. I just can't resist. I haven't actually gone to meet them yet, probably monday or tuesday. Aren't they just the cutest!?

Names so far:

Male: Spike, Ambrosio, Barnabus, Quentin
Female: Endora, Magda
Either: Sprinkles, Jimmies


Give me more suggestions! The names above are characters from Buffy, The Monk (the book written in the 1700s, not the TV show), Bewitched, and Dark Shadows... are you getting the theme here?

Four-Legged Roomate **Coming Soon**

I was SO close to getting a black lab puppy today. A friend of a friend of a friend of a friend found a box of black lab puppies on the side of the road over the weekend and was giving them away. I called but sadly they had all been placed. I really can't afford a puppy this month, and really shouldn't be looking to get a puppy at all but rather a full grown dog. But puppies. Sigh. Who doesn't love puppies. I want one, but now just isn't the time I suppose.

BUT in other four-legged mammal-friend news, I've been talked into getting a kitten! (Or possibly two, not sure yet). Matt, a fellow emmanite, has kittens.. or rather his non-pet-caring neighbor's cat had kittens behind his porch. There's an all black one, two gray ones and a striped fella. I'm pretty much definitely going to go for the black one, but am tempted to check out a gray one too. I know I definitely still want to get a dog after Christmas, so I'm leaning toward taking just one. Two cats and a dog is a bit much for one apartment. I'll be getting pics soon. The kitties are still nursing yet and have no shots, so it'll be awhile before I can get one, but how exciting! I'm all for fuzzy friends!

Throw me some name suggestions!

The Beer Gods have blessed me...

Yuengling's in Nashville! Supposedly it's been spotted at the Brewhouse and rumored to be found at other bars. I hear it should be in stores within a few weeks.

You know I'm a happy girl about this!

Cash

I hate money. The lack of it. And my inability to manage and save it. And credit cards. And debt.

I feel like I can never get ahead. Despite the bonuses and whatnot. That is my big goal for age 25-26. Learn to manage my money and spend less. Spend better. SAVE. Even a little.

*sigh* really gets me down.

Old Timer's Festival

And here we have it. A post well-past due. Here you'll meet Roy and Banjo Guy, two folk song pros hangin out at the Old Timer's Mountain Fok Music Festival (not sure that that's the exact name for the event, but something similar nonetheless). Last weekend Jenna flew out to Nashville and we drove out to Knoxville to visit our fellow KU CD friend, Heather, who is a FABULOUS host by-the-by. We had a jam-packed three days of folk music, Smoky Mountains, tub basses and TomatoHead. I really can't think of a better way to start October. The weather was perfect, the conversation intelligent and plentiful, amazing friends and good memories.

We started Friday driving out to Knoxville which is a great drive. A perfectly clear day, perfect driving weather. We met up with Heather then headed out to the Old Timer's Festival. We met a number of elderly folks well-versed in the art of many a folk instrument be it fiddle, banjo, dulcimer, guitar, tub-bass etc. Overall a pretty low-key day. Drove around Cade's Cove, Meandered about Knoxville, enjoyed some delicious TomatoHead, hugs from Marley (Heather's dog).

Saturday morning started with a hike up to Abram's Falls, a nice 5 miles round-trip. Dipped my feet in the frigid falls water, basked in the sun. A friendly artist woman shared her apple chips. Baby fishes swimming about. A pleasant time indeed. After some time in the Smokies we stopped by the Mill, then a County Fair, went back to the Old Timer's Festival (had some awesome homemade ice cream). Then we stopped at a Craft Fair, the Dulcimer shop and then stopped for Fried Apple Pies (which are AMAZING and artery-clogging I'm sure). We were pretty beat from such a packed day so we stopped off for some Chinese (Bean Curd & Broccoli = DELICIOUS!) and watched Sleepy Hollow.

Sunday Jenna and I went to the UU church, which held a rather nice sermon indeed. Then I got to meet a couple of her friends (who bought us MORE TomatoHead! They are SUCH nice people. Really and truly). I must say, TomatoHead makes a mean baked tofu quesadilla. I don't know what it is with Knoxville, but damn do they know how to cook up some tasty tofu! After that we hung out with Heather, Michael and Marley and caught up on some 30Rock. Jenna and I headed back to Nashville, enjoyed some Mellow Mushroom and rented Waiting for Guffman.

Overall a fabulous visit. October's starting out on a great foot! Be on the lookout for more posts! I'm in Minnesota right now and will have a post up soon.. Minnesota's a pretty sweet place. Next week I'm off to Denver then I'll be in Nashville through my birthday then it's off to Idaho!! I'm a travellin fool! And that ain't no complaint!

A few more pictures for your visual enjoyment!

Chock Full o' October

Well kiddo's, Fall is up and running and we're in the best month of the 12.. October! My favorite time of the year. I do wish the weather were a bit more brisk, but my schedule's packed full of travel, friends and conferences to make up for it. And lot of hiking in between! I'm headed out to Minnesota for an AIGA Design campout/conference which I'm totally excited for (not to mention the chilly 50 degrees-ish weather, rain and dreary-ness! YEAH!). I should be getting a heaping helping of fall this weekend, with some designy goodness on the side.

Also, I'm hoping to post this weekend about my trip last weekend to the Smoky's. Be prepared for old dudes, stringed instruments, waterfalls and Tomatohead. Good Times were had and Good Times ahead! Tally-Ho!