New Toys!!

I LOVE MY WACOM TABLET!!!! I can doodle with an undo button AND no eraser shavings!


ALSO. Go see Night at the Museum. It's seriously every 6 year old's dream come true. It's a good one.

KUCD @ the APD

Just got back from a mini Kutztown CD (and other) grad reunion at the APD (airport diner to those not in the know). *sigh* It was SO good to see everybody! Many of the attendees I've not seen since graduation. It was so good to catch up with people, swap stories, talks of new jobs, new adventures, work frustrations, met a few new faces. It was nice to be able to exchange stories and not have to go back and explain things.. like.. 'and you see, there's 4 color process and Pantones.. now a Pantone ink..' we talked about Wacom tablets, the new Macs, who's married, who's not, who's moved where.. it was a good time. Plenty of good coffee, french toast, and the hugs. OH THE HUGS!!

Of all the things I've missed at Kutztown, I'd say the hugs are what I've missed the most.

I've got Nashville ahead and good friends and memories to carry along with me.

life. is. GOOD.

A Tennesseean Adventure!

Lost airplane, food poisoning, awesome people, an even awesome-er company, big interview, country music, museums, atmosphere, 70 degree weather (and sunny!!), drunken football fans, and jerome bettis.. i. am. beat.

pictures, stories, and whatnot tomorrow. way too tired to tackle that tonight.

the BIG weekend!

I've got 15 minutes before I leave for Wilkes-Barre. Once there I'll be flying to Pittsburgh, then off to Nashville! I'm WAY excited! Flying always makes me a little nervous, but not for the usual reasons.. I just hate all the rigamarole, the lugging around bags, taking off shoes and all your metal bits, getting from A to B. I always feel rushed, and it just seems like so. much. hassle. I'm always nervous I'll be in the wrong place, or my luggage will somehow offend the airport people, or I'll miss my flight, or leave my bag somewhere. I wish I had the time to drive it. All that requires is throwing my crap in the trunk, plugging in the ipod, and filling the tank. I need some coffee, then it's off on an adventure!!

I can't wait for Monday!! Wish me luck!!

ThermaFantastic!

The ThermaCare brand neckpads and lowerback pads are more wonderful than I can describe. They're so nice and warm.. they're essentially self-heating feminine napkins/diapers that attach to your back, but damn if they don't put me in the warmest, most toastiest bliss I've ever felt. Aaaaah. This is sooooo nice. And tension just eeeeeeeeeases away. mmmm. This may not be heaven, but sure does feel awfully sweet.

Looks like someone’s on the naughty list this year...

uuuuh... Mrs. Clause? ::sorry:: didn’t mean to interrupt..
Ran into this scene when i rounded a corner at an art gallery in Lewisburg a few weekends ago. Totally freaked the bejesus out of me.
In other words: Bonjovial Christmas to all!
(I'm not sending xmas cards, so this is it folks) I've got too much going to to fill out cards. I'm over it. You're over it. Have a cookie...
or design one for youself.. hint: click on the cookies

Ten Shades of Excited

Saturday to Monday... and if all goes right, for a lot longer than that!

Essence of Sherpa

I love tea. LOVE it. I love pretty much any warm beverage really, but tea.. that stuff's just great. I like it plain.. good and scalding with a heaping teaspoon of sugar or one Splenda packet.. no other artificial sweeteners will cut it.
At the store last week I thought I'd be a bit more bold in my tea selection (I generally stick to a member of the Grey famiy.. either the Earl or the Lady) and anyway, I sprung for the Tazo variety pack. Lemme just say, they've got some pretty adventurous teas! I found the Tazo Chai: Organic Spiced Black Tea to be most intriguing. The description was the killer:

A rich blend of teas and spices in the style of the hill dwellers of the Himalayas.

Himalayan hill-dwellers!? Who are the people that work for Tazo and how do I become one? I mean really, do they actually travel to the Himalayas and study these dwellers of the hill? That could be pretty sweet.. like two Splenda packet sweet. Seriously.

Speaking of seriously. I was at SuperWalMart tonight buying some pasta salad fixings for my mom when I came across 'Seriously Sharp Cheddar.' Seriously sharp.. HOW sharp would that be exactly? Could it cut a Triscuit in half? eh? Can it? Don't know if I'm ballsy enough to try that out. Maybe another day.

In other news: I bought a new deskchair for home. It's leather. And has wheels. And lumbar support. I'm particularly enjoying the lumbar support... and the wheels.. having wood floors in my bedroom make wheely-chairs double fun.

Are you kids ready for Christmas?

I know I'm not. This holiday season definitely snuck up on me. I've still got some shopping to do, but I'm just not feeling the good old Christmas Spirit. We're getting the tree this weekend and I officially decked out my desktop, so maybe that'll help. (I strongly suggest pixelgirl and iconfactory for all the necessities to properly pimp-out your desktop. Oh I'm such a computer dork it's almost pathetic.. but I love it. I do.

K kiddies, I've got some Dave Eggers to enjoy, and right now he's more important than you.. or at least his wonderful works of fiction are.

Take care!

My Second Home

To all you design kiddies interested (and following suit to kristin’s previous post).. here she is.. my little home away from home. I actually tidied it up a bit before taking this shot. I’ve got all sorts of whatnot strewn about.. my G4 (most definitely not the newest and best) with an old not-so-fancy monitor, i make do (but i have CS2 at least, so that's a plus) design books/magazines, flourescent post-its, a caddie with pens/pencils/highlighters/sharpies, chapstick, ipod, scanner, files, space heater, mint m&ms, an orange so i pretend to be healthy, doodles, posters/printed et cetera, a broken lamp, and various toys.. you know, the necessities. enjoy!

I found him hiding in the shoe closet...

The Six Patron Saints of Graphic Design

So I guess All Saints Day has just come around and my mom got up early to research it for her Sunday school class. As I sat down for breakfast I noticed a packet she had printed out for me to look at. Turns out she found The Six Patron Saints of Graphic Design. If you are a designer and have any knowledge of Catholocism, Western Religion in general, or spent most of your youth in the church, you may want to check this out. I foud it quite funny! I'm a particular fan of Saint Exacto and Saint Pantone. The pictures that go with each are priceless! Even has eery church music to go with it.

Recap

Hope all you kiddies had a fantastic Halloween chock full of tricks and/or treats! Myself, I helped pass out candy at Morgan’s apartment on 5th Street... which happens to be THE busiest street for trick or treating in Bloomsburg. We went through about 50 bags of candy.. no lie. It was NUTS! Personally, through the experience (growing up in the country we never had trick or treaters) I've come to the realization that Halloween is a true test as to whether a parent has done a good job in the child-rearing department. It’s very easy to tell really. The kids who say Thank You, take only one piece and don’t run out in front of traffic.. those kids’ parents pass. The offenders.. those kids who don’t say anything.. no ‘Trick or Treat’ or ‘Happy Halloween’ and certainly no ‘Thank You’ and who take huge handfulls of candy at a time, well, their parents don’t score too high. Overall it was a fun experience. Some of the costumes were fantastic! The youngest kids by far were my favorite. They were SO excited! And some of them were so in awe (terror) of our Jack o’ Lanterns, it was cute. Makes me want to be an Auntie. I told my sister she better find a man and bust out a few children soon, preferrably already at the age of 4. Just skip the mess and go straight to the fun.

I must say though, now that Halloween’s over, I’ll seriously miss AMC TV’s Monsterfest. Classic. I LOVE it. In the last week I’ve watched SO many horror movies! Between DVDs, TV, and the theater I’ve watched: Saw 3, Wolf Creek, Friday the 13th, Lost Boys, Child’s Play, Children of the Corn, a Munster’s marathon, the Omen, the Exorcist, Fright Night, and Sean of the Dead, Dracula, and the Invisible Man.

But not to fear (or maybe so) November 17-19 is Horrorfest! 8 new horror films will be released an aired in theaters that weekend! I just need to decide where I want to go see it. I think I may be in Kutztown that weekend and Reading’s playing them.. soooo.. Kris and Erik, you better clear your calendars now!

*sigh* October went way too fast. I’m not ready for November.

Design for the Greater Good

So, a lot has been happening. I’ve been designing a bit, trying to score some freelance and whatnot. I’ve really been looking into designing for the greater good, working on some volunteer stuff. I was surfing volunteermatch.org today (they have TONS of volunteer design opportunities!) and I emailed an organization today and may be designing a logo for the Africa AIDS Fund. I’m particularly excited about it. It’s free for them and a potentially great piece for my portfolio not to mention a resumé booster! It's neat cause I was just thinking about my Teen Missions trip on my way in to work this morning, when Morgan and I helped build the orphanage for AIDS orphans.. I think it was the weather. It was cold and crisp with the smell of woodsmoke in the air. Reminded me of the mornings there. After we (by we I mean my sister and I and fellow team members) woke up at the crack of dawn, worked for a couple hours hauling/laying bricks or mixing cement, we would get breakfast, hot or cold cereal (occasionally baked oatmeal) with a tall mug of scalding hot tea, no sugar or milk, and we’d huddle with our bibles and wool blankets that the team leaders bought for us in a nearby town, and just sat with the blanket around us and the hot tea steaming in our faces, too hot to drink, just quiet and reading our bibles. That feels SO long ago. It was a really nice memory though. Very calming. The children we met there and the people in general were such wonderful human beings, and it’s so sad to see such a preventable disease cause so much destruction.. it will be good to do something to possibly help the cause. BUT ANYWAY. I’m excited to possibly work on this project. It will be nice to use my design powers for good. There’s an excellent article in STEP this month with Cheryl Heller which discusses the duty of designers to volunteer. It’s a great read. I highly reccommend it.

Also on the design scene, I am going to be designing menus for a friend of a friend who owns a restaurant and wants them as a gift for her mother. I guess the restaurant’s been open for ages but has never had an official menu. I’ll get to design the whole thing myself, total creative freedom, plus some spare change would be really nice. Also, Boyds is mailing out a check for some revisions I did which is sweet, but unfortunately due to various circumstances of which I know no details, the project is on hold. I REALLY hope it still goes into production. I'll be totally bummed if they can it.

Other than that, not too much else going on. Kris and Erik are coming up for the weekend and Kim and Karen are following suit tomorrow, which means there’s gonna be some mad fun going down around these parts!! I'm more excited than you could even know!

Take care kiddies. A Halloween post is soon to follow. October’s gone WAY too fast. I’m not ready for winter yet.

Swimalong little fishee…

Assets

Visual-Verbal Synergy at its best… well, maybe not its best, but at its most flattering at least.

Happy Pre-Birthday Friday to Me!

Today has been a pretty good Friday. Work was eh, as has been the usual lately, and getting up at 5:30 also is not on my top ten favorite things to do list, but post-work was great! I got home and had a card waiting from my grandmother for $150 (she usually gives $100, so that was a nice surprise, but even better than the cash was the card itself. She picks the BEST cards ever! She always picks out long cards, that fold out into multiple sections, typically overly flowered, but the words are amazing. My favorite phrases in the card are as follows:

Live deep
Never stop learning, playing, or finding wonder in teh world around you. Live the length of your life, but live the depth of it as well.

Make mistakes
Follow detours. Sometimes it takes an unexpected turn to help us find the life that is waiting for us around the bend. Trust yourself and the path that is meant for you.

There was a lot more to the card, all of it very good, quite thoughtful. Those were my two favorite parts though. My mom gave me a Halloween themed bday card (always enjoyable) that had 'wicked' in every other sentence, (wicked is a thing in my house, with my family having new england roots and all) which was wicked cool.. haha. i'm so nerdy. And she gave me $200. also nice. But Anyway

One of my favorite parts of the day though, were two other gifts... get ready.. try and contain the excitement.. she bought me The Omen series DVD boxed set!!!! I know you're almost as excited as I am, but remember to breath. How cool is that!! You know what I'll have playing in the background while I'm at my computer for the next week or so!! ALSO... Rosemary's Baby was in the $5 bin at Walmart!! FIVE DOLLARS? It's such a classic! Of course we had to snatch that one up too. I LOVE old horror movies. They definitely don't make them like they used to! Now if they would just carry some Hitchcock in the $5 bin, that's be pretty awesome.. but I'm not expecting miracles.

But overall the BEST BEST surprise of the day was my mom cleaned my room. As lame as that sounds. It's been getting pretty messy over the last week, I've just been so busy I haven't gotten around to cleaning and clothes and books, soda cans, papers, sketches, etc. were piling up like crazy and when I went upstairs today, VOILA! my room was spotless! she even changed my garbage! It was great. I was most happy indeed!

And the weekend's only going to get better cause tomorrow I'm off to Atlantic City with my sexy musketeers! YAY! :-D

now i'm gonna pop in some jolie holland, light a couple candles, and work on some design stuff!

A Quote and A Note

“Because things are the way they are, they will not stay the way they are.”
–Bertold Brecht

I saw this quote on aiga today. This speaks a lot in regards of some things that I'm going through, some changes I'm working on.

KUTZTOWN: yesterday was SO amazing. It really was. Going back to Kutztown is like going home. I saw all my favorite professors, hugs and handshakes were exchanged. I miss that place, the people, the atmosphere. Shelby and I attended the Return of the CD Grads. Amazing. It was so refreshing and motivating to hear from professionals in the field, people who are designing and loving it and living it. I was able to meet Jason Santa Maria, an established and respected (not to mention talented) web designer. That was very cool. I was also able to meet Jeanne Maier the design director at Franklin Institute. Lovely conversation. I received so much great advice in only a few hours from so many people! I'm really excited about design again. It's been a change-around for some time. It's not that I was no longer excited, I don't know, since graduation, once I got a job, my enthusiasm just hasn't been what it used to be, but over the last month or so, it's been rebuilding, with teaching myself web design and launching a new site, finalizing edits with boyds, and yesterday in particular really set me on fire again. I've got more ideas churning than I know what to do with! Ah. It's good to feel this way again.

As of Sunday I'll be 24. 24's going to mark some big changes ahead.. I don't know as of yet what those changes are.. but they're going to happen!! And I'm quite excited!

(sidenote: my favorite thing said to me yesterday was a comment from Ms. Innocenti (one of my favorite profs).. she said I looked great - very well rested. I liked the well-rested part, made me laugh. Sleeping is definitely the biggest post graduation perk! haha.

*sigh* I miss Kutztown so much sometimes.

Tension

I've been feeling a wee bit tense lately. With a side of angry. Nothing a little red wax pencil can't fix...

fridee.

mondee.

Biscuits and Molasses

If you’ve never had flour biscuits and molasses, you’re leading a deprived life indeed. They’re simply the best food on this earth. You take a flour biscuit, put a little butter on it, and a couple spoons of molasses and pop it in the microwave for 20 seconds (unless the biscuits are fresh and right out of the oven.. which is the ideal situation). I’m telling you. It’s amazing. And it’s nice and filling, a wonderful fall food. Perfect for fall really. Have that with a cup of hot cider and you’re golden.

Here’s my mom’s flour biscuit recipe. It’s passed down from my grandmother. Very much a Canadian thing, biscuits and molasses. Doesn’t seem to be a popular state-side tradition, but it should be!
Try it. I’m serious:

WHAT YOU NEED:
• 2c. flour
• 3tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3/4c. shortening
• 1c. milk
• a drinking glass
• some extra flour for rolling the dough
•butter
•molasses (use Grandma’s brand.. that old lady on the front of the jar. She knows what she’s talkin about)

WHAT YOU DO:
Preheat your oven to 375º

Mix first 4 ingredients together. Now, you don’t want to mix too much!!! The less you mix, the flakier the biscuit. It’s best to mix these with a fork or old-school pastry blender. technology is not always a good thing when it comes to cooking.

Once these are mixed and kinda crumbly, add the milk and mix it with your hands (you may want to wash them first. seriously).

Once the dough is no longer wet and actually looks like dough, spread a little flour on your work surface and turn out your dough. You can roll it out with a rolling pin, but I think it’s best just to pat it down flat with your hands. You don’t want the dough thin, but you don't really want it super thick either. These don't really rise, so while you're rolling it out, think of how big of a biscuit you want to put in your mouth.. that’s how thick you’ll want to roll the dough. Now you take your drinking glass and use it as a cookie cutter. Just turn it upside down, cut out some circles and place them on a baking sheet (if it's not non-stick, grease it first. a little shortening'll do the trick)

Bake the biscuits at 375º for 15 minutes until they’re slightly golden. You don’t want them brown, that’s too much.

Let them cool a little bit. Third degree burns on your tongue aren’t fun, I mean, biscuits are good and all, but wait a few minutes, ok? ok. Now you take your nice warm biscuit, and you can either cut it in half or into pieces, either way, spread a little butter on it and drizzle some molasses on that puppy! You can even preheat the molasses in a cup for a half a minute to warm it up a little.

And voila! You’ve got yourself a tasty fall treat! Canadian style!


**You can also try these biscuits with cinnamon sugar or raspberry jelly. They're also pefect as a base for strawberry shortcake. Add strawberries and homemade whipped cream (it only takes five minutes to make.. don’t curse these poor biscuits with that shit from an aerosol can. honestly!) and you've got yourself a nice summer recipe.

Shkribbils

Ideers

Some seedlings on my list of ideas to fulfill. Nothing set in stone, just brain droppings. It's going to be quite awhile before i even scrape the surface accomplishment..

• teach myself the code necessary to create a blog from scratch
• design and make bags out of thrift store clothes and goodies
• create a blog about religion in general, about all religions.
  i want to call it 'Faith4All'
• run a 5k
• take art classes [i'd have to find some to take first]
• join the local Democratic Club and become more involved in politics

**note: that is not my illustration

Wacom :: Wacool

Maybe if I’m a good girl, Santa will be kind... Now if I can just find a big enough stocking..

I want to meet this guy. He is an autistic artist with amazing skill. Amazing. Amazing.

For a 25-year dishwasher at Seattle’s Washington Athletic Club, Gregory Blackstock has an amazing skill set: he speaks 12 languages, has mastered the accordion (and can play just about every instrument he picks up), can do spot-on sound effects of dentist’s drills and airplanes, and chronicles the objects of everyday life with exacting detail using only a Sharpie and gray crayons. [click here for rest of the article]

It just baffles my mind. His work is so great! And so fun. There’s no agenda to his drawings. They’re not trying to ‘be’ anything.. to be trendy or fashionable.. they’re not trying to be mainstream, or appeal to consumers or clients or anybody. They’re just drawings for fun, just to draw. It’s his life. It’s awesome. I love how in the linked article above the picture “The Hats” is signed ‘BY: Potwasher Gregory Blackstock.’ I enjoy his artwork immensely.
He has a book out. You can buy it from Amazon.com combined with the PostSecret book for $30.68. Now there’s a deal!

But really though. I’d like to meet this guy. Buy his book first. And then meet him.

SHHH: Society for HandHeld Hushing

Courtesy of Coudal Partners. As I was checking out their blog, I stumbled across this little gem. Seems that Jim Coudal and Aaron Draplin have developed a solution to those noisy and overly rude cell phone users.. you know the type. You're at the store, possibly Wal-Mart or the grocery store and you are unwillingly forced to listen to every last detail of some stranger's personal life. I present to you the tools to fight back:

SHHH (Society for HandHeld Hushing): Dear Cellphone User Cards:
Print out these cards, fill them out, and hand them out to public offenders. Print out as many as you wish. Keep them in your wallet, in your purse, diaper bag, coat pocket, whathaveyou. Enjoy!

Again, these can be found at Coudal.com and are not my work or my idea (though that would be cool if they were.. it's an awesome idea!) I'm just promoting for the sheer hell of it.. supporting the cause!

Virtual Insanity

This is so 8th grade it hurts…

Lobsterrrrrgh

HAPPY OCTOBER! It's the best month of the year!

Taylor Alison Design

It's getting there. Slowly but surely. Still needs a LOT of work, but it's on its way!

Quinn

is awesome. Quinn Collins is a friend of mine from back in high school. His musical talent is phenomenal. He has written some amazing classical/ experimental music. Check it out!

Click here to listen to his piece 'On and Off the Lam'

The New Old

I really enjoy this collection of images. [Courtesy of Veer] It puts a fresh and much more pleasant face on the elderly population, contrary to traditional stereotypes. The aged have typically been viewed as a rather unpopular and not too appealing demographic.. this isn't my view, but that of society, seriously, I learned about this stuff in gothic lit.

Anyway, I found this collection to be most delightful. Very fun. Enjoy!

Rock of the Classic Variety

I've been in a bit of a classic rock mood lately. Primarily Zeppelin.
I heart them. I blame my mother. and father. and the popularity of marijuana back in 'the day.' I wish so bad I could've seen them in concert. My dad did, back when he was about my age. {Insert jealousy here}

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE ZEPPELIN TRACKS:
-Ramble On
-Kashmir
-Battle of Evermore
-Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You

Schwartzy here (the writer/account exec) saw my two-disc compilation case on my desk and brought me in his boxed set for me to burn.. SWEEEET! I've also been partaking in some Rolling Stones (beggar's banquet.. mmmmhmm.. can't find my 40 Licks CDs though..boo) and I'v been favoring some Traffic, Yardbirds, Blind Faith, Neil Young and a smathering of some other fun and whatnot.. the usual.

I think I might go hiking again tonight. and play with my new Moleskine watercolor journal (I'll have to post a pic of it and my homemade travel watercolor kit out of tube paints, sculpey, and a travel soap container)

later kiddies!

Rawr

24

1. run a 5K
2. get a new job
3. create more
4. grow and learn as a designer.. push my limits and strengthen some weaknesses
5. eat less crap
6. paint
7. travel more.. even if it's just small road trips
8. READ MORE!! I didn't read nearly enough this year
9. learn some new skills.. hopefully put some of my granules of good ideas into fruition
10. be more social.. or less anti-social
11. procrastinate less
12. write stuff down
13. pray
14. save [some] money

it’s FAIR WEEK!!

Bloomsburg at its finest.. More to post over the next few days!

smart fishy

I solved this puzzle!! I got the answer right too! And it took me about an hour. I used to do logic problems all the time. They were my favorite in elementary school. I used to be in 'Enrichment' where every Friday a few other students and myself would get to miss the last half of class and sit around and do logic puzzles and stuff like that.. I. LOVED. IT. It was my favorite part of the whole week... anyway

A little bit about said puzzle:

This brainteaser, reportedly written by Einstein is difficult and Einstein said that 98% of the people in the world could not figure it out. Which percentage are you in?

Here's the puzzle:
Click here for the answer

Name that Tune

Coudal = Cool

I found this blog. It's pretty darn neat-O. I need to add it to my list on the right there.

When asked what they're all about, the Coudal bloggers replied:

"The site is about British novelist Zadie Smith reading Frank O'Hara's poem Animals into our answering machine. It's about Steve driving from Iowa listening to nothing but Dancing Queen. It's about Abelardo Morell turning hotel rooms into pinhole cameras. It's about the Dane drinking tea and the owner of the yellow house smoking Dunhills. It's about the rules of cricket, a cartoon Sasquatch, counting to three, crashing airliners full of dummies and breaking all the commandments before breakfast. Or maybe it's about a guy named Stanley, a building by Mies, George Saunders at the library, a chalkboard in the washroom or a museum full of museums."

sounds like my kind of fun!

Times are Changing

or at least this blog is. eventually.

In the meantime:
LOVE this movie and am currently typing this with it playing in the background. It's just such a fabulous movie. The animation. SO beautiful. Just so great! Well crafted, every detail is taken note of. The music is catching and moving. Movies just aren't made like that.. it's a definite art. Akin to the original star wars.. with muppets or when Toy Story first came on the scene. Movies like this, are few and far between. Genius.
I'm very much in a fall mood. You can expect some goodies on here in the near future.. I'm thinking cookie recipes, spiced cider recipes, lists, hiking footage (providing I ever find time to hike), horror movie synopses, lots of fun.

October! Get yer behind over here pronto!!

l love technology. always. and forever.

illustrator cs2 wiped its ass with streamline. totally. live trace is every lineart illustrator's dream come true. and i was such a skeptic. haven't even tackled live paint yet. it's like when you're a kid and you learn how to use simple tools, like a can opener or the microwave.. sure, no one else could give a crap that you know how to use these things, but to you, it's like you've just unlocked the secrets of the universe.

also. i am very much loving the fact that my computer has a remote. i can change my music from anywhere in my room.

sweet.

people

For the most part, i find people rather annoying, but every so often i'll meet people who i just think are the greatest. i love meeting real, genuine, people.. who are smart, can hold a conversation.. who are actually worth something to society. the elderly cashier at office depot is just such a person.

Every time i go to office depot i have the same cashier. he's a taller, elderly gentleman, with a bit of a paunch, less than perfect teeth, and silver hair. he's pretty much one of my favorite people ever. we always wind up in conversation, about school, work, the weather, where to see the best fall foliage.. regular things. but this man ALWAYS has the best advice. no, not advice really, just good words i suppose.

the other day i purchased an external hard drive and i was wearing a green boston hoodie. while the stock kid was retrieving my box o' technology, he started asking me if i've been to boston and we started talking about new england and the change of seasons and the weather in general. somehow we got into the discussion of working full time, and how the end of daylight savings time is the worst, and winter isn't nearly as enjoyable (but boy was sledding great when we were kids!).. he asked if i went to college and i said how i went for design and am now a designer in hazleton and he was so happy to see that i'm using my college education and it makes him so mad to see kids who graduate and 3 years later wind up flipping burgers.. and i said that my pay isn't very much, even with an education and he assured me not to worry and that i will 'earn my steps' (old people phrases are great) and that he worked in the federal government for over 45 years and it took him 30 years to get to the top. he reassured me that i will get to where i want to be. it takes time and patience and i'm young yet.

he was just so pleasant. a great guy. he talked about his wife and how great she is. it was SOOO nice to talk to someone who's happy with their life and the world. even while tending the cash register at office depot, he was pretty much the best and friendliest cashier i've ever encountered.

it was nice.

and that's all i have to say.

World Leader Fonts

BY MICHAEL MEILAN

- - - -

Lincoln Sans Hat

Nelson Mandela Black

Ulysses S. Gothic

Boutros Boutros Wingdings

Thatcher Old Style

favorite fall music

here's a rundown of my favorite fall music by artist (i tend to lean towards more chill music in autumn):

FALL
• Carbon Leaf
• Jack Johnson
• Guster
• Coldplay
• Travis
• Ari Hest
• Anna Nalick
• Howie Day
• Matt Nathanson

I could really go for some apple cider. and a bonfire.

what's up

it's really sunny out, i may go for a run later. i've really come to love running. i can run 3 miles. granted, they're a very slow 3 miles, but i can run them! i originally planned on hiking today, but that didn't really pan out. if i can get some freelance stuff worked on tonight, i'm going to shoot for tomorrow. i miss the woods. i love them. i haven't figured if i want to go down around jim thorpe or if i want to do rickett's glen. i'm thinking maybe ricket's glen.. not sure though. i just need to be outside in the fresh air.

it feels like fall outside! the pear trees are full of fruit, a lot of which has started to fall. it just smells so good! the air is so clean. mm. it's getting close to october. October is THE best month ever. EVER EVER EVER! i love it so much. i can't wait for the leaves to change. i'm thinking of throwing a HUGE (or medium sized) halloween party this year, halloween weekend. this year i'm going to make invitations. seriously. now that i have this fancy computer.. hehe. i LOVE MY MACBOOK!!

i just figured out how to video chat today. haven't figured out how to work it with PC users though. also can't figure out how to get Classic running. i found a hack/program and tutorial online, but i couldn't get it to work. oh well. i think it's a lost cause. guess i'll have to play in illustrator.. i will miss streamline though. it was a good program.

joe had a party last night. joe's balcony on main street's where it's at! it was SO fun! just being with friends and cool people. lot's of cheesy 80s and early 90s music. a keg of cheap beer, and some shots.. you'd think i was still in college! FYI.. ice 101 peppermint schnapps, while very tasty, is rather high in alcohol content... 100 proof. i found that out the hard way, haha. ah well. anyway. i love kristin and joe. they're two of my favorites.

i find there's a lot of things i love right now... while not perfect, i'm ok with everything. life's not bad. not the best, but not too bad.

but anyway. today's been pretty laid back. this is probably one of the most boring posts ever.

also. i need to find my digital camera and cellphone. and i cleaned my room.

woo and a hoo

well, you know how it goes

things could definitely be better, but they could definitely be worse. things are looking up, sort of. despite my laptop crashing, things aren't SO bad.. i don't think PC non-designer people understand the scariness of a computer crash in a designer's life. my computer is everything. granted most stuff is backed up, there's still the issue of software, trying to recreate the files that weren't backed up.. it's like losing your wallet and passport but in a MUCH bigger MUCH more expensive way. it's not like i can just order the $400 dell special with microsoft office and call it a day.. in the end my pockets are going to be close to $3,000 emptier *sigh*

anyway. i'm definitely not where i'd like to be in my life, and work on getting to where i want to be has been put on hold.. probably for awhile. my bills are paid and i have a new computer and software on the way and my head's still above water financially. barely, but i'm surviving. typically buying a new computer is exciting and makes me happy, and while i am looking forward to playing with my new macbook and adobe toys, it's still stressful. hopefully the folks in king of prussia can recover my hard drive tomorrow. that'd make my day! the kids at boyd's are pretty much the nicest people ever. they're overnighting my files back to me. they were SO nice about it! and my friends are absolute peaches! jenna, kim, karen, and especially erik! love you guys! i know i've been kinda crabby (crabby being an understatement) over the last few months.. thanks for putting up with me! :-P

sometimes i wish i had just gone into nursing or some other science related field. i know i wouldn't be happy though, but still. money would be nice. i just need to figure things out. argh. argh. and double argh.

the life of a designer.. while not quite as difficult as the traditional fine artist, it's still no cake walk!

***in other news*** we might be getting a marketing intern, a senior from Bloom.. this could be fun. hopefully he'll be really cool (i use the term 'cool' loosely. i really mean stellar personality). and if he's attractive, that'd make for some bonus points. i wouldn't mind some eye candy around the office.. would definitely make going to work a bit more pleasurable!



also. i will be learning to country line dance tomorrow night. this could be scary for innocent bystanders. don't know if i'm comfortable with other people witnessing this experience. could be used in the future for blackmail purposes. in other words: it's gonna be FUUUUN!! (and there's going to be pedicures and antiquing and just being with people who make me smile! yay!)

sheer crazygoodness

so... last night was AWESOME!!!! Took shelbs to a Breaking Ben concert in Wilkes-Barre. IT. WAS. INSANE! I had floor tickets so we were right up front. which meant people were going nuts! everybody's everything was all up in everyone. there was moshing and pushing and fighting and just sheer craziness! Shelbs panicked a little with all the people and the whole lack of air and being practically mauled to death so we moved back, but were still SUPER close!! It was so much fun. one of the most awesome concerts ever!! Pictures and video to come.

But anyway.. while my voice and ears are recovering, i must say i'm wiped out! i've been going nonstop since 2am saturday.. saturday AM i drove up to NH with my sister and mom, stopped in MA to pick up the grandparents then went up to Old Orchard Beach and Kennebunkport, ME for a day and a half, back down to MA, Boston for the afternoon Mon, Mon night in NH at my aunt's for some blackjack and family fun, Tue. AM in NH with my other aunt, took my grandmother out to lunch, got back in PA around 10-ish, then work, the concert last night, rolled in around 1AM, and now i'm back at work. and this weekend i'll be in Quakertown with Kim and Karen for some more fun! These next two months are packed and are going to be so fun.

I LOVE FALL. really. it's my busiest time, my funnest time. i need it. like oxygen. it's a necessity..

Also.. anyone know how far west you can get driving sunup to sundown? i'm thinking of a weekend jaunt to really put a nice finish on daylight savings time. and plus, i need an oil change anyway, might's well get the most out of it!

Outward signs of stress

• nail biting
• mild eye twitch (only noticeable to me)
• biting the the inside of my mouth right below my lower lip
• shaking my leg/foot, tapping fingers, pretty much constant movement of one appendage or another
• chewing on things (i.e. pens, pencils, paper clips)
• forgetting.. everything (even more than usual)
• misplacing.. everything

..well, i'm 6 out of 7.. i better chain my checkbook and keys to my wrist now, cause i'll probably lose it by the end of the week.

ten shades of Mac-cited!

So who's excited???!!! that would be me! my Boyd's check just came in today! which means i'll be buying a new mac! and new software! originally i was going to pay off my credit cards and put my computer on the one card, but instead i'm going to just keep making payments on my cards, buy my computer and whatnot with cash and sink the rest into savings.

either way.. i am one happy designer!!

now i still have to make my final decision: laptop or desktop??
i was thinking desktop because as jenna pointed out, i am a professional now and a desktop would be more powerful and i'm not running around as much as i was in school.. buuuuuut a laptop would be so much more cost effective and it would still be about 3 times more powerful than what i'm using now, plus my printer's on the other side of my bedroom and with a desktop i'd have to get a new desk so i can fit everything in the vicinity of the computer, but the desktops are nicer.. gah. i don't know. i'm SO bad at making decisions! i'm really leaning heavily toward the laptop. but then if i choose the laptop there's still the question if i want a black one or a white one??? too many choices!

A little bright spot in my day...

***Good Morning Taylor,

Got the invoices, thanks! I'll have Dave sign then pass along to accounting. We're anxious to receive the files and I'll confirm their receipt.

Again, thanks for the great work and we look forward to again working with you. When the sets are produced, I'll be sure to get a set for you.

Thanks!
Pam***

That makes me happy. I also did yoga again today with the ladies from the Hazleton Chamber. I was nice and relaxed until i came home and was promptly lectured at and finger-pointed for about 20 minutes because our septic is shot to hell (which supposedly is my fault?? because i take one 15minute shower a day) so now our showers have to be 5 minutes or less.. which is most definitely impossible. AND the cat was all up in my bed which is now covered in cat hair even though i keep telling morgan to keep the door shut.. not like it matters cause all her shit's in a huge explosion in the room. I'm REALLY tired of it here.. and don't even get me started on my job.. ugh. it's been a day alright.

good with the bad

Good news.. Boyds is really pleased with my work. The projects are finished and all I have to send are my invoices.

Bad news.. As my mom predicted when she read my tarot cards.. there was a dropped project (which is actually kinda creepy, cause she totally called it) Boyds is dropping the Peeker Bear project (the $10,000 one) for this season and may revisit it next fall. REALLY bums me out. I was looking forward to a new Mac

Good news.. The family I used to babysit for, the father, Todd, who works in sales with PPG (maker of automotive finishes) has a client who is in need of some freelance design doing some print work. Fingers are crossed!

So. it's a bittersweet afternoon.

ouchies

i just spent the last 10 minutes trying to get up from my bed. I was laying down, working on some sketches. anyway, my back is SCREAMING. it started to hurt while bending or trying to sit earlier this evening, but now it's even worse. i think it has something to do with hauling a 75lb. bookshelf upstairs, or maybe dragging the bureau down to the basement, or maybe it was carrying the 60lb. utility cart upstairs.. either way, i'm in some pain. i went to go to the bathroom and hobbled down the hall all hunched over like an old woman. i've taken two pain relievers and applied some icy hot, but it's not really doing much. i hope this is better tomorrow...


ooooooooouch.

[not so] simple host

my domain isn't working. i'm a little worried about it. i can't access my e-mail, go on my website, or even access my account. i checked my billing and i'm all paid up, so it's not that. (jenna, it looks like yours is working, so i don't think it's a simplehost-wide thing, have you ever had this happen though?) if it's not working by tomorrow afternoon i'll have to call and see what the deal is. i HAVE to have e-mail access. argh.

double argh.

on a better note, i have almost 100% finished my room!! i went to ikea saturday and bought a new bookshelf, lamp, and comforter. they are completely out of the desk i wanted so i'll have to call and order it, but otherwise, everything's finally looking how i want it. i bought a wooden utility kitchen cart thing to keep desk stuff in and to keep my cutting mat on. it's really nice. i added a hook for my rulers too. it's pretty snazzy. right now i have to get some work done for work. i originally wanted to get some personal design and some boyd's stuff done, but i haven't had a minute all weekend! and since my boss needs this drawing for a client by tuesday, i should probably get a move on it.

fun.

stars, fireflies, gray blanket, and cut grass

*previously posted on myspace

While Morgan was out hitting the bar scene, I decided to stay in and get some freelance done. During this time I had to go out to my car at which point I noticed how particularly clear the sky was.. which meant it was time for some star-gazing! (one of my favorite summertime activities)

I grabbed my gray wool Africa blanket, worn and soft from 8 years of use, meandered to the top of the hill and got comfy. The stars were SO beautiful tonight. The air was perfect. Not too humid, nice and cool but not cold, and accompanied by the invigorating scent of freshly cut grass. I laid there, just staring up at the sky, watching the occasional red blinking of airplanes, wondering if the passengers are off to some exciting destination, enjoying the sporatic twinkling of fireflies against the black silhouette of the trees, listening to my dog down by the house snuffling and grunting at whatever raccoon or possum happened to be sampling his leftover kibble, occasionally wondering if the bear would emerge from the woods and attack, and listening to the crickets and other natural woodsy-type noises.

It was just so nice and relaxing. For awhile i just let my mind relax, focused on the stars and completely cleared my mind. As much as I complain about the area, I really do live in God's country, PA can really be a beautiful place. I thought about how lucky I am, while I was soaking up the scenery. I have a decent job, excellent freelance work, a great family, wonderful friends, a warm house, my health and the health of those i love. it just made me feel really appreciative and thankful. While there are areas of my life that could use improvement, overall i'm content. when it comes to life, perfection's not an option. but i'd have to say, my life is about as close to perfection (i think) as one could get, well, pretty close. when it comes to the things that really matter anyway.

life's good. i'm glad to be living it.

*sigh* i'm all drunk on nature's goodness. the magic of a starry sky, a gray blanket, and a cool summer night.. fabulous.

I just worked out to Harvey Walden's Celebrity Fit Club DVD.
And then I got bored. (hence the oh-so-cheese-tastic design displayed above)

Now I'm watching South Park, then I'm going to read some Dave Eggers.

InLove with InDesign

Oh InDesign.. I've pushed you away for so long. Who could know I'd love you so much once I got to know you. *sigh* You're SO much better than Quark. SO much better.. and have a much prettier interface. Really. And you're easy.. not cheap, but easy. I like that about you. You take all the best parts of Adobe programs yet still allow me to use my Quark shortcuts. How'd you get to be so smart, eh?

Now if only I could say the same about men...*





*(This post is probably one of the many reasons I can't, haha. The joys of Design Nerd-dom)

sign me up for Aimaholics Anonymous

k kids, i'm going to try and give up aim, well mostly, except my work aim. i find it is just too much of a distraction and i need to focus on getting a lot of personal work done. also, i just feel there are better things to do with my time, like read, or go outside. therefore, if you would like to contact me, feel free to email, or call me, or leave comments on here, or via myspace. (myspace will be the next thing to give up.. but one addiction at a time)

well, i've got a stack of work piled up and it's (unfortunately) not going to do itself.

Active Lethargy

So. I accomplished pretty much nothing tonight. I printed out stuff for Boyds in order to make edits, but didn't get much of that done. Did nothing for my personal design work. BUT i DID work out! For a whole hour! And worked up quite an amazing sweat that was loooooooong overdue! and enjoyed a couple strawberries. So I at least feel good. physically. definitely feeling the guilt on lack of productivity though. damn. procrastination's a bitch! i need to work on that.

i'm off to try and accomplish at least a little bit, but it looks like tomorrow's going to be a late night chock full of boyds bearistrations (that's my new word for boyds bear illustrations!)

procrastination = stupid. stupid. stupid.

someday. this will sink in. maybe. probably.

not.

so pissed off

I am SO tired of this place, of my family. No one has ANY respect for anyone else or for anyone's property. It just makes me sooooo mad! Why is it so hard for my family to understand that it is not right to just go and take, lose, waste, cause damage to other people's things. I am so sick of this! I went out today and bought a particular kind of wine from a particular winery that I enjoy.. not a brand i can just go down to any regular liquor store and pick up mind you. i'm not a big wine drinker, but i like to have a glass here and there. not drink it all in one night, but enjoy it.

anyway..... i went out to see some fireworks with friends tonight and the WHOLE bottle of wine is gone. I only had one glass of it. and on top of it, the ones who polished it off aren't even legal age!!!!!! It's not the price of it or anything either.. it's the principal, and the fact that it takes me well over an hour to get to said winery. it just REALLY pisses me off. i'm tired of my stuff being taken (i tracked down all my dvds yesterday, which were scattered among various bedrooms) and my t-shirts are always missing, office supplies, etc. i don't mind if people borrow stuff, but ASK ME FIRST!!!! AND IF I BUY SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR MYSELF, DO NOT USE ALL OF IT!!! ESPECIALLY WITHOUT ASKING!!!!! BECAUSE THE ANSWER WOULD BE NO!!!!!!

(needless to say, there has been MUCH door slamming this evening. i'm REALLY REALLY pissed.. and this level of rage, isn't easy for me to accomplish or maintain)

feels so good!

I have just had the BIGGEST feeling of accomplishment.. I haven't felt this since college. Boyd's emailed me today (I sent them the last of my files for some interactive coloring sets I've been working on) and they emailed me back saying that they were very impressed and only have a few changes (and really, it's only a few, one set doesn't even have ANY changes and the most, one set has four changes). I am SO happy you have no idea!!

And to celebrate I am promptly taking a nap!

weekend

This weekend:

For once I will be staying home! Here is what I hope to accomplish...
• CLEAN and finish organizing my room
• Lynda tutorials.. CSS, possibly some Flash
• Finalize logo
• Work on some personal design stuff / concepts
• Possibly hike?

That's it. No big travel plans, no exciting events, just a nice weekend at home. aaaaah. I'm looking forward to it!

i'm having some wicked flashbacks

Ugh.. i. am. so. SO. tired.

Good news: Boyd's project is done (well, pending edits, but basically, the bulk is done)

Bad news: running the last 48++ hours on 6 hours of sleep.. with 8 hours of work ahead of me.

it's like i'm back in college or something. at least now i get substantial sums of money for my lack of sleep, which pays for a lot more than college credits do.

nice. and. nice.

though i wouldn't mind a pillow right about now...

I have seen the light... and damn, it's pretty bright!!

I bought a 3 pack of these light bulbs. They use 25% less energy than regular bulbs, produce a much brighter light (it's a noticeable and rather pleasant difference), they help the whole global warming issue, and they last 5 years and cut electric bill costs. How's that for a good deal eh? I am slowly going to replace all the bulbs in our house. Hopefully anyway. It might be difficult to find replacements for the kitchen bulbs.

Also, I got my family to start recycling. Right now it's just bottles and cans. I'm hoping to branch out to paper as well. Baby steps, baby steps.

Aaaaand (as per Jenna's suggestion).. I'm thinking of joining the Sierra Club. I'm not sure which group of the PA chapter I'd join, I can't really figure out which one caters to bloomsburg, but I'll figure it out. They help the earth and go on group hiking trips! How cool is that? Maybe I'll get to meet some new people? Sounds good to me!

Done procrastinating for the time being. It's a late night in the Boyd's realm. FUN! Bring me some caffeine bitches!

critiQue

Here is a first draft of my {potentially} new logo. I need some feedback!

I'm trying to veer away from my usual illustrated style.. trying to be a little more professional than pokey pete's and a cartoon octopus. Looking for some feedback kids!

(you do not have to have a blog or be a member of blogger to comment.)

A!

I LOVE this A! A new logo is in the works, and while playing with typefaces I came across it. It was love at first sight.
I introduce you all to Garamond Italic Alternate in A form. Isn't she a beauty? Just look at the curve of the descender. Gorgeous!

In other news, it's the forth of jooly and my mom's busy making potato salad.. yesssss! I myself am watering down a hangover. Long Island iced teas.. they're the devil. i swear. Every place makes them differently. an FYI: Berwick (Peppers) makes the strongest Long Islands ever. I had 2, a SoCo and lime, and some beer.. which translates into me making morgan pull over so I can vomit.. three times, and giving attitude to a cop (who breath-alized me, even though I wasn't driving.. ask morgan and heidi about it, you'll laugh, it was funny). It was a good start to Independence Day, haha. It's one more story for the grandkids!
Also, Panacea, a local rock band, is amazing! i must say, they are one awesome band! Overall last night was a gooood time, rather embarassing, but fun!
So now kids, i'm off to shower and work on some stuff for boyds bears! yay!

chataway

we're using ichat now in the office. (go figure) my new work sn is idrawligers4u.

yeah, it's flippin' sweet.

two points for honesty

If that's all you will be, you'll be a waste of time
You've dreamed a thousand dreams, none seem to stick in your mind
Two points for honesty
It must make you sad to know that nobody cares at all
I want to be where I've never been before
I want to be there and then I'd understand
Know I'm right and do it right, could I get to be like that
I'll know what I don't know with nothin more to gain
Will I get better or stay the same
I find I always move too slowly
Can't lift a finger, can't change my mind
I never knew till someone told me that...
If that's all you will be, you'll be a waste of time
You've dreamed a thousand dreams, none seem to stick in your mind
Two points for honesty
It must make you sad to know that nobody cares at all
And all the people who've seen it all before
And all the people who really understand
Know they're right, and have done it right, could I get to be like that
I'll know what I don't know, it's harder everyday
Can't lift a finger, can't hurt a fly
I've found I always move too slowly
One things for certain, I'm insecure
I never knew till someone told me that....
If that's all you will be, you'll be a waste of time
You've dreamed a thousand dreams, none seem to stick in your mind
Two points for honesty
It must make you sad to know that nobody cares at all
Nobody cares at all
They never care at all

tue.S.day

i started an illustrated journal. i mean, i have a myriad of random sketchbooks scattered about at home, but i started an illustrated journal to keep in my purse. i should start carrying colored pencils around for embellishment purposes as well.

i drew my lunch in ink. and a trucker. in pencil. not in that order.

i found a ruanway fun size packet of m&m's in my purse today. they were tasty.

contact lenses and space heaters are arch nemeses.

settle down children

argh. parents are worse than kids sometimes. honestly. settle your differences amongst yourselves. i am a designer and daughter, NOT a marriage counselor. i have better things to do than listen to your arguments (especially when it is all over-reaction and petty ridiculousness.. not to mention a large amount of stubborn). better things to do as in.. i dunno.. work maybe??

ugh.


ugh. ugh. ( <-- that's some serious frustration right there)

lots of shit

so "tomorrow" is a lot longer than i realized. I'm going to summarize what's been going on in my life, i'll probably forget some things, most things, but bear with me and be prepared for a long one..

1. Boyd's bears: it's official. i'm working on two projects currently with them. my PO is in the mail and i've been swamped. it's pretty consuming work, but so much fun! and the idea of having work on store shelves is very exciting!!

2. new intern: there's a new intern at precision. victor. seems like a cool guy. should make work a bit nicer, especially since now i'm not the only one in the office under 30

3. road trip to Tennessee: drove down to Knoxville last thursday to hang with Jenna.. got a grand tour of Yee Haw courtesy of Jenna's friend Leif.. very cool guy, even cooler letterpress. Enjoyed some live music downtown and an amazing baked Tofu sandwich from Tomatohead.. Saturday was sushi and Al Gore's movie. Friday I was off to...

4. BONNAROO!!!! pictures will be up once developed or once i receive a disc from jenna (leave it to me to forget my digital camera) it was AWESOME!!!!! Here are the bands I saw/heard: World Party, Ben Folds, Bright Eyes, Death Cab for Cutie, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, various comedians including Demetri Martin, My Morning Jacket, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, the Magic Numbers, Blues Traveller, Gomez, Dungen, Rusted Root, Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah, Elvis Costello and the Imposters, Beck, RADIOHEAD!!!, Phil Lesh and Friends, Dresden Dolls, and I'm sure there are others, I just can't remember them all.. there was a fire show and Mr. T as buddha. needless to say it was, as they say down south, a big time! It was ridiculously hot, I have a sunburn and blisters on my feet, but it was worth every ounce of sweat and and every cent i shelled out, and i got to see Nick which was nice (even though it took two days for us to find each other) and i met random people from all over the country! I'm most definitely going again next year!! One of the most amazing experiences ever! There were 80,000 people on one farm with insane amounts of bands and yet it was so chill. I did not witness a single ounce of violence the whole weekend. it was wonderful!

5. evenutally i will be planning a massive campout. EVERYONE will be invited. i'm thinking august sometime. it should be a big time.

6. that's it for now. i took a 'nap' this afternoon which turned out to be 4 hours of sleep so now it's 12:30 and i'm wide awake. niiiiiiice.

7. i need to do some hiking. seriously. i haven't been in the woods in forever. and i need to start running again. i feel like the biggest slug on earth. i'd love to get a good hike in this weekend, but i think it's supposed to rain. if that's the case, i think my room's in line for a serious deep cleaning. and i need to get some lynda tutorial time in. we're making the switch to indesign and i'm totally clueless.

that's all i've got for now
peace out

big post

tomorrow.



edit: eventually

awesome

Caffeinated gum. College students and midnight oil-burners rejoice! Whoever came up with this one is a genius. Thank you, gum inventor guy! You are right now keeping me from passing out on my keyboard!

also

the vegetarian black bean soup at panera (accompanied by a whole grain baguette) is super ridiculously delicious. it looks very unappetizing, but trust me, it's SO tasty! and VERY filling! i strongly suggest it.

smiles

I had a client tell me i'm 'the best!' today. and another client went on and on about how happy she was with the work i've been doing for her. things like this make me happy, really make me love what i do.

Mondaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

Ugh. today is most definitely a monday of mondays. Chock full of tedium. Hours of minor code/web/text changes, adjusting, readjusting, and aligning of text for a graduation program, and working on a township map.. BORING.

100% bored out of my skull.

a nutshell, in which my weekend resides

This weekend, I must say, was fairly fantabulous, or at the very least fun. Let's give 'er a rundown:

Friday: Friday afternoon Morgan and I went tanning. That's right folks, tanning. I have ALWAYS been very much against tanning, but Morgan being the devil on my shoulder, talked me in to it. It was.. mm.. interesting, and kinda creepy. The place we went was kinda skeevy, shady, and had posters of half-naked overly tanned models everywhere. It was like a porn shop's little sister, not hardcore or quite as creepy, but still a bit on the nasty side. Definitely needed a shower right after i got home. Then came friday night (brace yourselves)

Friday night Morgan and I decided to go out to Harry's (a local bar) neither of us planned on getting drunk (I volunteered to be DD, which is fairly uncommon of me) but Morgan, the girl of little to no self control, got good and smashed. After a couple hours she dragged me over to Hess' (another local bar) against my will.
So anyway, we're at Hess', she's ogling some random dudes, they leave, then she drags me to some bench by the pool tables. She's all flirty flirt with one of the guys playing pool when out of nowhere two drunk guys come over, one of which is all over morgan in a most obscene way. I automatically figure 'oh wonderful, here we go' and then the other guy, Jim, sat next to me and we started talking. He right away pointed out my stand-off-ish ness. I'm just not an overly social person. Especially when i'm 100% sober, swimming in cigarette smoke, and waiting for Whorgan to finish flirting with guys. But needless to say, we talked most of the night and he even dragged me on to the dance floor (and mind you, i'm a HORRIBLE dancer when i'm sober and generally avoid it at all costs.. i'm probably bad at dancing when i'm drunk too, but at that point i don't care) so anyway, i make a good ass out of myself, but it was fun, and then we watched morgan and her guy hang all over each other (which was kinda gross). So then we went over to the bar and talked some more. He really seemed like a cool guy, despite the drunkennness. Very regular, as in not a douche-bag. Didn't hang all over me, very non-invasive. And was actually interesting and seemed like a nice guy. I liked that.
Then he decided we should go get pizza, and then morgan and the other guy came over (and he was particularly annoying, i think his name was al or something. he was very much a douche-bag) i offered to give them a ride home. (al-whoever and jim are roommates). Jim showed me pictures of when he was a zookeeper (which i found particularly cool. especially where he was holding an alligator.. i definitely couldn't do that!) anyway, it was a most enjoyable evening, even though he was drunk.

I would hope this jim guy and i become friends, but i think he's just going to be "that guy i met at the bar that one time" though i did give him my screenname. who knows. i wouldn't mind a new friend around here

Saturday: so did you get through that horribly long paragraph? eh? Saturday was super low key. Woke up, forced my fat ass to go running, cleaned my room way seriously. Cleaned out the closet and all my bureau drawers and everything. Went on a short hike, and then just bummed around the rest of the night.

Sunday: went to church, had to read the prayers and accidentally read the part the pastor was supposed to read. oops! After church I went to a Premier Designs Jewelry party with Helen, the woman I work with. She's REALLY nice! Such a wonderful person. The party was actually fun. The woman who hosted it works for a company that is one of our clients. Her house was GORGEOUS! It was out in New Tripoli. It was a good time, I must say. I like hanging out with middle aged women. They're so much nicer, less stuck up, and have less hang ups than girls in their 20s. You wouldn't believe the crap that middle aged women talk about too.. anything from pets to sex toys, it's great! And I got to have some wine, good food, play cheesy games, and spent $72 on jewelry I really didn't need. Came home, talked to Kim on the phone awhile, probably call Karen later tonight. Overall it was a good day.

If you're still conscious after reading this, congrats!

But now, I'm in the mood for some sweatpants and donnie darko! 'night folks!

bears bears and more bears!

So i received some great news from Boyds Bears!! They've decided to push the coloring books back a season, but they are coming up with some new interactive coloring projects (like cardboard coloring pieces kids can put together to make scenes and stuff, like with butterflies and trains and other kid-type paraphernalia). My drawing samples (i sent five different illustrations) were sent around to the marketing department and looked over by the people in charge of marketing as well as the entire marketing team and she (Pam who's in charge of marketing) said they have several projects over the next few seasons (notice the plural) that they want to work with me on. They're having me visit June 3 for an official tour of Boyds Country in Gettysburg so I can get an idea of the branding and the feel for the project and we can sit down and discuss all the upcoming projects. They're going to send me rough sketches of some new ideas they have. How cool!! I'm SOOOO excited!! And also, Pam seems SUPER nice!! (she's my contact person) Definitely made my day!

And that's about all the news I have for tonight.

Take care kiddies!

Also: For the first time ever, I'm starting to feel a level of loyalty to the town of Bloomsburg. I somewhat feel like defending it when people say it sucks (even though for the most part I agree). I'm even warming up to the idea of moving into town. Is it possible?? Could I maybe finally be starting to consider Bloomsburg home?!? That kinda scares me a little.

happy [yester]day

I've lost 7lb. and Boyd's Bears still wants me. Yay. :-)

cleaning spree

Today was a good day. I got up (around 8 ) and it was really nice out so i forced myself to go running (which i haven't done in about 3 months). i was sooooooo sore! but it felt really really good.

i was the only one home today (mom, dad, and morgan were at morgan's graduation, nik was at a bday party, and shelbs was at a friend's house) so it was nice, i came home, got a nice long shower, made some breakfast then spent the day cleaning the house. We had a HUGE thunder storm! complete with hail and everything! I left the door open the whole time, just to get some of that nice air in the house, and i liked the sound of the thunder and rain. thunderstorms are my favorite.

I took a break from cleaning around 11 and went to the mall to pick up a card for my mom, and some chocolate for her, and also wound up spending $65 on myself (don't worry, I spent $50 on my mom's actual gift, so It wasn't like i spent $10 on her and $65 on myself) came home and wrapped mom's gifts, made some lunch, cleaned a bit, then took a nap. had a bit of a migraine when i woke up, but i took a few excedrin and it went away.

tonight i cooked my filet mignon. it was SO good!! i made a little sauce thing to go with it, i chopped up 3 kinds of tomatoes, and made a sauce out of soy sauce, dijon mustard, parsley and garlic and mixed it with the tomatoes with salt and pepper. it was SO delicious on the steak! and i made fresh green beans to go with it. it was a picture perfect dinner. sometimes i wish i had gone to cooking school instead of design, but i wouldn't want to be a chef, i just want to learn all the ins and outs of cooking just for myself, i wouldn't really want it as a career. it was fun. i love cooking.

and that's about it, caught the ending of king kong with my parents, it was pretty sad. and then watched boring tv shows with my dad (which is a favorite pastime of mine)

overall, i'd have to say it was a peachy saturday. really can't complain. :-)

also, HAPPY GRADUATION MORGAN!

what’s up what’s up

Completely bored at work. The boss is out and I'm caught up for the week, so I'm just chillin out, getting some small stuff done. Nothing too exciting to report. I don't think Boyd's is having me do their coloring books. They emailed me last Thursday saying they really liked my revised drawings and were sending them to the Marketing Department for review. Still haven't heard anything. I emailed on Tuesday to see what was going on and they never got back to me. Seeing as how they want the illustrations for June 2, I'm going to go ahead and assume they're not using me as their illustrator. Which pretty much sucks. But that tends to be the case lately. Oh well. That's life. I have my moment of mild depression, pick myself up, and work on the next thing. I'm thinking of doing a kick-ass promotion. I'm going to re-design my site and everything. All based around the coloring book idea. I think it could be fun, and in a way, turning my negative experience into a positive one. I want to take the whole summer and really work on it. I'm also thinking of placing an ad in the local paper, see who needs some freelance design work done. I doubt there's much competition in Bloomsburg. Or at least none that I can tell. I need to see if there's a local publication.

Morgan and I are going to get an apartment in June. We were both pretty leery about it, but I think it will be fun. Since she'll be making gobs of cash (she'll be a nurse working the Trauma/ICU at Geisinger, making more than double what I make) she offered to pay 2/3 the rent and I'll pay 1/3 and we'll split amenities. I'm really excited about it. I'll be an official townie! (gasp! who'd a thunk it!) I like the idea that i'll be able to walk all over town, and to the park, and wherever else. And it will be kinda nice having a sister for a roommate cus if one of us is doing something annoying, we can just tell each other, and if we fight, no big deal. It's not uncommon for us to fight and yell and scream and then 5 minutes later be like 'hey, let's go to the mall or something.' So that's a definite plus. And she'll have crazy hours and probably not be home much anyway. It will also be nice having the rest of my family only 10 minutes away. (free laundry!!)

I'm also back on the old 'weight loss' horse. I lost 50lb in college and have gained 15 back since moving home. Not a good thing. That's also got me down, so I'm working to fix that. I've started eating ridiculously healthy. No artificial stuff, no refined foods, (that includes diet foods too, like that 100 calorie pack shit) No white bread white pasta or white rice. Just healthy food. A TON of vegetables, lean meat, and whole grains. Sounds pretty boring, but so far I'm actually really enjoying it. I'v lost 6lb.(since Monday) and feel REALLY healthy! And so far I haven't been hungry. Which is always a good thing. I'm hoping this is something I'll stick to. So far I haven't run into any problems. My mom brought home food belonging to every member of the 'O' family: Oreos, Doritos, Cheetos, etc. and cheese danish, and morgan brought home donuts.. and I guess from not eating sugar or anything, I lost my cravings for it. I haven't wanted any of it. Nik sat next to me eating Oreos for breakfast and I was perfectly content with my scrambled eggs and toast. I'm thinking of trying out some new recipes this weekend. (I bought myself a little filet mignon, I'm excited about that) and I've started taking a multivitamin and calcium.
We'll see how this all works out.

SO that's all i've got. i've got 2.5 hours to kill and I think it's going to be an ugly battle. I think I may just be bored to death.

In the words of Kip: "Peace out" (Said in exactly the same voice)

update

so not too much is going on right now. 15 minutes til i go home, no one else is here, so i thought i'd update.

hgtv (for those that still don't know yet) is a no go :-( but i may possibly get some freelance from them (i'm hoping anyway), but boyd's bears looks like it may happen. my drawings made it through a round of revisions, and now they're being sent to the product marketing department for review. i hope they make up they're mind soon cause they want first proofs of all the books by june 2nd, and they've yet to make a decision if i'm going to be illustrating them or not. also with boyds, my name was passed to a woman in another department and she wants me to do two illustrations of a nurse bear to use for signage. so i'm pretty excited about that too. and i'm throwing around the idea of doing some volunteer design work. i've been scouting out some volunteer organizations that need design help on volunteermatch.org. found some great stuff!!

this weekend i'm going to new jersey to visit kim and karen for kim's bday celebration. haven't decided yet if i'm going up friday or saturday. DEFINTITELY looking forward to it!! :-D

morgan graduates next weekend (not this weekend) which means she'll be moving back in for a little bit, but i still get to keep my room. she's camping with shelbs (and since she'll be making some sweet cash at geisinger she'll be in her own apartment soon enough) my mom and i are going to do over my room, repaint it, bring up my new furniture. i think i'll be sticking around pa for awhile. things aren't so bad here now, my opinion's respected a bit more and my pay is a little higher and i'm getting some great freelance opportunities. so overall it's not too bad. still kinda bummed about the knoxville situation, but i'm not really upset. just moving forward.

i was just looking up my horoscope (i'm a libra, in case anyone was curious, which i'm sure no one is). pretty interesting. looked up my sign compatibility and did a quiz on a different site.. supposedly my best match is a gemini. (15 minutes isn't really enough time to start any new actual work).. anyway, i think it's kinda funny. my dad's a gemini (i get along the best with him out of everyone in the house, we never fight) and two of my biggest crushes were geminis. so how weird is that? also, i get along least with cancer.. my mom's a cancer. explains a lot. she and i argue the most out of the whole family.

well, looks like it's 4:30! time to go home! yessssssssssss...

EDIT: The Boyd's Bear signage project (not the coloring books) went in-house. i'm really starting to hate that term.

had lamb for the first time today. i have to say, it was pretty tasty.

i want to plan some mini trips to MA, weekend trips, drive up on a friday night, leave on a sunday night. i'd like to just spend more time with family up there. my grandparents think it's a great idea.

not really anything interesting to say so i'm off to bed. and that's all.

hugs and grandparents

mimi and johnny (my grandparents) are visiting this weekend. i love them soooooo much! all my best hugs are reserved for them. and i can always count on a bright red lipstick kiss on my cheek from mimi, and dry, sarcastic, intelligent conversation with johnny. they really are my favorites. really and truly. tomorrow johnny will probably take shelbs, morgan, nik and i out somewhere, either shopping or for lunch or something. maybe we'll get a game of monopoly in or (which would be most fun) a good game of rummy in with mimi. saturday is morgan's pinning ceremony for nursing, which will be nice. overall, i'm looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend with the people i love the most.. MY FAMILY!!

this weekend is the absolute best ending to my week. couldn't think of anything better. not even a million dollars.. well, maybe a million dollars, as long as my grandparents are there too! :-)

erotic coloring books. any thoughts?




(the idea had morgan and i laughing for a good hour at least)

yeah, sometimes life's like that

not experienced enough. and there was another woman.. never a good thing. possible freelance in the future, which isn't a bad thing, and i got a raise here at work. still sucks though. i just want to go home, have a good cry, and be done with it.

what a bummer.

Beary Good

Here are my sample coloring book illustrations that I sent to Boyd's. I'm not sold on the line quality of the maze, I need to rework that. Anyway, if you click on the image, you can download the page. Maybe I should have a coloring contest or something..

obvious {but very good} advice

You just have to do what you love and love what you do. And that's all there is to it.

ponder of the day

why isn't 'casinos' spelled 'casinoes' like in 'tomatoes' and 'potatoes'?

Brighton B. Yellow

Boyd's Bears took the bait! Now I just have to prove my worth and wow them with my illustration finesse. I'm wicked excited! You see the little illustration of the coloring book cover next to the bear? Yeah, if I get this, I'll be designing and illustrating 6 new coloring books (and you can bet your ass my illustrations will be a heck of a lot better than that!). And if I push myself and do a super job and they love it.. I should be looking at $15,000.. at least that's the quote I gave and they didn't argue. They asked me to send a sample of some illustrations for them to look over (which I'll do over the weekend) and if they like what they see they want me to do 6 coloring and activity books, 12 pages each, front and back, so that's 144 illustrations.. due June 2, well, first draft due June 2. It'll be a TON of work, and I'll probably lose some sleep and go without seeing sunlight for awhile, but i'll be totally worth it! I could pay off a student loan with that! or at least a nice chunk of one! (and possibly a new iMac? and new software? hmm?) But I'm jumping ahead. I have to wow them first, get the final OK, do the work.. THEN daydream.. but still.. it's nice to think about!

Now if only I'd hear back from HGTV... that would definitely make my week. as long as it's good news anyway..

Also. There's a new product by Kellog's called 'Yogos.' The strawberry ones are good. They're like strawberry yogurt coated strawberry fruit snack things. Pretty tasty and strawberry-ee.

anxiety

Some days i just wish i could turn my brain off. Just stop thinking all together.
I'm just too stressed out right now and need to relax. I'm too impatient, too antsy, and there are just too many people riding my back. meh. waiting for answers on a couple different opportunities, specifically boyd's and hgtv.. and the waiting is driving me crazy. it wouldn't be so bad except that EVERYONE keeps asking me about them. when i find out, everyone will know, so in the meantime.. stop asking!!!!

(sorry, i'm not as edgy as this sounds.. well maybe a little. but it will pass)

is it friday??

summatime

coffee coolattas remind me of summer. tonight was a very summer-type evening.

i like it.

the end.

do you ever just get a feeling of impending doom? yeah, i've got something like that.

i think it's cause i want this REALLY REALLY bad. and i'm afraid i didn't make that clear enough. i just need to keep my fingers crossed. whatever happens happens and it all happens for a reason...

Annointing of the Dick

This ran in a local paper in Hazleton...

Definitely gave us all a good laugh.