I plan on spending much money at Sephora in NYC this December. Muhaha. Beth, are you making a list yet or what? :)
Oh...my...gosh....I must go to this show! Tenacious D, Weezer, and Jimmy Eat World. It's 2 hours away, and no one here likes my music...grr...darn....it....all!
I would like to eat lots and lots of Halloween candy today. Little black and orange M&Ms, Reese's, Rollos, Kisses and Krackels. Y-u-m!
If you love me, you will buy me this. Ultimatum anyone?
Woo! Jordan has posted his new online portfolio, ANXIOLYTIC, all flashed out. Awesome. He even put the magazine cover he did for me in there. And welcome to the States, Jordan. Hope you like Seattle.
Whoever you are, can you please stop with the Anthrax? This is getting crazy.
Ms. Austen, I really tried. But Sense and Sensibility is just not my cup of tea, I'm afraid. My attention span just drifted and wandered, until I had gone about 4 or 5 pages and realized I didn't know what was going on at all. I think I'll just rent the movie instead. Aah, it was a nice try at a classic, eh?
Email subject of the day (from Jasmine...who else?): "everyone should have a korean boyfriend." Much chatter about bodily functions ensues...gotta love that girl...
Oh yeah, saw some crazy silicon valley apple employee sittin in first class yesterday playing with her new ipod. Whatever. Showoff. Wish *I* had the time to download a thousand mp3s.
And welcome to Jeremiah, another talented NYC photoblogger. Good grief, Chicago needs to get on the bandwagon..oh wait, am I talking to myself? Just kiddin'!...uh anyways, nice site there, mister jlmcvay, and thanks for the linkage!
Yesterday was another day of planes, trains, and automobiles. I did make it home, and no, my dream didn't come true (fortunately). I managed somehow to read Dune: Messiah in its entirety (I don't remember the last time I read a whole book in a day...or at least had the time to do so). I was able to think a little clearer out there in the woods...it was really surprising, actually, the clarity of thought that I had. I think it was the combination of good energy from the youth, fresh air (which I really, really miss), the ocean, the trees, dirt...I don't know, it was just a really welcome getaway. Just wanted to say thanks for the nice emails while I was gone!
Oh yeah, the new Incubus is good. Not fantastic-awesome, but I guess worth 11 bucks at Best Buy. "Wish You Were Here" and "Aqueous Transmission" are my favorite tracks sofar. After having just been to California, this album definety has a California-esque, beachy, studio feel. It was written and recorded in Malibu, so it makes sense. Go check it out.
Yeah, so I was wrong: I *can* blog from here! And let me just say, California sure is a nice change from Chicago. I left Chicago and it was 30 degrees, I came to Cali and it was in the upper 70s. I've been, of course, attending conference activities and doing my work thing, but also taking hikes in the freakin' REDWOODS! This place is so amazingly beautiful...and I've met a ton of west-coastanites (I was going to put "west-coasters" in there, but I thought someone might get offended if I called them a coaster...eeh, nevermind). I'll have old school non-digital pictures up hopefully later this week so yall can see just exactly how *nice* it is here. Still on the agenda: the Pacific Ocean. I WILL SEE IT! I'm about 10 minutes by car from Santa Cruz, so hopefully I'll get to see that. This is a great work trip :)
Off to California in the morning! I don't see myself being able to blog or check email while I'm gone, but still send me lots of email while I'm away. Heh. See you on Tuesday..
This week we put up the beta online version of Fertile Field, the magazine that comes out of the Office of Youth Affairs. There is a print version which is more widely distributed, but we have been wanting to get it online. It will probably move servers next week, but for now it's on mine. Anyways, just thought I'd let you know.
Also, where have I been? Silent Uproar is a great site! I will be adding it to my bookmarks. Looks as if it's updated constantly also...very nice.
Alrighty, I put up a new project on the left about calamities. Everyone click through it and let me know what you think when you finish. I am greatly interested.
Okay, too late. Went ahead and bought Incubus @ lunch. Will listen later.
Also, as a side note, I've been using Netscape 6 all day. Wish style sheets worked better with it. But still a snazzy little browser. Definetly smarter than the last version.
Did anyone get the new Incubus album yet? I am curious to know how good it is before I go snatch it up (I need a new cd to accompany me on my trip tomorrow). Email me and let me know how it is.
I love working here. Baha'is looooove to eat, lemme tell ya, and so today we had a coffee-tasting, donut gathering. Yesterday there was a going-away party for someone (which involved a large cake and much chocolate), and earlier this week there was yet another party like that. Yum-e!
I dug up my Soundgarden: Superunknown cd a couple of weeks ago, and I totally forgot what a classic it is. I think "My Wave" and "The Day I Tried to Live" are just amazing. I miss rock like that.
Whoa, I just remembered a dream I had last night. Sorta. I remember being on a plane, and going just a short distance. Then I remember being on the ground with a group of other people--I think they were the group of people I was on the plane with--and we were watching anxiously as a plane attempted to land. We watched it curve aroudnd a little lake, and come towards the runway. Only, it didn't make it--it flew right into the lake! AAK! We were all horrified. But then, I decided to walk towards the crashed plane, only to realize the perspective was off, and the lake was actually a puddle, and the plane was a toy plane I just picked up off the ground a showed to the crowd. Bizarre, eh? As a side note, I think we were watching our own plane crash-land. My mom has cursed me with flight worries now! Darn you mom! (I mean that in the NICEST way possible) I have to fly on FRIDAY! AAh!
My new favorite font is Eras. Yeap, type geek right here.
Gosh darn it! Why won't Photoshop brushes and Illustrator brushes talk to each other?! Grrr...
I'm having such a busy week, it's just gettin' to the point of being funny. I just noticed one of the things on my Outlook task list is "blah." It's checked off. Whee!
I think it's worth it. I mean, c'mon! A 5 gig hard drive! Wish I had a Mac to match it.
I got my 50$ gift card from Best Buy yesterday. Must...resist...urge...to...buy...many cds! I think this will be a good down payment on a new stereo. I have to wait to find the perfect one...most of the bookshelf systems I've seen are incredibly ugly. And if they're not ugly, they are too pretty with practically no wattage at all. Can't I just have style AND power? Aah, the age old question..
I always thought my mom was crazy for liking tapioca so much. Well apparently she's not the only one who's wild about the stuff because Bubble Tea, Pearl Tea, Tapioca and Boba Supply is gaining quite a following. I gotta say, I want to try this stuff now. You can buy party mixes! That is so cool!
Ever heard of math rock? Last week was the first time I heard the term, but after listening to some (like Turing Machine) I can say that I really dig it. To check out some samples, go to epitonic.com and try something new. As a side note, epitonic is a really great site...it's got tons of legal downloads from really talented musicians. And I like how they put new bands together with ones that have been around for a while. Kindof de-mystifies the genre...breaks down the fame so you can focus on the actual music.
I filled out the design interview over at TDL this morning. I thought those were really good questions. Try it out for yourself.
I love me some cheap airplane tickets. I just booked my flight for Thanksgiving to Nashville. THANK YOU ORBITZ for making flights cheap. Just so you guys know, I got a flight to NYC in Dec for $141 round trip from Chicago! Round trip! Amazing! Friday I'm headin' out to San Jose for a conference at Bosch. I've never been to California before...I hear the redwoods are worth the flight alone. I am very excited.
OH MY GOSH! I have to make a toothbrush bracelet! That is the coolest thing I've ever seen. Move over Martha Stewart. Link via (fellow chicagoblogger) unoccupied.net.
I got supercool shoes at Niketown on Michigan this weekend. I am a true Chicago consumer! Muah!
Okay, had some minor drama there. Everything should be fixed now, with the exception of a silly link to one of those wallpapers. Maybe my brain has finally failed me for good when I can't worry about how to fix one little link. It's off to eat, then back at work tomorrow. Ciao.
I unveil to you all now, the sans-splash (for the sake of simplicity) tribute to my love for complimentary colors. I hope you all like the new lay-c.com. Why don't you email me and let me know, eh? In the meantime, I'm going to get the gbook working.
OH my gosh...I have 8 Diet Coke cans in my desk drawer waiting for me to take them downstairs to be recycled. That is so sad! 8 Diet Coke cans! Ak!
I have to aplogize for my lame posts lateley. I'm redesigning as we speak. It will definetly inspire me to be interesting again.
It is a sad day, indeed.
I had a TON of design work on my old desktop in a folder, which I regretfully forgot to back up before my system was rebuilt. Between that, the yicky weather outside, and the war on terrorism (and all of this anthrax mess), I want to throw up now. May that folder magically show up please?
Sorry no posts yesterday; my computer kept crashing over and over from my freshly-installed Dreamweaver. So I had to have my entire system rebuilt (it took a few hours), complete with win2k and a ton of speed. It's preeeeetty awesome. For a PC.
The problem with graffiti art is that you can never talk to the person that did it (maybe not "never" but you get the idea). Some people are really talented out there. Wah, frustration.
Oh, this is nice. I take the red line every day, twice a day. I was just at these stops on Sunday. Good grief.
Forgot to mention that I acquired Vespertine this weekend (courtesy of Afshin who was in town for her show). I'm not the biggest Bjork fan, but this is a really nice album. Eclectic and light, it's much more of a whole sound than Homogenic...it still uses experimental noises and things you wouldn't normally expect to hear mixed, but she really stirred it all up into a nice little soup on this album. Go pick it up if you're looking for something new.
Reflection shots are cool folks, but it's getting a little crazy. I feel inundated by the same things over and over. I challenge you crazy photobloggers to surprise the web with your creativity! You got it, use it! I want to be surprised! Eeh, I'm going to get hate mail from this post.
I have to agree with Michael. Very, very scary. Hair stood up on the back of my neck. Shudder.
Woohoo! I love these photos. Can't wait to see NYC in Dec. (man, if I'm this excited 2 months away, this is going to be a neverending stream of pointless posts)
Ah! Yes! Beth, I just figured it went unsaid that I would be seeing you in Dec ;) I wouldn't have left the state without seeing you. Besides, with all those boys around, who else would protect my sanity?
Oh yeah, forgot to mention that my little brother is a football star now..he made 2 touchdowns for the Page Patriots on Friday. Go Gavin! Woohoo!
Much fun was had by all this weekend. I painted on Friday, Afshin came in on Saturday (and it rained like God was trying to flood the earth or something) and we went to an AMAZING talk at the Baha'i House of Worship (see graphic above), and went to a performance called "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind," which was VERY entertaining. Basically, it is 30 plays in 60 minutes-sad plays, happy plays, funny plays, socially poignant plays...hard to explain, but you'll have to take my word for it, I've never seen anything like it before. Sunday had Chicago deep dish pizza for the first time (and oh man...words can't be put to how good it is), went to the planetarium and Michigan Avenue ("the Magnificent Mile"). Then Afshin went to see Bjork in concert and I went home to paint again. Shew. That was alot. Time to rest.
It's all set: I'm going to NYC on Dec 15 to see Bry and some others (and maybe even simon!), and I'm going to San Jose on Oct 26 for a conference at Bosch. Yay!
I don't have a TV, so I'm a little out of touch with movies. But I stumbled across a trailer for Amelie and it definetly looks up my alley. How long has this been out there I wonder?
I've gotten rather out of control. Now I must have Jimmy Eat World. I am spending WAY too much money on music and comic books. AAAHH!
Whoa! You can buy Turing Machine on amazon.com! Awesome.
Ever wanna know what the heck emo is? Well I did, and this is what I found.
If I had to offer one piece of advice to designers and design students it would be this: IF YOU LOVE IT, LET IT GO. You know what I'm talkin about.
How come I didn't notice that nick and jason were honorary members of collab? I think I've become absent minded and forgotten that I'm part of that place. Welcome you guys!
I visited forcequit because I liked the name, and turns out it's a pretty cool site. I like how everything is accessible on the same page. I often get annoyed trying to find my way back to a "home" page...I don't think everything needs its own page. ANYWAYS, got this via another cool name, exitwound. Thanks.
I spent a few minutes checking out the animations at markfiore.com, and this one made me laugh out loud. They are all funny, and just short enough to keep my attention span for flash movies in check.
Saw Serendipity last night with 18 other women. It was beautiful...I loved it! I got so excited about the idea of serendipity afterwards I couldn't sleep. It really makes you wonder about fate and predestination...
Well anyways, it's a fun little website. Find out who followed your path.
New splash. Been exploring some really powerful stuff with photoshop brushes these days...more to come...
OH me, Ryan's conversation with Taber about the DeLorian vs. the Ecto-1 is hilarious. I'm not really into cars, but I think that having a flying time machine would be cooler than a ghost-catching-mo-bile. Though it would be neat to have that little ghost portal at your disposal. Get it? At your disposal? Heh heh...heh...oh.
I just realized how often I sit at my desk with headphones on, but with no music playing. Hm.
It looks like I'm going to be travelling alot in the next few months. I'm going to Bosch in Santa Cruz, CA at the end of the month, Nashville for Thanksgiving, NYC in Dec. for a few days, and then Nashville again for Christmas. I better set up some frequent flier miles or something.
I'm going to see Serendipity tonight, come hell or high water!
Ah, I spent a frivolous weekend tromping around the Windy City (which is now the cold AND windy city) buying up comics and cds, unpacking my apartment, and watching movies (A Knight's Tale and The Wedding Planner). I finished up the Daredevil run that Mack and Bendis were doing, which ended up being pretty good. Then I finished up the Scarab run from Mack and Bendis, which ended up being REALLY excellent because it tied in with Kabuki Metamorphosis. Sorry if you all have no idea what I'm talking about, these things are terribly exciting to me :)
I picked up a few cds this weekend too: Superdrag Regretfully Yours, The Promise Ring's Very Emergency, and Five-Eight's Gasolina!. I didn't mean to buy so much, but there are a few little connections I couldn't help but fall into. Turns out, my friend in Haifa, Israel recommended Promise Ring, and it was after I bought it that I realized that it was a Jade Tree band (same label as Jerry's band, Turing Machine). Then, I was flipping through the bookled to the Five-Eight album at a used cd store, and realized that my friend Patrick (back from DI days and then from random places I would bump into him in Athens) was the drummer (good grief). So you know I had to buy it up after that. There's more to tell but I'll omit, because this is already long.
Updated ye olde wishlist. It's getting out of control! Help! I need a birthday or something soon to make it shorter! I guess I'll just have to wait until February :)
Peta's back with a hot new design. Very, very well done, and using an organization that's fresh. She also has my favorite Aussie name (you know, Peta Wilson...USA's LaFemme Nikita!?!).
Word of the day: propaganda. I'm inclined to say it more than I should.
Song: Modest Mouse, Cities Made of Ashes.
Sofar today, the major thoughts that have crossed my mind have included
1. how have I managed to drink that much diet pepsi?
2. gee, I'm getting good at walking in high heels
3. does 40 hours a week mean 40 hours of work, or being at work?
4. if I put away 5% of my salary for the next 3 years into a 403b, how much money will I be able to avoid giving to the government?
Really relevant things, I know. Just goes to show you, some days you're productive, some days you're not.
Everything transpired as expected this weekend: I flew home Sat. morning, was packing all day Saturday, Dad and I drove (8 hours through very boring cornfields) here on Sunday, unpacked, returned the truck, ate, passed out, and then yesterday rented a car so we could tour the area. Then I returned him to the airport yesterday afternoon and tried to make some sense out of my apartment (it's quite the disaster area). I keep finding all the wrong things! All I want is my silverware tray so I can put silverware in it! I don't want my high school graduation tassles, or my girl scout uniform, or a stack of "Odie Maid" cards circa 1988! I just want the useful things! Gah! Where are they? Is there a box I don't see entitled "useful things?"
But on the upside, everthing is coming together well and it was very nice to spend an all-too-brief visit home. I have much work to do now, so more later.