My mom writes an annual holiday letter to friends and family each year, and I always like to approve it beforehand in case she writes something horrible about me and I have to ask for a retraction. I like my section this year, but I feel bad for my dad because my mom ratted him out and now all our extended family will know he reads geeky computer magazines. and now you know too. Here it is.
"Someone actually had to tell me that this was the month of December the other day while I was writing a check out for October. When you live in an area where there are no visible season changes, you really can’t rely on the weather or the crispness in the air to remind you the holidays are quickly approaching. Come to think of it, the only way to confirm which holiday is approaching is to take a trip to the mall to see which decorations are hanging from the ceiling. Oh yeah, the other give away is the multitude of cheddar cheese popcorn tins that magically appear in the break room at work.
This year has been an interesting one for Matt because it was his “crunch” time when he had to decide what his career will be. After meeting with his guidance counselor and weighing all his strong points, he finally came to the decision to become a zoologist. In fact, he liked the idea so much that he decided to go into film instead. He’s not exactly sure what he wants to do in film, but you can bet it won’t have anything to do with math, even though he’s doing surprisingly well in the subject. So…maybe he’ll really become a math major? “HA-HA-HA-HO-HO-HO!”
Sarah, on the other hand is having a huge “freak out.” She is now a senior at USC. I know…I know what you’re thinking. They sucked at the football game against UCLA. Hope you didn’t bet any money on that game! Enough said about that, back to Sarah. She’s, how shall I say, apprehensive about leaving her safe little “school cocoon” world and entering the real one instead. I say, “Pishaw!” What better place for a new graphic designer to get a job doing movie posters and trailers than in LA? Her plans are to work for a year or two, then go back to school for her masters degree. Then after she gets her masters, she could go to Emily Posts finishing school for girls and learn to whip out gourmet vegetarian meals and thread a needle. “HA-HA-HA-HO-HO-HO-!”
Rick is doing well, but sometimes I worry about him. You know those weird, never seen before magazines that come in the mail around the holidays? Well, one arrived the other day entitled, “The Almost Geek Magazine.” It had page after fun filled page of computer type gadgets. Sad to say, he grinned bigger than the Cheshire Cat from Alice In Wonderland and went away with it tucked under his arm. I saw it again in the bathroom reading rack where it still remains today. He’s still at JBL and this year, will be taking Matt to his annual company Christmas party. Last year Sarah went with him, so I guess next year will be my turn again. “HA-HA-HA-HO-HO-HO-!”
As for me, well I guess the most exciting thing that happened other than going back to Jersey after a thirteen year absence to see my nephew get married, was starting my own group of fearless writing warriors. What started out to be just three is now a whopping gang of seven. We meet once a week and push ourselves to finish our works of art. And who knows, maybe next year you’ll be getting a personally signed novel from me instead of a letter. “HA-HA-HA-HO-HO-HO-!”
It never hurts to dream or try something new. Focusing on a career, stepping out into the world, dreaming of geek gadgets or having a story become a novel could all become a reality.
“Happy holidays to all and the best of New Year’s.”
Friday, December 08, 2006
Saturday, December 02, 2006
one flew east, one flew west
As an art major, your finals are all usually a week before everyone else's. And they're not usually written exams, but large final projects. This is good and bad. You get done early and have a longer winter break, but then the week when everyone is relaxed before finals, you are freaking out because you have 50 projects due. This week was no exception. On Tuesday, my video project was due. I decided to do an interactive video website about poetry. I was really nervous about my critique because I wasn't sure the project had come out how I wanted it, but I ended up getting really great compliments from people in the class.
On Thursday we had a scary portfolio review. I worked my ass off to put together and self-bind this portfolio book. I had to cut out like, 100 pages with an xacto knife and I cut my fingers at least 5 times, but it was worth to have a nice looking portfolio. The review part was frightening. We had to meet with 3 industry professionals who would basically tear apart the work we'd done. The first two people I met with were pretty cool. The first was Buff Monster, a street/grafitti artist in LA. I had known his work, but these underground artists generally tend to remain anonymous so you never really know what they look like, so to be able to meet him was pretty cool. The second guys were the art directors from EA Games. They gave me a lot of good advice and told me that it seems like I've found a good niche with the film print advertising and motion graphics. The 3rd guy however, formerly of Chiat/Day and now the art director at Tribal Advertising, was kinda mean to me. he told me that "I wouldn't get a job as a designer" and that he thought everyone else at the table was better than me. Which is ok to think or say off to the side, but he said it right in front of everyone so it was embarassing. but I think that design is so subjective that i'll still find a place where my work fits in and I'm going to try my best to improve.
One of Buff Monster's paintings
Friday morning we had our big Grammy presentation at CBS. From what I could tell, it went really well. I think we all presented different styles and they have a lot to choose from. I don't think they'll choose my design because there were so many really good ones, but it was still a good experience. They gave us tator tots and coffee again, which is always delicious. I think tator tots just taste better at CBS. Such an amazing feeling to have a whole semester-long project done!
Finally, last night I went to the senior photography exhibit. I had a lot of friends showing work and they had a few performances pieces throughout the night. I don't go to galleries very often so I didn't know that you were supposed to look nice. I was wearing grungy jeans and a tshirt and stuck out...in a bad way. The night ended with sushi and Fiori ice cream in Little Tokyo.
On Thursday we had a scary portfolio review. I worked my ass off to put together and self-bind this portfolio book. I had to cut out like, 100 pages with an xacto knife and I cut my fingers at least 5 times, but it was worth to have a nice looking portfolio. The review part was frightening. We had to meet with 3 industry professionals who would basically tear apart the work we'd done. The first two people I met with were pretty cool. The first was Buff Monster, a street/grafitti artist in LA. I had known his work, but these underground artists generally tend to remain anonymous so you never really know what they look like, so to be able to meet him was pretty cool. The second guys were the art directors from EA Games. They gave me a lot of good advice and told me that it seems like I've found a good niche with the film print advertising and motion graphics. The 3rd guy however, formerly of Chiat/Day and now the art director at Tribal Advertising, was kinda mean to me. he told me that "I wouldn't get a job as a designer" and that he thought everyone else at the table was better than me. Which is ok to think or say off to the side, but he said it right in front of everyone so it was embarassing. but I think that design is so subjective that i'll still find a place where my work fits in and I'm going to try my best to improve.
One of Buff Monster's paintings
Friday morning we had our big Grammy presentation at CBS. From what I could tell, it went really well. I think we all presented different styles and they have a lot to choose from. I don't think they'll choose my design because there were so many really good ones, but it was still a good experience. They gave us tator tots and coffee again, which is always delicious. I think tator tots just taste better at CBS. Such an amazing feeling to have a whole semester-long project done!
Finally, last night I went to the senior photography exhibit. I had a lot of friends showing work and they had a few performances pieces throughout the night. I don't go to galleries very often so I didn't know that you were supposed to look nice. I was wearing grungy jeans and a tshirt and stuck out...in a bad way. The night ended with sushi and Fiori ice cream in Little Tokyo.
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