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It started the other night, when we all hugged Jess goodbye before heading into another bar. She was the first of the 5 to go.
We made it through the weekend and then this morning with one last "Bob Hug" we said goodbye to Julie.
And then there were 3.
I'm leaving Saturday morning, on my way back to the U.S. Back to N.Y. Back to the familiarity of the doctor's office.
They'll be in San Francisco and Stockholm. I'll be at home.
For 3 months we've been about as close as family. We've lived and worked together and had good times and some times that were slightly less fun, thanks to health and just the random issues that pop up in life.
Through it all though we made our way with smiles on our faces and some pretty damn fine advertising for our books.
It was the best of times, it was the greatest of times. It was our tale of this city.
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Monday, September 13, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Does this mean that I'm an international chef?
This past Saturday night my friend Aaron and I cooked dinner for the girls at his place. He handled salad and apps while I prepared the main course. Apparently I had shot my mouth off about cooking lasagna one time too many and Jess called it in, so I was tasked with baking a meat lasagna, with garlic bread, of course.
Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so there will be no "Culinary Adventures" photo album associated with the meal.
I woke up on Saturday morning after a fun and drink filled Friday and spent most of the mid-afternoon purchasing ingredients. It's a fairly minor task in the states because finding ingredients to do your own cook is normal. In London, it's a pain in the ass. I quickly realized why British food gets the rap that it does - they don't even have the proper ingredients to cook something that doesn't suck. Everything is pre-made or in a jar. Like "Burger Sauce". I have no idea what that is, but it's some generic crap in a squeeze tube that you're supposed to want to put on a well cooked piece of meat. No thanks. There is no spice (i.e. flavor) aisle in the supermarket and the theme of the day is always "grab and go" for meals. It's sad really. I know American's are over eaters but part of that is because our food tastes good.
So back to the story. I left for Aaron's missing only a few ingredients: an egg (which I didn't want to try to take on the train), sliced mozzarella (I like the way it cooks more than the shredded variety) and garlic powder (again no spice aisle). I finally gave in an picked up a package of shredded mozzarella on the way. After meeting me at the train station Aaron and I picked up some eggs and by the greatest of fortunes, the small corner store we went to had a bag of garlic powder. So, no armed with all the ingredients we headed for the kitchen.
It was fun putting together the lasagna and the minor difficulties we ran into - ran out of noodles for the top layer so I got creative with the structure, not understanding British oven settings and setting the oven to broil for the first 15 minutes (which resulted in some very nicely melted cheese on top). But we overcame that, set the oven correctly and I whipped up a batch of garlic bread.
We all sat around the table and had a nice meal. It felt good to cook again. Especially when everyone went to for seconds.
Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so there will be no "Culinary Adventures" photo album associated with the meal.
I woke up on Saturday morning after a fun and drink filled Friday and spent most of the mid-afternoon purchasing ingredients. It's a fairly minor task in the states because finding ingredients to do your own cook is normal. In London, it's a pain in the ass. I quickly realized why British food gets the rap that it does - they don't even have the proper ingredients to cook something that doesn't suck. Everything is pre-made or in a jar. Like "Burger Sauce". I have no idea what that is, but it's some generic crap in a squeeze tube that you're supposed to want to put on a well cooked piece of meat. No thanks. There is no spice (i.e. flavor) aisle in the supermarket and the theme of the day is always "grab and go" for meals. It's sad really. I know American's are over eaters but part of that is because our food tastes good.
So back to the story. I left for Aaron's missing only a few ingredients: an egg (which I didn't want to try to take on the train), sliced mozzarella (I like the way it cooks more than the shredded variety) and garlic powder (again no spice aisle). I finally gave in an picked up a package of shredded mozzarella on the way. After meeting me at the train station Aaron and I picked up some eggs and by the greatest of fortunes, the small corner store we went to had a bag of garlic powder. So, no armed with all the ingredients we headed for the kitchen.
It was fun putting together the lasagna and the minor difficulties we ran into - ran out of noodles for the top layer so I got creative with the structure, not understanding British oven settings and setting the oven to broil for the first 15 minutes (which resulted in some very nicely melted cheese on top). But we overcame that, set the oven correctly and I whipped up a batch of garlic bread.
We all sat around the table and had a nice meal. It felt good to cook again. Especially when everyone went to for seconds.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse
Before I left SF I made a trip to a local shooting range with a friend from school. I was psyched because I had always wondering what it felt like to fire a real firearm. So we headed over the Golden Gate Bridge and made a left just slightly past San Quentin prison.
Inside the range we got to choose our weapon. My goal was to fire a SIG P229 (the standard issue sidearm of NCIS), but had to confess to the guy at the counter that I have never fired live ammo before.
He gave us a .22 revolver and a box of 50 bullets. We also got to choose our target, which was easy since there was a freakin zombie target. I was excited to pump some lead into him.
Out on the actual range, I hung up our zombie, loaded the revolver and squeezed off all six rounds. Due to the small caliber of the bullets I couldn't tell where I had hit on the target. I immediately underst
ood why .22s are for women. Chelsea and I switched off until we had gone through the case of bullets. Afterwards we headed back to the counter to get a bigger gun.
This time I asked for the SIG. We got it and went back to the range, where on my first shot it jammed. Realizing that trying to fix it myself, without a knowledge of how it works could potentially be fatal, I went back to the counter. The guy came back to the range with us and started working on the gun. After a few minutes he declared that the firing pin had broken and we would need another gun. Back at the counter he asked what I would like to go with. Unfortunately I was only able to fire one shot with my Tony Dinozzo SIG, so I told him to just give me anything that would fire the ammo we had just bought (9mm).
This one had weight and the first shot felt much more satisfying than any of the .22s. We polished off our ammo pack and I bent down to police my brass and take a few casings as souvenirs. We exited and paid and then grabbed a quick lunch at In N' Out.
It was only when I got home and looked at my souvenirs that I realized I picked up the wrong shells. I had a .22 from the revolver and meant to have a .9mm from each of the two pistols but upon further inspection I had picked up two .45 caliber shells. it was a bit sad that I grabbed the wrong ones, but I'm still keeping them to remember this experience by.
Inside the range we got to choose our weapon. My goal was to fire a SIG P229 (the standard issue sidearm of NCIS), but had to confess to the guy at the counter that I have never fired live ammo before.
He gave us a .22 revolver and a box of 50 bullets. We also got to choose our target, which was easy since there was a freakin zombie target. I was excited to pump some lead into him.
Out on the actual range, I hung up our zombie, loaded the revolver and squeezed off all six rounds. Due to the small caliber of the bullets I couldn't tell where I had hit on the target. I immediately underst
ood why .22s are for women. Chelsea and I switched off until we had gone through the case of bullets. Afterwards we headed back to the counter to get a bigger gun.This time I asked for the SIG. We got it and went back to the range, where on my first shot it jammed. Realizing that trying to fix it myself, without a knowledge of how it works could potentially be fatal, I went back to the counter. The guy came back to the range with us and started working on the gun. After a few minutes he declared that the firing pin had broken and we would need another gun. Back at the counter he asked what I would like to go with. Unfortunately I was only able to fire one shot with my Tony Dinozzo SIG, so I told him to just give me anything that would fire the ammo we had just bought (9mm).
This one had weight and the first shot felt much more satisfying than any of the .22s. We polished off our ammo pack and I bent down to police my brass and take a few casings as souvenirs. We exited and paid and then grabbed a quick lunch at In N' Out.
It was only when I got home and looked at my souvenirs that I realized I picked up the wrong shells. I had a .22 from the revolver and meant to have a .9mm from each of the two pistols but upon further inspection I had picked up two .45 caliber shells. it was a bit sad that I grabbed the wrong ones, but I'm still keeping them to remember this experience by.
Friday, June 11, 2010
We've come to the end of the road
I'm sitting here, in my room in San Francisco, while everyone else is out. I've been having abdominal pains for most of the day. My room is cluttered, yet without life and personality as most of my important belongings have long since been shipped back to NY or, in the case of my beloved big screen, sold earlier this evening.
Tomorrow figures to be a day of mostly packing, culminating in a trip down to Sunnyvale to pick up my car one last time. Park it overnight in a nearby lot and spent a good portion of the night packing it. If I'm feeling better I may break to have one last hurrah at one of the nearby bars, or randomly call people from school to see who is around and out. When that fails, I'll have a drink alone. Fitting.
As I was about to leave NY I wrote a lot about how I felt, the excitement of "starting" my life, reflecting back on those people who had made the most impact and wondering how I'd get on without them.
Nearly three years later has my life actually "started", or did it do that back in August 1982 and I've just been too caught up in looking for a big moment to realize it? Those same great friends who shaped me into the person that was able to come to California have all since changed. Marriage for many, new jobs for others and we haven't been as close. No visits since I moved. We've only seen each other when I made the effort to come home. That stings.
I spent a fair amount of energy and time ragging on California, comparing it unfavorably to New York and various other things that I could easily see coming across as hatred for the state or the city of California. Neither of which are true. While it is true that I can honestly say that I don't belong/fit here, I cannot diminish that it was this three year adventure that taught me that as well as many other undiscovered things about myself. For that I can be nothing other than grateful.
A big thank you to all, for this life changing experience. I'm finally up in the driver's seat of my own life rather than sitting in the back watching the trees pass by and occasionally asking for the radio to be turned up. Without further ado, the payoff to this post - my attempt at summarizing my time in California with the soundtrack of my life:
1 - California; Phantom Planet - it's happy, upbeat and like me was full of hope when I arrived
2 - California Love; Tupac and Dr. Dre - "well let me welcome everybody to the wild wild west", thank you very much. Nice to be here.
3 - Welcome to the Good Life; Kanye West - going to work for Google and riding high
4 - You Can't Always Get What You Want; The Rolling Stones - the gig at Google isn't what I thought it was going to be, I start to discover other abilities and interests
5 - Fat Lip; Sum 41 - "don't wanna fall in line, be another victim of your conformity" decided that I don't like the Google Kool-Aid. (Regular Kool-Aid however is delicious)
6 - Renegades of Funk; Rage Against the Machine - start the ConOps question wall and co-found the ConOps Fun Council. Outlet for creativity created, countdown started
7 - Gives You Hell; The All-American Rejects - part ways with Google
8 - Juicy; Notorious B.I.G. - complete 1st quarter at Miami Ad School and attend graduation. Mentally re-write this song to be my graduation speech
9 - Public Service Announcement; Jay-Z - win an award for White Castle work, start to come into my own at MAS
10 - New York State of Mind; Billy Joel - always in the back of my head as I continually find slight differences in perception and attitude on the West Coast that I really don't like. (If you're driving a Smart car or riding a Vespa you should be laughed at by everyone, not just me)
11 - Killing in the Name of; Rage Against the Machine - quarter away locations announced, mass competition to go to London. Only know one way to compete, kill 'em all, take no prisoners.
12 - London Calling; The Clash - I am as good as I say I am
13 - Country Roads; John Denver - decide that I have one chance left to drive cross country and this time I'm going to do it.
14 - Here I go Again; Whitesnake - "I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin." - Neo, the Matrix
15 - Good; Better than Ezra - Giving crap is something I do as a term of endearment. It was good living with you.
16 - End of the Road; Boyz II Men - where do you think I got the title from?
17 - Take another little piece of my heart in San Francisco; Janis Joplin/Tony Bennett mashup that I should create - It'll never be "home" but it was for a while. Maybe I'll be able to look back years from now as the place I got my start. The place I came into my own. Maybe it's just three years of bad pizza. Whatever it is, it's a part of me.
Tomorrow figures to be a day of mostly packing, culminating in a trip down to Sunnyvale to pick up my car one last time. Park it overnight in a nearby lot and spent a good portion of the night packing it. If I'm feeling better I may break to have one last hurrah at one of the nearby bars, or randomly call people from school to see who is around and out. When that fails, I'll have a drink alone. Fitting.
As I was about to leave NY I wrote a lot about how I felt, the excitement of "starting" my life, reflecting back on those people who had made the most impact and wondering how I'd get on without them.
Nearly three years later has my life actually "started", or did it do that back in August 1982 and I've just been too caught up in looking for a big moment to realize it? Those same great friends who shaped me into the person that was able to come to California have all since changed. Marriage for many, new jobs for others and we haven't been as close. No visits since I moved. We've only seen each other when I made the effort to come home. That stings.
I spent a fair amount of energy and time ragging on California, comparing it unfavorably to New York and various other things that I could easily see coming across as hatred for the state or the city of California. Neither of which are true. While it is true that I can honestly say that I don't belong/fit here, I cannot diminish that it was this three year adventure that taught me that as well as many other undiscovered things about myself. For that I can be nothing other than grateful.
A big thank you to all, for this life changing experience. I'm finally up in the driver's seat of my own life rather than sitting in the back watching the trees pass by and occasionally asking for the radio to be turned up. Without further ado, the payoff to this post - my attempt at summarizing my time in California with the soundtrack of my life:
1 - California; Phantom Planet - it's happy, upbeat and like me was full of hope when I arrived
2 - California Love; Tupac and Dr. Dre - "well let me welcome everybody to the wild wild west", thank you very much. Nice to be here.
3 - Welcome to the Good Life; Kanye West - going to work for Google and riding high
4 - You Can't Always Get What You Want; The Rolling Stones - the gig at Google isn't what I thought it was going to be, I start to discover other abilities and interests
5 - Fat Lip; Sum 41 - "don't wanna fall in line, be another victim of your conformity" decided that I don't like the Google Kool-Aid. (Regular Kool-Aid however is delicious)
6 - Renegades of Funk; Rage Against the Machine - start the ConOps question wall and co-found the ConOps Fun Council. Outlet for creativity created, countdown started
7 - Gives You Hell; The All-American Rejects - part ways with Google
8 - Juicy; Notorious B.I.G. - complete 1st quarter at Miami Ad School and attend graduation. Mentally re-write this song to be my graduation speech
9 - Public Service Announcement; Jay-Z - win an award for White Castle work, start to come into my own at MAS
10 - New York State of Mind; Billy Joel - always in the back of my head as I continually find slight differences in perception and attitude on the West Coast that I really don't like. (If you're driving a Smart car or riding a Vespa you should be laughed at by everyone, not just me)
11 - Killing in the Name of; Rage Against the Machine - quarter away locations announced, mass competition to go to London. Only know one way to compete, kill 'em all, take no prisoners.
12 - London Calling; The Clash - I am as good as I say I am
13 - Country Roads; John Denver - decide that I have one chance left to drive cross country and this time I'm going to do it.
14 - Here I go Again; Whitesnake - "I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin." - Neo, the Matrix
15 - Good; Better than Ezra - Giving crap is something I do as a term of endearment. It was good living with you.
16 - End of the Road; Boyz II Men - where do you think I got the title from?
17 - Take another little piece of my heart in San Francisco; Janis Joplin/Tony Bennett mashup that I should create - It'll never be "home" but it was for a while. Maybe I'll be able to look back years from now as the place I got my start. The place I came into my own. Maybe it's just three years of bad pizza. Whatever it is, it's a part of me.
Monday, May 31, 2010
God Save the Queen, because I won't
Just about a month after posting this the word has finally come in...I'M GOING TO LONDON next quarter! Yup, going to be working and studying at Iris in London. I found out last Tuesday so this is almost a week in the making (so you can guess what my schedule has been like since I found out) but all of that hard work for my Door site has paid off.
And to top it off, I'm going with a group of three very talented, easy to get along with friends from Miami Ad San Francisco. I'm really looking forward to it, or at least, I'm subdued-ly looking forward to it right now. I'll go full on crazy excited once I get my moving back to NY situation figured out.
Still though, pretty friggin pumped. So coming this summer, it'll be my blog - live from the U.K.!
Friday, April 30, 2010
London Calling...Sweet Home, Chicago
The school finally got the quarter away application live and online, and I've made my choices.
1 - London, because it's one of the world's great cities and the agency there is very good
2 - Chicago, another good agency and if I don't get London than the cost of living difference between Europe and Chicago can be put towards my next quarter
3 - Amsterdam, mostly because none of the other options were that appealing and I don't want to stay in SF
The application process ends on Monday and then after that it's who knows how long until I find out which greenhouse I've been accepted to. There are 8 openings in London (and just about my entire quarter has applied for it), 8 in Chicago and 14 in Amsterdam.
Obviously I'd love to get to go to London (but it would lose a lot if I was going with a bunch of people from my school). As a result, I'm really high on the idea of going to Chicago. I was excited when I thought (mistakenly) there was a greenhouse in Berlin and was pumped for "beer, sausages and berliners (donuts)" but then realized that Chicago has a big German constituent so if I get that, then I will get beer, sausages and donuts - not to mention the chance to go to Wrigley Field.
Anyway, nothing more to say until I know where I'll be this summer.
1 - London, because it's one of the world's great cities and the agency there is very good
2 - Chicago, another good agency and if I don't get London than the cost of living difference between Europe and Chicago can be put towards my next quarter
3 - Amsterdam, mostly because none of the other options were that appealing and I don't want to stay in SF
The application process ends on Monday and then after that it's who knows how long until I find out which greenhouse I've been accepted to. There are 8 openings in London (and just about my entire quarter has applied for it), 8 in Chicago and 14 in Amsterdam.
Obviously I'd love to get to go to London (but it would lose a lot if I was going with a bunch of people from my school). As a result, I'm really high on the idea of going to Chicago. I was excited when I thought (mistakenly) there was a greenhouse in Berlin and was pumped for "beer, sausages and berliners (donuts)" but then realized that Chicago has a big German constituent so if I get that, then I will get beer, sausages and donuts - not to mention the chance to go to Wrigley Field.
Anyway, nothing more to say until I know where I'll be this summer.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Door Site done
Last Friday I finished up my Door site, after weeks of work, edits, re-thinking of creative concepts and lack of sleep.
I realize the phrase "My Door Site" means nothing to you, so I'll quickly explain - it's my student portfolio and it gets reviewed by the school to make sure that I'm not going to ruin their reputation when I show it off to agencies and ask them to let me do their work for little to no pay. Anyway, it's a big deal. It's done now and presumably getting reviewed.
My first step towards traveling the world and learning the ad game. Here's a sample of one of my non-ad related pieces (i.e. something I thought was fun to show off myself). I made it while teaching myself Flash. If it doesn't work (Blogger seems to suck at video) email me and I'll send you the file, it's short.
I realize the phrase "My Door Site" means nothing to you, so I'll quickly explain - it's my student portfolio and it gets reviewed by the school to make sure that I'm not going to ruin their reputation when I show it off to agencies and ask them to let me do their work for little to no pay. Anyway, it's a big deal. It's done now and presumably getting reviewed.
My first step towards traveling the world and learning the ad game. Here's a sample of one of my non-ad related pieces (i.e. something I thought was fun to show off myself). I made it while teaching myself Flash. If it doesn't work (Blogger seems to suck at video) email me and I'll send you the file, it's short.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Time to share some stuff
It occurred to me that I haven't really written much about school, despite the fact that it's pretty much consumed my life for the last 9 months or so. The main reason being, I don't want to publish concepts and ideas I've been working on if they're not done, or even if I think they are, for fear that some talent-less hack will pick them off and run with them. It happens. Sure, those people don't last long in 
the business, but if someone rips off my idea, poorly, that's it, the idea is dead. I can't then re-introduce it with more polish or style because then it will look like I'm copy, imitating, or inspired by the crap work done by a hack who ripped me off.Well anyway, as I mentioned I have been in school for 9 months (finished 3 quarters) and some of the work I've done will never be for ads (like the Shawn Michaels poster I posted in my last entry) so it's okay to show off. Plus I've been working on some things for my Door site (basically an interactive portfolio on the school's servers) which I think are pretty cool.
So anyway, here's a collection of things I've created for school.
Monday, March 29, 2010
A Heartbreaker retired tonight
Okay so it's a bad ripoff that doesn't have the same force as "A comedian died in New York tonight" but as I watched the TV it was the line that stuck in my head.
Shawn Michaels, one of the most charismatic and controversial pro-wrestlers ever, walked away tonight after losing at WrestleMania to the Undertaker.
It was a significant event in pop-culture because, Michaels, a veteran of the WWF/E for over 20 years has been involved in some of the company's most significant matches, and out-of-ring events (yeah I'm talking about the Montreal Screwjob). He was a jerk, a pain in the ass, and you could probably go as far as saying a cancer to the company. He cleaned up, found Jesus (seriously) and throughout it all, remained one of the biggest draws with a devote and dedicated fan base (Canada excluded).
I'm not going to comment on his actual fairwell speech, I will say that it was sincere and from the heart. He thanked one of the video production guys, by name, for "making him look good all these years". Prior to the actual speech, with Michaels in the ring and the crowd chanting "Thank you Shawn", the Undertakers music hit. He walked out to the top of the ramp, paused, tipped his hat to Michaels and then returned to the dressing room. Once again proving, the Undertaker is the greatest character ever.
Anyway, I'm sad to see Shawn go (even though I really haven't watched WWE in years) but understand after all those years, and all the personal shit he's been through, the guy has earned some time at home with his family. And I'm most glad, that the Undertaker's WrestleMania streak is still in tact. Even though pro-wrestling isn't a real sport, it does have history, mythology and legends that need to be preserved.
The Heart Break Kid, Shawn Michaels, is one of those legends.
Shawn Michaels, one of the most charismatic and controversial pro-wrestlers ever, walked away tonight after losing at WrestleMania to the Undertaker.
It was a significant event in pop-culture because, Michaels, a veteran of the WWF/E for over 20 years has been involved in some of the company's most significant matches, and out-of-ring events (yeah I'm talking about the Montreal Screwjob). He was a jerk, a pain in the ass, and you could probably go as far as saying a cancer to the company. He cleaned up, found Jesus (seriously) and throughout it all, remained one of the biggest draws with a devote and dedicated fan base (Canada excluded).
I'm not going to comment on his actual fairwell speech, I will say that it was sincere and from the heart. He thanked one of the video production guys, by name, for "making him look good all these years". Prior to the actual speech, with Michaels in the ring and the crowd chanting "Thank you Shawn", the Undertakers music hit. He walked out to the top of the ramp, paused, tipped his hat to Michaels and then returned to the dressing room. Once again proving, the Undertaker is the greatest character ever.
Anyway, I'm sad to see Shawn go (even though I really haven't watched WWE in years) but understand after all those years, and all the personal shit he's been through, the guy has earned some time at home with his family. And I'm most glad, that the Undertaker's WrestleMania streak is still in tact. Even though pro-wrestling isn't a real sport, it does have history, mythology and legends that need to be preserved.
The Heart Break Kid, Shawn Michaels, is one of those legends.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Into the homestretch (again)
One week left in this quarter and then it's back home (where I'll be doing just as much work there as I have been here). Spent a few hours in the ER yesterday to take care of a side-effect of the iron pills I was put on, but all seems to be good now. Besides, once I land in NY and that cold March air hits, I'll snap back to my East Coast form (which like all things East Coast is tougher) and grab some dirty water dogs and a pretzel for dinner and grab the train back to moms.
So I'm hoping to post some of my work here after the quarter ends. I just get a little nervous because I'm not sure about actually copywrighting things and I don't want some jr. hack at Hackly & Associates to find it in a random internet search and steal my ideas. But I do have some work that won't amount to anything in the advertising game that I can post when it's done, i.e. my Shawn Michaels tribute poster, so look for that.
Got a pretty good beat on the end of the quarter. No need to rush, panic or stress. I'm as cool as the otherside of the pillow. No word yet on if any of my work has been selected for the end of the quarter awards this time. It'd be nice to have something entered. Well, actually it'd be nice to have something win again, would really help my chances for getting my top choice (Iris in London) for quarter away in the Summer. We'll see what happens, even if nothing gets selected this quarter I still think I'm in a fairly c
ompetitive position.
Here's some of my previous work from my Illustrator class. It won 2nd place (1st among copywriters)
So I'm hoping to post some of my work here after the quarter ends. I just get a little nervous because I'm not sure about actually copywrighting things and I don't want some jr. hack at Hackly & Associates to find it in a random internet search and steal my ideas. But I do have some work that won't amount to anything in the advertising game that I can post when it's done, i.e. my Shawn Michaels tribute poster, so look for that.
Got a pretty good beat on the end of the quarter. No need to rush, panic or stress. I'm as cool as the otherside of the pillow. No word yet on if any of my work has been selected for the end of the quarter awards this time. It'd be nice to have something entered. Well, actually it'd be nice to have something win again, would really help my chances for getting my top choice (Iris in London) for quarter away in the Summer. We'll see what happens, even if nothing gets selected this quarter I still think I'm in a fairly c
ompetitive position.Here's some of my previous work from my Illustrator class. It won 2nd place (1st among copywriters)
Friday, February 19, 2010
The Gift of Awesome - Thanks Hillary
So today I had to be at school for a make-up session of my Typography class which was canceled on Tuesday. I'm not a fan of being at school on Friday, or any of my regularly scheduled days off for that matter, so I was just hoping to get through class quickly so that I could get some work done before going to Cobb's Comedy Club tonight to see Jim Norton, the highlight of my day - or so I thought.
As I was walking out of class I was stopped by Hillary, one of the school's administrative type people who said she had good news for me. I had asked her yesterday about when a particular class is offered and figured that she had heard back. "Gaming concepts is being offered next quarter and I can take it?" I asked. She responded that while that wasn't it, I was close. I was puzzled. Then she handed me a small strip of paper. I read it - Redeem this ticket by registering on-site for an Expo-Only badge. The letters GDC above it. I flipped it over to verify and I was right.
I was handed a ticket good for a free pass to the Game Developers Conference this March. Unfortunately, the last day is March 13, the day I leave for New York but all that really means is I need to cram as much as I can into Thursday and Friday. So yeah, I'm going to be at the GDC and get to see all of the new stuff that Sony, Microsoft and everyone else are going to be putting out.
I'm psyched.
As I was walking out of class I was stopped by Hillary, one of the school's administrative type people who said she had good news for me. I had asked her yesterday about when a particular class is offered and figured that she had heard back. "Gaming concepts is being offered next quarter and I can take it?" I asked. She responded that while that wasn't it, I was close. I was puzzled. Then she handed me a small strip of paper. I read it - Redeem this ticket by registering on-site for an Expo-Only badge. The letters GDC above it. I flipped it over to verify and I was right.
I was handed a ticket good for a free pass to the Game Developers Conference this March. Unfortunately, the last day is March 13, the day I leave for New York but all that really means is I need to cram as much as I can into Thursday and Friday. So yeah, I'm going to be at the GDC and get to see all of the new stuff that Sony, Microsoft and everyone else are going to be putting out.
I'm psyched.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Unleash the artist within
As part of my class on learning Adobe Illustrator we had an assignment to create t-shirt designs. It was really cool to concept and sketch out ideas, and even to work on creating them using Illustrator. In addition to designing and creating the shirts we also get to set our commission - I kept it simple, for my Clue based design I set the commission so the price was $19.82 (the year I was born)
and for my line of California Love shirts, I set it lower ($17) because I really believe in the design and would love to see people on the streets wearing it, so I tried to make it as accessible as possible.
Both shirts are available for guys and girls, and the California Love has a wide range of color combinations (check out my designer page for specifics), again because my goal was mass appeal. But more importantly, I want to my California Love design to replace those unoriginal, cheap knock-off "I heart SF" or LA or SD or whatever t-shirts. NY had it first and did it best. Don't imitate, innovate - and that's what I did. So California, get original and buy my shirts.
So, if you like what you see and get the feeling to buy one, go with it. Whoever sells the most shirts in our class will win a prize, and well, I want to win. If you don't like the current designs, don't worry - I've got 3 more in the works, although they'll probably have to wait until after the quarter ends to be finished and put up for sale, but they'll be worth it.
and for my line of California Love shirts, I set it lower ($17) because I really believe in the design and would love to see people on the streets wearing it, so I tried to make it as accessible as possible.
Both shirts are available for guys and girls, and the California Love has a wide range of color combinations (check out my designer page for specifics), again because my goal was mass appeal. But more importantly, I want to my California Love design to replace those unoriginal, cheap knock-off "I heart SF" or LA or SD or whatever t-shirts. NY had it first and did it best. Don't imitate, innovate - and that's what I did. So California, get original and buy my shirts.
So, if you like what you see and get the feeling to buy one, go with it. Whoever sells the most shirts in our class will win a prize, and well, I want to win. If you don't like the current designs, don't worry - I've got 3 more in the works, although they'll probably have to wait until after the quarter ends to be finished and put up for sale, but they'll be worth it.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Back to the whiteboard
Today marked the start of my 2nd quarter of Ad school, and my also my first living in San Francisco, which meant the following:
- I did not have to wake up 2.5 - 3 hours prior to class starting
- I had enough time to sit down and eat a fairly normal breakfast (Cocco Krispies if you're interested)
- I didn't have to take a train
- I didn't have to take a bus
- I had time to kill and did so by trying (unsuccessfully) to beat the last level of Elite Beat Agents
- After class ended I was home in less than 20 minutes
- I was done with school early enough to go to the bar around the corner from my apartment and get a burger and a beer and watch Monday Night Football
It's only been one day, but this quarter is looking like it'll be a lot more fun than the last one. And that's just because I can get some extra sleep.
- I did not have to wake up 2.5 - 3 hours prior to class starting
- I had enough time to sit down and eat a fairly normal breakfast (Cocco Krispies if you're interested)
- I didn't have to take a train
- I didn't have to take a bus
- I had time to kill and did so by trying (unsuccessfully) to beat the last level of Elite Beat Agents
- After class ended I was home in less than 20 minutes
- I was done with school early enough to go to the bar around the corner from my apartment and get a burger and a beer and watch Monday Night Football
It's only been one day, but this quarter is looking like it'll be a lot more fun than the last one. And that's just because I can get some extra sleep.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Video Project
A few weeks ago we got an assignment in my Video Storytelling class to shoot a video about life in San Francisco. Our original concept didn't go over so well when the group presented (I was 34,000 feet above ground on my way home for Scott & Kristen's wedding) so the decision was made to re-concept and re-shoot. While I was away the team did the filming and some editing. To make it up to them for not being around, I put together a reimagination-ing of our vidoes in 90, 60 and 30 second cuts. Although it wasn't presented in class I figured I'd share it here, because I did all of the video and audio editing in and I want someone to "ooh" and "ahh" or tell me why I suck and how to be better. Anyway, without further rambling, here's my 30 second clip.
Concept: Healthy living as a runner passes through some of the unique areas of San Francisco.
Concept: Healthy living as a runner passes through some of the unique areas of San Francisco.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Rock Girls Are Hot
First off, you should already know that.
I meant to post this a few weeks ago but got busy with school. Funny thing about the universe though, it's actually because of school that I'm posting it now.
I was working on an assignment - selling the Harley Davidson Sportster 883 to women.
Which got me thinking about Harley Davidson - black leather, bad ass, rock and roll. Which brought me back to this video (Note: the captions are mostly wrong and whoever added them has zero command of the English language, so just ignore them)
Point made.
I meant to post this a few weeks ago but got busy with school. Funny thing about the universe though, it's actually because of school that I'm posting it now.
I was working on an assignment - selling the Harley Davidson Sportster 883 to women.
Which got me thinking about Harley Davidson - black leather, bad ass, rock and roll. Which brought me back to this video (Note: the captions are mostly wrong and whoever added them has zero command of the English language, so just ignore them)
Point made.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Wedursday: The worst day of the week
I've started to adjust to my new schedule, figured out (for the most part) which trains and buses I need to get to and from school, and what time I need to leave my apartment so that I make it to the train station on time. But what I don't think I'll be able to adjust to is the new worst day of the week - Wedursday, aptly named because Wednesday and Thursday will blend together.
Traditional Wednesday I have the morning and part of the afternoon to myself. My only class for the day is from 7pm to 10pm. However, thanks to the lovely California transit system, my only train option is at 4:58. Okay fine, I have to leave really early to get to my class on time. However, then when class gets out I need to make it back to the train station to catch the 10:40pm train. That train drops me back off at around midnight (as I learned last night). By the time I walk home it's around a quarter after midnight and it would be nice to eat something considering my last meal was likely around 3pm the day before. Then I can get to sleep so that I can wake up at 7am and make it back to the train station to catch the train and bus combo to make it to my 10am class on time. After that, I have 6 hours to kill until my final class at 7pm. Again, unfortunately California public transits schedule prevents me from returning home, because I would have about 50-70 minutes before I would have to get back on the train again, then take the bus back to school. Not worth it.
Those factors have led me to the creation of Wedursday, the worst day of the week. It encompasses the afternoon portion on, of traditional Wednesday with all of traditional Thursday to bring me a hybrid concoction of pain and tiredness. It's a horrible day. If I can survive I do have Friday through Monday off where I can catch up on sleep, but I have to make it there first.
Fortunately, I just need to make it through the quarter, 9 more weeks. Or win enough money in Vegas this weekend to be able to still pay my rent in Sunnyvale and move up to San Francisco.
Traditional Wednesday I have the morning and part of the afternoon to myself. My only class for the day is from 7pm to 10pm. However, thanks to the lovely California transit system, my only train option is at 4:58. Okay fine, I have to leave really early to get to my class on time. However, then when class gets out I need to make it back to the train station to catch the 10:40pm train. That train drops me back off at around midnight (as I learned last night). By the time I walk home it's around a quarter after midnight and it would be nice to eat something considering my last meal was likely around 3pm the day before. Then I can get to sleep so that I can wake up at 7am and make it back to the train station to catch the train and bus combo to make it to my 10am class on time. After that, I have 6 hours to kill until my final class at 7pm. Again, unfortunately California public transits schedule prevents me from returning home, because I would have about 50-70 minutes before I would have to get back on the train again, then take the bus back to school. Not worth it.
Those factors have led me to the creation of Wedursday, the worst day of the week. It encompasses the afternoon portion on, of traditional Wednesday with all of traditional Thursday to bring me a hybrid concoction of pain and tiredness. It's a horrible day. If I can survive I do have Friday through Monday off where I can catch up on sleep, but I have to make it there first.
Fortunately, I just need to make it through the quarter, 9 more weeks. Or win enough money in Vegas this weekend to be able to still pay my rent in Sunnyvale and move up to San Francisco.
Monday, July 6, 2009
First day of school - I'm oriented!
Orientation was only about an hour and I don't have class on Mondays, so not too much to talk about. But I couldn't ignore my first day of school so here are things I learned:
- My commute is pretty long and very boring. Definitely need to pack a water bottle and some snacks
- As long as I make 13.25 roundtrips per month, it's financially worth it to get the Caltrain monthly pass
- Same with the Muni monthly pass, but I need to make 13.75 roundtrips
- Miss a class 3 times, you fail. Checked my wedding schedule, missing two classes once and one class twice. Whew.
- There is an elective class on games - so will be taking that
- Copywriters no longer take photography. Kind of bummed because it would have been nice to learn, but at the same point that just saved me around $900 by not having to buy a digital SLR camera
- There's a get together for us new 1st quarter students at a bar near the school on Friday, but I'll have to miss it (flying to Vegas)
- Everyone at school seems really nice, and I think we were all a tad bit nervous
- There's a lot to look forward to
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Back to school
I couldn't find the clip from Billy Madison where Adam Sandler is singing his "Back to School" song while waiting for the bus, so we'll all have to make due with my backup plan - the opening number from Grease 2 (yes, that's the best I could do).
Anyway, I have orientation tomorrow morning at 11am. I have been waiting excitedly for a while for this. My excitement took a few weeks off when I was back in NY taking care of/looking after my mom, but once she started visibly doing better my excitement came back. Then I got back here to California and I've just been so busy the last few days I couldn't really be excited. Now, I need to go to sleep (because I don't have a place in San Francisco so the commute is going to be long and start early) and I'm all excited and not ready for bed.
I got my schedule last week and I have no class on Mondays or Fridays, which I'm really happy for because it works out well with this summer's Bachelor Party, Wedding, Bachelor Party, Wedding travel schedule. I'm taking 4 classes, each one meets once a week for three hours. I'm a bit weary of that. I only took 1, maybe 2 classes that met once a week in college and they usually had the most work associated with them. But, since I don't have much else going on I don't think I'll need to worry too much about the workload. Besides, at least I know I'll use this stuff in real life, unlike pre-calc.
So I'm all ready to go. I copied down the train and bus times I need to get to school, I picked out my first day outfit already and made sure everything was nice and clean, I made myself a new ringtone (not school related but I thought I'd share anyway) and I set my alarm for the morning. Yup, I'm all ready to go back to school again.
Here I go. Weeeeeeeeeeeee!
Anyway, I have orientation tomorrow morning at 11am. I have been waiting excitedly for a while for this. My excitement took a few weeks off when I was back in NY taking care of/looking after my mom, but once she started visibly doing better my excitement came back. Then I got back here to California and I've just been so busy the last few days I couldn't really be excited. Now, I need to go to sleep (because I don't have a place in San Francisco so the commute is going to be long and start early) and I'm all excited and not ready for bed.
I got my schedule last week and I have no class on Mondays or Fridays, which I'm really happy for because it works out well with this summer's Bachelor Party, Wedding, Bachelor Party, Wedding travel schedule. I'm taking 4 classes, each one meets once a week for three hours. I'm a bit weary of that. I only took 1, maybe 2 classes that met once a week in college and they usually had the most work associated with them. But, since I don't have much else going on I don't think I'll need to worry too much about the workload. Besides, at least I know I'll use this stuff in real life, unlike pre-calc.
So I'm all ready to go. I copied down the train and bus times I need to get to school, I picked out my first day outfit already and made sure everything was nice and clean, I made myself a new ringtone (not school related but I thought I'd share anyway) and I set my alarm for the morning. Yup, I'm all ready to go back to school again.
Here I go. Weeeeeeeeeeeee!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
A month on the road...
I'm back in California and woke up this morning in a combination of familiar and strange surroundings. I remembered some things and had completely forgotten others. I remembered where I left Scott and Kristen's wedding invitation, and the Congratulations card I was going to send my godson when I got back from New York but completely forgot about the Twix bar I had left in the cupboard or the piles of things I had left in my room in my haste to catch a flight back home.
Getting reacquainted with my surroundings today has had good moments - I rediscovered how great it is to watch TV in HD on a large flat screen, or how smooth Dani rides; and not so good moments - digging my way through a month's worth of mail, the difference between the stock of my fridge and my moms, not to mention planning for school, which starts on Monday, and the realization that I have a bunch of crap in my room/apartment that I have no idea how to get rid of.
Oh well. I'll remember what I was doing/going to do before I left for NY in a few days. Of course by that time I'll be on my way to Vegas. Eh, what are you gonna do.
Getting reacquainted with my surroundings today has had good moments - I rediscovered how great it is to watch TV in HD on a large flat screen, or how smooth Dani rides; and not so good moments - digging my way through a month's worth of mail, the difference between the stock of my fridge and my moms, not to mention planning for school, which starts on Monday, and the realization that I have a bunch of crap in my room/apartment that I have no idea how to get rid of.
Oh well. I'll remember what I was doing/going to do before I left for NY in a few days. Of course by that time I'll be on my way to Vegas. Eh, what are you gonna do.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Meet the Beat Alls
If you never watched, or up until this point in life had zero interest in watching, the Powerpuff girls, you need to watch the episode, "Meet the Beat Alls". It's just one giant Beatles reference with characters speaking in lyrics and the storyline mimicking the career of the band. I love the concept and it's actually what inspired me to write my biography in lyrics both for my Miami Ad School application and my goodbye email at Google.
Anyway, here's a short clip from the episode to inspire you to watch one of the best written episodes of a TV show ever. (You can find it on YouTube in 2 parts)
Anyway, here's a short clip from the episode to inspire you to watch one of the best written episodes of a TV show ever. (You can find it on YouTube in 2 parts)
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