A Little Encouragement
So, hey. Guess what else happened between August and now? I GAVE UP MY JOB. Not ‘quit’. Not ‘was fired’. No, this one falls inside a very funky-yet-mutual space where I woke up one day in July and said, “Where DID I put that whole Web/Print career path? I really ought to find that. Because also? I NEED A LIFE THAT INCLUDES A VACATION. DURING THE SUMMER.” and a few months later, the City said, “You know, the budget next year sucks (like everywhere else). So…I’m thinking SOMEBODY’S getting canned” and I said, “Ooo! Ooo! ME ME ME ME ME!”
I should just state for the record: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR. Three months ago I figured I’d have a *little* bit of a challenge, but not much problem, landing a brand-spanking-new job. In web design. Which in the best of times, is HIGHLY INSANELY RIDICULOUSLY competitive. And for the past three months I’ve been sitting here realizing, OH MY GOD I AM DUMB.
My saving grace may lie in the fact that I’ve been networking like a somebeyoch. Just a tad overbooked with freelance projects, the fact that I’m so busy gives me courage in the midst of all economic nutty-ness, reminding me that I CAN make a living – I just may have to do it my own damn self. Scary, for sure, but not so bad on the days when the universe sends me little messages in the form of facebook friend video updates:
Amazing, right? It’s like it was meant JUST FOR ME. (What are the chances?) These are the kind of ads where they need credits at the end to list the designer because it’s not an ad. It’s an experience.
P.S. As long as I’m on some sort of awesome-graphic-video-kick today, let me also introduce you to typography in action, aka, the Pulp Fiction in Motion Graphic. (Note: This is probably rated R on some internetty parental/work language radar for being VERY VERY bad. Either that or you have to put $15 in the internet swear jar. or something.)
A Day Late…
But never short. Grandad served in World War II. Although not in this particular order: he taught Women Airforce Service Pilots to fly; he put his friend, Sid (a German Jew) in charge of Nazi POWs, and he met my Grandma in Palm Springs, CA. After an inventory discussion on what, exactly, a ‘flat bastard’ was, he asked her out.
This weekend we visited the Museum of Flight, a place where it feels there are thousands of stories I should know, but don’t. A place where I almost expect to see Grandma sitting on the next bench, ready to tell me a few.
I keep looking. But it’s still quiet. So I wander and wonder and take these for him:
A year, maybe two, before I left eBay, there was a campaign called “The Power of All of Us”. It will always be my favorite representation of the company, because it showed that its specialness had nothing to do with categories or fees or cars. It was the people. Doing good things. For the launch, they took the employees to a local theatre in Salt Lake City and showed us user stories. The kind that made us all feel warm & fuzzy inside, but which I can’t remember now. Except this one. This one made me cry.
Thank you, veterans.
Video Wednesday: Shooz Who?
My idea with Video Wednesday was to feature videos I liked for their visual art, regardless of any other content. But today, I can only say it was the MUSIC I was chasing on this one, because I heard a HALF-SECOND blip of this on the radio last night and it made me UNBELIEVABLY HAPPY. I loved this song as a kid, and because Mtv was banned in my house, I never even saw this video until about an hour ago. The refrain, ‘I can’t wait’ and the memory of playing Barbie Concert with my sister to it, (ruining any future chance of collectability in a single half-hour by switching their earrings and ratting their hair) was all I had to go on as I started a search on YouTube, and honestly, my memory was SO hazy I really thought this was a SuzieQ song. That it contains the most amazing examples of the kind of pointless direction and art that MADE the videos of this era so hawesome was purely a bonus. I imagine some of my younger friends watching this with the same questions I had: What is she doing? Is that a lamp? A coffeemaker? A bomb? Why is the dog wearing glasses? What is the point? What’s the story? For Pete’s sake, what’s her MESSAAAAAGE?!
And all I can say is, Dude. It was the 80s.
Video Wednesday: Crystal Method & Some Dude Named Matisyahu
Rap and hip hop are not my thing. At. All. Ask my friends which CDs I’ve most likely worn down to the plastic, and guaranteed, all of them will tell you ‘Sting’. But ask my closest friends, and they will tell you ‘Sting’, followed closely by ‘Crystal Method’. Since I first heard the building tones of “High Roller” eleven years ago, I have remained fully obsessed with their wicked, seductive sound. Stumbling across this new gem tonight I discovered their newest album – and a sound I’d never have bothered to try if I’d known anything about it beforehand. Apparently, Matisyahu “blends traditional Jewish themes with Reggae, rock and hip hop”. And while don’t know his other work yet, this is FABULOUS.
n
