Yesterday was a great day for a walk; we went to Redmond and walked a few miles on the Sammamish river trail. Today, it's actually sunny, so I think a little yard work might get done...maybe our poor dirty cars will get washed.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Caucus!
Brett and I just got back from our precinct Democratic caucus, and we're very glad to have gone! It was a good experience; many people coming together to support the same party, even if they supported different candidates. I acted as secretary (no one else volunteered, and I figured I could sit and write), and both Brett and I volunteered to be alternate delegates.
It was nice to meet people in our neighborhood area, all for the first time, under these conditions. I feel like a part of something good, and a part of history, because I do believe we will be making history with this coming election.
It was nice to meet people in our neighborhood area, all for the first time, under these conditions. I feel like a part of something good, and a part of history, because I do believe we will be making history with this coming election.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Good rules
Just saw this while reading feeds, and thought it was one of the best sets of personal rules I've ever read. These are from Corita Kent, an artist and nun(!). I thought I'd share these thoughts here to help me remember them:
This weekend, the sun is shining (but it's still pretty chilly out). I have more drawing assignments to complete for work, but I'm perfectly happy to have them. I'm very excited to see how they use all these in the ad campaign, and will post them as soon as I can.
Aren't those perfect? I think I'll print them out and hang them in my workspace.
- Find a place you trust and then try trusting it for a while.
- General duties of a student: pull everything out of your teacher, pull everything out of your fellow students.
- General duties of a teacher: pull everything out of your students.
- Consider everything an experiment.
- Be self-disciplined. This means finding someone wise or smart and choosing to follow them. To be disciplined is to follow in a good way. To be self-disciplined is to follow in a better way.
- Nothing is a mistake. There is no win and no fail. There is only make.
- The only rule is work. If you work it will lead to something. It’s the people who do all of the work all the time who eventually catch on to things.
- Don’t try to create and analyze at the same time. They’re different processes.
- Be happy whenever you can manage it. Enjoy yourself. It’s lighter than you think.
- “We’re breaking all of the rules. Even our own rules. And how do we do that? By leaving plenty of room for X quantities.” - John Cage.
Helpful hints: Always be around. Come or go to everything always. Go to classes. Read anything you can get your hands on. Look at movies carefully often. Save everything, it might come in handy later.
This weekend, the sun is shining (but it's still pretty chilly out). I have more drawing assignments to complete for work, but I'm perfectly happy to have them. I'm very excited to see how they use all these in the ad campaign, and will post them as soon as I can.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Good day, birthday, thing-a-day
Well, tomorrow I turn 42. That means, I believe, that I will receive the ultimate answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything. Right? Right? No?
Oh well. I actually feel good about another b-day rolling around, and I'm having an especially good pre-b-day. I'm working from home today, doing several illustrations for the advertising team at work. This is the first time I've ever done this...and let me tell you, I like it. I could get used to this (though who knows if or when I'll be able to do it again). I though being at home would be too distracting to work, but in reality, I spend more time working here. I feel guilty if I stop and look outside or something. So I've gotten a good amount done, which has been nice. I'll be excited when I can post some of the work I've done, but I don't know yet when it's all going to be out there...I can say this, though: there will actually be billboards in this country that have my drawings on them. Strange! And cool!
Finally, someone from work sent out a link to this site: http://www.thing-a-day.com/ - Thing-A-Day. The idea is that for the month of February, you create something every day. Presumably you post it on their Wordpress blog, but I'll probably just post mine here. It seems like a great way to keep motivated (and a hell of a lot easier than NaNoWriMo!). So try it out.
That's it - back to work! Oh weird - I want to do work.
Oh well. I actually feel good about another b-day rolling around, and I'm having an especially good pre-b-day. I'm working from home today, doing several illustrations for the advertising team at work. This is the first time I've ever done this...and let me tell you, I like it. I could get used to this (though who knows if or when I'll be able to do it again). I though being at home would be too distracting to work, but in reality, I spend more time working here. I feel guilty if I stop and look outside or something. So I've gotten a good amount done, which has been nice. I'll be excited when I can post some of the work I've done, but I don't know yet when it's all going to be out there...I can say this, though: there will actually be billboards in this country that have my drawings on them. Strange! And cool!
Finally, someone from work sent out a link to this site: http://www.thing-a-day.com/ - Thing-A-Day. The idea is that for the month of February, you create something every day. Presumably you post it on their Wordpress blog, but I'll probably just post mine here. It seems like a great way to keep motivated (and a hell of a lot easier than NaNoWriMo!). So try it out.
That's it - back to work! Oh weird - I want to do work.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
A pleasant weekend
I spent some time working on this pastel on Saturday, and it was wonderful and relaxing, since I don't have any homework, or class prep, to finish this weekend. I'd put this aside for a long time, so I was really happy to get back to it.
Today, Steve and I went to see Cloverfield, at my suggestion. I can't resist a viral marketing campaign, it would seem. The movie was good enough, but I'm still waiting for a really, really scary movie to come along. I had heard such outstanding reviews of this JJ Abrams project that I saw it opening weekend...and while I enjoyed it, I don't think it lived up to the hype. Still, not a bad way to spend some time.
This Monday is MLK day, so no teaching that evening. But of course, it's not a work holiday for me either. Ah well.
Today, Steve and I went to see Cloverfield, at my suggestion. I can't resist a viral marketing campaign, it would seem. The movie was good enough, but I'm still waiting for a really, really scary movie to come along. I had heard such outstanding reviews of this JJ Abrams project that I saw it opening weekend...and while I enjoyed it, I don't think it lived up to the hype. Still, not a bad way to spend some time.
This Monday is MLK day, so no teaching that evening. But of course, it's not a work holiday for me either. Ah well.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
2008: So far, so good
2008 is still moving along, and I like how it's going so far! Two interesting things to report so far...
I'm teaching the Introduction to Photoshop class at the School of Visual Concepts, my second class at SVC. We've only had one class so far; because of the MLK holiday, there won't be class next week, but the full five weeks will continue the week after. It's been fun so far; I really enjoyed teaching the Adobe Illustrator class last year, so I was really glad to go back for this one. I get a little nervous before the class starts, but once I get into the flow of it, it's a great experience.
The second, and really exciting thing for me: the advertising group at work has asked me to do a series of illustrations for some ads! This will be the first time my illustration work will be used for publication (except some pro bono work I did a while back). It's a great campaign, and will be featured in some national publications...I'm very, very happy to be part of it! Once a few of the ads come out, I'll post them here.
I hope the rest of the year goes this well!
I'm teaching the Introduction to Photoshop class at the School of Visual Concepts, my second class at SVC. We've only had one class so far; because of the MLK holiday, there won't be class next week, but the full five weeks will continue the week after. It's been fun so far; I really enjoyed teaching the Adobe Illustrator class last year, so I was really glad to go back for this one. I get a little nervous before the class starts, but once I get into the flow of it, it's a great experience.
The second, and really exciting thing for me: the advertising group at work has asked me to do a series of illustrations for some ads! This will be the first time my illustration work will be used for publication (except some pro bono work I did a while back). It's a great campaign, and will be featured in some national publications...I'm very, very happy to be part of it! Once a few of the ads come out, I'll post them here.
I hope the rest of the year goes this well!
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy '08!
This is a large part of how we spent New Years' eve; plenty of good food, good friends, and good beverages. Here you see cheese, bread, eclairs...and scotch! Brett and Aaron had a scotch tasting for all who were interested, and I challenged one and all to no-rules ping pong! It was a fun evening, and great to see several good friends. At midnight, we switched on the TV in time to see zombie Dick Clark announcing the new year (to the horror and amusement of all present. What happened to him??).So now it's the next year; another arbitrary date has passed and the winter celebrations are over. I'm looking forward to the days getting longer, and hopefully fewer of the torrential downpours that seem to be the standard winter weather in this climate-changing world. The coming year should be a good one, with any luck. I'm still taking classes towards my degree, and will also be teaching an Introduction to Photoshop class at SVC in January.
Resolutions? Same as always, I guess: make more time for creative endeavors; take care of myself, my family and my home; keep on living the happiest life I can and perhaps make a difference in a few other lives. I don't like to make specific, sweeping resolutions (losing x number of pounds, that kind of thing) because inevitably they lose momentum in a month or so. I don't mind taking a look at my life in general, seeing what I could be doing better, and so on, but that shouldn't be confined just to the new year.
Anyway, I'm happy to be alive in 2008, happy the holidays are over, and thankful for my husband, my job, and my friends. Life is pretty darn good; I hope it is for everyone else, all year long!
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