More work on the app. I was a bit frustrated because today’s work basically nullified half of what I did yesterday. Oh well.
Then I got derailed a bit by sorting through bills and paper records. It was way overdue to organize but I was too lazy to ever get to it before. I still need to get my tax stuff in order. That’ll be the next thing I put off for as long as possible.
I had also decided to mail to my cousin all of my Rock Band equipment. I no longer have a console to utilize them and space is an issue in my new apartment. I’d spent a bit of money on this stuff so was hoping to be able to sell them on Craigslist to recoup some of the cash. But my little cousin in California was interested in it so I decided it’d be better to give it to her than make a few bucks. I didn’t realize at the time that it would cost me $75 to ship it across the country. So not only did I not make any money but I had to funnel more cash to get rid of them.
Still, it’s family, y’know? I was thinking a lot about family while on my last trip. It’s funny how strong and primitive those bonds can be. I have relatives that I don’t ever see that often but feel a definite love for. From high school on, I had always put more of a precedence on my friends, thinking that this is the family I choose not the one I was born with. But over the years, I see how friendships come and go. They can be more intense but can also fade away. My family has always been constant.
You have that circle of people who you chose to have near you because of commonalities. Then you have another circle of people who you have no choice but to be connected to. I always got the merit of creating families out of friends. But it’s only recently that I see how you also need people who you have nothing in common with. They’re there to balance you and challenge you. I like the idea that my cousins and I share little to nothing in tastes but I can still feel a strong bond with them. I’d unquestioningly do things for them that I wouldn’t for friends.
And y’know… I can bum off them if need be.
Daily Panic Level: Normal
Financial Outlook: Good
Job Scorecard (Interviews – Freelance Work – Freelance Busts): 8 – 8 – 40
Last Night’s Meal: Braised halibut with fennel, shallot and mushrooms (leftovers)
I was hoping to get to work on my uncle’s restaurant rebranding today. He’s been asking me to redo the website and is willing to pay me but I also know his business is hurting in this economy so I resolved to do it all pro bono to help him out. He and my aunt have worked their asses off at that place for over 20 years and should probably retire. That doesn’t seem to be in the cards for the near future so if I can somehow help them get more business, maybe they can hire extra hands.
The problem is that their website is just one part of what they really need. I must be a design snob but I can’t just put a pretty face on their website. Evaluating their assets leaves me to think that they need a whole rebranding. I just think that it helps to be able to hand out a business card and have it visually look similar to your website and other collateral.
It’s going to be a lot of work and is already daunting. The hardest part will be selling this idea to my uncle who isn’t design or tech savvy. He won’t understand why he can’t just get by with a site refresh and keep using everything he’s got so far.
Unfortunately my day got eaten up by the app that Vic and I have been working on. We already released a NYC version and Vic is working on one for Vancouver because of the upcoming Winter Olympics, which I think is a brilliant move. I thought it’d just be a slight visual refresh so wasn’t anticipating much work. However, the whole interface ended up changing so all other things on my To-Do list got the shaft. It’s all for the best though because the interface will be ten times better and can be updated for the NYC version afterwards.
It all works out anyway because I was stuck in the apartment all afternoon waiting for the plumber. I set up an appointment block between 1 and 3pm, so the plumber was naturally late. In fact, 3:15 rolls around and I call to check in and the plumber wasn’t even aware he was supposed to show up.
I swear, incompetence is so rampant in the world today. Which is mind-boggling to me because I and most people I know stress doing a good job and treating the customer with great care. In fact, that’s almost a downfall of the New York work culture because we’re always killing ourselves to meet our clients’ demands. Yet anytime I want or need something, I get a half-assed effort or a bitchy attitude.
Okay, now I sound like an old man. And what’s with the kids today and their crappy music??!
Daily Panic Level: Normal
Financial Outlook: Spending has been minimal lately
Job Scorecard (Interviews – Freelance Work – Freelance Busts): 8 – 8 – 39 (I got a job offer in Austin, does that count?)
Last Night’s Meal: Braised halibut with fennel, shallot and mushrooms
I have a job prospect for tomorrow through next Friday so I got up to get my hair cut. By “got up” I mean rolled out of bed at 11:30, and by “hair” I mean the unruly mass that’s gone unchecked for at least 3 months.
Since I’ve moved to an entirely new area, I had to find a new hair stylist. I could go to my trusted stylist from the pre-unworked days but I think a cheaper option is still the smart way to go. So cue the new stylist and of course she lops off way more than I asked for. Siiigh. I try not to be too bossy with people cutting my hair and trust their expertise. I mean, I don’t go into a restaurant and tell the cook exactly how to cook my food, right? Still, I didn’t want much done and “much done” was what I got.
I was near Beacon’s Closet so decided to pop in there to see if I could find any new clothes (or new to me). Lately I’ve had the roughest time finding anything that fits my taste. It’s either too expensive, too cheaply made, too bland, or too gaudy. I seem to have a very limited area of acceptance when it comes to clothing.
I’m also trying to reign in my spending. I got a little cash flow coming in again and I let loose with the purchases. Recently, I bought a new bed frame, new shoes, a new jacket, and new glasses. None of them were cheap. As a defense, I tell myself that I’d been wanting each of those things for a long, long time and it was just simply due. I don’t think I put myself in any financial trouble because of them, but they definitely didn’t help me shore up my credit card debt any sooner. But what’s life without a little reward once in a while, right? Right?
In the afternoon, I get another job offer which would overlap the one I’m anticipating. I still need a 100% confirmation from the first that they need me but can’t get a speedy answer. So rather than deal with a messy double-booking, I respectfully decline the second job. Which is always a guarantee that the first job falls through. Thus, I have seemingly the rest of the week off and not sure when that first job will be starting up.
NOTE: Pissed off looking librarian chicks with glasses in an 80′s music video? Hot.
Daily Panic Level: A tad higher
Financial Outlook: Still fine
Job Scorecard (Interviews – Freelance Work – Freelance Busts): 8 – 8 – 38
Last Night’s Meal: Chick pea salad
Look who’s back! And unemployed again.
I never forgot about this blog, but amazingly, I was employed every day since the last post (excluding holidays and a short trip out to San Fran last week). I even worked on New Year’s Eve day which was extra rough since my roommate and I had decided to throw a New Year’s Eve party.
So much has happened and it seems as though there was absolutely no time to do anything, yet somehow it also feels like I’ve accomplished very little for myself in that time. How is it January 18th already? New Year’s felt like 2 seconds ago.
My trip to Cali was a short, blur of activity since it was mainly for a wedding. I’ve managed to avoid the wedding barrage unlike most people my age, but it looks like my friends are relenting and getting hitched. I already have two other weddings to go to this year. Plus I’ll be back in San Francisco in September for my grandmother’s 90th birthday. I can’t wait to go back. Looks like this year will continue the last’s trend of traveling, of which I have no complaints. I may even try to squeeze in a Vegas trip in the fall.
And that’s one of the best benefits of not having a full-time job. The freedom is amazing. Well, as long as the jobs and money keep coming in.
Today, I’m trying to gather myself back up again. I’m fighting against the feeling of neglect towards all the little things in my life. The plus side is that I’ve already read two of the books in my Winter Reading pile.
I’m hoping to work on a few projects, which includes tweaking my portfolio site. I revamped it not too long ago so am wary that I’ll turn to an annoyed Vic to help me out. But that’s lower on my to-do project list which is tough because I feel as though that should be a higher priority. Alas, I’ve made some promises and I need to make good on them.
One thing I needed to do first is paint this page of a Chinese bible that my mom gave me. Not sure if “bible” is the right term since it’s Buddhism. The official name is the “One Million Heart Sutras in the Buddha” and I have a “Sutra Transcribing Kit”. In simple terms, I have a piece of parchment with faint chinese letters that I need to trace over with a calligraphy pen. Once done, I’ll mail it back to some temple in Taiwan to be among a million other transcribed pages. It’s pretty cool once you think about it.
Of course, it’s easier said than done. I hadn’t used a calligraphy pen since college art class and my hand was unnervingly shaky. I told myself, “Okay, so the first few lines will be a bit sloppy, but then I’ll get better and the rest will be awesome.”
I didn’t take into account that fatigue would set in after about 40 minutes and my jittery hand would stay that way for entirely different reasons. In the end, it took me a better part of the day, about 4 hours to do the entire transcription. And it doesn’t look too bad. Some splotches here and there but overall, I’m pretty proud that I pulled it off without any major disasters. I have no idea what I was writing which makes me wish I had the motivation to learn when I was a kid.
Daily Panic Level: Low
Financial Outlook: Decent. A few checks are expected
Job Scorecard (Interviews – Freelance Work – Freelance Busts): 8 – 8 – 36
Last Night’s Meal: Tabla shrimp, veggies and brown rice
Work and moving have left this blog woefully neglected. As a consolation, go to my other blog for a post about music… linky
More moving madness! Today was a dreaded trip to the Time Warner office to close out the cable and return equipment. I was sweating some catastrophe where I would have to make a return trip. Luckily it went relatively smoothly, despite eating up my entire morning.
In a feeble attempt to reduce the amount of stuff I have, and thus have to move, I took some clothes to donate, which included a suit that I bought after graduating from college and proceeded to wear once. I quickly discovered that the suit did not fit my tastes (or my body type). But it’s a suit. How does someone just let go of a suit, especially if it’s his only one? I’m hopeful that someone finds it and gets much better use out of it than I do.
Looks like BBDO keeps coming back for more. In typical last-minute fashion, I’m getting called in for tomorrow and Wednesday as well as next week so this blog will go back on break.
The post count for each month on this blog keeps dwindling, which is a great thing. That means I’m working and not… um, unworking.
Daily Panic Level: Low
Financial Outlook: No cash
Job Scorecard (Interviews – Freelance Work – Freelance Busts): 8 – 5 – 29
Last Night’s Meal: Pizza and gnocchi in the Village
This week seems to be flying by. I forget that tends to happen when you’re not slaving away in an office.
Instead, I’m slaving away on various side projects, including a website design for a friend and illustrations for another friend’s venture. I’ve been putting off the illustrations forever, mostly due to my own insecurities. I’m sure my friend is hating my guts for taking so long.
Packing is also taking up a lot of time. Progress is happening… I’m assuming. It’s at that point where there are a ton of boxes piled up but it looks as if nothing has been packed. I hate that. I must’ve done an incredible job of squirreling away all my possessions because it never looked like I had that much stuff.
The move is sucking up a lot of my time and attention so not much else is going on. My job hunt has been minimal, but it’s also near Thanksgiving so I have my doubts of much going on anyway.
But I do have one question. How the hell did this crazy bitch worm her way back into the national attention???
Daily Panic Level: Higher, but more due to moving
Financial Outlook: Zero cash flow
Job Scorecard (Interviews – Freelance Work – Freelance Busts): 8 – 4 – 28
Last Night’s Meal: Pasta with vodka sauce
My friend Kristen has been trying to land me a gig at her current company for a while now. The problem is that the company is almost exclusively an interactive agency and I have very little experience there.
However, she seems to have made some headway and asked me to compile a PDF portfolio of my very best work. I definitely wanted to include my recent work from BBDO since it’s current, interactive and pretty cool. Thus most of today was spent on putting together a new mini-portfolio to send out by end of day.
I also couldn’t take it anymore so bought a stack of moving boxes and started packing up. My room is in such a state of disarray, it’s killing me. It occurs to me that much of what I have to pack are just books and design magazine. Heavy design magazines. It’s amazing how much a pile of books weigh, so I can’t stuff the boxes full. Thus I have a bunch of boxes half full of books and then I’m tossing whatever random stuff I can with them. And the boxes are still heavy. Good thing I’m planning to hire movers. They will not be fans of me.
But I’m thinking that once I get all my books packed up, there wont be much left. Furniture is confined to what I have in my bedroom and it’s not much. DVDs, too many CDs, art supplies, and clothes. That’s my life.
I’m feeling very uninspired with cooking right now. Money has led me to just rely on my cheap, easy dishes, but after a whole summer of eating the same thing, I’m just bored. My last trip to the grocery store came up mostly empty handed as far as dinner ingredients. I need some new recipes.
Daily Panic Level: A bit higher
Financial Outlook: C’mon BBDO, c’mooooooon
Job Scorecard (Interviews – Freelance Work – Freelance Busts): 8 – 4 – 28
Last Night’s Meal: Beef chow mein, takeout
So BBDO passed on me since I couldn’t work today. Rather, I could’ve worked today but it would’ve required a bunch of shuffling around and I pushed my luck. Thus, it looks like I won’t have work this week or next since it’s Thanksgiving. Hopefully I won’t regret this action down the line.
Today was about finally, finally attempting to wrap up the phone app with Vic. I think my contribution is done so it’s up to Vic now. So I took the afternoon to get a haircut.
Or more specifically not get a haircut. The stylist: a very confident, opinionated, highly-recommended guy, actually said he wasn’t going to cut my hair. This is also after offering me a glass of bourbon. So to explain, I told him I didn’t want a drastic cut, I was happy growing it out a bit for the winter, but just wanted maybe to control parts of it. And his response was “No. Why would I cut it, if you’re wanting to grow it?”
It’s not as if what I was requesting was that absurd. I’ve done it before with other stylists, and it never fazed any of them. They were always reacting in ways like “Yeah, let’s get some of the mass out.” But with this guy, he just had such an aggressive manner that it makes you balk at your own actions, even if they’re perfectly normal.
I shouldn’t paint the guy in such a negative light. He was actually a nice guy. Just had a different demeanor than I normally come up against. He didn’t even charge me.
Apartment moving is looming now, and I’m in a state of anxiety. I want to just pack up everything all in one instance, but am forced to acknowledge that I can’t since I need some of these things for everyday functions. Thus I’m in this limbo where I keep looking around at my room and mentally packing things up.
Tony walked by the hallway and laughed at how there are “giant dust-bunnies all over the apartment” and how he doesn’t care. Actually, none of us care anymore. Fargo mentally checked out months ago. And Junior… well, he’s Junior.
The end of the month can’t get here soon enough.
Daily Panic Level: Still low
Financial Outlook: Would reeeeeally like that first check from BBDO. Any time now.
Job Scorecard (Interviews – Freelance Work – Freelance Busts): 8 – 4 – 28
Last Night’s Meal: Beef with veggies; soup
I’m back! It’s a bit shocking how long I’ve been working. A 4-day stint at BBDO somehow kept expanding until it ended up being a 3-week stint, with the possibility that it’ll go on again.
It was a new working environment for me. I’m used to small design studios with maybe 6 designers max. BBDO is simply on a different scale. With the desire to impress, I worked my ass off. Normal credos (such as always taking a full hour lunch, not consistently staying late, or working on weekends) all went out the window. I figure this is a place that opens doors and also pays pretty well so it’d be smart to get on their good side. I guess I did since they kept calling me in. They even started turning to me to do some of the work of another freelancer who wasn’t impressing them.
What bugged me about all my previous jobs were the office politics and egos that I constantly had to dance around with, and that definitely doesn’t go away, even in a place like BBDO. I guess that shouldn’t surprise me. In fact, when you upgrade to the talent and reputation of a place like this, egos are likely to be much bigger. The difference this time around for me was that I was new so it didn’t bother me, but also knowing that I was a freelancer and not going to be invested long-term to anything. It was a liberating feeling. I just got to enjoy the environment, work hard on interesting stuff, and let others handle the dirty work.
So now I’m back at my apartment. Let’s hope this stint doesn’t last 3 months like the last one. Actually, BBDO called late last night to see if I could work the rest of this week. But I had some things to take care of so told them I couldn’t go in until Wednesday. There’s a chance they’ll pass but I’m hoping I get to go back in. It’s nice to catch a breather after working but I’m wary of passing too much up in case I go through another extended dry spell.
Today was dedicated to catching up and clearing away all the build up. Groceries, laundry, going to the gym were all shoved aside since I had no time to do anything while working at BBDO. I’m amazed at how anyone who works there gets other things in their lives done. Which is probably why New Yorkers invented drop-off laundry, take-out, 24 hour gyms and Fresh Direct.
I also wanted to get to the phone app that Vic and I have been working on. We’re both itching to get it done and released so that it can start selling and hopefully make some money. So that’s what most of the afternoon was spent on.
I somehow have a backlog of websites to help create. I’ve also been seeing things I want to do differently on my site which is ridiculous since it was just redone in June. But that’s the curse of the designer: you can never stop trying to change and improve your work.
The evening consisted of going with Sok to see Fantastic Mr Fox, which was pretty fantastic. I was starting to lose faith in Wes Anderson after The Life Aquatic, and especially after The Darjeeling Limited. But everything was perfectly done in this stop-motion gem. Jason Schwartzman hit it out of the park with his voice acting. Throughout the movie, the audience was laughing and clearly enjoying it all. I’m not a film expert by any means but it is obvious to realize the genius and talent of Anderson as a filmmaker. His work is on a higher level than 99% of anyone else in his profession. People talk of visionaries of the past and I have a feeling they’ll be talking of Anderson in the same way.
Daily Panic Level: Low
Financial Outlook: Good, once I get that first check from BBDO
Job Scorecard (Interviews – Freelance Work – Freelance Busts): 8 – 4 – 27
Last Night’s Meal: Popcorn
