You Have Such Presents

I had planned on going out Christmas shopping today. I have been putting most of it off for the last couple weeks.

The decorating has been completed. We shopped for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinner last week. There are still a few thing to pick up, but nothing big. We're not spending lots of money on presents this year, either: just enough to keep beneath the tree from looking barren.

It does give the cats room to sit under all the greenery, though. Here's a shot of Patty that I think is really precious: it looks as though she is contemplating the wonders of the holiday, when in reality she's considering how that artificial branch will taste when she chews on it. Marcel, being a dozen years old, has no interest in the season at all. When the boxes of decorations came out, he simply made himself scarce until all the hub-bub was over.

So I was sitting up here in the office this morning, working on the opening animation for the redesign of my website, when chain saws began growling and screaming. It seems the city's finally getting around to dismantling the uprooted tree that's been leaning against the apartment building across the street.

The sound was really irritating, like a mad dentist working on trolls' teeth. When a second and third saw joined in, it got close to approximating what the hounds of hell might sound like if they formed an a cappella jazz group.

Rather than feeling vexed by this, I realized God had sent this unholy cacophony to get me off my butt and out into the stores, where a good American belongs this time of year if he/she hasn't done his/her bit for holiday consumerism. And, although I went out and purchased a laptop for the studio yesterday, that was a business expense and not a financial sacrifice to the joys of the season.

To mitigate the crass commercial narrative of the next part of this entry, I shall insert photos of holiday cheer here and there. And since recipients of the presents I purchased will most likely be reading this before presents are opened, I cannot divulge which stores, exactly, I shopped at. Suffice it to say that it took me about 15 minutes to find a parking space (which I usurped from an Asian woman in a Mercedes with a suicidal look in her eyes).

Once in the first store, it took me approximately 20 minutes to browse and locate the several gifts I had planned to purchase. The actual act of purchasing them was quite another thing altogether.

When I got up to the cashiers at the front of the store, the line looked downright reasonable until I realized that, like Disneyland, this retailer had hidden the line, snaking it through one of the less populous appliance sections. It was another half hour before I actually executed my transaction and moved on to the next venue.

In the second store, it was clear that the their buyers had been overly cautious in their purchasing and stocking decisions, because many of the shelves and racks were stripped absolutely bare. Still, a half hour of browsing netted an approximation of what I had hoped to find. Luckily, I was in the back of the store when I found my last item, because that's where the line started for the cashiers in the front, a good 300 feet down the aisle. Here, too, it was about 30 minutes before making my purchase. The people in this line were very nice, though, and we talked and joked, whiling away the delay.

So, here I am, back home. The side streets are still piled with debris from the wind storm earlier this month. When I returned home, the downed tree across the street was gone and so was the work crew; they had moved down the block, clearing the secondary streets before the end of the day.

Steve has asked for some time this evening to wrap packages downstairs. Lord knows I have enough up here to keep me busy. Perhaps I'll get that animation finished this evening.

So, Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah and Joyous all the other holidays that never get included. I conclude this entry with an encore of the Russian stop-motion animation I found last year. I just love it: Reminds me that Santa/St. Nick/Cinder Claus/Father Christmas did not always look like a Coca-Cola ad.

Churning Good Cheer

It's raining today: not big gobs of rain, but an off-and-on, drizzle-to-downpour kind of rainy day. Here in California, this is about as close as we get to White Christmas. There was a lot of concern that all the debris still left on the streets (and there's a lot of it)would clog the drainage systems and cause lots of flooding, but nothing has been reported so far today.

So far it's a quiet Monday. I'm doing laundry, prepping the photos for this entry and, at some point, collecting the paperwork to get my business permit this week.

On Saturday last we went to Steve and Roberto's annual Christmas party. Here's a shot of the food line as seen through the dining room window at the front of their home. It's always a lot of fun, but can be tedious depending on how many of our acquaintances attend and how many people are complete strangers.

Steve and Roberto seem to invite everyone, so there are people from their workplaces, people from their church, social acquaintances and folks they just run into in the store and invite. It's an amazing mix of people, and only once did I get caught with someone in conversation who latched on and wouldn't let go.

Theirs is not a huge house, but there seems to be enough room for the hundred or so people who show up every year, even taking into account the seven Christmas trees that they put up (at least one in each room of the house) The first one shown above is in the living room and takes on the red-and-green color theme they use in the room. This second one is the white-and-gold tree in the den.

There is a nice-sized patio off the den, and guest suite on the second floor and, off it, a deck above the garage. Still, there are times when the interior of the house becomes impassable (especially when food is being served and folks are lining up for that). And the food is always fabulous.

The invitation says "light fare," but the party starts with a bottomless serving of hors d'oeuvres (meatballs, cocktail weiner, dips, fresh-made tortilla chips, crudité, Roberto's mom's jalepeño cornbread, and always one other dish that is spicier than hell but looks quite innocent (this year, cream cheese pinwheels with what looked to be pesto, but wasn't).

Here at home, the decorating is almost done. We have, of course, the tree with a couple new ornaments on it, and the usual holiday tchotchkes that come out every year. I did add a garland (shown here) to the entryway this year, which cost all of $30, since I used recycled lights that had been on our previously non-prelit Christmas tree. It took about five hours to lay it out and get everything to come out evenly (12 feet of garland and 14 feet of lights means you have to improvise along the way, plus getting all the plugs where they'll be unobtrusive and easily accessible.

I haven't even started my Christmas shopping, what little of it there will be this year. That is partially because money is tight and partially because, when I look around, we have pretty much all we need; we're very blessed in that way. My only Christmas wish was an interview for the Pasadena City College job, and that was dashed quite effectively, so I'm looking forward to the New Year and focusing on making the studio successful and put myself in demand for my design work.

It's kind of scary, though; how to you know when you're prepared enough? You lay out plans and figure budgets, try not to be too frugal or too extravagant, plan a marketing strategy. It's like planning a big party without RSVPs and fearing no one will show up.

As for Steve, they laid off a good number of workers at his work. Luckily, he's not one of them. It's just until the first of the year, but what a horrible time to put people out of work. The place is closed from Christmas until New Year's Day anyway, and the workers will get paid for that week (since it's the only vacation time they are allowed). This means we'll have the last week of the year together, but I'm sure we'll be spending at least some of that time setting up the books for the studio and creating forms for estimates, quotes, invoices, etc. It will be a nice way to see out the year, though.

That's about it for now. A friend in London posted a link on Facebook to this final video treat; I found it and put it here at my seasonal offering. No Santa or snowmen, but it magically put me in the holiday spirit, and I hope it will do the same for you.

Everyone Knows It's Windy

Yes, the holidays are here. In Pasadena, they came in with a blast, literally.

Last Wednesday afternoon, I received a letter from Pasadena City College thanking me for my application and saying that they had found other candidates more closely matching their needs, etc., etc. Kept on file for etc., etc. Within a few hours of reading the letter, a great wind came up from the north, blowing 45 to 55 mph, with gusts up to 85 and 95 mph: Hurricane forces bearing down on our town full of old, noble trees.

By the morning, there were hundreds of trees up rooted and tumbled upon buildings and vehicles; tens of thousands of branches, some of monstrous sizes, ripped off and strewn in the streets, making normal traffic impossible. Roofs were blown clean of tiles, temporary structures like the tents in the Christmas tree lots were twisted and tossed hither and yon.

Hither and yon: sounds like an acupuncture clinic.

Now, whether receiving the letter and the winds were linked is anyone's guess. I've got a huge ego and I'm still pondering what sort of omen this might infer. One thing's for certain, though; while I will continue to look for employment, I am going solo as a designer, which means a shitload of work in the next few weeks to gear up for launching the studio at the beginning of the new year.

I just got back from the bank, having taken the funds from a CD that matured today and moved them into an active account in order to fund my new business endeavor. I have to spend as much of the launch cash as I can by the end of the month in order to make my taxes go away for 2011. This can be done.

But also other activities await: reworking the website to reflect my new logo and look, filing for business permits, joining the chamber of commerce, printing cards and brochures, purchasing color swatch books, and joining the AIGA.

I've started a Facebook page for the studio and have to remember to begin taking pictures to put up there. I'm going to concentrate or sharing pictures of local public graphics that I really like, as well as updates on what's happening with the launch of the studio and tracking its progress. Here's a photo I took at Andy's Diner on Colorado Boulevard (a place where we usually go to have Saturday breakfast before starting the specific chores for the day. I can guarantee you there is no Photoshopping involved here, just a weird grouping of objects in the right light.

We got the tree put up this last weekend, but we have yet to finish putting on the ornaments, and we haven't begun to put out the other decorations in the room. I think this will be our nightly busywork this week.

So I leave you with the first entry in my holiday video offerings: this was the favorite from last year's collection, so I use it to kick off the blogging for this month of months, this year when Hannukah, Christmas and Kwanza are all piled on top of each other.

Holiday Review

I'm writing a review of the Thanksgiving meal I've been harping about for the past two blog entries.

The upshot: dry brining the turkey was an excellent idea. You do have to start about a week early, and the turkey takes up valuable refrigerator space during that time, but the results were superb: just in the process of carving the turkey, a good cup of clear fragrant juices oozed from the bird, and even the topmost breast meat was tender and moist.

I have yet to find a recipe for candied yams that satisfies me. I think I may have to look at boiling and mashing them, at least slightly, next year: baking alone doesn't seem to be doing it. Still, with brown sugar and pecans and butter, they weren't that bad, just a little crunchy.

The green bean casserole, at least as extolled by the Campbell's soup website, is way too slimy and salty for my taste. And mixing it all in the casserole dish doesn't cut it for me, either. The recipe will definitely get a major tweak for next year.

The cornbread stuffing worked really well, especially with apples and blueberries added in.

I need turkey gravy-making classes. It came out thin, without much taste, but without lumps. Then again, I was definitely burning out on my cooking vibe by that time, so lack of focus may have had a lot to do with it.

All in all, it was a great meal for two. I kind of like spending the holiday with just us. No compromise on who had control of the TV remote; no folks crowding the kitchen, telling how cooking that this way would make it so much better; no minor thoughts of when everyone was going to start leaving while in your postprandial trypyophan haze. And I was a really good cook and stripped the carcass after the meal instead of just shoving it into the fridge.

Now I have admit that Steve and I did go out shopping on Black Friday, but did not buy any presents. In fact, we only bought underwear, four pairs a piece. It was rather what cousin Robin calls a "ninja run": in and out with very little diversion.

Returning home after our consumer adventure in the underwear aisle there was, of course, the Friday leftovers replay (where we heated up the backup jar of turkey gravy from the store). Saturdays are traditionally our "date night" and we went out for seafood to take a break from the turkey.

On Sunday, I paid homage to dad by making turkey a la king. This was a tradition in our house when I was a kid (he made it, as well as clam chowder on Christmas and New Year's eves).

I checked with my sister Kittie, who seems to have ended up the repository of family traditions and recipes, and she did not have a recipe for the a la king, but said, "When in doubt, go to 'The Joy of Cooking,' because that's what mom or dad would have done."

I did, and found a great recipe for chicken a la king which I adapted into the version I remember from my youth (the results of which are depicted here). It was a great way to tie up the holiday weekend.

We didn't get to putting up the tree, but we did get all the laundry done (including the several sets of sheets that had been passed over in previous weeks).

Now all I have to do is dust off the Christmas carols CDs (much to Steve's chagrin). We picked up some egg nog over the weekend, so we're ready to roll.

Turkey To Come

The making of the Thanksgiving feast has overtaken me.

This is the first time I've cooked the whole thing (in my younger days, I was in charge of making the mashed potatoes) and I've gotten immersed in searching for recipes and planning out the whole thing so that, hopefully, everything will hit the table at the same time.



As for the turkey, I'm trying a new technique that's all the rage this year: dry brining. It consists of rubbing the turkey (thawed and dried) with kosher salt and seasonings, then curing it in a large zip-lock bag for three days before cooking. At the end of the first day you rub the turkey through the bag, working the salt and spices into the bird; the end of the second day (shown in video above), you rub the bird again and put it back in the refrigerator breast side down; the end of the third day, you remove the turkey from the bag and let it sit for eight hours (or more) in the refrigerator to dry. Then you cook it normally. I'll tell you how it turns out.

I'm determined to be so organized that I won't forget anything, so I went out today and picked up a platter for the turkey (even at only 9 1/2 pounds, we still don't have a platter large enough), and skewers to hold in the stuffing while cooking (the recipe calls for inverting the turkey for the first 30 minutes in a 425° oven, then turning it breast side up for another 2 hours at 325°, basting, etc.).

One thing I've realized is that I'm really picky about recipes. Looking for a candied yams recipe, I ended up taking three different versions and coming up with my own hybrid. I'll let you know how that turns out, too.

Then there's green bean casserole with crunchy onions, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce and biscuits. I'm cutting corners some, using a packaged mix for the stuffing (but spiffing it up with ingredients of my own), and instant potatoes (I don't have enough pots to boil fresh ones and get everything else cooked), but I'm making the gravy from scratch. Also cutting corners, I purchased a baked pumpkin pie and a can of heavy whipping cream rather than attempting to do them myself.

One more run to the store tomorrow for extra milk (just in case) and egg nog. Also, Rice Krispies, since I have a huge bag of mini-marshmallows and I'm only using a cup of them on the yams, so Rice Krispie treats over the weekend are in order (either that or let them go stale and throw them out in a couple weeks).

So, I've got five pages of recipes, schedules and timelines printed out and sitting in the kitchen. The roasting pan just fits into the oven with enough room left over to squeeze in the yams and casserole. I'm starting at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, and the meal should hit the table about 3:15 p.m. (hopefully in tastefully presented dinnerware and not hurled in hysterical fistfuls from the kitchen).

I'll let you know how that turns out, too.

But, one thing's for sure: I'm thankful. There's so much to be thankful for, so much bounty in my life. Sure, I got things I like to bitch or whine about (you longtime readers know them by heart), but I look around and all I see are blessings in my life. Here's hoping you have the same experience for your Thanksgiving.

And, if you're lucky, we'll get enough holiday spirit together to put up the Christmas tree this weekend. If such is the case, I'm sure I'll have my annual tree picture posted in the near future.

Here Come the Holidays

Been a week or so since I've dropped in to write a post. Nothing much going on. The weather has finally settled into fall, and we've actually had several storms drop rain every week or so. (This is major news in Southern California: only here does a storm that drops less than an inch of rain get "team coverage" on the nightly news.) The temperatures are in the 60s and 70s, and it gets cool enough at night that we can use the comforter on the bed rather than sleeping under just a sheet or light blanket.

I browsed YouTube for some sort of Thanksgiving cartoon or short to place here for your entertainment, but nothing inspiring was found. And nothing worth picture-taking has occurred since the last entry, so no new photos are available for sharing.

I'm still checking in with Pasadena City College, still waiting for the selection committee to review the applications and select interview candidates for the job over there. The rest of the job market has gone into another dry period: If you don't have three to five years of experience in web design with an ad agency or in-house marketing department, no one wants to speak to you, unless you can translate the Bible into JavaScript; then there's a chance you might get an interview. And all the postings are for positions that are doing the work of two people, designer and developer.

For Thanksgiving this year, we've decided to forgo having it at a restaurant in lieu of cooking it at home, which means me cooking it at home. I've never done this solo before, so it should be an interesting experience. I can't see how it would be much different from any other meal where you have numerous dishes that all have to be ready at the same time; just takes some cyphering and one or two accurate timers, that's all.

The smallest turkey we could find at the store was nine pounds, three ounces. Luckily, it fits into the freezer. I'm adding to that stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, candied yams, green bean casserole and biscuits (and pumpkin pie with whipped cream, of course). So far, it's just the two of us, although there's enough to invite a couple other people over if the occasion arises.

But I refuse to become a pawn in the corporate machinations of Black Friday, which is becoming Gray Thursday Evening/Black Friday this year. Yes, corporate big box stores are opening Thursday evening so that shoppers, still high on their L-tryptophan load, can start spending as soon as electronically possible.

It's odd that we have a nationwide protest in Occupy (your town here), the people protesting corporate power and greed, and yet there is a muddle-headed, malleable middle class willing to abandon their families on the most sacred of secular U.S. holidays to fork over their hard-earned cash (or credit) to feed these soulless, amoral entities whenever marketed to do so. (Well, they're people, too, right? The corporations, I mean, not those faceless consumers-units upon which they feed.) There is protesting and rioting in the streets of most major American cities and those in power don't really seem to understand the import of that. I'm astonished.

In any case, we've decided to move our banking over to a local credit union (it is presently with a monster corporate bank that has frozen our equity line of credit for no other reason than they wanted to. My personal line of credit is still available … at a whopping 17% interest). I have a CD maturing in December, and plan to use that the open the new accounts, then close out everything with the old bank.

Maybe Thanksgiving weekend would be a good time to put up the Christmas decorations at home. I'm hoping that the pre-lighted tree we got last year will make the process a whole lot easier. Getting that holiday chore out of the way would be a good idea, and perhaps leave time in the weeks ahead to add one or two new pieces to the decorations (a garland for the entry stairs would be nice, if the price is right).

As far as the future goes, next month will be the determining point: If I start up a studio of my own instead of getting a job, then I'm going to need to make my major purchases before the 31st in order to get all the tax breaks I can. It's not a whole giant pile of money I'll need to spend, but it's enough to make my income taxes for this last year go away.

So, come on PCC: make with the interview next month so I can know where I stand by Christmas Day. And if I do go into business for myself, there will be one amazing shopping spree the week after Christmas.

Vandalism or Bribery

That's pretty much what this evening boils down to: offer up something of value or suffer the resultant property damage for failing to meet the original demand. Of course, there are the costumes and the parties and community events, but it comes down to the fact that, for this night, we all can be real bastards and raise hell and thoroughly enjoy it. Of course, come Nov. 1, we're all into the saints and holiday cheer and two months of family togetherness and unending joy, warmth and love, whether we want it or not. Viewed in this paradigm, Halloween makes real sense: Kind of like Mardi Gras at the other end of the calendar.

I added this bit of 1929 Disney Silly Symphony nostalgia for those old enough to remember it. This was 83 years ago, before cartoons had gone color and right after they had added sound (much easier to do with animation than with live action, since no really accurate lip syncing was involved).

The biggest Halloween party on the planet is held in West Hollywood, of course. We don't attend because; 1) neither of us is very good with huge crowds; 2) no matter what I might come up with for a costume, there will be someone there who did it bigger and better and; 3) parking, parking, parking: getting in and out is almost as intense as the gathering itself. So we'll be sitting at home this evening, handing out candy. I've got a couple scary movies recorded on the DVR.

I'm Still waiting on the Pasadena City College job search to progress. They're still reviewing applications, so I haven't been eliminated yet. In a few days I will e-mail Karen in the HR department once again and see what's happening. Meanwhile, I peruse the job posting sites, but it seems like everyone's looking for web designers (with two to three years experience, of course, so I never get called on these jobs).

One bright spot: an old friend of mine, whom I've been looking for on and off since I got back to L.A., finally showed up on Facebook. I sent her a friend request and we are now in contact. Talk about patience and perseverance. After nearly 30 years, I wonder what meeting again will be like.

On the home front: More toilet woes. Longtime readers of this blog will recall the saga of the sock in the upstairs toilet. Now the facilities downstairs have decided they need attention, as well.

The downstairs toilet has been slowly leaking — just dribbles — for a couple months. This would not be a bad thing, except the previous owners of this place put berber carpeting in the bathroom. So the carpet and the padding underneath have slowly been soaking up the product of this small leak and, a week or so ago, bloomed into a funky, moldy smell.

We decided to turn the water off in the toilet, and suddenly the carpet was turning all manner of colors (it started ivory-white). We put a fan in the room to try and dry things out, but to no avail. Finally, I pulled up the carpet and padding to discover the original 1980s linoleum flooring.

By no means a showstopper, the flooring will at least keep us from having to lay new flooring immediately. It will be serviceable until we know what my long-term employment plans will be. Since we're planning on removing the existing sink and cabinets and going with a pedestal sink, we'd have to do that demolition before replacing the floor, which would mean doing the whole remodel, since doing one without the other makes no sense.

Good God, this is fascinating stuff.

So I'm still in a holding pattern. I really have to concentrate on not going stir-crazy or champing at the bit. As Fritz Perls said, "Don't push the river; it flows by itself." He also referred to the future as a "fertile void" where all possibilities reside. Gotta be flowing with the river in order to snatch up the good stuff as it flows from the future into the present, because there's only the moment of now to retrieve it.

And we like the good stuff. Yes, we do.

Harmless Halloween

For Christmas this year, Steve and I went to Disneyland to attend their Halloween Time celebration. In other words, the trip to the park is the big present that won't be under the tree this year. There will be other presents, of course (I always require a gift of socks to keep my feet in style), but the blow-out gift was a visit to Anaheim's favorite neighbor.

The tickets cost a little more than regular, but for admission from 4 p.m. to midnight, it was worth it. You get a wristband when you first come into the park, and at 7 p.m., anyone without one is politely told the park is open only to guests of the special event, and asked to leave. By 8 p.m., the crowds had pretty much thinned out.

The evening was actually the suggestion of Chuck and Jeff, a couple we met recently. And it's not a bad deal: by the time they deck out the park for the Christmas season, the crowds are unbearable. This was one of the few times I've been to Disneyland when I wasn't harangued by huge crowds or platoons of baby strollers.

Jeff was very much into going in costume. He went as a spider (as shown here) and Chuck went as an exterminator. Steve went in his orange "This Is My Halloween Costume" T-shirt, wearing a "Welcome to Mooseport" hat with plush stuffed antlers (a remnant from my days at the Reporter). I went as a tropical depression, wearing a Hawaiian print shirt with a pocket full of prescription bottles. (Steve's concept, not mine, but I think it was genius and it shows how much he loves me that he let me use it.)

The park was decked out with the friendliest scary-looking decorations, heavy on the smiling Jack-o-Lantern theme; there were fog machines churning all over the various lands and special spooky lighting. Lots of folks were in costume and there weren't a lot of kids in attendance. Those that were seemed extremely well behaved, and there were lots of security to make sure the Happiest Place on Earth stayed that way.

Best, though, there were trick-or-treat stations throughout the park. When you got your wristband, you were also issued a trick-or-treat bag, and these stations, designated by a Mickey "ghost," had three or four cast members (as Disneyland workers are called) dumping great handfuls of candy into your bag. If one worked at it, I'm sure you could earn back at least half your admission price in candy. It was good stuff, too: Reese's cups, Snickers, Crunch bars and the like.

When we first entered the park and walked up Main Street, there was a parade about to begin. Chuck had suggested having dinner, and I pointed out this was a great time to do it, because everyone was sitting on the street, waiting for the parade. So we stopped in at the Main Street Pavilion and had pot roast and chicken dinners: good cafeteria fare at the usual exorbitant prices.

The best part about the evening, though, was that Jeff and I love going on the fast rides, and Steve and Chuck hate them. So, after dinner Jeff and I went on Space Mountain, while Steve and Chuck rode on Peter Pan. Hitting Space Mountain before 7 p.m. was a big mistake, though, as we spent a good hour and some standing in line there. But we did make friends with a troupe of lady pirates right ahead of us. I got a picture of them posed in front of the spaceship just before we boarded the ride.

After that, we all met up, and decided to go on the new Star Tours ride. (All except Chuck: It seems Steve is not averse to the bumpy-jiggly rides, just the plunging, whipping, twisting, free-fall dropping kinds. Chuck is more loathing of fast, erratic movement and heights.)

Star Tours is really just the same format with a new movie. It is in 3-D now, which improves some of the zip and zap of the experience. The animatronics of the droids in the waiting areas are much smoother, and there are some pretty cool imaging affects added (like a security screening of the folks in line). While we were on the ride, Chuck browsed the gift shop at the exit (something that keeps him occupied for long periods of time).

There was the mandatory Halloween parade and a really great fireworks display, which was actually more of a multimedia display. (Their branding of Halloween is Jack the Pumpkin King from "Nightmare Before Christmas": I really love the movie but hate what Disney has done with it in branding the park).

The other mistake we made was going on the Haunted Mansion ride, which was totally packed, even in the evening. It was dressed out so as to be totally unrecognizable (Christmas in Halloweenland), and not really worth the wait. All was not lost, though, because Jeff spotted not one, not two, not three, but four trick-or-treat stations between the Haunted Mansion exit and the back entrance to Fantasyland. My personal booty nearly doubled, and by the time we reached the Dumbo ride and the carousel, all bags were groaning with goodies. (FYI: Dots are Jeff's favorite.)

And, after the hours we spent in the park on our feet, our dogs were barking, as well. The youthful child within me was considering riding Small World, Alice in Wonderland, the Matterhorn Bobsleds or the Monorail, but the throbbing in the bottoms of my feet were suggesting giving up the ghost (how appropriate) and saving the final foot-wear and tear for getting out of the park and back to the car. My three compatriots, all of whom had stopped for a lavatory break, seemed to concur, so we strolled through Fantasyland and the entrance to Sleeping Beauty's castle, where I got this final shot of evil, the villainess from the film Walt referred to as "a moving painting."

As we walked back down Main Street, we stopped in the China Shop (which is now a Christmas store with a couple china pieces around the edges) and got the annual Christmas ornament: a small, grinning, sparkly Cheshire cat from "Alice in Wonderland."

Downpourette

Southern California is getting its first autumn rains today. Of course, we call it a "storm," which will drop an inch or two of rain in a 12-hour period. It's actually the tail end of a low that brought the northern part of the state much more weather, but down here we have news teams covering it like it was the arrival of Will & Kate.

But the day is cool and I love being inside watching the gentle falling of the rain. For the first time in months, I've been able to put on a long-sleeve knit shirt and not break into a sweat.

Yesterday, I met with a woman Steve knows who does custom chocolates as a sideline. I am going to give her marketing stuff (such as it is) a makeover, with a new logo, brochures, cards, etc. I'm doing the work gratis, since I really need something recent in my general design samples online. I'm also going to put together a website for her and do the photography of her products for it.

I'm still waiting on the job at Pasadena City College. I checked in with the woman in HR with whom I am in communication, and she said the position was still being reviewed by the committee, and that I should check back in a couple more weeks if I haven't heard anything by then.

As I've said before, I'm holding off putting the big bucks down to start my studio until I know whether this job will pan out or not, so the only thing I have left is to redesign my own website with the new logo and all, and wait to upload it until I find out.

Until then, we're being very good about pinching our pennies, except for the one extravagance of spending $100 to replace our Blu-Ray player. We got our first one a couple years ago, and it was not playing some of the discs we get from Netflix, so we decided to upgrade the firmware on the machine. After much research and several calls to the Sony "help line," we had burned a firmware upgrade disc, which we popped into the machine.

It accepted the disc and started whirring and flashing, and whirring and flashing. After about 45 minutes of whirring and flashing, we noticed it had not advanced from the readout "0/9." What's more, there was no way of getting the disc to eject (we had tried Sony's technique and it hadn't worked). The last call to the help line elicited a verbal shrug from the "helper," who said to take it into an authorized repair shop for servicing. Knowing that this would cost far more than the unit was worth, Steve decided to use some of his overtime cash to purchase the new one.

While we were installing the new player, we also broke down and pulled the old VCR from the stack, as we hadn't used it in years. This will also give us a good reason to donate our remaining VHS tapes and get some much-needed room back in the upstairs closet.

Well, we seem to have arrived at a lull in the "storm," as the rain has stopped falling. But the skies are still a close dark gray, and I think we have a few more hours of downpourettes in store before tomorrow morning arrives. By the weekend, it promises to be back up into the 80s and 90s, one last stab at summer, which is usually the case in mid-October here in La-La-Land.

Nothing Doing

I keep on telling myself I'm going to write something on the blog, then when I sit down to compose it, I can't think of anything to say.

Stuff is in a holding pattern right now, and although I try to keep myself busy, I still feel like I'm not doing anything of importance, since there's no real direction to work in right now. So here's a picture of the cat with her big, six-toed, snow-shoe paws: This is a typical pose for her on the couch: She looks like she's ready for a manicure.

I realized the other day that she has never known a time when I haven't been at home all day. It's going to be a big surprise if I get a job and start leaving every day in the morning, just like Steve. Working a business would mean even more comings and goings, which would keep her constantly confused (something I attempt to do on a regular basis in any case).

No real job prospects have popped up, and the few that have I haven't heard from. The one prospect that I really hope pans out, the position at Pasadena City College, is still being reviewed by a committee. The woman in HR told me to e-mail her if I hadn't heard anything by next Wednesday.

So I've been filling up my time with constructive things I can do to get ready for opening the business if this position doesn't come through. It seems to me that it is the perfect job: within two miles from home, working for a worthwhile concern doing things I'm familiar with and getting a good salary for it. After 846 days, hundreds upon hundreds of resumes sent, and a half dozen actual interviews, I'm ready to give up on the job market if this one doesn't pan out.

So the brochure is finished and ready to print. The business cards are finished and ready to print. The type specimen book is finished and ready to print. It seems like pretty much everything I can do without spending money I have already done. Once I know which way the ball drops on the PCC job, I'll have a direction in my life.

But right now it's rather schizophrenic: Work on the business stuff, then spend time with online tutorials boning up on Word and PowerPoint (I know both programs but haven't used them in a while, so I'm checking out the latest versions at lynda.com as a refresher course). Everything else has been pretty much normal, mundane and everyday.

The summer is winding down and keeps making meager two- and three-day attempts at rallying one last heat wave. And, while things have been warm, the last hurrah of summer just hasn't happened. We might get rain this weekend (tropical in nature), and by this time next week, it promises to be in the low 70s with another low front out of the northwest bringing rain. Hopefully, that will mean fall has really arrived.

The one thing I have been dealing with the last two weeks is toe injuries. First I bashed the little toe on my right foot and separated the nail from its bed. It's a small nail (as shown here), so its removal was not painful at all, but there was a day or so when I wasn't sure whether it would reattach itself or give up the ghost and come off.

Several days later I whacked my left big toe and broke the nail, but luckily not down to the quick. Then a few days after that, I drove the little toe on my left foot into a chair leg and broke it (the toe, not the chair). That one has been my major bane in the last week to 10 days: At first it was swollen, then it was sore and stiff, and now I'm getting those itchy-twingey pains that come when a bone knits. I rammed my right big toe into the stair riser this evening, but no lasting damage was done.

The phrase comes to mind: "Put on some shoes, idiot," but at first it was too hot for shoes and socks, especially as I was foregoing turning on the air conditioner on all but the hottest days. Then, even as the days cooled somewhat, my little toes were too sore to push into a shoe. Looks like fall is coming just in time to protect against any more tarsal incursions.

I've been very good with my savings. The trick is not to spend any of the money except on must-haves and gotta-pays. Makes for a boring existence, but hopefully this period will be over soon and I will either have the security of a good job or the tight-rope exhilaration of starting a new business and drumming up customers on my own. Just as soon as I know, you'll know.

Fine Grind

Another two-week lapse between postings here. The weather has been hot, which always brings on the lethargy in me, and I've been focusing more and more on gearing up for a dive headlong into the world of free-lancing.

The Fictitious Business Name statement has been filed and published, so I've been focusing more on setting up the studio. The more I plan and sketch, outline and rough out, I find there's more to be done, more to get done before I can even think of moving forward with a presentation.

The first big thing is all the sample stuff I need. I have to have color sample books (available for a mere $400). Then there's paper samples (units run $5 apiece, and I would need several dozen, at least). Then there's type sample books: serif, sans serif, slab serif, script and cursive, display and novelty fonts.

Now here's something I can do without putting out any money, so I've been spending five or six hours a day setting up templates and filling them with the typefaces I have available for use. It's a Sisyphean chore, even with streamlining the procedure as much as possible. I figure I've got about 2,500 fonts (not all activated, of course), and they all need organizing. One thing I have found, though, is that I'm still good at remembering most of the names and what the fonts look like. They are still probably my most favorite thing about graphic design.

I brought the format down two basic layouts; one for text faces and one for display faces. The first one (above) can handle up to four versions of a typeface per page and is organized by font families. I have about 245 of those pages. Then there is the single-font layout (left). I have about a hundred of these specimen pages so far for script faces, and the display and novelty faces promise to be just as numerous. I'm still on the fence about putting in blackletter fonts (also known as Old English or Fraktur), but they are popular with the kids. I'm up to 1,000 typefaces so far, and could well over 1,200 in the bound type books once I'm done. Each page has my logo on it, which makes it a lot more "mine" than just a generic type page.

The next legal procedure, of course, is getting my city business license. This is pricey, though, so I don't want to make that leap until I'm sure there is no job on the horizon. And there still may be a job on the horizon.

I dropped an e-mail to the woman in the Human Resources Department at Pasadena City College who helped me out with questions about the application. She wrote back and said that the committee had not reviewed the applications yet (the deadline for submission was Aug. 26), so I should give it two or three weeks and get back to her if I hadn't heard anything by that time.

So now I'm back to working on my brochure design. I was designing it as a square, since my logo is a set of concentric squares, but, in checking out mailer requirements, I find that the post office does not like mailers that are square, since the machines don't know which side is up (normally the long side). They're being awfully picky for someone who's going down the tubes because of lack of mail.

I played around with rectangular formats for the brochure but never came up with anything that pleased me. So I've gone back to the square format, which I guess I will just put inside an envelope that's oblong when I have to mail it. This is now putting me onto a whole new tract, which is having a packet to give out rather than just a brochure.

I've also got a potential small business client on the line who I have offered to do a free campaign for, including setting up a website. We have e-mailed and called back and forth and have yet to actually set up a meeting. Wouldn't you know it, she makes chocolates, so I'm sure payment will come in some form. She basically creates the chocolate novelties on a per-order basis, so a boutique-type website would be ideal for her. Working with her might also tie me into wedding planners and event planners in the area, who could also be a lucrative market for my work.

And just this last week, Steve was at work and the sales rep from The Castle Press here in Pasadena (that does all their label printing) dropped by. Steve mentioned my setting up a studio, and Greg (the rep) gave him a card and told him to have me e-mail a resume, which I did. I also mentioned that I wanted to make an appointment to drop by their plant and check out the equipment and what services they offer. I think that will happen sometime next week.

It's been cooler this week (80s and 90s instead of 90s and 100s), and I'm hoping that there will only be one or two more hot spells before autumn comes around and, perhaps, some rain. We've gotten plenty of thunderstorms in the high desert, but that's over the San Gabriel mountains, at the foot of which we live. You can see the giant clouds plume up into the sky behind the mountains and you know there's weather happening over there, but on our side it's just hot and humid.

So here it is, day 832 unemployed. It makes my head reel. Who would have thought? Thankfully, we have no children to feed and clothe, no large debt to service, and though the value of our home took the same hit in loss of value as everyone else's, at least we still have equity. I just wish I could figure out what God wants me to get out of all this.

Does God really want me to join the ranks of small-business people? (Not small business-people). Wouldn't that mean God's a capitalist? If this is the case, shouldn't churches be selling stock?

Breakfast on the Sidewalk

HOT. Hot. Hot-hot-hot-hot. It has been HOT! Yes, you could fry an egg on the sidewalk. And bacon and hash browns too, I'm sure. Today, we're getting a break, and it only hit 89° on the patio. Still, I turned on the air conditioner around 3 o'clock: Hopefullly, it will be off by 7 and we'll be able to open up and let the evening breeze do the cooling.

The hottest day was yesterday and, wouldn't you know it, I had a job interview for 2 p.m. Better, the job was down in Vernon, one of the grubbiest, most forgotten areas of Los Angeles. It's all huge, impersonal, industrial buildings and pre-World War II little brick structures with uncertain usages (abandoned, flop houses, crack houses; criminal storefronts; who knows?) The few people on the streets looked depressed and defeated.

The position I interviewed for was designing catalogues for a huge lighting corporation (the creative equivalent of working the drive-up window at Arby's). The building was dismal. The furniture was old, the leather upholstery wearing through on the conference room chairs. I was isolated therein and given several "tests" on customer services skills and accuracy. I felt like a rat being goaded through a maze I had rapidly decreasing interest in completing.

After 45 minutes, my interviewer entered. She was a zaftig 20-something who was leaving and had been saddled with the task of finding candidates for her replacement. She was nice and congenial. The interview went well. Then she said, "One last thing: I want you to build this table in InDesign," and handed me a printout.

I explained I had never built a table in InDesign and she balked. "How would you do this?" I explained an alternate way of building it without a table, and she spent five minutes telling me how it wouldn't work.

"I thought you said you knew InDesign," she said with a slight accusatory tone in her voice. "I do," I replied, "and if you show me how you want this put together, I'll be doing it in 10 minutes: Just because I've never built a table in the program doesn't mean I can't."

Freaking little upstart.

I was designing professionally when she was a blastula straining to divide in her mother's womb. I had a solid working knowledge of color theory when she was filling diapers for a living. I've spent my career learning graphic design programs, expanding with each new version release: nine versions of Photoshop, 13 of Illustrator, six of InDesign, not to mention Quark, PageMaker, FreeHand and a half-dozen others that no longer exist.

Why, when youth looks at maturity, does it see incipient idiocy and incompetence, fragility and mental impotence? This woman didn't know the first thing about web design, sitting there in her 18-34 prime demographic, and her head obviously started spinning when I explaining the emergence of HTML5 and CSS3, their inconsistent browser support and what will be happening in web design over the next five years. (Isn't that cute; the old guy's babbling. Give him a cookie.)

She saw my portfolio; it should be obvious what I'm capable of doing. Or maybe I just found all those magazines and papers while dumpster diving in Hollywood and I'm making up the rest of it.

All said and done, things turned out well: I'm not going to have to make an hour-and-a-half commute surrounded by tractor-trailers to do work I would hate for less money than I'm worth. Also, I came home, fired up InDesign, and generated that damn table of hers in about 20 minutes, anchored objects in prestyled boxes, nested type styles and the lot.

Jobs seem to be popping up all over. Pasadena City College just advertised for a graphic designer and, of course, I applied (it's only a mile and a half from the house). The application period closed last Friday, so I assume they're reviewing things this week, and I hope I get called.

I think my chances are good, since they were only accepting applications through the mail, just like in the olden days. You had to download their application form, then include it with a cover letter and a resume. I think cover letters put me ahead in the game, since I'm a good writer and can organize and execute a comprehensive cover letter that informs as well as impresses.

Also, Variety is once again looking for a graphic designer. If you will recall, I interviewed with them last November/December and was passed over for what reasons I know not. In any case, I suppose things could be different now, someone could have had a change of heart, so I sent my resume over there once again, but I won't get too upset if I don't hear from anyone.

All these jobs makes things very schizophrenic: part of the time I'm working on putting together the studio, part of the time I'm prepping applications and resumes and cover letters for jobs. Which will win out, do you think?

The Lost Month

It's been just over a month since I last posted here, and I just feel terrible about it. Well, maybe not, but a fair amount has been going on, and I'm feeling like I'm in some kind of chrysalis.

The day after the last post, Steve and I went up to Grover Beach for the family reunion. The other out-of-towners had arrived on Thursday (we got there Friday evening) and stayed until Monday (we left Sunday afternoon), so we got an abbreviated version of the experience.

The house my sister Kittie rented for the weekend was really nice, and a good space for so many people: There were Steve and Pam and Emily and Amanda and Natalie from Wisconsin, and Jim and Carla and Chance from Washington state staying at the house, then Kittie and her husband David (who live in Grover Beach) and Steve and I from Pasadena (we stayed at the Motel 6 with all the bubbas from the San Joaquin Valley who come over regularly in the summer to run their all-terrain vehicles up and down the Oceano Dunes just south of Pismo Beach).

The rental was a three-bedroom house with a kitchy shoreline-themed decor in a mauve-and-taupe color scheme that reminded me of the 1980s. It was a no-smoking rental, but there was a large balcony off the living room on the second story, so all the smokers were accommodated there.

By the time we arrived Friday evening, Jim was making our family's version of tacos (in honor of Mom, who fed five kids very frugally on these). He made 36, which is a record. (For a family of seven, Mom used to churn out 18 to 20 for a single dinner.) Unfortunately, Steve and I had stopped and eaten on the drive up, so I wasn't up for more food. And, besides, I had just made these self-same tacos the week before back home.

Saturday, Jim again took the culinary helm, making a very nice breakfast scramble for all present. I could tell, by the time he was done, that he was starting to burn out on the chef's role.

That afternoon we all headed out to Morro Bay to stroll the Embarcadero and eat seafood and such. Steve and I were the first to arrive at the bay and parked at the south end of the Embarcadero, across from the boat landing. Here's a picture of the view from there. We walked up, past all the shops, and ran into most of the family during our excursion (we had taken separate cars and agreed to go our separate ways, agreeing on a return time in Grover Beach).

Since my birthday was coming up, Steve suggested we look for something I might like in the gift shops that line the bayfront. We took the strategy of browsing the shops on our way north and then stopping on the way back to the car if there was something really special I liked.

At the north end of the waterfront we ran into the Wisconsin folks, who were standing in line to get seafood cooked fresh from that day's catch: There was quite a line. We bade them farewell and headed back south, stopping at a shop on the way back to purchase a set of raku vases I had seen. Turns out the artist who makes them uses horsehair to create the beautiful texture on the vases. They're really beautiful (and reasonably priced, too), and something I will cherish for a long time.

On the way out of Morro Bay, we stopped at the local Foster's Freeze and I introduced Steve to Pepsi Freezes (a milk shake made with ice cream and Pepsi instead of ice cream and milk).

Upon everyone's return to the house, we had hamburgers from the grill on the balcony (with David doing the honors as cook) and then headed out to the beach to build a bonfire, roast marshmallows and make S'mores. It was kind of a bittersweet gathering, since we had congregated in the same spot for an impromptu memorial the week Mom died in 2009.

David and Chance (who are most clearly kindred spirits) had arranged the fuel for the bonfire. They arrived in David's truck with cut wood. Lots of cut wood. A couple chunks were as big as yule logs. Then David, like an impish Boy Scout from hell, began building the fire. He and Chance kept adding to it, coaxing it, nursing it into a contained inferno that could have been used as a signal fire for pirate smugglers: at times the flames shot 12 and 14 feet into the air. Other folks on the beach, their little campfires glowing, looked worriedly in our direction as the flames shot higher, glowing embers flying into the sky.

While we made S'mores (with either undercooked or massively charred marshmallows), someone wondered at who invented marshmallows and, for that matter, graham crackers. Several of us took out our smart phones and checked on this. Marshmallows are from Ancient Egypt, believe it or not, first used for medicinal purposes, and Graham crackers were invented by Rev. Sylvester Graham as a health food. Who knew S'mores were so good for you?

After all the fixin's were gone, we headed back to the house in small groups. By now it was 9:30 or so. When Steve and I headed back to the hotel an hour later, David and Chance still had not returned: It was 1:30 in the morning before they returned home, and I'm sure the fire still hadn't gone out completely by then.

Sunday morning we headed over to the house around 10:30 (at the request of everyone; seems we all wanted to avoid an early breakfast) and I made my renowned French french toast while Steve churned out bacon at the stove (I had gone out and purchased an electric griddle just for this occasion and still haven't found a place for it to live here at our house).

After brunch, Steve and I said our goodbyes and headed back to Pasadena, taking a bleak detour on Highway 166 through Maricopa, then down Interstate 5 to avoid Carmageddon. When we got into the San Fernando Valley, we saw the advisory signs on the freeway saying "405 open, thank you, Los Angeles, for your patience." Turns out everyone was so freaked out about the potential of horrible traffic that the entire area had just stayed home, and there were no traffic jams anywhere all weekend long.

After getting home, the next two weeks for me were a kind of lost time. I had planned on focusing on organizing for starting my studio but spent a lot of time dabbling here and dabbling there, never really finding focus on any one task, a little bit overwhelmed by the entire process. By the time my birthday rolled around on the 29th, I was feeling sort of depleted by it all.

The week after, though, Steve and I went over to David and Deeann's house for barbecue, and I got my motivation back. Deeann was the Art Director at The Hollywood Reporter when I worked there, and both of us were laid off on the same day in June 2009. She has been slowly building her own studio since, and it was very enheartening to talk to her about the process. Her husband, Dave, still works at the Reporter as international editor, and it was interesting to talk with him about the massive changes which have occurred in the two years since I left.

The day after this get-together was our third wedding anniversary. It's so heartbreaking to realize that, these last three years, no other gay couples in California have been able to tie the knot without going out of state (since California recognizes same-sex marriages performed in other states/countries).

Proposition 8 is still working its way through the courts, with the pro-8 forces dragging their legal heels to stretch out the process as long as possible. Court after court has overturned the proposition, and if it goes to the U.S. Supreme Court, don't be surprised if even Scalia votes to overturn it. Equal protection under the 14th Amendment is a compelling (and accurate) argument, and the counter-arguments are all based on fear and opinionated prejudice.

As for my other half, Steve: He has been so wonderful through this whole trial of unemployment. Without his support, I think I'd be living under a freeway overpass by now, having an extended nervous breakdown and urinating in the most inauspicious places. And he's just as supportive of the idea of opening a studio, offering to help out with bookkeeping an collections.

During our visit, Deeann lent me a couple books on business organization, planning, marketing and pricing written specifically for designers. I've gotten through half of one and it's really helping me organize what I have to do before I even start up.

So now I'm spending two days a week focusing on the job hunt and three days a week getting all the information together that I need to start the business in a rational and well-organized way.

Still, I'm sort of freaked out by the start-up costs for this venture. My cousin Pat, who worked for TWA back in the day, used to talk about being "dollared to death" when traveling: a dollar for this, two dollars for that; not crippling individually, but collectively those little charges started adding up as you traveled. Business start-up is much the same thing, except instead of singles it's $25 here, $125 there, $200 for this and $500 for that.

Now, I have been saving my spare change from the day I got laid off. I promised myself that I would use it to do something special when I was once again employed. So every day I take the change out of my pocket and put it into an old silver flagon on the dresser; when that fills up, I pour it into a bright red tin. During a moment of panic over money this week, I decided to take out the coins and count them. I can tell you that it took a fair amount of time. Here's the pile of quarters. All tolled, there's over $200 in that tin; almost enough money to purchase the color swatch books that I need for the studio.

But then there's paper samples, an upgrade to my Adobe Creative Suite, a laptop to make my presentations portable, business cards and introductory brochures (which have to be impressive for a graphic design concern, so I can't go cheap).

I wonder about the wisdom of selling one of my duplicate organs to finance it all.

So this nice long posting brings us up to date. Things are good. My biggest anxiety is looking forward to all the networking ahead, putting myself out there and working creatively to entice clients into using my services. A part of me really hopes that a nice, good-paying job lands in my lap by the end of the year; another part can't wait to get out there and wow the business world with my creative acumen.

Stay tuned to find out who wins out.

Visitors, Visiting, Visitatum

Well, the phenomenon of Carmageddon is almost upon us. Yes, the heaviest-traveled freeway in the country is going to shut down for two days, and, as the name coined for the event would indicate, Southern Californians seem to think this could be the end of the world. It's getting way more press than the recent visit from Will and Kate (the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to those of you who haven't had them pop into your town).

Yessiree, it seems we've been getting lots of visitors recently. On June 22nd, my sister Kittie called from the Hilton here in Pasadena. Seems she was at a meeting of the organization of Enrolled Tax Agents (I can't recall the acronym). She's now president of her chapter on the Central Coast, so she was representing the little people. She must have been getting bored, because she finally called and wanted to set up a dinner date with Steve and I.

Steve already had a previous engagement, but I picked up Kittie on Friday night and we popped over to Old Town Pasadena and had dinner at Mi Piace. I had the Fettuccine Bolognese (handmade pasta and the best Bolognese sauce on the planet) and Kittie had the Perciatelli Alfredo (best. alfredo. ever.). They also have incredible desserts, so we had one and ordered three to go (one for Steve and one for each of us for breakfast!). It was a short visit, but fun.

We discovered, with Kittie's visit, that Patty the cat does not like women. She's not crazy about visitors of any kind (buzz our apartment from the front gate and she's like a bullet flying up the stairs to hide), but women seem to have her particularly freaked out. I picked her up and brought her into the living room to meet Kittie and the cat looked like she was about to be trussed up on a spit, and we didn't see her for an hour after Kittie left.

Marcel, the old male cat, seems a little mellower, which is weird, because he is a rock; he is an island. He sniffs at an outstretched hand and then lopes off upstairs until the commotion is over.

The same was true when my friend Jessie came to visit just this week. Jessie is presently teaching at the international school in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. When she arrived, she was tanned and thin and looking happier than I have ever seen her. She is definitely a tropical flower, because she has blossomed in Trinidad.

She points out that Trinidad is pretty low-rent and third-world, but still, it's in the Caribbean. If they gave someone a trip there on Wheel of Fortune, I bet they'd jump up and down and squeal with delight. We have an open invitation to visit, but I think her contract will be over long before we have a chance to use it.

So what are Steve and I doing for Carmageddon? Well, there's a family reunion in Grover Beach which was scheduled long before the public became aware of this 405 closure, so we'll be heading out of town on Friday afternoon, passing the north end of the closure about seven hours before it goes into effect.

You can be sure, though, that we'll be skirting it on our way back: The map above shows the way we normally would come in green, the 405 closure in blue, and our planned route in red. So we'll head inland on the 126 at Carpenteria, go through Santa Paula and Fillmore (two very pretty little towns), hooking up with the 5, then jumping on the 210 to head back home.

Alive and Well

Just a quick entry to let you know I'm alive and well. This last weekend we took our annual pilgramage to South Pasadena and friend John's house for a weenie roast, the fireworks and his obligatory strawberry cake. Every year we sing "Happy Birthday."

This year was capped off by a mindless spewing of libertarian/conspiracy theory rant by one of the invitees. There were only a couple of us left at the table when he started. Everyone just kind of sat there, stunned, while this guy spouted (or regurgitated would be more accurate) all the fringe right-wing propaganda he had imbibed. He was onto the international banking conspiracy (which was Hitler's excuse for wiping out the Jews, but I wasn't going to bring that up), when Steve and I just had to get going because he had work the next day. The guy used to be a waiter, but now he sells upscale cookware on the road at Costco locations across the continent. Anyway, here's some video of the fireworks from John's front yard.



My unemployment has expired, but I'm not feeling too horrible about it. I have started splitting my time between job searching and gearing up for the business launch.

A lot has to happen before I can really begin marketing myself: Beyond the paperwork for the fictitious business name statement and the city permits for Pasadena, I also have to rework my website and gear it toward clients rather than employers. Then there's a marketing plan: I've decided to limit my focus to personal and small-business graphics and not try to compete with the larger design/marketing firms. Here's an animated version of the logo I've put together for the home page of the website (we'll see if blogger is kind to it when it converts).



That's about it. There's a family reunion on the 15th, and Evan suggested doing something for my birthday (but nothing has been solidified yet). If anything amazing happens, I'm sure to blog about it. Until then, it's just very hot and very sticky weather here in Pasadena. But since lots of the country is in the same boat, it's not really news. And it is summer, isn't it?

Proofing Posts, Whipping Out Logos

Rereading my last post, I realize I should proofread more carefully, especially when I'm typing passionately and the hour is late.

I've spent a fair amount of time this last week reviewing the logo I showed you last time and decided to dump it completely. The new logo, seen here, is much sharper and works well in the various incarnations it has as business card, stationery, etc. Also, it's a two-color design rather than a four-color, which will save money. It's actually based on the first full graphic design I ever did in college. It looked good back then, and it looks good here, I think.

On the job front, more positions have presented themselves on the job boards this week and I have dutifully applied to anything within a 35-mile radius. There's a company that manufactures quick-set concrete, a concern that imports decorative tofu candles from Viet Nam, a design firm in West L.A., Princess Cruises in Santa Clarita (direct marketing materials) and a quick-print shop in Encino (which has horrible reviews on the web). I have two resumes out now that I'm interested in which are hitting the two-week mark (when you start expecting you won't be getting a call); a page layout position with L.A. Weekly (union and only 30 hours a week, but with benefits) and a general design position at Claremont McKenna College.

The highlight of the job search this week is that the American Film Institute is again advertising a graphic design position with their Creative Services Department. The job description fits me to a tee, and I think I would be great at it. And I know I would really fit in, since I am such an aficionado of Hollywood and film history, and a card-carrying member of the organization, to boot. I'm going to drop an enthusiastic e-mail on top of submitting the resume, and I'm trying to get an ex-coworker from the Reporter (now at Variety) who knows the president of AFI to put in a good word. In any case, I'm going to do my level best to land this one. Best perk if I got the job: I would be able to take the light rail and subway to work, with no bus rides.

So I'm in a better mood this week. Upon reflection, I realize that some people, especially those who have never endured long unemployment, probably don't stop to think what it's like to be in that situation.

For your amusement, here is a shot of the glasses I was talking about in the last post: we have four of the old-fashioned glasses, and Steve's present means we now have four of the tumblers. They're really very handsome glasses, you see.

Also some good news this week: one of the owners in our condo complex (14 units) has put her place up for sale and is asking $349,000 for it. Whether it sells for that or not, I'm not sure, but the place is not nearly as well-appointed as our unit (which will be even more well-appointed once I'm back at work and we can update the kitchen and baths some), and ours is an end unit, which usually go for a bit more, since there's more windows and fewer shared walls.

So, once again, I realize that, financially, we're doing just fine. I have to take complete responsibility for my frustration and admit that I am really missing not having a professional place to which I can commit myself and my career. AFI would definitely leave me with an overflowing cup. Princess Cruises would be nice if we could get good deals on trips. Tofu candles I could live with, but I think that would be more of a job and less of a career.

Once again, at the end of a post without anything amazing (or even interesting) to report. But, one of these days; one of these days, I'll have amazing news. I just hope it happens sometime really soon.