Inspiration comes from weird places. We keep receiving mail addressed to the apartment’s previous tenant, Valerie. It’s been a soap opera watching the letters pour in over the last six months, disgruntled debt collectors increasing the bombard of threats each week. We even found a letter personally wedged into our door, which is discomforting considering no one is supposed to be allowed into the buildings without a key. However, as odd as it sounds, the stream of bad news has actually spurred me to strive even harder and devote more time to entrepreneurial ideas. It’s sort of like watching Jerry Springer and being thankful your life isn’t that messed up.

Unfortunately, our own frustrating message came in the form of e-mail today via our landlord. Apparently the downstairs neighbors have complained that we were being loud yesterday from 9-11:30pm. Aside from being instantly annoyed, I found it hilarious that for once in my life, someone has accused me of being loud. The elderly couple with three cats claimed that they either heard “someone working out, or running in place.” I wish I could solve this mystery of the apartment jogger but I’ve been way too busy working on my computer, exactly what I was doing between 9-11:30pm last night. Kathy went to bed early so unless our cat was sending morse code through the floorboards, I think it’s time to keep house shopping. As nice as our current apartment and location is, shared living will always suck.

In tech related news, I’m currently reinstalling Windows on my PC in order to clean everything out and start fresh. Sadly, I’ve been more nervous about fiddling with XP than I was upgrading Tiger to Leopard. I appreciate both platforms for different reasons and will probably never switch back to using just one primarily, but I applaud Apple for making things so damn easy. Pop in the disc, hit Go, and the rest is taken care of. I’m also loving the new addition of Spaces, Time Machine, and other improvements. Features I could care less about are the universal folder view (Coverflow is cool, but I don’t want all my folders to view this way!), Stacks were a good idea poorly implemented and hardly useable, and I actually don’t mind the new shiny dock but jeeze, my 20/20 vision can hardly spot the tiny blue application indicators. TUAW has the solution for bringing back the triangles, along with tweaking the dock’s color.

One of my greatest discoveries after college was that life moves as fast as you want it to. Actually, I should say as fast you make it. If playing computer games all night is your sort of thing, go for it. If you would rather research or brainstorm business ideas, you can do that too. One of the differences I’ve noticed between school and “the real world” is that my schedule is much more predictable now, considering my job starts and ends the same time each day. Of course there are certain weeks when a project runs long and the days feel like forever, but for the most part each week is pretty consistent. Taking advantage of free evenings (and the occasional weekends), I’ve been head-deep in researching retirement plans, stocks, home buying, and a slew of web related ideas and projects. Being busy is better than being bored.

One thing I’ve finally done is take time to explore a few personal web ideas. Working freelance has been great and it helps with things like learning business skills and paying the rent. However, one downfall is that you’re learning can be restricted since you’ll most often be working with technologies you’ve already mastered. If the job called for a skill you didn’t yet have, you probably wouldn’t accept the work in the first place. Conversely, personal projects allow for a greater freedom to test new ideas and practices. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed devoting time to some of my recent web concepts and hope to be unveiling finished products in the not-so-distant future.

I mentioned occasional free weekends above because two of my brothers have planned weddings this summer, one was a couple weeks ago and the next is in October. Being family events, both weddings have been extremely fun but time consuming to plan and prepare for. Kudos to Kathy for putting up with all the excitement and being a huge help with designing programs, ironing out dress issues, and lending a hand whenever possible.

As for this blog getting dusty over the past four months, my only excuse is that the transition from school to work entailed a lot of new things. I do hope to write more often now that Kath and I are getting settled in and I think a redesign might be the trick to lure me back…

Kathy and I are now officially graduates. We went back to campus a week ago for rehearsals, which basically meant a mediocre cookout and people telling us where we’d sit the next day. It felt too soon returning to campus after having a beautiful three days being at our new apartment and I definitely did not miss sleeping in the college dorms. As is usual with most of our trips, we did forget some things and I didn’t have dress shoes to go with my nice professional outfit (not that anyone saw it under our black robes). A late night run to Concord and I found some cheap $30 no-name replacements and Kath was able to grab some fancy sandals to solve her shoe dilemma as well.

The next morning we woke to the familiar college, this time without homework in mind but butterflies in our stomachs. The first meal of the day sucked; the college supplied a few varieties of muffins and bread but certainly no logger’s breakfast. In Wheeler Hall, we and the rest of the graduating class put our 4 years (or more) of education to use by figuring out how to wear the damn graduation attire. A square hat for a round head, a dangling mop in my face, a hood like a dragon’s tale, and a woman’s dress: who started this tradition?

The group gathered at the far end of the campus as the line moved through Colgate, onto the front field between masses of parents and cameras and finally to our seating. The BFA Graphic Design students happened to be in the last rows back away from the stage and nearest to the mob of overly excited family members, some of them practically fighting their way to the front for the money shot of their son or daughter. Luckily, mom and dad are always early so seating wasn’t too bad for them. The rest of my family soon followed and arrived in time to fend for seats. By chance, Kathy’s parents landed two empty chairs right next to dad.

The ceremony actually wasn’t too bad to bear, considering most graduations are very long and tiresome. The president gave a pretty nice speech, as this day was also his investiture, along with a few other professors and students (one went on and on about Inukshuks…), then it was diploma time. I remember Bob saying to me after, “You walked the right speed, a lot of other kids ran across the stage.” It felt pretty amazing getting that “little piece of paper.” It took a lot getting here and it’s finally sinking in that it’s over. After a mini photo shoot among parents and friends near the graduation tent, we hurriedly emptied the last remains of our rooms, checked out, and said goodbye to Colby-Sawyer College.

That Sunday was Mother’s Day and I gave mom her CSC blanket, one of the few buys I’ve enjoyed at the campus bookstore. Being the first day after graduation, it really felt like the start of a new crossroad. Ironically Bob and I spent most of the day hauling firewood with Dad, something we’ve done countless times in childhood years. I loved every minute of it. Having the three of us working outdoors on a warm summer day brought back a flood of memories for all of us. Bob and I traded off using the pulp hook and Dad gave us our turns running the chainsaw. Sherri (family dog and mascot) playfully leaped off every uncut log and splashed through a nearby puddle, her mouth in the water like a whale looking for plankton. Later, we talked with some neighbors building sprint cars and we even fired up Bob’s ’57 Chevy. It was a blast tearing up and down Red Hill Road, though the mouse I almost stepped on in the back seat looked a little dizzy.

I’ve been known to advocate the importance of using your natural talents to propel you through life. Our innate strengths are often what we use most, mainly because they are the things that come easy to us. Regardless, I haven’t duly credited drive, which is equally, if not more, necessary in succeeding (whether at work or in life). For example, I love to write and would consider it an area I’ve excelled at from an early age. However, if I’m given a college English assignment that has no interest to me, I won’t do very well at all. On the other hand, computers and technology have basically been non-existent to me growing up. I hardly touched a computer until I came to college and now web design has grown to be a large part of what I do.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

It made me laugh while making it, hope it does the same for you

I flew to Maryland this past weekend and drove to New Jersey with my brother to see Iron Maiden. Opening band was Bullet for My Valentine and they weren’t too bad for a group I’d never heard of. The Maiden set, themed off of their latest A Matter of Life and Death album, rocked with a paratrooper, city ruins, rotating background images, life-size tank, and 10-foot walking soldier. We were about 5 people from the stage with V.I.P. GA Floor tickets. Janick Gers and Steve Harris lit up our side of the stage as Bruce Dickinson bounced from one end of the platform to the other, belting to a sold out crowd. The playlist included their new album and 4 or 5 songs from their older stuff. Awesome time, best described as: you had to be there. Pictures on Flickr.

Each year, Colby-Sawyer College has what it is called, “Mountain Day.” Usually within the first few weeks of school, the event date is unknown to students and the majority of faculty. At approximately 10am on mountain day, school bells ring and classes are cancelled. Vans soon arrive to transport students to the local Mt. Kearsarge for hiking, food, and outdoor activities. Being seniors, Kath and I thought it fitting to instead drive to Mt. Washington this year and take advantage of the gorgeous afternoon. More images from the voyage are on Flickr.

It’s senior year. My room is a single the size of a double with space for way more crap than the Jeep could haul. Maybe next weekend I’ll grab the mountain bike and sneak in a few more rides before snow flies.

The freshman boys across the hall play their girly music all day, all night, and with the door open (quite annoying). It’s funny: when I turn up some Metal at room-shaking levels, their door magically closes and all is quiet again. Huh. They’re an odd bunch, very independent and surprisingly happy not making new friends during their first year of college.

Classes are good. There’s always the inevitable schedule conflicts and mad dash for supplies, but all is ironed out after a couple weeks. Photography is awesome so far and Visuals and Publications give me my dose of computer use. Modern Art History is one I could do without, but my BFA requirements say otherwise. Here’s a glimpse at a project I Photoshopped for Visuals. Burn, Dodge, and Smudge tools own.

I keep finding myself saying, “Yeah, that’s something I’d like to do next year at school.” Graduating hasn’t totally sunk in yet, I think because of the fact that finalizing sixteen consecutive years of schooling will be a major break in routine. One thing I won’t miss is setting up the room knowing it all comes back out in a matter of months. Working for money instead of grades, that too is a day I cannot wait for. Other than that, it’s good to be back with the computer set up and fast net. A lot happens in a year; I’ll do my best to keep this blog updated.

The importance of balancing work and life is one of those lessons that can’t be learned soon enough. This past semester of college, freelance work really took off and I was fortunate to gain some great clients. I sincerely appreciate the opportunities I’ve been given and am proud of the ones I’ve made. However, there are only so many hours in a day. It is essential to understand your own work/life ratio and be faithful to those requirements.

With the continuing momentum of Shifting Creations workflow and doing my best during this summer’s internship, I recently found myself working on the computer 7 days a week. The result was depressing; it seemed like the more work I took on, the less happy I became. BURNOUT! And not the good kind that comes from two squeeling tires. I’m not a 9-5 guy who shuts off after 8 hours of work so if I wasn’t pointing and clicking, I was thinking about design in my sleep (or lack thereof).

On the weekends that I did take a break, I found great bursts of energy and creativity the following Monday. It was obvious: I needed to find the right balance. For awhile, I thought a good solution might be working full days and limiting evening computer use to personal projects or perusing the internet. Not entirely satisfied with the results, I decided to also not go on the computer at all on weekends. During the week I work my butt off to erase any guilt for some well deserved rest. At the moment, this seems to be working well, but everyone has different tolerances and hobbies. For me a rejuvenating weekend means hiking, playing with The Bleep (part Blazer, part Jeep), or visiting family and friends.

Further solutions:

1. Make a list of life goals. Use the big fat Sharpie for this one, something permanent and bold that won’t allow you to forget what you’re striving for. This seems obvious at first but I’ll be honest, I’ve never actually written down all the things I would like to accomplish before. Having an objective and seeing purpose in what you do is one of the greatest motivators.
2. Create or use a calendar system (iCal on the MacBook works nicely) and allot an appropriate amount of time for each task that week (important things like writing a proposal, not “buy milk, open cereal, stuff face…”). This will help manage projects and ensure each job is getting the time it deserves. With no set timeframe, it’s easy to dilly-dally on one project and detract valuable time from another. Efficiency determines productivity.

“Get busy living, or get busy dying.” – Andy Dufresne

7/25/06 edit: Rereading this post, I hope it does not hang a dark shadow over “work” as that was not the intent. No one is making me do freelance work, nor try hard at my internship; these are personal choices. Despite being tough at times, there are few things I enjoy more than a well completed job. It’s satisfying getting work done and I love being busy. As I’m finding this summer, many problems are fueled by how we handle the situation and not the actual source, whether it be relationship woes, work deadlines, or any other stressors.

Friends at school can attest to watching me invent the original “palm pilot,” jotting essay length messages on the back of my hand each day. Eventually, stained skin and tempting an ink poisoned death got old. The trend for years now has been to pocket a blank sheet of paper and pen wherever I go. It’s not that I have a bad memory, but more like the cache has been disabled. I’m so focused on thinking and planning for tomorrow that yesterday never really gets cataloged.

Often, a good ride home or trip away from the ordinary is what generates some of the best thoughts for me. Catch is, the gears are turning 24 hours a day so for ideas to keep rolling, they have to be recorded to allow for less memorizing and more brainstorming. Much like an assembly line, if there is a back up at any stage of production, the whole process gets put on hold. A snippet of the Island Test essay by Paul Graham says it best:

The notebook and pen are professional equipment, as it were. Though actually there is something druglike about them, in the sense that their main purpose is to make me feel better. I hardly ever go back and read stuff I write down in notebooks. It’s just that if I can’t write things down, worrying about remembering one idea gets in the way of having the next. Pen and paper wick ideas.

A preference of mine for writing on the computer is to wear headphones and play music just loud enough to cover the sound of clacking keys. I’m particular about the lyrics, the best being in foreign languages or having no vocals at all (anything that doesn’t make me think). Also, something I’ve toyed with this past semester is putting one or two songs on continuous loop. Ultimately, I get accustomed to the repetitious sounds and use the music to create an external barrier. Seems odd, using sound to eliminate sound, but I favor the consistency that becomes a comfortable expectation with no surprises. It’s not that I’m very interested in the book that just fell off the shelf or that woman screaming on tv, but these are the audible items that are likely to grab my attention away from work. A good pair of headphones, even with no music at all, can aid in reducing an innate curiosity to investigate distractions.

I couldn’t work with the sound of a sitcom coming through the wall, or a car in the street playing thump-thump music. And of course there’s another kind of thinking, when you’re starting something new, that requires complete quiet. You never know when this will strike. It’s just as well to carry plugs.