RED

Tonight I went to go see the play "Red" at the Boston Center for the Arts. It is a play written by John Logan who is an American playwright and screenwriter for movies such as "Hugo", "Coriolanus" and "Skyfall". The play itself won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Play and I must say it was well deserved. Not a huge fan of plays, I was unsure of what to expect. I was unsure how "artsy" it would be as it described Mark Rothko's making of the Seagram Murals. However, Logan turned this subject in to a fascinating, comedic portrayal of Rothko and his ideas and thoughts on art, death, youth and age. With only two actors in the entire play, they were really able to capture the depth and power that the paintings had as well as of the two characters. There were dark, serious moments always followed by humor and intrigue. The fictional depiction of Rothko brought many facts about his life and his character to stage without preaching his biography, and for that I applaud Logan. So, if you are ever in need of a good night of humor, art and a little history, "Red" is a perfect night out. Just be ready to sit for an hour and forty minutes as there is no intermission. 

I think I'll Move to Boston

Two and a half weeks ago, I moved to Boston, MA. After not having a creative, design job for close to 10 months, I finally got a job in design with Whole Foods Market. I have learned a lot about Boston since I've moved here and some things are very different than what I expected.

1. Liquor laws are a lot stricter than even the south. You cannot purchase beer or wine in grocery stores or convenient stores, you can only purchase alcohol in designated liquor stores.
2. People get paid overtime every Sunday, and also get paid overtime for any holiday that falls over the weekend on the Monday following. Where was that law in the South?
3. Bars close at 2am, but public transportation stops running at Midnight.
4. Food places/restaurants close really early, and Chinatown is basically the only place you can buy food after midnight.
5. Professional sports are religion up here
6. Parking tickets are inevitable, mainly because you can never fully understand when you can and cannot park on the street as basically every parking spot has a "No Parking Sign" but with small print about which days and times it relates to.
7. Cabs are impossible to hail, as you can't tell when they are in use or not and are only allowed to drive to certain locations in Boston.
8. Drivers and bikers are both insane
9. Most roads don't have turn lanes or lines on the road, so you can't tell if your in a lane or not
10. They call water fountains "water bubblers" and shopping carts "carriages"

Despite, all of these nuances and cultural differences, I have really enjoyed Boston so far. It is a very interesting city with so much to do and see and I am very happy I have chosen to move here.

Craigs List Etiquette

In the past month, a lot of things in my life have changed and dealing with those changes when they are happening so abruptly and are so large is difficult. For the past NINE months I have been searching for a graphic design job. A job that allows me to use my degree, to be creative, to problem solve and most of all that will allow me to grow. I am of course grateful for the fact that I have had a job. That I could support myself independently, but about a month ago I applied for a store graphic artist position at a Whole Foods store in Boston, and within 4 days of applying I was offered the position. So, I TOOK IT! Thus, I was given five weeks to pack up my life in Raleigh and move to Boston. I am of course feeling excited and anxious. However, I am also feeling nervous and scared.

This ALSO means that I have to start weeding out my stuff. Deciding what to keep, what to give away, what to store, etc. The easiest way to sell my things and get rid of things are by giving it away to Goodwill, the local food shelter, the animal shelter and of course selling things on Craigslist. I have learned there is no such thing as rules or etiquette when it comes to Craigslist. Or there are common sense rules that no one seems to follow. I think this is one of the main problems with craigslist, because as the seller, people have told me they want to buy an item, tell me they can pick it up tonight and at 6pm. I then get an e-mail telling me never mind, they don't want the item anymore. Meanwhile, I have just lost precious time as I'm trying to move waiting around for this person or getting the item ready for them and lost the potential of selling it to someone else. As the seller, I have been ripped off. Thus, as the seller I try to be as polite, honest and understanding of the buyer. I try to let them know about everything up front, however, since I need to get rid of my things in a timely manner and cannot be stuck with the items the day the mover comes, I also have to play it smart. Weigh how serious someone is about purchasing an item, and if need be continue to contact a few people so if one rips me off I have a back up. This has become a game and a stressful one at that, and furthermore, it is one that has only added to the stress of my move.

I do understand that internet etiquette is something that is still being learned by society. However, to me, whether it be purchasing an item in a store or on-line through craigslist, common sense on etiquette should weigh in. For example, invitations. Back in the "old days", peopled mailed out paper invitations to everyone. On the bottom there would be contact information for RSVPs, and if the host wanted you to call regardless or for regrets only. People respected this request and would be sure to do so by the appointed date. However, with the growing use of technology, more people are beginning to use on-line invitations whether it be an e-mail blast, through E-vite or on Facebook. I also feel that with the increased use of these tools comes a dearth of etiquette. For some reason invitees do not feel as obligated to RSVP to on-line invitations, maybe it is because the invitations appear informal, less important or impersonal. Nevertheless, etiquette should not be forgotten and people need to begin using it on their on-line interactions just as they would with more physical interactions. There are some articles on on-line etiquette that are good for everyone to read, because remember, just as you would like to be respected, so does everyone else.


Here are some resources to help you brush up on your on-line etiquette:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/craigslist-buying-and-selling-etiquette-060858

http://www.howtoselloncraigslistebook.com/index.html

Practice Good Facebook Etiquette | RealSimple.com

2011 World Series

I am a very happy person right now. I reign from St. Louis, MO. It is where I was born, and where I feel most at home. I love the St. Louis for many reasons. The people, the sports, the weather, the culture and the activities. However, what I love right now, are the Cardinals. I grew up watching the Cardinals in the old Busch Stadium. My sister and I however never really watched the games, we would walk around the never ending maze of the stadium, talking. Now that I am older, I actually care about the games, and the Cardinals have been playing a mean game of baseball this past week.

And, watching the games, makes me miss home more than ever. I see the arch and downtown, and all I think of are wonderful memories with my family and friends. Thus, I am hoping and praying that the Cards will win game 7 of the World Series in my home of St. Louis, MO!!

Maid of Honor Speech

I am currently in the process of brainstorming/writing my Maid-of-Honor speech for my sister's wedding. I probably should have started this much sooner, as my sister's wedding is only a week and a half away, but I was and still am dreading it. There are a few reasons why I am nervous about this speech. First of all, whenever I get up and talk in front of a large crowd, no matter how practiced I am, my voice shakes. Second, I don't know whether I can be sappy or funny in my speech. And depending on which way I go...I hope people respond to what I'm saying. So if I try to be funny, what if people don't laugh? And if I try to be sappy/sentimental, what if people think its fake, or not touching. I'm hoping that by the time I give the speech of course, I'll have had a few cocktails and so will everyone else. This will of course loosen everyone up. Either way, I've already written 2 drafts...and when I practice them to myself...they just don't feel right. And I want it to feel right, I want it to be sweet, and memorable and I want it to be meaningful to my sister and brother-in-law. So, needless to say I'm feeling the pressure.

So wish me luck in this endeavor, as I continue to search through love poems and quotes on marriages, and watch as many wedding movies as possible in hopes to get an idea of what to say. I'm almost tempted to snag the wedding speech J. Lo delivers to the best man in "The Wedding Planner"...but I know it wouldn't be true to me...so here goes nothing! And lets hope my writers block goes away pretty quickly!

"Branding 10,000 Lakes" Project

Another great thing I heard about today on NPR is about a designer named Nicole Meyer who lives in Phoenix. Basically what this designer is doing is spending time each day to create a different logo, each day of a different Minnesota lake. I found it really inspiring that she is taking this on, and the idea that to do something like this each day means a lot of play, a lot of creativity, and the ability to realize that sometimes play is better than perfection. I think that as designers (or at least myself as a designer) its hard to ever feel done with a project. We could have all of the time in the world to design something, but at the end of the day you always feel like maybe if you move this here and maybe change this here that your design could be better. In fact, there are projects from 2 years ago that when I look at them again...I think man if only I'd done this! However, some of the most fun work I've ever done were projects I had to do in a day!

I remember there was one day my sophomore year in college in studio at NC State where our class was feeling drained and uninspired. So our professor decided to give us the 3 hour time slot to create one small project. It was fun, boosted my creativity and got me motivated to keep working on my longer, more in depth project. So check out Nicole's website on her project! Sometimes the best ideas and designs happen when playfulness is the key factor. (I would definitely suggest this if you have feel like you are having a 'design block').

designed by Nicole Meyer

Becoming a Noun

I was listening to NPR this morning, and there was a story about people's names becoming nouns, and how each one of these people has become immortal due to their inventions. I thought it was really interesting, because there are so many every day objects we use that come from someone's last name, but we never think of the person behind it, or do we even know that the name of the object comes from the name of a person. Adam Cole and Robert Krulwich took the topic one step further and made a great song and music video to go along with it...so enjoy! Its fun, and you learn a lot!

(as a side note, I only could get this video to work in Safari, not in Firefox)