Thoughts

So this past weekend I was able to attend the ISDA national conference in Washington, DC. My first experience at the "national conference." Overall I'm thankful that my company not only pays for my membership, but also the entry fee (over $1000), hotel, food, drinks (wayyyy too many btw), travel, etc. Not too bad for a very small consultancy :)

From talking with others, the turnout was a bit lackluster compared to other years...I always had the impression this event was so much bigger than it was...but then again, its nice always have a seat during a lecture, room to walk through the show, and space to experiment with some of the vendor products like the Wacom Cintique.

One thing that the conference helped with was confidence. I don't know what it was...but mingling with the other designers made something click. I guess in a way I've always had the admiration for designers with my experience to be working at the "hot-shit" firms like Continuum, Astro, etc...But I came to the realization that: "hey, I'm just as good as anyone else!"

Sure, maybe my photoworks renderings aren't class-A Alias, and my photoshop style may be a bit looser, but seeing/talking with others made me appreciate the experience I have received thus far in my career. And knowing that I'm on track to where I want to be (at least now) helps with the motivation factor I occasionally run up against.

So overall...good experience @ IDSA. And got to see Scott Robertson...king of entertainment concept development. Check out some of his DVD's (and others) here

Another cool highlight was having a few beers with Carroll Gantz, the designer of the original DustBuster vacuum cleaner. Some cool retro stories of corporate design back in the day. Kind of sounded like a History of ID class with Bill Green. Funny, he actually brought up Bill in the conversation, hehe.

Doodling

Spent part of the weekend revising some of my lesson plans for the upcoming semester. Gonna try to go all out this fall and whip everyone into shape. Hardcore sketching upfront and then diving into photoshop rendering ASAP!!! These students need to know what they're up against.

Anyway, got distracted while creating some perspective pdf's in illustrator...here are some quick graphic doodles that resulted from that:

My thoughts on the IDSA conference coming later...

New Car!

So finally I have a new ride...a Mini!

Kyosho MiniZ that is...FC3S! Thanks to Travis I now have another FC to compliment my Red Suns InitialD RadiCan from a few years ago.

Man, this thing flies! And I still have the stock motor in. In the words of T: "Friends don't let friends drive stock." So I have a teeny-tiny aftermarket motor to swap in...maybe I'll do that later today :)





And after looking at these photos, I really need a new digital camera!

The deal finder

In preparation for a wedding in September...I went tie shopping yesterday to find one complimentary of the bridesmaid dresses. Didn't want the full on purple shade found on the dress...just some subtle purple hues that "relate."

Found one after strolling through Macy's...65% off baby...$11 total :) Funny thing is, I haven't gone tie shopping since the last wedding I went to...also finding a tie to match the dress.



Kinda mad at myself this morning...dropped my tennis racquet off at the club Tuesday for a restringing...saying it would be done Friday. Totally forgot to stop by there this morning...and they close at 3pm. Might have to wait till Monday, hehe.

In the words of Ice Cube...

"Today was a good day..."

-Woke up fresh
-Dropped the Yonex off at Flanders Valley for a long overdue restringing
-Had no traffic on the way to work
-Two good client design review phone calls
-Lunch @ Roe's house
-Two glasses of wine
-5 games of ping pong during lunch
-Easy second half of the day (thank gawd, I was toasted after the wine)
-No traffic coming home
-Absolutely great 35 mile ride...I was flying
-Tacos for dinner
-Cookies & Cream ice cream for dessert
-ATP tennis at 11pm on the deuce...Cincinnati Open

If only I lived over there...

I am in love with this phone...only wish I could get it here. Nothing too crazy design wise...but its those colors that are just sooo striking. Like you'd be part of some secret japanese James Bond club from the 80's.



Sort of like a portable BATPHONE! "Yes Commissioner?"

Score!

Wooohooo! Just ordered my copy of "Overcoming"...a recent cycling documentary chronicling the training of team CSC through last season. Pretty cool that they are focusing on different riders on the team (each of different disciplines)...classics, one days, and grand tours.



A trailer of the movie can be seen here:
http://www.overcoming.dk/

The best part is they also follow Michele Bartoli, by far my favorite rider of years past. Although he had to retire this past year, he had such finesse on the bike...totally capable of winning many one day races (as he did) to being a force in the major tours.

Anyway, I'm really stoked to hear how Bjarne Riis conducts the team...with him being a past rider, and winner of Le Tour. It will be interesting to see how his mannerisms are compared to John Brunyeel, of team Discovery :)

Can't wait to get it!

Busy August

One very cool thing about August is that I will be going to the IDSA National Conference in DC. Never been to national one...so it'll be a new experience.

To my surprise, one of my sketch heros, Scott Robertson, will be giving a seminar / tutorial session on digital sketching. I can't wait!!! Also looking forward to seeing what Akshay Sharma (a new Virginia Tech faculty member) shows us in his own sketch/rendering seminar.

Another new experience will be doing the portfolio review...this time on the employer's side of the table! I still remember showing my portfolio at the NE Student Conference in '02. Something tells me this time will be less stressful :)

And after the conference, US OPEN!!!

Lunch Break

Munching on some steak left-overs from the other night. This will most likely be the highlight of my day...the rest has sucked so far.

Not only am I stuck doing this stupid power point pres for another company, but my head is itching like crazy! By far the worst itch day for as long as I can remember. And I thought shaving my head would help...the scalp has nothing but stayed constant or gotten worse.

So anyway...I was emailed this crappy presentation from another company...and somehow through the "brilliant" tools in power point I'm supposed to make this into a work of art...yeah right. I hope I can just product "something" that is marginally better...I'm totally stumped and clueless on how to turn this thing around with the limited supply of designer's tools in this program. If it wasn't 70 slides long I'd import a lot more...ughhhhhhh.

Just had to vent...back to work!

The Good Son

So I kind of missed my parent's anniversary by a few days...but better late than never. Luckily I work with Dave, who has a side business called Coppia Glass, custom kiln-formed glass...absolutely amazing stuff. The site doesn't do the pieces justice...but he's working on that. Thankfully he always brings in some new pieces for us co-workers to choose from.

Today I scored this rad dish for the rents...and they loved it!



Kind of a boring Friday night...changed the oil and cleaned the Honda. Feeling kind of burned out after having to slave over a stupid power point presentation today. Good GAWD I hate power point...it totally kills my creative drive. Maybe in the right hands you can do a lot...but I must have missed that tutorial seminar in college. If I wanna do anything graphically oriented, I find myself importing everything from Illustrator.

Oh yeah...and after I'm all done my boss says: *In a Bill Lumberg voice* "euuuu, yeauhhhhhhh, thats not really what I had in mind..."

On that note, I hope to do NOTHING design oriented this weekend :)

Self Punishment

Had a crazy ride today...but I'll get to that in a minute. First things first...Here's some visuals of the new shoes I got this past weekend. Buy one...get one free! Yikes...that sure sounded like Carrie Bradshaw.

The freebie's...lighter than the Puma Talons!


And the fancy ones...to go with the new suit...crappy pics...I know :)


So what started off with the intent of a nice 30 mile recovery spin...turned into a 40 mile hill repeat session! Decided to explore some new territory in Hunterdon County...Long Valley specifically. To my surprise, the route provided climb after climb. The thing about North NJ...you can't just "take it easy" on the climbs. Most of the time its all or nothing. Thankfull though, the legs felt great...so even though I would have liked a shorter ride and temps UNDER 100 degrees, it was an ok experience afterall.

Tomorrow is a day off...hope to load up on some great Newton Pizza for dinner...and then rest up for a 70 mile ride on Saturday.

Thought process

Dammit...still need to get new pics up of the shoes...

Two things that have weighed on my mind recently...one just came up yesterday.

1) Mitsubishi is offering 0% financing on left over 2005 models...supposedly including the Lancer Evo8. Should I pull the trigger and FINALLY get one? The Evo9 is right around the corner in October though. Not that money is a problem...buying it cash would be easier...just still not totally sure.

or

2) Should I keep all that money I have saved and buy a condo. Only problem is...where? Am I settled in the job I know I will keep for a while...maybe. Do I know the area I would buy one...not really. Would I like totally living alone?...not sure.

Vote for 1 or 2

Shopping

Usually I'm not that big of a shopper...but recently when I go out, I've struck some awesome deals that just force me to buy. With a friends wedding approaching, I was in need of a new suit. Being in the city over the weekend, we checked out Century21 and happened to find a nice fit. Could have splurged for a $600-800 price range...but how often do I wear a suit? hehe

It really wasn't my intent on scoring new shoes either...but Juno in soho had "buy 1, get 1 free" sale. Seeing how their shoes are all around $130 a pair, this was a good deal :) Looked for their website...but can't find it.

Managed to get a super suave pair of shoes to match the suit well...and these other "slip on" type shoes. Not sure what you'd call them really...kind of a fancy slipper, haha. Anyway, I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Checked out APT this weekend in the supa-dupa ultra hip meat-packing district. Thankfully I had some classy/sexy attire to fit right in.