2a.m. Rummaging.

55 degrees F outside, flannel pajamas, prismacolor markers and a 14x17 non-bleed marker pad can only mean one thing: creativity; at least I hope so. Phase II of a design project involving trademark designs, the Apache civilization, and notans. A notan is a trademark style when 2 or more objects can be seen within one image, whether it be reversed, inversed, upside down, rightside up, or inside itself; see this trademark. Just one of many new design terms I've learned in my first quarter, and one of the most challenging to execute. And since I chose an ELK to represent my tribe (before I knew what we were to do), this makes things even more difficult; however, I know that nothing comes better than a burst of creative thinking at 2a.m. If this makes absoluety no sense to you, I apologize, part of it may be a right-brain/left-brain struggle to distinguish sketching from writing. Oh and this is only one of my five classes. Designers Unite!

School has Begun.

So we're into the first week of October, and for all of you following my adventures this year, you know what that means....School has begun. Two days ago was orientation, registration, and even a night class. We are a large group starting this Fall Quarter, a whopping 40 or so. An interesting group from all backgrounds and places, primarily the east coast with a few from the midwest, one person from Utah, and one from Thailand. Classes meet once a week in 4-hour blocks for 9 weeks, then Studio Week is to prepare final compositions of all projects, and critique week closes the quarter with presentations to a professional panel of instructors. After a two week break we do it all again with new classes and projects. Professors are really great, a couple are graduates from the school, everyone works in the Design field in their own time as well from freelancers to corporate or personal businesses. Studio atmosphere is reminiscent of Architecture at A&M, which I love. Open spaces, small groups, intelligent lectures, concepting, discussions, critiques, learning. Subject matter is unique and innovative. Assignments this week range from mind-blowing developments (large quantity and research, i.e. it's been a while) to capable challenges. Nothing I can't handle, everything I'm excited to do. Can't wait to get my talent back.

Books, Movies, Music.

For a guy who loves 2 out of the 3 listed above, working at a place like Borders sounds like a great gig. Discounts, being surrounded by great product, helping others enrich their lives with the sounds and stories of great artists...and you’re right, it is. Unlike my last entertainment retail experience, the people here are great, management is respectful, and the store is calm and clean. It’s located on the sidewalk of the heavy trafficked Peachtree St., which means we get a lot of pedestrian action and sidewalk shoppers that come in, read an entire book in one sitting and leave. The other popular thing amongst streetside customers is to grab a handful of CD’s, stand by a listening station, and rock out for 4 hours. This is something I yearn to do; of course, I’d love to keep my job as well. The challenge is not to return my paycheck to Borders in exchange for product. With my new adventure in life and as a husband and provider, priorities have changed. However, I have developed a newfound interest in reading and I can still enjoy music one song at a time with iTunes.

New Favorite Fruit.

Upon talking to some nice old ladies at a Dillard’s department store, we heard of this award-winning, legendary place called Harry’s Farmers Market in Alpharetta, GA. I’ve been to a few markets, fruits and vegetables are cool, but Lyndsey absolutely loves them so we had to go. And it is here that I was introduced to the PLOUT. A sort of glorified plum, sweet, and refreshing like an ice cold glass of your favorite beverage on a 90 degree day. I had never heard of them before, not sure if I just overlooked them in the grocery store, or if they are even sold in Brownsville, let alone anywhere I’ve lived in Texas. Regardless, they’re great and I will look for them with every trip to Kroger or Publix. Keep them in the fridge until you’re ready to indulge, and like most fruits, it tastes better sliced rather than in-hand direct bites. And like the plum, it does come with a pit, so watch out.

Lack of Updates.

Ok, I know everyone has been at the edge of their seat, checking back, refreshing the page, probably getting in trouble at work, missing family dinners, worried about what has happened since my last post. Not to fear, a lack of updates in this case is not such a bad thing. I started a new job as a multimedia seller at a Borders Bookstore and have been adjusting to a new schedule while taking care of other things in life. Of course experiencing two more hurricanes since last we talked can affect a lot of things as well. With Ivan we lost power for about 8 hours and enjoyed a nice evening at my sister-in-laws’ place. Jeanne didn’t cause any power outages on our block but did cause some leaking through our back door. The direction of the rain was aimed right through the door and imperfect caulking along the baseboard brought in some water. Thankfully, nothing was damaged, and a couple of towels helped us defeat Jeanne 3-1.