But via Jake on Facebook:
Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!
I love it!
P.S. I'm 25 today, holy crap!
Monster Mash Birthday Bash v3.0
Okay the title is misleading as one won't happen this year. :(
But via Jake on Facebook:
I love it!
P.S. I'm 25 today, holy crap!
But via Jake on Facebook:
I love it!
P.S. I'm 25 today, holy crap!
Almost 25
So it's Sunday night, I can't sleep at all, and I'm in recovery from the flu. It's been FOREVER since I've blogged. I had decided to blog more about projects I've worked on and there have been a few exciting things but I've just been so out of time that I haven't had a chance! Jake and I are starting a new blog called Wishing For Wisteria about our new house (yes, if you're not up to speed I bought my first house!). But blogging for that hasn't really happened much :S
I've been in complete shock that I'm turning 25. I think somewhere in my last year of college I had come to terms with not being an angsty teenager and sometime within the last month I've come to terms with not being a college student and my mind is just blown. What am I doing?! Where is my life going?! It's all hitting me and it's very heavy. I'm determined to live out my artistic life as I've always wanted, so hopefully I'll be moving in that direction more.
But of course I now have a mortgage so I can't just be a carefree artist. I have to support myself. I've begun the "branding" process of me. I can't always define what I do because I dabble in everything so I feel like I need to start creating a brand of what can be expected from my work. I've got a new hold page up as I start redesigning my website and portfolio and I've personalized my twitter page. Up next will be this blog. I'll definitely blog more! I promise to anyone who cares. And the design will match my other online portals more.
I guess that's all I have to say.
I've been in complete shock that I'm turning 25. I think somewhere in my last year of college I had come to terms with not being an angsty teenager and sometime within the last month I've come to terms with not being a college student and my mind is just blown. What am I doing?! Where is my life going?! It's all hitting me and it's very heavy. I'm determined to live out my artistic life as I've always wanted, so hopefully I'll be moving in that direction more.
But of course I now have a mortgage so I can't just be a carefree artist. I have to support myself. I've begun the "branding" process of me. I can't always define what I do because I dabble in everything so I feel like I need to start creating a brand of what can be expected from my work. I've got a new hold page up as I start redesigning my website and portfolio and I've personalized my twitter page. Up next will be this blog. I'll definitely blog more! I promise to anyone who cares. And the design will match my other online portals more.
I guess that's all I have to say.
All About "Attack Of The Shooting Star"
For Meredith and Marc's anniversary, Meredith asked me to shoot a video for a song they cowrote on his album, "Look Both Ways." The song is "Attack of the Shooting Star" and she originally had some ideas about going with a galaxy and shooting star concept.
We talked about the idea over dinner and I had some of my own ideas about using multiple cropped frames. She had been experimenting with glow sticks and breaking them open to use their goo as glowing paint. Taking wads of paper, she doused them in the goo to create shooting stars. The idea seemed a little difficult to shoot but I figured I could make it work some how and as long as we had a few good shots, we could reuse them multiple times. Plus, I wanted to do these paneled frames so it'd work out fine.
I took Jake along as my sole crew member and we began testing Meredith's shooting star idea. Let's just say it went horribly wrong. The glow in the dark goo doesn't glow for very long once it has been activated and it also doesn't photograph very well. We were shooting in some pretty low light which I thought would help enhance the glow, but that didn't work out. Jake had retained some pretty important information I had once imparted on him and suggested we just use white wads of paper as shooting stars and have them blow out so they would have the glowing effect.
But by this point I was all fed up with shooting stars and decided to just start getting some back up footage. I ended up scrapping all of my ideas at the last minute and shooting on the fly. I had a few shots in mind of Meredith dancing around in her bedroom, singing along to the song, and I'd try to make it look sort of home movie-ish. This seemed like it would be pretty personal and of course cute. I still thought the panels idea would work but that was going to be something I'd figure out in post.
The sun was setting and we had some great light coming in through the venetian blinds. I decided I'd try blowing out some of the white and enhancing the light.
When I went into post, I decided to color correct the whole thing to bring out the warm colors and blow out all the whites even more. I started toying with the idea of having different shots in panels, moving around. We took some truncated shots and extreme close ups I had hoped to mix together. Unfortunately, these didn't really seem to fit well with what I had shot and I decided to scrap that idea and just make the video very simple and personal almost like a home movie.
In the end, I feel like the video I ended up with was perfect for what we set out to do. It may not have been the same video we brainstormed but I feel like it creates an emotional connection to the song.
We talked about the idea over dinner and I had some of my own ideas about using multiple cropped frames. She had been experimenting with glow sticks and breaking them open to use their goo as glowing paint. Taking wads of paper, she doused them in the goo to create shooting stars. The idea seemed a little difficult to shoot but I figured I could make it work some how and as long as we had a few good shots, we could reuse them multiple times. Plus, I wanted to do these paneled frames so it'd work out fine.
I took Jake along as my sole crew member and we began testing Meredith's shooting star idea. Let's just say it went horribly wrong. The glow in the dark goo doesn't glow for very long once it has been activated and it also doesn't photograph very well. We were shooting in some pretty low light which I thought would help enhance the glow, but that didn't work out. Jake had retained some pretty important information I had once imparted on him and suggested we just use white wads of paper as shooting stars and have them blow out so they would have the glowing effect.
But by this point I was all fed up with shooting stars and decided to just start getting some back up footage. I ended up scrapping all of my ideas at the last minute and shooting on the fly. I had a few shots in mind of Meredith dancing around in her bedroom, singing along to the song, and I'd try to make it look sort of home movie-ish. This seemed like it would be pretty personal and of course cute. I still thought the panels idea would work but that was going to be something I'd figure out in post.
The sun was setting and we had some great light coming in through the venetian blinds. I decided I'd try blowing out some of the white and enhancing the light.
When I went into post, I decided to color correct the whole thing to bring out the warm colors and blow out all the whites even more. I started toying with the idea of having different shots in panels, moving around. We took some truncated shots and extreme close ups I had hoped to mix together. Unfortunately, these didn't really seem to fit well with what I had shot and I decided to scrap that idea and just make the video very simple and personal almost like a home movie.
In the end, I feel like the video I ended up with was perfect for what we set out to do. It may not have been the same video we brainstormed but I feel like it creates an emotional connection to the song.
New
I had been thinking about creating a new layout for this blog for a while. Part of me considered using my ninja web skills, which have been rusting in an outdoor tub somewhere, to come up with a completely new design. Of course CSS kicks my ass every day and then makes me eat my own vomit. So I decided to go the easy route and use a free template and then all I did was tweek the code a bit. That is what this is. And I kind of love it. If you know me well enough, you know my preferred design aesthetic is grunge. The kind that looks like I made it with my own two hands. But in reality I never got my hands dirty and the only tool I touched was a computer mouse. Maybe the keyboard. MAYBE. Actually, no. Throw in the keyboard. I'm more fond of it than the mouse.
Anyway, if you did not know that, then you are in luck. Because I now work a lot. A LOT. Yay for my bank account and yay for my stomach that can now eat organic food. (Which I had last night at ZPizza...the jury's still out on that one.)
So along with this newly minted blog template will be some commentary on some projects I've worked on. Remember that music video with Meredith in it? Well I'm gonna tell you all about it in my next post! So if you're like "How did he...?" You'll know. And I'll be good and label everything. Cos yeah, I do quite a lot of different types of work so if you're only interested in graphic design, you'll get that, only video - hey that's there too. I know January is over now but my own "New Year's Resolution" has really been to work more. Yes. It was.
Anyway, if you did not know that, then you are in luck. Because I now work a lot. A LOT. Yay for my bank account and yay for my stomach that can now eat organic food. (Which I had last night at ZPizza...the jury's still out on that one.)
So along with this newly minted blog template will be some commentary on some projects I've worked on. Remember that music video with Meredith in it? Well I'm gonna tell you all about it in my next post! So if you're like "How did he...?" You'll know. And I'll be good and label everything. Cos yeah, I do quite a lot of different types of work so if you're only interested in graphic design, you'll get that, only video - hey that's there too. I know January is over now but my own "New Year's Resolution" has really been to work more. Yes. It was.
when can i live like it's 1934?
it's christmas day and i've eaten nothing but cream cheese spreads and ritz crackers and i'm blogging. obviously it's been a rather uneventful holiday. and instead of spreading christmas cheer throughout, i am busy reading more sad sad news on the recession and politics. why can't i ever get enough?! the election is over! why must politics consume my life?
because i am a mexikennedy. there is your answer. i am a humble public servant who spends days and nights worrying about the poor. it's true. i make myself sick with worry.
there are times when i refuse to worry about the unfortunate, though. when i eat and when i shop. all other times i am free to debate with myself the positives and infrequent downsides to socialist policies and the crazy crazy crazies of conservative limited government trickle down economic hoohas.
i have to come out and admit that this does not mean i'm gonna go under bridges and pass out sandwiches and give hugs to hobos. no. not at all. i said i worry. and worrying takes a lot of energy out of me. and don't dare you invade my space and my me time during the eating or shopping. what better way to make me feel bad about myself and my "luck" and lose the sympathy i hold.
i prefer to help through my talents. like blogging and writing and maybe graphic design...oh and work. i am a humble public servant.
but for the life of me, i cannot seem to grasp this whole recession other than the general depressing feeling. like will there be a tomorrow? what in my house can i barter? should i buy land in china now? there's no urgency to scrape and save. i've been spending money like it's going out of style (and really it is. dollars are the new pennies. drop 'em fast kids.) and now i'm all excited about the dropping real estate prices because it means that yes, maybe i can afford a house within the next year. and screw whoever says you need to have actual savings and a deposit to do that.
with that in mind, i am still filled with worry for those who do not share my talents and luck. what will people with no skills and education do? should they buy land in china now? and when i encounter some of these people i can't help but feel awful for the fact that i want to cover up and disappear. true story - on the way to the mexikennedy estate i stopped at a truck stop in new braunfels for my 3rd bathroom break and it was filled with all the characters of my worrisome dreams: the working class, the uninsured, and the immigrants. yes, it just so happened that a charter bus from mexico was making a lunch stop. at a truck stop? yeah...see?! this is why i worry! what will we do when the mcdonald's dollar menu becomes too costly?!
and as i stood in line trying to pay for my gallon of mountain dew and wheat thins, i was surrounded by poor white people with bad teeth and enormous truckers in flannel. and some of them were there doing their christmas shopping. at a truck stop? yeah...see?! my stomach is in knots by this point! and here i am in a peacoat, banana republic jeans, a gap scarf and polo and puma shoes. the people in front of me made returns to pay for a tray of chocolates, two toy cars, and gas. they made returns. at a truck stop. it didn't help that making a return takes forever and is quite a complicated process at a truck stop and every time the other register would open, one of my favorite people would cut around me. it was the longest i've ever stood in line feeling like a spoiled rich kid.
maybe no one paid attention to me or thought badly of me, but i could feel their disdain. they knew i wanted a bottle of purell to douse my body in but did they know i'm sick with worry? do they know i carry the weight of the world between my shoulders? do they know how much i envy the blue collar characters on tv and in movies? if only i were content with having little and living a simple life. i won't hold my breath. instead, i'll continue my worrying and look into this 7 acre spread outside of Lanzhou.
because i am a mexikennedy. there is your answer. i am a humble public servant who spends days and nights worrying about the poor. it's true. i make myself sick with worry.
there are times when i refuse to worry about the unfortunate, though. when i eat and when i shop. all other times i am free to debate with myself the positives and infrequent downsides to socialist policies and the crazy crazy crazies of conservative limited government trickle down economic hoohas.
i have to come out and admit that this does not mean i'm gonna go under bridges and pass out sandwiches and give hugs to hobos. no. not at all. i said i worry. and worrying takes a lot of energy out of me. and don't dare you invade my space and my me time during the eating or shopping. what better way to make me feel bad about myself and my "luck" and lose the sympathy i hold.
i prefer to help through my talents. like blogging and writing and maybe graphic design...oh and work. i am a humble public servant.
but for the life of me, i cannot seem to grasp this whole recession other than the general depressing feeling. like will there be a tomorrow? what in my house can i barter? should i buy land in china now? there's no urgency to scrape and save. i've been spending money like it's going out of style (and really it is. dollars are the new pennies. drop 'em fast kids.) and now i'm all excited about the dropping real estate prices because it means that yes, maybe i can afford a house within the next year. and screw whoever says you need to have actual savings and a deposit to do that.
with that in mind, i am still filled with worry for those who do not share my talents and luck. what will people with no skills and education do? should they buy land in china now? and when i encounter some of these people i can't help but feel awful for the fact that i want to cover up and disappear. true story - on the way to the mexikennedy estate i stopped at a truck stop in new braunfels for my 3rd bathroom break and it was filled with all the characters of my worrisome dreams: the working class, the uninsured, and the immigrants. yes, it just so happened that a charter bus from mexico was making a lunch stop. at a truck stop? yeah...see?! this is why i worry! what will we do when the mcdonald's dollar menu becomes too costly?!
and as i stood in line trying to pay for my gallon of mountain dew and wheat thins, i was surrounded by poor white people with bad teeth and enormous truckers in flannel. and some of them were there doing their christmas shopping. at a truck stop? yeah...see?! my stomach is in knots by this point! and here i am in a peacoat, banana republic jeans, a gap scarf and polo and puma shoes. the people in front of me made returns to pay for a tray of chocolates, two toy cars, and gas. they made returns. at a truck stop. it didn't help that making a return takes forever and is quite a complicated process at a truck stop and every time the other register would open, one of my favorite people would cut around me. it was the longest i've ever stood in line feeling like a spoiled rich kid.
maybe no one paid attention to me or thought badly of me, but i could feel their disdain. they knew i wanted a bottle of purell to douse my body in but did they know i'm sick with worry? do they know i carry the weight of the world between my shoulders? do they know how much i envy the blue collar characters on tv and in movies? if only i were content with having little and living a simple life. i won't hold my breath. instead, i'll continue my worrying and look into this 7 acre spread outside of Lanzhou.
attack of the shooting star
here is the video i made with meredith. the song is called "attack of the shooting star" and it is on marc schulz's album "look both ways." enjoy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
