What Am I Doing? (Sept 2008)

Peet’s

It is discovered and decided that I will be working at Peet’s for only four more months, through the holiday season. Hopefully, this gives me a sense of having a deadline again and I can get more things done.

Olympics

I don’t know if I had made it clear a couple of posts ago that I love the Olympics, but I do. Not only did I enjoy racing home from work to watch Olympic history being made, but I was also impressed with the level of detail with which the Beijing team executed the events and their appearance in the world.

The opening and closing ceremonies were the best ever in my opinion, but not only that, it makes me want to take part in performances like those for a living, mainly in the planning and conceptual stage. This goes beyond “graphic design,” but I never said I am interested in graphic design alone. It’s times like this that lift my spirits and believe the best of days is always ahead of us.

Beta Portfolio

I’ve been working on the portfolio section for the past few weeks, and now I’m working on the coding before I pump out the images and make the link available, although you can still access it by manually entering the URI based on the site’s navigation. Constructive feedback is always appreciated.

Future

With a four-month timeframe in place, I now have a sense of what I’m doing in the near future. After that though, I don’t know. I’ve been revisiting the idea of a road trip a lot, and it seems like there’s no better time than the present (or asap, e.g. four months from now). I would have some money saved up, and either get on a train or drive myself across the country, maybe with a friend or two.

I might have a revelation in the four-month period and know for sure which path I want to go on after Peet’s. It might not be far from what I had been planning all along; it could be a regular graphic design job right here in the Bay Area, or it might be somewhere in the East Coast. Or, I could be in Asia, or Africa, or Europe, following some hint of an opportunity that is remotely related to design and more related to the environment or humanitarian work.

Flush.

A Road Trip Journal à la Stephen Shore

I just got another reason to go on this road trip. I want to document a part of America in 2009, not for right now, nor for 2010, but for 2044, and for any time in the distant future.

I just saw this post on the front page of NPR. It’s basically about Photographer Stephen Shore’s road trip across America in the summer of 1973.

Looking at the real life images of the 1970’s and not something recreated by Hollywood, I can’t imagine how the things back then was actually the latest and most advanced they’d ever seen/had. As a young kid like myself, I also can’t imagine how life would be in 2044, nor how life in 2044 would imagine life back in 2009.

The subject of time fascinates me, so I could go on forever talking about time. (Huh, didn’t even realize I made a pun.) But I just want to say that now I have an even greater desire to go on this trip.

Flush.

Road Trip October 2009?

I think I’m going to combine my cross-country road trip dream (inspired by The Motorcycle Diaries) with my post-graduation trip dream, with going to my first biennial AIGA Design Conference dream in October 2009, as I could spend a week or two and drive to Memphis for the conference and then go all the way to the East Coast and take a different route back.

I thought about naming my cross-country road trip journey “The Prius Diaries,” although that might sound too marketing-y. And I certainly don’t want my car to have the same fate as the motorcycle. And seeing how there’s an environmental concern with flying to places these days, intersected with rising oil prices, driving would be a slightly less harmful and more interesting alternative. (Of course, taking Amtrak or something would be easier and less tiring, but it’s also less fun.)

Just ideas for now.

Flush.