So, hopefully everyone got the invite I sent for the bday festivities using anyvite.com (if you didn't, let me know and I'll resend). Heard about it via one of Laura's friends and having messed around with it, I think it's better than evite by a large margin.
It's got a sweet new ajax'd interface, account creation is super quick, and there aren't the annoying ads / hoops that you have to jump through to use it (unlike evite). It's clearly still in beta so there's little things that they're working on (like better privacy controls), but I think the overall package is worth dealing with the little issues.
Oh, when you add the location, it will add the google maps link automatically and when you click on the link, it'll dynamically place it on the main page. It also has options for adding the event directly to your google calendar via openauth.
It facilitates migration from evite as well with some pretty nifty tools for bringing over guest lists. Also, it has super cute icons!
So, I hope we all switch from evite. woot.
Ok, going to try to get back on the blogging bandwagon. Might just use my own blog instead of vox. Not sure yet.
Been a busy weekend and it's only been friday. Went to dinner at Bar Pilar with Laura and Jenn, then met xyt and Matt Thomas at DC9. Tonight, there's a bday party and show at 930 club. Then tomorrow, I'm getting dragged to root for the eagles with a bunch of friends from philly.
woot
So I have been instructed to create a large scale materials packet that includes a poster, postcard, flyer, and brochure. while the first three are pieces of cake, the brochure would take a fair amount of work and time; not to mention that i cant print it on my laserjet because it is a 4x9, 8 page pamphlet. i guess i got the project about two weeks ago. the actual order was to fix up the old files, so my first job was to locate them on my computer. this computer has been through a good amount of users. and during everyone's stay here, files have become ... less than organized. so less that it took me the whole first month of the job to grow accustomed to document placement. in any case, i couldnt find the files. so i ran a full search and still, came up short. i managed to find a small picture that was included in my materials, but nothing helpful. i found a couple of pdfs, but upon inspection, found that they were made from quark files. i dont have quark. i dont even have the original quark files.
so i started thinking about how i was going to recreate all the materials, and how i was going to do that without a usable picture. i took that small picture, and sent it to creative services, who is a university service specifically for print marketing and propaghanda. distant response given. so i put off the project as there is no solid due date, and yesterday the person who gave me the project was like "lets get to work." so i sent out reminders to see what was going on. then i started recreating the files -sans photos- in indesign(cs2). after laborious typing and type fitting, creative services finally got back to me and were basically like "uh, we've got all the stuff your looking for."
i met with them and not only did they have the photo (original), but they had all the marketing material in quark files that they were able to edit. they also gave me the impression that the person in charge knew all of this. we have come to a stall at this point, because i dont want to rebuild something that is already available with a few minor edits, and the person in charge is unavailable.
but what this has taught me is, i dont know how to make an 8 page booklet of custom size. i mean, yes, i can lay it out and put in photos and text and pull quotes and all of that good mess, but i dont know anything about printing it. I dont remember how a printer scrambles the pages for print and sets colors and binds. and while that is actually ok since im not working in the actual print shop, im not really comfortable with it. so i need to go back and reread all the stuff i should have memorized from communication design 2, where we made my book. but besides all that, i still feel the project was over my head. but it wasnt. it was this reachable goal that i timidly held my hand out towards. its like when you look up at a pull-up bar and think "thats too high for me to reach," but then you jump and you feel it in your palm; sometimes you cant hold tight and fall back down, but sometimes you pull yourself up.
yesterday, while i was at work, a conflict broke out on the street below and shots were fired. we may be on campus property, but this school is in the city, and in a highly active area. a place where cops hang out because of the abundance of traffic violations and parking dilemmas, good food, and courtyards with loiterers. i dont think there has ever been a day where i have not seen a police officer walking around down here. so then what would possess someone in an arguement to leave, retrieve a gun, come back and take a few shots? i suppose i will never understand people.
this book club things seems to be working out pretty well. not only has there been decent discussion, but we've picked two good reads so far.
okay, so i'm gonna set the mood for you....
i’ve just come inside from a wet and humid day to escape that unfamiliar natural lighting of the sun and to try to find a place to sit and write. I locate an outlet to plug my computer in to and i sit down to break out all of my gear. when i finally look around to notice my immediate surroundings i am confronted by two things:
a.) a boy and a girl are sitting across from me and the girl is crying. i can only assume that she was just informed of some accident involving a loved one being mauled by a tiger...(you may be wondering "why should you assume that?" but calm yourself child, the answers shall be revealed)
and b.) Walker Texas Ranger is playing on the tv to my right. i cannot stress to you how happy i am that Walker Texas Ranger is on this tv right now. looking over to see Chuck Norris staring back at me was like being woken up by a kiss from a loved one. And this is the reason that i can only assume that the girls tears have been caused by a tiger mauling incident...because i can think of no other tragedy that could trump the joy brought about by Walker. Only something as ridiculous and unexpected as an equally awesome and terrible tiger mauling could bring me to tears while watching Chuck Norris police the mean streets of Texas.
needless to say, my feelings about today have been completely changed. originally i thought today was simply another icky, humid, and rainy day during which i would do a lot of sitting...but now i know that there is more. today is a deep well of activity and drama unlike any other day that has preceded. today is completely unique and full of tiger maulings and bearded kung-fu master cowboy policemen. it's a beautiful thing really. and i bet if you sat down and really looked at things, no day would ever be generic or boring. i bet every day has it’s fair share of animal attacks and martial arts and i bet every day has something to cry for or to laugh about. sometimes i feel like we are just children who get more wrapped up in the wrappings than in the little presents hidden inside. sometimes it takes a good tiger mauling for us to really feel anything. now, i know it is hard not to take things for granted, so i understand that it is difficult to appreciate every little thing, but at the same time, there are so many wonderful little things that it is hard to believe that any of us can ever get bored with life…especially when there are still reruns of Walker Texas Ranger being aired. and would you look at that…it’s not raining anymore. today is going to be a good day.
i just read the previously mentioned f s fitz "curious case of benjamin buttons" and it was a pretty interesting short story. theres really not much to it but the mere fact that it handles the enormous hurdle of encompassing a persons life and events within 20 pages is pretty amazing. the beginning and ending are well done, with sort of filler in the middle. but really the focus at first is how bb's birth is such a mysterious thing, and how his father handles it. and then as the story ends it becomes how people will not put up with him because of how he is unable to handle himself. its strange but worth of discussion, which will surely be done in my new book club!
abs and i started a book club. we'll see how far that goes in terms of getting people together and having them all read the book proposed.
other reading ive done? just tpb comics i picked up from matt. hes got this huge collection and i went through and started picking off some of the well recieved titles. i think ive become an even bigger nerd in the last year than all through high school. anyways, finished BPRD vol 1 + 2, goon vol 0 + 1, battlepope 1.
i am presently confronted with a break in my collegiate schedule. now, i do not mean that i have a thirty minute lunch break in which i have just enough time to engulf some form of nutrients. i'm not even talking about a modest break of a couple hours in which i could partake in an educated discussion of political turmoil (engaged with just the right amount of witty responsibility) while eating an over priced yet delicious meal from some chain psuedo-fast food cafe or another after a long delay due to differing stances on the hunger platform and a few snags in the democratic process involved with group lunches. what i am talking about is a nine hour monstrosity during which i could hollow out a felled tree log in order to fashion a canoe (the tree would have to be previously felled...let's be realistic here) with which i could then raid nearby port towns for vittles and plunder only to return, gorge myself on stolen food (food is always better when it's free) and brag about my conquests while knitting a sweater and writing a novella. unfortunately, in my current situation i have not only been presented with this nearly infinite break in meaningful activity, but i am also surrounded by small businesses which offer me unnecessary and completely unproductive temporary solutions to my boredom. in my state of atrophied brain function i decide that it is a good idea to spend $5.00 for the opportunity to share my boredom with other people in a very single-file group and then receive a disappointing cup of coffee with which i can play with for another few minutes in an attempt to refine the taste (or simply for something to do), finagling another good ten minutes out of the whole process, before i find a reclusive corner to sit in and silently sip at my own discretion.
that decision to actively become a part of the American economy opened up a whole new "bag of potato chips" if you will. during the actual coffee transaction i was given a few quarters as change (i rounded up when i previously stated that my coffee was $5.00) and i was shocked with what i saw. there in my hand, i held what has to be the manliest piece of coined currency ever created. these quarters caught the florescent lights from above and radiated the glow back at me x 1000. i was nearly blinded and instantly grew a beard (due to the manliness). HOWEVER, it wasn't simply the amazing reflective quality that put me in awe (although i do feel that these babies could be polished and used as weapons if they were to fall into the wrong hands), it was actually the depiction on the coin that caused my tear ducts to go wild. i was ill prepared to look down and see the depiction of what i can only assume is a pissed off grizzly bear eating a salmon and posing like a champ. how is it that the American economy can be in so much trouble while we have kick-ass currency like the Alaskan quarter circulating through the system? i've felt more powerful than ever since i put those shining bear tokens into my jeans. since acquiring these babies i've been propositioned by no fewer than three semi-attractive females (1), i punched out at least 8 foreigners (2), i converted everyone in a 10-mile radius to Christianity (3), and i was legally married to the practice of Democracy (4). I think everyone needs to just calm down, take a nice shower, curl up in bed underneath American flag sheets, and really think about what the Alaskan quarter means. Does it mean that America is now a lumbering 800lb mammalian who doesn't play well with others but can eat more hotdogs than Kobayashi? No. It simply means that Americans love bears and we want to see more of them! i, for one, would love it if EVERY state quarter featured a depiction of a bear. maybe show them doing different things that relate to the different states. have the bear devouring a huge chunk of cheese for Wisconsin or have one wearing cool star sunglasses for California, i don't now. the possibilities are endless. heck, maybe if we featured bears on all of our currency we could find the love for America needed to pull ourselves out of this crisis that we are currently in. America needs money and money needs bears. it's as simple as that. i guess it is now clear why John McCain chose Sarah Palin as a running mate (5). not only will she draw in some of the female voters, she'll also draw in the grizzly bear fans, and quarter collectors (who must all share a deep love for the Alaskan quarter by now). kudos Sarah for representing the state that has the quarter that may save America.
1.) aka - i was looked at by three women, one of them actually looked twice
2.) aka - i said hello as i passed a group of American born people of differing descents
3.) aka - i conceded to a friend that there may be some form of higher power that could be referred to as "God"
4.) aka - i made a decision withough knowing anything about the options and then complained when i didn't like the outcome
5.) some of you may be thinking, "well, Sarah Palin is good, but wouldn't a Grizzly Bear have been the BEST choice for a running mate?" but at John McCain's age, i think Sarah is the safer bet. if something happened and the vice president were to have to step up, i'm not sure a Grizzly Bear would know how to handle itself. sure, foreign relations might improve and we would have the most intimidating figure-head on the block, but i think the lack of opposable thumbs would eventually become a problem.
i learned something today. today it was made completely clear that i am not smart. now, some of you may be thinking "duh!" while others are trying to come up with supportive generalities that will hopefully re-instate my feelings of self worth...but in actuality, it is not the fact that i am dumb that depresses me (i feel like being dumb simply nestles me up in the warmth of the majority). the thing that really makes this whole thing sad is the fact that it took about 10 minutes for me to go from a position of supposed superior cerebral processing down to doodoohead mc-stupidpants. i guess that's how it goes though...whether we're talking about smarts, GPA, natural resources, self esteem, or respect on the dance floor; it is easy to lose it and so hard to build it back up. i guess what i'm getting at here is, why put forth all that effort? i mean, if accidentally popping when you should have been locking is going to make people scoff when you go to bust a move at the club, then why should you ever get up from the bar stool? if 10 minutes and a questioning look from a teacher are going to garauntee me a seat on the short bus, then why try to resist? maybe we all should just bask in mediocrity and not try too hard to become anything special. but then again, i may not be the person to listen to. i am not smart.
so i haven't been on this sucker in about a 1,000,315 years...or something like that. i don't know for certain. my concept of time hasn't been totally on point recently. BUT, the important fact is that i'm back. to be honest, i had sorta forgotten about VOX until a few weeks ago when i started up at ODU again. when my ODU email address got re-booted, the short circuit in the system got fixed and i started getting emails about weekly updates and incredibly interesting things like that. i'm not going to down-play the situation, i was very excited. so excited that i promptly avoided looking at the emails until after 3 weeks i decided to clean out my e-mailbox and thought that i should maybe try this whole blog thing again. i guess boredom does have it's perks...i mean, it does strongly support a.) unplanned naps, b.) personal development for the sake of sanity, and c.) the re-establishment of failed relationships with abstract internet blogging sites that seem to serve no purpose other than to loop back around and support boredom in some sad and alienating circle of life (or anti-life...as i am typing this there are several things that i could be doing that would heavily outway internet surfing on the grander scheme of life). but alas, i am here...so it has to serve some purpose. right? right. besides, it's warm outside and i don't feel like sweating.
okay, so what has happened to me since my last blog on here.....well, i probably ate about 13 hundred slices of pizza, watched close to 3 million hours of tv/movies, had at least one vegetable, had two pets pass away, built one surfboard, built one bike trailer, made approximately 27 fail-proof plans to be successful in life, failed to initiate 27 would-have-been successful life plans, swallowed 48 bugs, cut my own hair at least twice, had a beard, had a mustache, started writing a book, stopped writing a book, started writing the same book in a different way, tried to be vegan, ate an egg 15 minutes after deciding to try to be vegan, decided to try the vegan thing again, had a cookie, realized the cookie was not vegan, gave up on being vegan, made countless phone calls, spent copious amounts of time talking about aliens, and most recently went to Boston via the chinatown bus system.
i can only assume that had i been blogging on here my productivity would have been severly stiffled and i may not be as amazingly physically fit as i currently am. however, i do have to admit that there was quite a void left in my life while things between VOX and myself were "on the fritz." i would spend my time on the internet constantly checking my email, facebook, and myspace only to then immediately repeat the process. this trinity of personal internet contacts was not as stable as the previous tetrahedron formed with the presence of VOX. i tried to supplement it's spot with another email account, but this wasn't a solid fix. i had NO IDEA what my close friends were doing with themselves and no way to find out. sure myspace and facebook offer a glimpse into the personal lives of friends, but pictures of the big party last weekend only show me the surface, i needed to get deeper and really know what my friends were thinking...what they were feeling...and without VOX i had no way of doing such a thing. none of my digital connections could fill the void. i was lost in my own island of physical stimulus and primitive verbal exchange. it was a dark time, but again, the important thing is that i am back, now we can truly be friends again
