I just applied to work at the Merchandise Mart, Landor Associates, American Library Association, the Killswitch Collective and some random place.
I'm hoping if it's not all immediate rejection, it's not an immediate request for an interview. I may or may not have a bruise on my neck that's hard to explain with a boyfriend 460 miles away.
So if I'm at a bar, using their free wireless, and talking to guys on that internet… that counts as meeting someone at a bar, right?
Papyrus. On my trip back to Minnesota last weekend it felt like half of the billboards used Papyrus. Why is one typeface used to represent ancient egypt (ha), greece, the southwest, organic elegance, woodsy downhomeness, and trendy alternativeness? Why do people think papyrus lasercut into brushed aluminum is classy?
I’d include images, but that would require putting Papyrus on my blog.
As a sidenote, in Egypt, most of the cheap “papyrus” you buy from street vendors and tourist shops is actually banana paper. The skins/leaves of a banana are much cheaper to process than real papyrus. The end product is also a lot more brittle. And cheap. Let’s rename Papyrus to Banana Paper Sans.
$2 PBRs, free wireless at the Charleston, Bud and him doing all my design for me. Such a good night.
This is my father and Tanya.
Tanya joins a long line of Ukrainian/Russian women in my father's life. First there was Aksana, who might have died in the hospital when my father went to visit her in the Ukraine. Then there was Marina, the ex-KGB agent in St. Petersburg who's vengeful ex-boss would not release her passport to allow her to leave the country and marry my father. Then there was woman #3 last December who made my father visit her in Moscow only to drug him and try and steal the money he didn't have. And now, Tanya. Tanya in May. Tanya, back in the safe land of the Ukraine. Why is she in his lap? Who knows. Will he ever find happiness? Will I ever have a second mommy?
Only time will tell.
I'm not even sure if I remember how to do this anymore, but I might as well practice if this unemployment bit keeps up. I am currently sitting on a footstool with my laptop perched on the window sill in my Chicago living room. We don't have internet, and this seems to be the best location for stealing unsecured wireless from who knows where.
I could go to a nearby coffee shop, but I've not yet decided which is worth more: not spending $5 on coffee or my time wasted on internet that drops out every few minutes. Never knowing if the next page will load is a great way to add that extra element of danger and excitement to job sites. So far my posted resume has led to numerous calls from recruiters wanting me to either work in sales or commit to yearlong contracts designing whitesheets for Motorola in the suburbs. I don't even know what a whitesheet is. So far recruiters seem like spam, only instead of getting scammed on fake viagra you get a shitty career.
Chicago has been great, but none of it feels real yet. I'm living with a former college roommate and everyone I've seen have been friends from the Duluth that live here, friends from Duluth that are visiting, high school friends of friends from Duluth, or high school friends of the boyfriend of a friend from Minneapolis who now lives here. Oh, and the roommate's girlfriend's friends from college… who know the friend from Minneapolis's boyfriend's friends. I think I murdered some possessives in there.
Adding to the unreality, I went back to Duluth last weekend after only living here 2.5 weeks. My cousin got married on the iron range. I'm going to three Minnesota weddings this summer, and if I am remembered right they all connect in bizarre ways. My cousin's new wife's good friend is the ex of
My phone just rang from a restricted number and I didn't answer it because its probably another recruiter. I also dropped it and I'm not quite sure where it went.
In other news, I've been coming across things I missed out on in Duluth in lots of random places. I neglected to see Mates of State play at UMD and they've been on This American Life episodes where Ira Glass somehow makes people cry by playing the OC themesong. Bon Iver played a month or two ago and I didn't go despite the fact that he's fabulous. I did see Freezepop and made them sign my gameboy. I also saw Ben Folds, but we don't have to talk about that. I also missed seeing Low ever play in their hometown, which is quite a feat. I need to be proactive about pursuing cultural events now that I'm in Chicago, since it would be just as easy to stay home. I did manage to sit outside of an outdoor Death Cab for Cutie concert. That was.. great? Cold mostly. And in some markets, embarrassing.
It turns out the phon ecall was from the cousin of an author I designed a book cover for. The author passed away and the cousin wants to make a print of the cover. Bizzarre…
I promise I'll return to two sentence entries and photographs spread across six month periods soon.
I’ve also got a fancy new portfolio section and a profile at aiga design jobs. I’m still doing tweaks to the site, which will probably include some new portfolio images. I am also on the hunt for a job in Chitown.
view my portfolio:
aigadesignjobs.org/topher
I reserved the UHaul. I'll be packing up this stalled Duluth life on May 27th and heading to Chicago on the 28th for a newer, bigger, and scarier world. I have no job, but I am working on that.
Ah. It will be nice to get out. I've been in a temporary mindset in Duluth ever since December, so I feel like nothing useful has happened. Even if I wasn't going to Chicago, it will just be nice to have change period.
Matt got accepted into DePaul and is coming with, which is also amazing. We won't be living together, but I think that's for the best for now. We'll have our own space in a new place.
I am finally excited since it seems to really be happening.
Huzzah!
Two months ago I was in Tokyo. This post-college pre-real life phase of life has been very odd.
No wonder people go to grad school.
“Be dirty,” said Brian Eno.
And I was.