Wow. I haven't posted anything since September of last year. I mean, I know I don't blog very often but that's a little ridiculous. You'd think I hadn't lost my job.
As many of you know, I did in fact lose my job at the screen printing shop. I use the term lose in a very rough sense. I got fired, if you will. I won't go into the details because they make me angry and I've already dealt with all of that stuff. The point is, I've been unemployed for almost a month.
Now there are two sides to this. On the one hand it really sucks. I've been stressed out for a month. Looking for a job in this "economic environment" is tough. Competition is heavy for the few jobs that get posted. I've been lucky enough to get a few interviews and I'm really hoping one of them pans out, but I'm still looking in case it doesn't.
Now on the other hand, as much as I hate to say it, it's been really nice. It's stressful, but also relaxing in a way. I have time to do things. If I hadn't been unemployed, there's no way I would have been able to complete part of the last interview I had; I was up for 12 hours relearning flash in order to complete a skills assessment test. But in between franticly searching for a job and dealing with my previous employer, I've had time to read, visit my family in Fort Worth and play video games.
But I'd trade all that in to have a job.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Scooter
So a while back my buddy TJ took some pictures out at his folks house and this one caught my eye. I even jokingly commented that he need to bring it back to life for me.
Fast forward to this weekend and TJ was over at my house hanging out and mentioned that he was going to his parent's house the next day. I asked if he could bring the scooter back so we could see if we could get it running. He agreed and two days later he showed up at my house with a trunk full of scooter pieces. It's a 1985 Honda Spree and it's in rough shape. We've got two of everything except for a carburetor and we're waiting on getting an oil tank off ebay. It also needs an air filter and battery, but those will come later. Our main goal at the moment is to get the damn thing running.
Unfortunately, TJ only has Sundays and Mondays off and he doesn't get off until 9 on workdays so we only have two days a week to work on the engine itself. But rest assured, we will use those days to their fullest. Since I don't know a whole lot about engines and such, I've taken it upon myself to repaint the body pieces. This evening I peeled off ancient decals and sanded down the leg guard and side pieces to get them ready for primer. I just found out, after reading the instructions, that it's best to paint an hour after applying the primer. I didn't foresee this and so tomorrow I have to go out and find paint in addition to another can of primer. We're going with pearl white with chrome accents. Why, you ask? Because we've named the scooter Boss Hogg in honor of Jefferson Davis Hogg from Dukes of Hazard. As the cou d'etat I've created a logo to replace the awful 80s Spree logo:
I can't wait until we finish this thing. It's going to be a blast.
Fast forward to this weekend and TJ was over at my house hanging out and mentioned that he was going to his parent's house the next day. I asked if he could bring the scooter back so we could see if we could get it running. He agreed and two days later he showed up at my house with a trunk full of scooter pieces. It's a 1985 Honda Spree and it's in rough shape. We've got two of everything except for a carburetor and we're waiting on getting an oil tank off ebay. It also needs an air filter and battery, but those will come later. Our main goal at the moment is to get the damn thing running.
Unfortunately, TJ only has Sundays and Mondays off and he doesn't get off until 9 on workdays so we only have two days a week to work on the engine itself. But rest assured, we will use those days to their fullest. Since I don't know a whole lot about engines and such, I've taken it upon myself to repaint the body pieces. This evening I peeled off ancient decals and sanded down the leg guard and side pieces to get them ready for primer. I just found out, after reading the instructions, that it's best to paint an hour after applying the primer. I didn't foresee this and so tomorrow I have to go out and find paint in addition to another can of primer. We're going with pearl white with chrome accents. Why, you ask? Because we've named the scooter Boss Hogg in honor of Jefferson Davis Hogg from Dukes of Hazard. As the cou d'etat I've created a logo to replace the awful 80s Spree logo:
I can't wait until we finish this thing. It's going to be a blast.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Pixar
As mentioned in a previous posting, I applied for a job at Pixar. My dream job of sorts. I've waited patiently for a little over a month and checked their careers page everyday to see if my status has changed from applied to anything other than applied.
Well, it still says applied, but yesterday I finally received an email from them. I've posted it here in its entirety:
Dear Casey Woods
Thank you for forwarding your resume and flatwork regarding the Graphic Artist position with Pixar. We had your work & resume reviewed and while everyone was impressed with your work, we are unable to utilize your skill set at this time.
Thanks,
Pixar Recruiting
The whole occurrence went something like this:
00:00 - Received email from Pixar
00:01 - Heart rate jumps from 72 bpm to 6,000,000,000 bpm
00:02 - Opened email
00:03 - Heart rate falls back to 72bpm
00:04 - Read email
00:05 - Heart falls through floor and hits a Chinamen in the head
I didn't know until I got this email that a human could experience so many emotions in five seconds.
After about an hour of thinking it through and eating some comfort food (A Big Mac and fries. Go figure.) I came to terms with the rejection. I never thought I really had much of a chance after sending my application and portfolio and told myself not to get my hopes up. It was done on a whim and shouldn't have been thought of much more than that. In the end, I got too excited and hoped I'd get the job.
In retrospect, it was a good experience. I learned a lot about portfolio creation and I know what I need to do in order to raise my chances of working for Pixar. To look at it in a positive light, at least I got a response. A response that explicitly states they were "impressed" and that they can't utilize my skill set "at this time". Granted, this is probably a automatically generated response, it still means that I passed some sort of initial screening. I'm sure many people send in there resumes and portfolios and never hear a word.
I'm still bummed, but I gave it a shot. Pixar knows who I am now. And this isn't the last they'll see of me.
Well, it still says applied, but yesterday I finally received an email from them. I've posted it here in its entirety:
Dear Casey Woods
Thank you for forwarding your resume and flatwork regarding the Graphic Artist position with Pixar. We had your work & resume reviewed and while everyone was impressed with your work, we are unable to utilize your skill set at this time.
Thanks,
Pixar Recruiting
The whole occurrence went something like this:
00:00 - Received email from Pixar
00:01 - Heart rate jumps from 72 bpm to 6,000,000,000 bpm
00:02 - Opened email
00:03 - Heart rate falls back to 72bpm
00:04 - Read email
00:05 - Heart falls through floor and hits a Chinamen in the head
I didn't know until I got this email that a human could experience so many emotions in five seconds.
After about an hour of thinking it through and eating some comfort food (A Big Mac and fries. Go figure.) I came to terms with the rejection. I never thought I really had much of a chance after sending my application and portfolio and told myself not to get my hopes up. It was done on a whim and shouldn't have been thought of much more than that. In the end, I got too excited and hoped I'd get the job.
In retrospect, it was a good experience. I learned a lot about portfolio creation and I know what I need to do in order to raise my chances of working for Pixar. To look at it in a positive light, at least I got a response. A response that explicitly states they were "impressed" and that they can't utilize my skill set "at this time". Granted, this is probably a automatically generated response, it still means that I passed some sort of initial screening. I'm sure many people send in there resumes and portfolios and never hear a word.
I'm still bummed, but I gave it a shot. Pixar knows who I am now. And this isn't the last they'll see of me.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Vegas
The time has finally come. Tomorrow I will step on a plane bound for Las Vegas, Nevada. I've never been before but I've heard lots of great things. I probably won't be doing a whole lot of gambling, but I definitely plan on sightseeing. I've already booked a reservation for The Neon Boneyard, a huge lot that contains several defunct casino signs. Oh, and don't worry. There will be picture taking.
This evening I finally broke down and bought a record player. Corley and I were at Target where I bought a new backpack and shoes when we discovered this little beauty. It's pretty nice and it sounds great. I inherited a small collection of records from a friend and have been wanting to buy a record player since receiving them. I hadn't seriously gone through them until tonight when I discovered I had Michael Jackson's Thriller ON VINYL. "Holy damn!" I exclaimed as I held the record in my hands. I proudly presented it to Corley who squealed in delight and insisted we play it next. Listening to it now.
As for the rest of the collection, I have several Bill Cosby, George Carlin, National Lampoon, Steve Martin, and Richard Pryor albums to work my way through. I found a Ramones album and some Bing Crosby christmas albums as well. Clearly a very distinctive collection.
This evening I finally broke down and bought a record player. Corley and I were at Target where I bought a new backpack and shoes when we discovered this little beauty. It's pretty nice and it sounds great. I inherited a small collection of records from a friend and have been wanting to buy a record player since receiving them. I hadn't seriously gone through them until tonight when I discovered I had Michael Jackson's Thriller ON VINYL. "Holy damn!" I exclaimed as I held the record in my hands. I proudly presented it to Corley who squealed in delight and insisted we play it next. Listening to it now.
As for the rest of the collection, I have several Bill Cosby, George Carlin, National Lampoon, Steve Martin, and Richard Pryor albums to work my way through. I found a Ramones album and some Bing Crosby christmas albums as well. Clearly a very distinctive collection.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
1,000
Well, more like 1,002. Either way, I finally hit 1,000 photos uploaded on Flickr! It's a milestone! Granted, I have taken about 5,300 photos since I got my camera, but only 1,000 of them are good enough for Flickr.
In other news, Corley left for Port Aransas this evening. You may have heard about it. She's down there with her family for the weekend so it's up to me to entertain myself.
Also, I will be applying for my dream job in the next week. Pixar has an opening for a graphic designer at their studio in Emeryville, CA. I am mostly qualified for the position and while my main goal is to actually get the job, my more realistic goal is to get an interview. If I don't hear anything after a month I'm going to apply again and keep applying until they tell me to stop.
In other news, Corley left for Port Aransas this evening. You may have heard about it. She's down there with her family for the weekend so it's up to me to entertain myself.
Also, I will be applying for my dream job in the next week. Pixar has an opening for a graphic designer at their studio in Emeryville, CA. I am mostly qualified for the position and while my main goal is to actually get the job, my more realistic goal is to get an interview. If I don't hear anything after a month I'm going to apply again and keep applying until they tell me to stop.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Running on fumes
For the past two weeks I've been flying solo at my job. The only other artist there got canned for no good reason and that leaves me in charge of all things art. I am now responsible for absolutely everything which includes embroidery, something I know little about. I've slowly been learning the ins and outs of it, but as I learn, the art inbox just keeps growing and growing. I feel like Sisyphus rolling a gigantic stone up a hill only to have it roll back down again. Hopefully it won't last for eternity.
It's been affecting other parts of my life too. When I come home I don't want to do anything else but lay in bed in a fetal position slowly counting the hours until the weekend, my only reprieve. I know I sound like a forlorn emo kid, but honestly, having this incredible amount of responsibility resting on my shoulders drains the life out of me. When I get in my car after work I feel like I've been running a marathon all day.
To be fair, there are plenty of positive things going on in my life. It seems a lot of people like my photography and have been asking me to take pictures for them. My friend Pam is getting married and wants me to take bridal pictures. Corley's friend Lauren is getting married and wants me to take engagement pictures. To top it all off, this weekend I will be doing a semi-professional portrait shoot of a gal who's debuting her first album soon. The pictures are going to be used for the cover and hopefully some promotional materials. In preparation for that I went ahead and purchased a Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 lens for my camera. I haven't been able to post them yet, but this lens takes AMAZING pictures. I love it just as much as my 50mm.
I suppose if I look on the bright side of things, if I can hold on long enough for Aztec to hire a new artist, I'll more than likely receive a raise. If I can make it of course.
It's been affecting other parts of my life too. When I come home I don't want to do anything else but lay in bed in a fetal position slowly counting the hours until the weekend, my only reprieve. I know I sound like a forlorn emo kid, but honestly, having this incredible amount of responsibility resting on my shoulders drains the life out of me. When I get in my car after work I feel like I've been running a marathon all day.
To be fair, there are plenty of positive things going on in my life. It seems a lot of people like my photography and have been asking me to take pictures for them. My friend Pam is getting married and wants me to take bridal pictures. Corley's friend Lauren is getting married and wants me to take engagement pictures. To top it all off, this weekend I will be doing a semi-professional portrait shoot of a gal who's debuting her first album soon. The pictures are going to be used for the cover and hopefully some promotional materials. In preparation for that I went ahead and purchased a Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 lens for my camera. I haven't been able to post them yet, but this lens takes AMAZING pictures. I love it just as much as my 50mm.
I suppose if I look on the bright side of things, if I can hold on long enough for Aztec to hire a new artist, I'll more than likely receive a raise. If I can make it of course.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Slow
I've noticed that I've slowed down in my photo taking. I'm sure you have too. In the past, this is usually a sign that I've lost interest in whatever new thing I'm doing and eventually I stop doing it all together, thus another hobby tried and tossed aside. I'm confident that this is not the case.
No, the real reason I've gone from a photo shooting frenzy to a handful every few days is because I haven't gone anywhere new. I'm usually at my house, at work or at school. My weekends are really the only time I have to take photos and lately they've been crammed full of so many things to do that I don't have a whole lot of time to take pictures. I want to. Oh how badly I would love to have a whole day to go places and shoot things. I find myself driving down the road seeing things I could take pictures of, imagining how I'd frame them and wishing I had time to stop and do so.
As time goes on I know I'll be shooting lots of pictures, in addition to obtaining newer and better lenses which will more than likely spur more photo frenzies. I really like taking pictures and I think it's definitely something I'm going to stick with. It still scares me though that I'm not taking as many as I did when I first got my camera.
I suppose it's similar to dating. You find someone that is so incredibly awesome and you fall in love with them. For a good while all you want to do is spend every waking moment with them. But as time goes on, the newness of it wears until finally you wake up next to your best friend. Things might not be as exciting as they were when you first met, but they don't have to be. You know that exciting things will happen, and they do, just not as often. My camera and I have become best friends and I know that as I get better at photography there will be a lot more exciting moments, just not all jumbled together into one big lump of joy.
No, the real reason I've gone from a photo shooting frenzy to a handful every few days is because I haven't gone anywhere new. I'm usually at my house, at work or at school. My weekends are really the only time I have to take photos and lately they've been crammed full of so many things to do that I don't have a whole lot of time to take pictures. I want to. Oh how badly I would love to have a whole day to go places and shoot things. I find myself driving down the road seeing things I could take pictures of, imagining how I'd frame them and wishing I had time to stop and do so.
As time goes on I know I'll be shooting lots of pictures, in addition to obtaining newer and better lenses which will more than likely spur more photo frenzies. I really like taking pictures and I think it's definitely something I'm going to stick with. It still scares me though that I'm not taking as many as I did when I first got my camera.
I suppose it's similar to dating. You find someone that is so incredibly awesome and you fall in love with them. For a good while all you want to do is spend every waking moment with them. But as time goes on, the newness of it wears until finally you wake up next to your best friend. Things might not be as exciting as they were when you first met, but they don't have to be. You know that exciting things will happen, and they do, just not as often. My camera and I have become best friends and I know that as I get better at photography there will be a lot more exciting moments, just not all jumbled together into one big lump of joy.
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