Hot off the presses Date: Sat, 9 Dec 2006 02:17:37 +0000
AP WASHINGTON
Very Sad News...No Nativity Scene In Washington, DC this Year.

The Supreme Court has ruled that there cannot be a Nativity Scene
in Washington, DC this Christmas season.

This isn't for any religious reason, they simply have not been
able to find three wise men and a virgin in the Nation's capitol.

There was no problem, however, finding enough asses to fill the stable!  ¶   0 comments

  It's a Wonderful internet fun interactive storybook for those that see that movie every year, even if they'd rather be on the net. clicky.  ¶   0 comments

  Identity Crisis Fair warning with the rant tag in the title.
In my ongoing hunt for graduate studies, I recently sought the advice of some peers and professors. The disturbingly overwhelming response has been "have you considered graphic design?"
After about the 20th time of saying "eh, not my thing," I got to thinking about it. I work at a radio station, making print ads, then go home and use photoshop to make buddy icons, animated gifs, or new desktop patterns. I read 20+ webcomics, have scripts partially written for 2, and critique flash movies.
Oh, did I mention I'm on the internet 16 hours or more each day, maintain 2 websites and am launching a third?
When did this happen?
I'm a creative writing major here. I love one or two of my short stories. Hate about 8 of them. As a tech writing minor I enjoy all the computer work I mentioned above. I've bundled myself as an all-inclusive desktop solution for small business needs, but that's probably mostly egotism.
But lets look at the checklist:
English Studies > GRE English 580 / Math 620 (no clue how that happened either).
Familiarity with Literature > The 19th Century and most poetry is mostly a blur. Give me 20th Century or Give me 12th.
Writing Skills > ok if i can proofread itt
Favorite English Studies > Medieval & Early Renaissance Lit. Obscura and Arcana, again.
Computer Skills > Adobe Creative Suite, especially Photoshop and InDesign, HTML, some JavaScript, some XML, some Flash, some Blender (3d Rendering)
Experience > 15+ published print ads / promos in 6 months while interning at WKMS's PR, regular writer WKMS Feedback and the WKMS.0rg newsletter. Some freelance writing done via various internet sites I don't have links to.
So, I've had no classes, but I keep doing graphic design stuff on my own. Am I getting better at it? Living with a graphic design major says "maybe," but I'm not still sure I buy it. Then I read stuff like this: http://www.valenciawebstudio.com/surveyresults/
Did I miss something? I was under the impression that the dotcom bubble burst, and all those easy-to-get technical jobs were insurmountable without the all-powerful DEGREE. Surely I can't just teach myself to be a graphic designer, right? but I sure can't dive straight into grad school about it either. But I have that checklist down pat, and the more I look around the more I wonder. Besides that, graphic work is pretty awesome (most of the time), and writing is starting to give me a headache.
Grad School deadlines are coming up. I've got to figure something out. Tech writing or graphic design or desktop publishing or whatever.
ugh.
any insight out there?
  ¶   0 comments

  Engaged! At long last, the pictures of me proposing to Tiff. The video's better, but I'm not even sure how to get it right now.
Tiff was at a conference so Clover (our super-cute beagle I was babysitting) and I drove to Morehead, Kentucky to surprise her. If you're not sure where that is, it's up in Eastern KY right around here. Anyway, when I reached the charming little campus, I was told that my cute little poster was probably ineligible for the competition and she'd probably not find me there anyway....

So instead, I found this fancy little belltower to wait under and made the call to my accomplices


Courtney and Dr. D had Tiff in the student center killing time somehow. I called, they came wandering up. It was so cute, I could hear Tiff trying to ask Dr. D why on earth she had the camera out, then she found me.


My poster got diced into a presentation, all sciency-style and so cute your computer screens would explode into little cartoon hearts and atomic formulae before frying completely.

Tiff loved it.

especially when she saw the ring box was embedded inside the biology book I was carrying.


By the time I'd gotten to one knee, Clover found the book to chew on. Somehow, neither of us noticed.


She said yes! WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!


Now it was time to call everyone. Actually, we're still calling everyone. But it was really exciting then.


And that's the short version of it. Honestly, the details are a little too fuzzy for the full version. My thoughts were more like "what's going to happen, where are they, oh my gosh am I doing this right, what'd I forget, what if the ring falls out, what if clover runs off, oh no what if clover gets hit by a car when I'm trying to get out the ring and tiffany's like 'you killed my dog on what was supposed to be one of the happiest days of our lives' and runs off and I'm stuck in Morehead with nothing but my truck and a messed up biology book and oh wow is that her she looks great I hope her presentation went well and I don't screw up and oh man Dr. D has the camera and oh no what am I supposed to say again and oh wow she saw me and smiled and, oh, uh, here we go..." then it's pretty much a blur til "Yes."  ¶   4 comments

  YEAH TOAST! Happy friday! Don't forget breakfast.