That sends me!

No matter what

2010-08-25T07:59:00.005-05:00

You know no, no matter how ridiculous and out there things get for me, I still wander back to the same old things... Morrissey tunes. I'm getting a little antsy regarding the re-release of my favorite album of his, Bona Drag. It's going to be pretty exciting indeed. I'm hoping he goes on a tour soon, it's been a while since I've seen him live. I need my fill. Below is one of my favorite photos of him... eye candy indeed.

It's just about time for the weather to cool down here in Fort Worth and I couldn't be more excited about that prospect. This time of year holds some pretty great things, not limited to the following: my birthday, my wedding anniversary, my wife's birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, great weather, jacket inducing climates, and Christmas. I'm requesting a retro cruiser bike for my birthday so I can roam the Southside of Fort Worth when I'm not at work. I've wanted a bike for a few years now and I figured where we live now would be a great area to roam around in while on a bike. Stoked!

It's quite early and I should get back to preparing for my work day. Blogger, you're a pal.

Roots

2009-07-24T19:46:00.002-05:00

You know, sometimes if I sit and think for a while about my upbringing, I'm often left scratching my head. I know my mom and her side of the family just fine, and I'm told that I spent plenty of time with my dad's side of the family, but I honestly don't remember... I don't know my dad. I barely remember his voice, and best I can tell, he's got no interest in knowing me. That depresses the hell out of me, and scares me to be a father. It makes me think that maybe somehow, some way, I've inherited his disassociation with his own children. I don't know why he never talked to me or my siblings... I know my mom didn't stop him from talking to us. I don't even know what he does for a living. I think the only thing I know of him is a pile of Elvis records my mom gave to me when we were living in Athens. I think the Blue Hawaii soundtrack was in there... that's about it. I sometimes wish he had been there for me. I wish I at least knew what he'd been like so I can feel something other than indifference toward him.

This city life has really got me down

2009-07-22T08:03:00.002-05:00

With times as hard as they are right now, I've explored several different options as to what I could do with my life. I've thought about moving to another state and working a design job, but there aren't many markets that are suitable right now for entry level. I've thought about moving back to my hometown, but my wife and I have decided that we'd go stir crazy. I almost need the city to function. We've become very social and I've decided that I really either want to live in Fort Worth's Historic district, or in the Greenville/Lakewood area of Dallas.
I don't know why I'm posting about this...

Good news and mediocre news, too!

2009-06-29T09:57:00.002-05:00

In a desperate plea for someone to take notice of my creative resume, I sent my portfolio and resume out to approximately 40 local advertising agencies. For those unaware, I graduated with my bachelor's degree in advertising design back in December, and have been hunting for a job every since. I had enormously high hopes and a glamorous idea in mind that MAYBE I'd get a job working somewhere within the first 2 months of being out of school. My time in school didn't allow me to see the severity of the decline in the local creative market. I came out to find that creatives with 4 and 5 years of experience were now competing with us entry level people for the same jobs... making it a severe uphill battle just to get in for an interview with an agency or design group. It's hard times! I'm determined though... I want to do this for a living.
In slightly more positive news, the Hepcat Hop, an event my wife and I came up with, will become a monthly event. To explain further, the Hepcat Hop is a monthly event in which I'll be playing 3 hours worth of authentic 1950's music, be it rock'n'roll, rockabilly, hillbilly, jive, rhythm and blues, doo wop, country, whatever... I'll play it if it's got a beat! It's going to be each month on the third Monday, with the next one on July 20th. The event is held at the historic Southside Preservation Hall in Fort Worth, which of course adds to the nostalgia effect. I really want this event to eventually get to the point that it's a step back in time... we're striving for authenticity. Unfortunately, the authenticity is a little off for now, seeing as I bring my iMac with me to each event so that I can access all 15,000 songs in my collection. Eventually though... eventually.

That's about all I've got for now. I'd like to schnazz my page up real soon... keep an eye out for that to happen! Take care, folks.

Heeerrrreeeee's hopin'!

2009-06-13T05:46:00.001-05:00

I've recently made myself okay with the fact that I may not work as a designer as my main job. Sure, it'd be nice, but I must face reality that the job market is quite tough these days. It's disheartening to learn on an interview that you are one applicant of 367 in the area, and 200 of them have 5 years more experience than you do. I didn't expect to be coming out of school interviewing for entry level work and competing with graduates from 2004 who have boat loads more industry experience than I do, but oh well, so be it I suppose.
I seem to have some chance of moving up at my current job, Staples, possibly into a specialist role at a Fort Worth area store. This would allow us to live in the area we've wanted to live in since we met each other, and that's Southside Fort Worth, the historic district. Here's hopin' on that one.

That'd be a house we've been watching a crew renovate for a while, and we LOVE it.
I've been woken up by an upset stomach... I'm making the move to veganism again (yay!) after a brief stint of vegetarianism while we were broke. However, our worsening health and an attack of my conscience which screams louder and louder each day made us want to make the move back to being vegan again. I plan to have the move done by Monday.
It's 5:48 am and I can tell today will be a very long day at work. Thankfully I just got a BlackBerry to occupy my slow time. I'm going to see about catching some more z's.

Woe is me

2009-06-05T16:37:00.000-05:00

It's a hard time right now, both financially and mentally. I'm beating myself up over the fact that I don't have a design job, and I'm still on hourly pay at my job now. I'm stuck, it seems, and with the worsening economy, it sadly seems like I'll be stuck for a while. I've got to call my student loan folks and delay the payments a little more... wahoo, just what I wanted.
I don't know what's going to happen or where I'm headed and that's a little too scary for me to think about without feeling truly nervous about the future.
I wanted to have started a family by now... I want kids at a young age, but this lack of stability ain't making it any easier, that's for sure. Turn around, economy, turn around... please and thanks.

Vegans are sensitive... at least I am

2008-11-11T13:33:00.001-06:00

At my internship, I rotate seats frequently... I basically have no dedicated desk space.
Today I'm near the kitch and it smells of ground beef. Disgusting dead flesh...
Not a good smell for a vegan to have to intake.

Big town.

2008-10-24T15:57:00.001-05:00

I'm posting from my little work station at my internship in Dallas. It feels weird to be here, as if I don't belong. It's only my 2nd day but I'm still attempting to "settle in". I've not yet made any allies, mostly because I'm too nervous to even speak. It's a sort of fear of looking like the stupid newbie hang-up I've got. I hope to get over this soon, as I'm sure I'm a little bit off to them, having not said much. All in time, I suppose.

Right now, I'm starving. I could really go for a Tofurky sandwich, but I don't have the supplies with me to make one. My mouth's watering just thinking about it.

I've been reading Craig Thompson's blog a lot over the past few days. I've rediscovered his graphic novel Blankets, and wow, it's still as powerful as it was when I

first stumbled across it in the 11th grade. It was fate, pretty much. That day in winter when my

heart was broken and I needed to feel that someone else felt the same vulnerable, pathetic feelings I was feeling. I found that in Blankets. Anyway, reading his blog makes me want to sketch religiously yet again. I'll pick that up again, it's a good thing for me.

I've been shopping around ad agencies here lately, trying to find a few in Fort Worth, and boy howdy, there are quite a few nice ones. I'm excited to graduate and shop my portfolio around. I can't wait.

Speaking of my work, I need to get a domain set up for my portfolio site soon.

It's almost Halloween. WHOO!

That's about all for now. I hope to get my blog going again, but who knows when I'll have time for this again.

Garsh.

2008-05-06T01:27:00.000-05:00

It's just about 2 am on May 6th. I can't sleep. My mom's having surgery bright and early in the morning, and myself and my family will be at the hospital while it happens. I'm nervous, hence the reason for my so called insomnia. I wish I could sleep. I've got allergies up to my ears, a runny nose, my eyes burn, I'm tired as can be, and I'm stressed out. Now would be a perfect time to rest.

I just hope all goes well.

YOU WANT A CUP OF COFFEE?

2008-04-21T10:37:00.000-05:00

It's been nearly a month since I last posted something on this blog... and that's because it's been a very hectic time. I just started a new quarter in school about 4 weeks ago. I'm taking 15 hours right now, three of my five classes are portfolio-driven classes, meaning that the work we produce in them must be portfolio quality (or damn close). Oof. Hard times, and yes, I'm losing sleep galore. I've got to learn to function on 5 hours again. I did it all through high school, I can surely do it now. I reckon Lynne and I need to get that coffee pot going again on a daily basis. That ought to help out a bit.

I'm antsy to get out of school and start working... primarily so we can move into a little bigger of a space. This time the new place will preferably be a two bedroom so we can devote one room to being an office/work area for the both of us. We are each in creative driven fields and so when we want to do any work at home that isn't on the computer, "spreading out" is impossible.... we have too much stuff. We're both such pack rats. We don't throw anything out... Goodness. It's getting nuts! We're looking into a storage unit again, but this time we want one close by. The patio area is too cluttered now, and we just keep ending up with more stuff.

I've got to get back to doing some school work. We were out late last night seeing the New York Dolls and visiting with our friends Jamey and Johnny. We didn't end up at home until around 2:15 AM and that meant we didn't get to sleep until around 3:00... and 8 AM came way too soon. School will kill me before I'm even out! Ridiculous, ain't it? All for a piece of paper and a higher paying job (hopefully). Take care now.

CAR CHASE.

2008-03-28T19:27:00.000-05:00

Random news update: We were in the middle of a car chase... what the hell? So scary and random, but cool to talk about! WOW. Here's the news story:
http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou080328_jj_chasesuspect.bf83ec9.html
Houston... what the hell....

Paul Wall lives here!

2008-03-28T10:33:00.000-05:00

So, we're here in Houston. We made it down safely, although the wind on 45 was insane for the first hour or so of the trip. Our iPod playlist was supreme... very heavy on bop-friendly tunes, that's for sure. I was insisting on stopping by Paul Wall's grill shop, but Lynne didn't seem too keen on that idea. Something of note, while driving in Houston about 30 minutes after I'd mentioned Mr. Wall's shop, we saw a "HOUSTON SUPPORTS ROGER CLEMENS" billboard.... which was paid for by Paul Wall's Grills. It was a funny moment.
Houston is nice, though. I can see the appeal. The city seems to have more artistic architecture here than in Dallas. I like that aspect of it quite a bit. Today we're visiting Sig's Lagoon and the downtown area. We're having fun so far. I'll post more details and pictures from the trip a little later on. Hope all is well for everyone. Good day!

Rabble rabble rabble...

2008-03-26T17:05:00.000-05:00

I took this picture while driving through the parking lot outside of the store I work at (Staples). I'd just gotten out of work and was listening to a mix CD I had made back in the later part of my eleventh grade year in high school, when everything seemed turbulent, pointless and beautiful all at once. It was a weird time, I'll admit, but listening to that mix brought back so many good memories and thoughts. I'd just gotten my first car and had discovered the joys of driving around late at night with music playing and air conditioning blowing on you. I didn't mind if someone accompanied me in my trip or if I were alone (a rarity in those days)... I just took comfort in the drive. I love driving at night with a pretty song playing. I can still remember how liberating it'd felt to drive myself to school in my Focus while listening to "This Charming Man" and singing along. That was also the first day I wore a button down Oxford shirt and black slacks, and funnily enough, one of the first times I wore my hair in a pompadour. Great times those were...

Anyway, life's much greater now. I've got a fiance, a nice apartment, a nice car, a wedding to co-plan, school's almost done. I'm enjoying my life as much as I can. Tomorrow morning, Lynne and I are leaving for a 4 day trip to Houston to visit with her grandma Betty and her best friend Alex. We're both very excited for the trip, especially since it will be our first vacation together as well as our first road trip together. It's sure to be fun. We're compiling a very long mix on our iPod for the drive down, ranging from rockabilly to swing to 80's pop to the Smiths to 1950's r&b... it's eclectic to say the least. I can't wait!

About a week ago we had our nephew, Gabriel over to stay the night with us. We watched a few cartoons and took him to Denny's to eat at night as well. We have fun with him, especially now that he can talk and ask questions frequently. He says some pretty funny things,

that's for sure. He got compliments from pretty much every female on the wait staff at that particular Denny's, but he was too shy to really say much back. He drew us a pretty cool picture of aliens and colored a rocket, too. We were real impressed. He also managed to make one of the most random faces I've ever seen.... The picture's in this post, so... you be the judge.

Anyway, there's not much else for me to mention. After this trip, we'll be going to Austin for two days next week. Insane times... but I love it. Adios!

Everyone else is doing it...

2008-03-25T09:43:00.000-05:00

It seems that my sisters have began the Blogspot craze... so of course I couldn't resist joining in this as well. I reckon this will be where I share happenings from now on, since I no longer really use Livejournal, Myspace blogs, or any of the others. It makes sense, no?

I suppose I could tell you a little about myself, in case someone happens to stumble upon this blog that isn't one of my sisters... My name is Tyler, I live in Texas, I'm from Georgia though. I'm getting married to the love of my dreams in December. Her name's Lynne. I'm in school for my BFA in advertising design. I go to the Art Institute of Dallas. I enjoy designing things more than I probably should... I'm a nerd for 1940's and 1950's advertising and packaging. The copy of the ads is what moves me most. I also dig on the culture, style and music from the time periods. My primary obsession would be 1950's rockabilly and hillbilly music. It's so odd how the ideal image of the time contrasts with the sounds and ideas in rockabilly music. It sends me!

Anyway, that about sums me up. I reckon I'll make another post later on. We'll see! Adios for now.