4am Medley

Sorry about the lact of activity lately … my life’s just been weird. Here are some random bits and pieces, in no particular order:

• Yesterday was Sebastian’s 11-week birthday. Last we checked, he weighed 10lb. 6oz. so his weight is back on track.

• Saturday we went to Murfreesboro to help Michelle’s brother move into his dorm at MTSU. We actually missed the “moving in” part of the day, so basically we just got to hang out and have fun. We had lunch at local favorite Toot’s, which is basically a more family-friendly version of Hooter’s. It was completely packed, and we’ve learned that the more people and the busier the restaurant, the better for Sebastian. He gets very interested in the things going on around him, and there was LOTS to look at in the restaurant, so he was pretty happy the entire meal. Plus, when he starts crying in a busy restaurant, nobody really notices or cares.
Michelle also at one point today put him into the Baby Bjorn as we walked around campus. He was turned outward this time, and he absolutely was thrilled. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him grinning from ear to ear so consistently as I have today. He really enjoys getting out and being around people. He’s noticing so much these days, we love it. Which also means he can keep himself occupied a little longer than he used to.
Michelle’s brother, Justin is 18. We moved him onto the 7th floor of Corlew Hall. It was a very bizarre feeling walking around MTSU again. We seem to make it back there at least once every year or two for one reason or another. My brother went there for 4 years after I did. Sometimes we go to review student work, and I was part of an art show there a couple years ago. Sitting there in Justin’s dorm room while he was talking to his new roommate (Michelle’s brother is Justin Wright … his roommate is Justin Wilson … trippy), it really started to hit me not only how excited I was that first day I moved into Felder Hall, but also how LONG AGO it was … considering I feel like I’m the same person I was then, and remember it like it was last week, it doesn’t feel like I started college 13 years ago. We ate dinner in the cafeteria with about 2,000 other freshmen, and it felt strange watching people around the room, remembering what they are feeling right now, thinking that I’m really not that different than they are, but also realizing that I don’t exactly blend in anymore.

• Buying a new camera is giving me a new headache. DPReview.com is the premier resource for comparing and learning about cameras, and I’ve spent a lot of time there in the past week. Also Flickr groups and Google.

• It’s spelled “In Memoriam” not “In Memorium”

• I met one of my favorite local artists last Friday at the Frothy Monkey on 12 South. Admittedly I’d always been a little intimidated by Trevor in the past, because in social circles he always seems like a bit of a rock star. But after sitting down with him and talking for awhile (it’s a coffee shop, although we both drank juice) I quickly realized he’s actually kind of shy and one of the nicest people I’ve met in a long time. He can’t help it he’s just THAT popular right now :) He was the headliner at Harding this year. The impetus for the meetup was a painting trade. He actually agreed to trade a painting with me and seemed excited about it too, which blows my mind. I told him I bought Michelle a small painting of his a couple months ago, but I wanted something larger for Sebastian’s room. So he painted him a rocket ship. And it’s awesome.

• I’m going to go around downtown and photograph 17 different people for awards they are receiving. Still no clue what I’m doing. Kind of exciting though. The scissor-lift photo shoot was interesting and I think went well. Got a few good shots out of it. Organizing 100 people early on a Saturday morning along with 13 buses and tons of equipment took about 3 hours of setting up and about 10 minutes of shooting. Wouldn’t exactly call it fun, but there are plenty of worse jobs. I’m not photographing all 17 of these folks at the same time … I’m going to get some of them today. And I think I’ll be doing it on about 2 or 3 hours of sleep. Ouch.

• Lettuce has absolutely no business anywhere near nachos.

• Our staff had it’s off-site retreat this Monday and Tuesday out at Montgomery Bell State Park. I could have gone if I’d wanted to (maybe, unless they decided not to pay for my room since I’m on the way out) but I had too much to do here and also didn’t want to leave Michelle and Sebo alone overnight yet. Plus, a staff retreat considering I’m getting canned would just be weird and kind of hard to handle. I used the fact that everyone was gone as an opportunity to clean out my office. This was both infuriating and depressing. I keep getting waves of being upset by how ignored I feel now by the very people who did this. After 4 years of my life and a new baby, you’d think they’d be treating me with a little more respect right now. I think they have completely moved on … they’ve had someone else do a logo that I was supposed to be working on (actually I had already worked on it) and yesterday I saw a stack of t-shirts with this art on it. That I didn’t do. I would have thought that they might have waited till I was out the door before replacing me. But I think they are just “letting” me stay on until Sept. 15th as a courtesy.

• Our health insurance dilemma may have been solved. I signed up to be a member of AIGA the other day (the national graphic designers association) and we’re going to get a great rate through them. I’ve just got to call my agent and get signed up for reals.

• Want your life to seem a little more manageable? Watch an episode of John & Kate Plus Eight.

• Our condo is an absolute disaster zone right now. The maid hasn’t come by in years.

• The baby’s needing me. Gotta run.