I suck at keeping up with blogs. My last post was in March and it's now August. Needless to say a lot has happened in that time. I'm working at a new job, that is, are you ready for it....IN THE ARTS! Yes, it finally happened. I'm the new Gallery Manager at an art center here in the city. Lloyd has been showing a lot including in Korea, which is also very exciting!
We've done lots of cool things around the city as well and I thought I might just compile a quick list of them:
We saw The XX, Dead Weather, Shellac, Anitbalas, Team Coco Presents Conan’s Writers Live, The Raveonettes, and Hot Chip. Went to Chinatown and ate a great restaurant http://www.mysweetstation.com/. Saw some of the set from the filming of Transformers 3. Went to a park on July 4th and played games then to a gorgeous house for a party complete with a Moon Bounce. Attended the Hoptacular beer tasting event. And of course lot's of grilling and beach trips. My August resolution is to go the beach as much as possible before Labor Day weekend.
This month we have several people coming into town and we have a trip to KC planned in September so it should a fun last month of summer. And we scored an AC window unit for $20, which will make the rest of the summer that much better!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Well, shit.
Today's post is one that I've been meaning to write for awhile now. I should post about some cool stuff that happened over the weekend but I can't really talk about it without revealing some of my thoughts on a certain situation and considering my horoscope said to keep things close and not talk about them, I'm going to stick to that.
What I will write about is the apartment building we live in here in Chicago. It's cheap which is why we moved here in the first place, and it's in a neighborhood we love, but cheap apartments always have there idiosyncrasies and this one is no exception. Just to give you an idea of size, it's a four-story brick building that has approximately 60 or so apartments. Mostly studios and one bedrooms. We live in a one bedroom that has a large living room/kitchen.
Overall, we like our little place and like our previous apartments it has earned a few nicknames. Our place in Texas was the ghetto apartment, our first KC apartment was the "haunted or creepy" one, our second the tree house because it was on the third floor and we were surrounded by the treetops of the birches that lined the front, and well, the Iowa apartment could just be considered Hell on Earth. This building is the smelly building or the weird building.
There are so many different smells from this place it's really quite amazing. Part of the problem I think is that there are no exhaust fans over the stoves so of course you can smell what everyone is cooking and it doesn't always smell very appetizing. But it goes beyond that. One day there was an overwhelming stench of acetone on my floor and once the first floor reeked of turpentine. Both of these instances made me wonder what the hell people were doing behind closed doors because the sheer amount of these chemicals that would be needed to produce that potent of an odor was staggering. Then there are some people on my floor that blaze quite often and if they all do it at the same time it's like walking through a college dorm in the 60s. The best part is when the apartment next door does it we get to smell it in our bedroom.
Aside from the myriad of odors this place produces, there are the people. Weird, strange, sometimes disturbing people. There's the chick down the hall that seemed cool at first until I had more interaction with her. She seems a bit socially awkward and seemed put off that I would be annoyed that people (including her) take clothes of the washer/dryers. I just don't like people touching my stuff! There's also the couple down the hall. He has some sort of disability and requires a wheelchair or walker. He sometimes walks with the walker up and down our hall for exercise. He is very nice and I always say hello to him. His SO however, is never friendly and never responds to my hello's or excuse me's. I keep doing it anyway just to annoy her.
One day I was in the laundry room folding some clothes and a man walked in, saw me there, stopped mid-step, said "OH", then backed out of the room quickly. Strange in itself but even stranger after I realized he didn't have any laundry with him and the machines were only being used my me at the time. WTF was he going to do in there? I'm sure I don't want to know...
Many times since moving in I've passed by someone in the hallway that gave me a strange look, like I wasn't supposed to be there. I say hello and they ignore me but continue to stare. It almost makes me feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone.
What I will write about is the apartment building we live in here in Chicago. It's cheap which is why we moved here in the first place, and it's in a neighborhood we love, but cheap apartments always have there idiosyncrasies and this one is no exception. Just to give you an idea of size, it's a four-story brick building that has approximately 60 or so apartments. Mostly studios and one bedrooms. We live in a one bedroom that has a large living room/kitchen.
Overall, we like our little place and like our previous apartments it has earned a few nicknames. Our place in Texas was the ghetto apartment, our first KC apartment was the "haunted or creepy" one, our second the tree house because it was on the third floor and we were surrounded by the treetops of the birches that lined the front, and well, the Iowa apartment could just be considered Hell on Earth. This building is the smelly building or the weird building.
There are so many different smells from this place it's really quite amazing. Part of the problem I think is that there are no exhaust fans over the stoves so of course you can smell what everyone is cooking and it doesn't always smell very appetizing. But it goes beyond that. One day there was an overwhelming stench of acetone on my floor and once the first floor reeked of turpentine. Both of these instances made me wonder what the hell people were doing behind closed doors because the sheer amount of these chemicals that would be needed to produce that potent of an odor was staggering. Then there are some people on my floor that blaze quite often and if they all do it at the same time it's like walking through a college dorm in the 60s. The best part is when the apartment next door does it we get to smell it in our bedroom.
Aside from the myriad of odors this place produces, there are the people. Weird, strange, sometimes disturbing people. There's the chick down the hall that seemed cool at first until I had more interaction with her. She seems a bit socially awkward and seemed put off that I would be annoyed that people (including her) take clothes of the washer/dryers. I just don't like people touching my stuff! There's also the couple down the hall. He has some sort of disability and requires a wheelchair or walker. He sometimes walks with the walker up and down our hall for exercise. He is very nice and I always say hello to him. His SO however, is never friendly and never responds to my hello's or excuse me's. I keep doing it anyway just to annoy her.
One day I was in the laundry room folding some clothes and a man walked in, saw me there, stopped mid-step, said "OH", then backed out of the room quickly. Strange in itself but even stranger after I realized he didn't have any laundry with him and the machines were only being used my me at the time. WTF was he going to do in there? I'm sure I don't want to know...
Many times since moving in I've passed by someone in the hallway that gave me a strange look, like I wasn't supposed to be there. I say hello and they ignore me but continue to stare. It almost makes me feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Trying to stay motivated...
I currently have 3 days off during the middle of the week. This is nice in some respects because I can get a lot done (in theory) but it can be rather boring as no one else I know in the city is off usually. Sometimes my sister-in-law and I have a day off at the same time and that's fun but it's not always a guarantee.
I've been struggling with staying motivated to get things done during these days off. Whether it's cleaning the apartment, job hunting, updating this blog, etc. I recently found a blog from one of the (former) writers for Conan's Tonight Show. He said he has made a rule for his recent unemployment: pants on by 10:00 AM. No exceptions. I am hereby adopting this rule for myself.
I've been struggling with staying motivated to get things done during these days off. Whether it's cleaning the apartment, job hunting, updating this blog, etc. I recently found a blog from one of the (former) writers for Conan's Tonight Show. He said he has made a rule for his recent unemployment: pants on by 10:00 AM. No exceptions. I am hereby adopting this rule for myself.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Inspiration and Determination
For the next few weeks I am only working 3 days a week. This gives me a lot of time to work on other things. Since I keep running up against brick walls as far as gallery jobs go, I've decided to focus my time pursuing arts management projects on the side.
Last week was a throw away week. I ended up doing little to nothing of value on my days off. This week however I'm on the ball. Yesterday was spent helping Lloyd put together a grant. Unfortunately, the PDF file was uncooperative and we weren't able to turn in the application. However there are lots of other grants and show entries that he needs help putting together and we are determined to keep at it. Not to mention his upcoming solo show next month here in the city. I hope I can do a little PR and installation work for it.
I am also planning a traveling exhibition involving artists we met in Texas and that have scattered throughout the country and the world. I am excited to make some progress on it this week. My only concern is nailing down dates for the exhibition. We will both need to travel down to Texas for the show and I'm not sure what our financial situation will be like later this year. I guess I will just have to put myself out there and see what happens. Things do tend to work themselves out when you are on the right path. I have learned that the hard way.
Last week was a throw away week. I ended up doing little to nothing of value on my days off. This week however I'm on the ball. Yesterday was spent helping Lloyd put together a grant. Unfortunately, the PDF file was uncooperative and we weren't able to turn in the application. However there are lots of other grants and show entries that he needs help putting together and we are determined to keep at it. Not to mention his upcoming solo show next month here in the city. I hope I can do a little PR and installation work for it.
I am also planning a traveling exhibition involving artists we met in Texas and that have scattered throughout the country and the world. I am excited to make some progress on it this week. My only concern is nailing down dates for the exhibition. We will both need to travel down to Texas for the show and I'm not sure what our financial situation will be like later this year. I guess I will just have to put myself out there and see what happens. Things do tend to work themselves out when you are on the right path. I have learned that the hard way.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Green is good for the soul.
Our apartment here in Chicago is on the small side. But it's got a lot of charm and it's cheap (which is really the main thing for us right now). This is also the first place we have been able to paint. That is a huge deal for us and we have had a blast trying to find good oops paints from the hardware store. This past weekend we painted our kitchen/living room a bright, cheery green. It has literally changed the mood of the whole apartment. I looked up what the color green means in Feng Shui and it is for renewal, fresh energy, and new beginnings. Lloyd is exactly right when he says we were due for some of that.
It was also great to finally get a new charger for my laptop on Sunday. I had the Apple MagSafe charger that was anything but safe when the cord frayed. Apple was aware of the problem and was giving a new charger in exchange for an old one. My problem was that I threw the old one away before I knew about the exchange program. It took a lot of patience and several trips to the Mac Store but I finally got my replacement charger. It had been over six months since I was last able to use my computer. I wanted to hug the woman at the Genius Bar when she walked up and handed it to me.
The rest of the week is devoted to job applications. Looking forward to more new beginnings and fresh energy.
It was also great to finally get a new charger for my laptop on Sunday. I had the Apple MagSafe charger that was anything but safe when the cord frayed. Apple was aware of the problem and was giving a new charger in exchange for an old one. My problem was that I threw the old one away before I knew about the exchange program. It took a lot of patience and several trips to the Mac Store but I finally got my replacement charger. It had been over six months since I was last able to use my computer. I wanted to hug the woman at the Genius Bar when she walked up and handed it to me.
The rest of the week is devoted to job applications. Looking forward to more new beginnings and fresh energy.
Friday, January 8, 2010
A gallery hopping we will go.
Being intimitely involved with the visual arts and being poor does have some perks. Depending on the city you live in, there are bound to be gallery openings spread throughout the month. Here in Chicago there are several different neighborhoods that have claimed certain days as their gallery opening nights. Tonight is River North and the West Loop's time to shine. Or be lackluster, which is more often the case. We tend to be pretty harsh critics and practice "Turbo Aesthetics". I will leave that discussion for another post.
What is exciting about gallery openings (besides hopefully the art of course) are the free appetizers and beverages. This is usually some sort of cheese and fruit platter and wine or beer. The fanciness factor depends on the gallery and the artists whose work is being displayed.
For instance, a higher-end commercial gallery will probably serve a wheel of brie and other gourmet cheeses with specialty crackers. You would also be treated to your choice of white or red wine. The other end of the spectrum is the student show where you may find some cheddar slices with Ritz crackers that is if there is any food at all. Most likely you will simply find a table (or bucket or trash can filled with ice if you're lucky) piled high with PBR or Old Style. Cans, not bottles.
The trick is to get there early to partake of the freebies because you are competing with hundreds of other starving artists. Present company included. So if you venture out in the cold tonight here in Chicago, get away from my brie! And save me an Old Style.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Right on.
Well, I've successfully set this up so that I can blog from my phone using email or text messages. That's good considering we do not currently have Internet access at home. I think this arrangement will help me keep up with posting as I'm kind of obsessed with my phone.
This week I am on a forced vacation as the company I am temping for is retail-based and has run into the slow season. Fortunately, they decided to keep me on and I am thankful for that. They have cut my hours significantly but that just gives me more time to job hunt. Because, honestly, I'm not a fan of being a data entry drone any longer than is neccessary.
I read an article this morning about making the most of a job you hate and I have to say it was incredibly unhelpful. Basically it said to hang in there and you'll probably find a new job in 6-12 months. Gee, thanks for the uplifting message. 6-12 more months of wanting to jump out of the 16th floor window of the building I work in. Fantastic.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The beginning.
This is my third or fourth attempt at starting a blog. I am a faithful reader of many blogs and have always thought that I had something worthwhile to add to someone’s blogroll. My previous attempts failed because I was being disingenuous. My voice was lost trying to be funny or interesting instead of being honest.
As you can probably tell from the title of this endeavor, I am ready to be honest, with both my future readers and myself. This is the story of two people who decided to follow their dreams no matter what, even if that meant not having the things society tells us we should. We made a choice that we believe in and although it is difficult at times (sometimes excruciating) we will not give up. In the end we will be successful and it will have all been worth it. Until then, it’s just the roaches and us trying to make a life.
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