linseyly way of doing things

i love adverbs. what could be better than a modifier of a verb; where all the action happens around here.

definitely. absolutely. specifically. especially. i even love making them up (standardly).

instead of simply (see?) throwing a boring "yes" as an answer to a question, embellish your dialog with an adverb

Oh. My. God.

Hopefully I don't need to buy my first new car for a few years, but if this car is out when the time comes, OMG. I am in love:2009 Chevy El Camino mock-up <3

Amazing

Video courtesy of PerezHilton.com and YouTube

Holding on tight

The economy is in the crapper and we all know that.

Except now it's hitting a little bit too-close-for-comfort to home.

It's not every year that one graduates college and enters the job market during a recession. Oh, the joys of being tens-upon-tens-of-thousands-of-dollars in debt amidst the near impossibility of finding a full-time job. Then the mind starts to dabble: is there credibility in a bachelor's degree any more? Was there really even a point? That very well may be my thoughts after settling into apathy and my potentially-developing depression: direct side effects of a recent graduate thrown into the oblivion known as our current economy.

I was reading a couple of articles on designobserver.com which spearhead this subject and the worries (I know I have) in regard to working in the design industry. This, I'm sure, can apply to most industries, so those of you who are suffering (or will suffer soon enough) from this same stress, take heed:

Murray Moss, the guest write on Design Observer, wrote "Design Hates a Depression" in response to "Design Loves a Depression" and here are a few excerpts from his entry:

I can assure you that design, along with painting, sculpture, photography, music, dance, fashion, the culinary arts, architecture, and theatre, loves a depression no more than it loves a war, a flood, or a plague.

[Design] tends to suffer, like any of the other humanistic disciplines. New ideas do not get championed or realized. Leadership turns to market-driven accommodation.

It does tend to suffer. And so do I. Thus, I've started this spiral into apathy because I am feeling more and more discouraged. Thankfully, in all of Michael Beirut's (graphic designer, design critic, educator, former VP of Vignelli Associates, current partner at Pentagram, graduate of the University of Cincinnati's DAAP program, and all-around bad mamma jamma) 28 years in the industry, he's gained knowledge and valuable experience and decided to grace us with some light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-encouragement:

Be frugal
Be careful
Be creative
Be sociable
and most importantly BE PATIENT.

My friend the ex-hedge fund guy (he did get out in time) told me recently, "In the middle of every boom, people say, 'This one is different, it's never going to come down.' But it always does." This was true with dot-coms, and it was true with real estate. "In recessions, they fear the same thing: this one is different. But it will eventually turn around after all the crap gets worked out." And it will, eventually. Just hold on tight.

You may have noticed something interesting: all of these tips for what to do in a recession will work just as well in good times. Or even better. So the final lesson is to use this downturn as a learning experience. If you've got this discipline to survive, or even thrive, in the next year or so, you'll be mastering skills that will serve you well forever. Good luck.

I'll surely need luck indeed. And I'm holding on tight.

Either/Or with Perez Hilton

Video courtesy of PerezHilton.com

Here are my answers:
Boxers, Briefs or Commando? Briefs
Tattoos or Piercings? Tattoos
Britney Spears or Paris Hilton? Britney Spears
Smooth or Crunchy? Crunchy
Mousse, Gel or Hairspray? Curls Rock Amplifying Cream or bust!
Are you pushy or a pushover? A little bit of both
Kiss or no kiss on a first date? Kiss
Tea or coffee? Coffee
Katy Perry or Lily Allen? Katy Perry
Robert Pattinson or Taylor Lautner? ROBERT PATTINSON (!!!!!)
Rod Blagojevich or Eliot Spitzer? Eliot Spitzer
Hard or Soft? Soft
Christina Aguilera or Lady Gaga? Christina Aguilera
Miley Cyrus or Vanessa Hudgens? Neither
David Beckham or Cristiano Ronaldo? DAVID BECKHAM (!)
People or Us Weekly? Us Weekly
Mariah Carey or Beyonce? Mariah Carey
A night out with the girls or a night in with a guy? Night out with the girls
Ryan Seacrest or Simon Cowell? Ryan Seacrest

How would you answer?

Another fun game to play!

I was perusing the 'net as usual, and I came across a really fun "Can you guess where my accent is from" game. But, for the life of me, I couldn't remember from where. TGFG (thank God for Google should seriously be an acronym inducted into Merriam-Webster or at least Urban Dictionary; we should definitely be more thankful for Google than Fridays any-damn-way)!

Play the game here. I wasn't very good. And if by "not very good" I mean terrible. I think I scored a 12 or something.

Sunny and 62 in beautiful Cincinnati!

On Tuesday it took me an hour and a half to get home from a place that usually only takes fifteen minutes (Blue Ash Road to my house in Finneytown for those who are familiar). Why? Because we got a little less than an inch of snow dumped on us in less than thirty minutes and -of course- everyone freaked out. Sure, the roads were kind of bad, but let's get real party people, way too many folks go overboard and get way too carried away thinking the slightest bit of accumulation is going to snowball (puns are amazing) into "WHITE DEATH 2008!" I digress.

Let's get to the point:
Snow is currently still on the ground in Vegas and the current temperature in SoCal is 56º. It is warmer here than both of those places. A couple of friends of mine moved from Central Ohio to Vegas a few years ago, so they are clearly accustomed to snow. I'll share with you our conversation, which I found quite hilarious:

me: haha, snow in vegas and it's 62 degrees in cincinnati today!
him: screw you it is still here
me: crazy!
him: your telling me they closed the schools yesterday, carrie got a snow day
me: that's awesome ... were people freaking out? i mean, obvi you guys are used to it...
him: of course they stopped playing normal shows and ran a news special all night. i was pissed. i missed my heroes and top chef
me: people just get way too carried away
him: i was doing like 50 on the highway, and people were looking at me like i was the anti-christ while they went like 25
me: hahahahahahahahaha



In case you are geographically disabled, I have highlighted where Cincinnati is on the map. Check out the numbers at the North of the state (that's only about a 3+ hour drive). Man, it must suck to be from Cleveland!

The silver lining in fulfilling my childhood dream

When I was younger I was obsessed with tornadoes. It was a sick obsession and it was all I thought about throughout my grade school years. I recorded (on VHS of course, pausing during commercials to have a commercial-free recording) many education programs and documentaries, as well as the great films such as Twister and Night of the Twisters (Devin Sawa=heaven). When I was about in sixth or seventh grade, a few of my friends teamed up with my brother's friend and hid my copy of Twister from me. I guess they got annoyed that, every time I had a sleepover, we had to watch Twister. It was my childhood dream to be a Meteorologist and Storm Chaser, and because I was so knowledgeable on the subject, I even got to teach the Meteorology section to my freshman Earth Science class.

I still try to catch as many National Geographic Channel Presents and Weather Channel specials regarding the phenomenon, but clearly I have chosen a completely different career path.

As I was watching a NatGeo Presents special about tornadoes this morning, image my elation upon learning about Silver Lining Tours. I will be going as soon as I save up the funds; probably within the next five years. Seriously. I can't wait!

It's love [enter love-stricken ga-ga eyes here].

For the first time, I am reporting from my brand-spanking-new, eco-friendly MacBook Pro. There are so many perks about this little guy that I can't even begin to describe. I never thought I could love another the way I did my Powerbook, but I do. But my first will always hold a special place in my heart:

Christmas Come Early!

(!!!!!)

I did not know that the MTA had an online New York Transit Museum! While reading "The (Mostly) True Story of Helvetica and the New York City Subway," I stumbled across where you can purchase vintage subway maps. I'm not sure if you know my obsession with maps (especially MTA's maps), but today really is like Christmas! Twilight comes out tonight and I found a place where I can purchase vintage subway maps. Ah, I'm so happy.

If anyone is feeling charitable, just buy one and have it sent my way! My favorite is Massimo Vignelli's 1972 map:

Selfish+Blogger=Bloggish

I'm feeling pretty bloggish right now. (If you don't know what that means, check out the word hybrid in the title of this post. It's not one of my better ones, but it will do for this case) This domain is basically just a place for me to satiate my need to release creative energy in a way other than visually. And I love and live popular culture so much that I've found that I can kill the proverbial 'two birds with one stone' by expending this so-called creativity by picking up on a past time I've long since forgotten; writing ...About popular culture in particular. May it be by making top ten lists of really hot men, digging up extinct pop culture phenoms to remind you how glorious our youth was (i.e. MASH and slap bracelets), giving updates and recaps for professional and collegiate sports, or simply providing book/movie/music reviews, I'm your one stop (pop culture) shop for all that is entertainment.

Yes We Did

I feel blessed and excited to be able to say that I have witnessed and been a part of history: the United States of America has spoken. And we have elected our first African-American President.

Barack Obama is our 44th President and I am anxious for the future. Yes WE can!

MASH has my life planned out quite nicely

Ah, the good ol' days of my youth. I was getting ready this morning and randomly thought of subject matter for this here blog post: MASH. You know, mansion/apartment/shack/house? The game where I never wanted to end up marrying George Tallman, living in a shack, driving a neon green Geo Metro with ten kids. The only difference now is, you can play online!

I've posted the before picture (sorry, I forgot to screen capture until after the counter started- I was just way too damn excited!) and the after. Let me tell you: this is fantasy life at its greatest!

Before:
After:

I will marry Edward Norton any day. And to live in a nice apartment in Chicago, with three kids (okay, so that might be a little too many, but it doesn't even matter at this point!), an eco-friendly Mazda 3 (Ed would love that. And I'm sure he wouldn't mind me calling him Ed because we are destined to be married and nicknames are acceptable), and I get to be a bartender. Fun times are ahead! ...And you're very welcome for posting the link to the greatest game of all time.

The Demise of Grammar and Spelling As We Know It

I believe that computer lingo and text messaging are slowly lowering younger generations' IQ levels as well as their ability to use proper grammar and correct spelling. Ugh. Don't get me wrong, I like to use my fair amount of omfg, rofl, lmao and brbs, but only while speaking. There's something hilarious about speaking in acronyms, but it's all in good fun and I'm funny, so it works. It doesn't work so much on the computer or through text bc when u write like this it looks like u cant talk on a nrml level with respectable ppl. Gosh, I'm fuming here and that wasn't even an entire sentence worth of garbage. But I had to prove my point. It looks stupid, thus making you look equally dumb.

I saw an über-absurd, absolutely ridiculous article before in the Facebook group "Yes: I will judge you based on your spelling, grammar, and punctuation" –written by an effing (once again, acceptable because I'm awesome) professor– regarding why the oft-misspelled words should be accepted in the forms that are incorrect. Seriously, it's depressing, and if you'd like to be infuriated as much as I was, please click here to check it out.

I'm convinced that if we got to use more than 180 characters, people would submit essays through text messaging. Barfaroni.

Also, check out this video because it's awesome and it's about spelling. Until next time...
cya & ttyl

xoxo, [Amateur Blogger] Girl

As an amateur blogger, it's pretty much protocol to have some professionals whose work I idolize and admire. At this given point in time, I have a top three. Sure they might be the only three bloggers whose posts I read regularly, but whatever. They rule. Sinceriously. So here they are, in particular order:


1) Perez Hilton
The gossip gangSTAR who raised the blogosphere bar. All of his Perezcious readers love and respect him and bloggers around the world should feel the same if they don't already. I have not missed an entry of his in over 16 months, entries which now serve as daily bedtime stories. If you've never seen his work, it's mastery. I'm not even joking. He's ruthless, relentless, and works 18-hour days. And he's even branched out into creating his own fashion line, television shows and now hosts his own radio show. A homolicious renaissance diva. Loves it.


2) Chris & Jess
These two are really outstanding in their craft, blogging for the Daily Intel at NY Magazine. Every week these two provide a hilarious, insightful recap for Gossip Girl, the show they have coined "The Best. Show. Ever." Their Reality Index (Realer Than a Socialite With a Hebetudinous Nickname Like “Poppy” vs. More Transparent Than Dan’s Bravado) brings in thousands of readers weekly who can now participate in the weekly total. Even if you haven't seen the show and have zero desire to (which, if you fall into either of these categories, you officially suck at life because this is honestly one of the Best. Shows. Ever.), check out one of their recaps. You don't have to even understand what's going on because their writing is that hysterical. And intelligent, too.


3) Lil Wayne
A rapper blogging for ESPN. And he has their logo tattooed on his arm. Enough said.

Delay of Game

I've been to New York and back since my last post, as well as without power for 54 hours after suffering last week's tropical storm. We're landlocked here in Cincinnati -save for our beautiful Ohio River- and we were fortunate enough to have experienced our first hurricane-like storm. A tropical storm and an earthquake for Cincinnatians within the past year? The world's coming to an end. Here's a photo of an uprooted tree that fell and damaged the back of my uncle's house and his deck:
My family and I made the trip up to New York to see the Yankees play Tampa Bay during their Final Season in The House That Ruth Built. It poured the entire day. My dad and I enjoyed some beer and the scenery of the field from our our covered seats, and about 100 minutes and $80 later, the game was ultimately postponed. Disappointed? Very, but mother nature (as previously noted) has her own way of doing things. At least I got some pictures of the new stadium as well as the old:
To keep with the sports theme I've obviously started, I would like to point out three things about the Bengals, all Mike Brown and coaching staff complaints aside:
1) Our O- and D-lines need to step their game up
2) We really need to stop running on 1st and 2nd down only to end up on 3rd and long, especially when our passing game is being effective
3) We must get rid of Levi Jones

On a lighter note, the Bengals finally looked like a team yesterday. Aside from Carson being sacked seven times in a disappointing 26-23 overtime loss, if we at least play the way we did against the defending Super Bowl champions, we can have a respectable rest of the season.

Graphic Designers: Misunderstood (Often Taken For Granted) Renaissance People

I don't think people quite understand what it takes to be a graphic designer and the stress involved within the profession. There is so much pressure when we're designing and busting our arses to meet deadlines while keeping our clients happy. I think people misunderstand what graphic designers are and do. I'm not exaggerating: when I was in college and I would complain about doing projects for design and studio classes, my friends would look at me like I was talking about going to go fingerpainting or something equally juvenile. No, it's not at all like that and it isn't all fun and games. Sure, it's usually fun (rather, I'd say enjoyable, not fun per sé) and I love what I do, but I'm here to straighten out some things about being a graphic designer that you probably don't think about.

Graphic designers are businesspeople because we understand how to sell our product to the customer, how to present and speak publicly in front of others, and how to write up contractual agreements. We are proofreaders and copywriters and we are expected to find spelling and grammar errors. We are problem solvers by nature, and we must utilize those skills to design successful and effective work. We must be stellar interpersonal communicators because without expressing our initiative through emails and phone calls, work would never get done. And all of this doesn't even entail all of the characteristics of what a graphic designer as an artist knows and does. We must continually educate ourselves throughout our career so that we are always up-to-date regarding current design trends and software updates. We must know rules of design when using type and graphics to design, numerous software programs (the entire Adobe Creative Suite as well as additional programs such as Dreamweaver, Final Cut Pro; Microsoft Office need not apply) we use in order to create the designs you see, we must understand the print process (CMYK anyone?), web design (RGB holler back), file management, what types of files to use and when, photo correction, how to effectively sketch and translate ideas into tangible (and intangible) messages for its viewers... I could go on for days. Do you get the idea?

It is rare that we get the creative freedom that most artists have. Instead we must accept ideas and suggestions from our clients, people who were not trained in nor have a degree in graphic design. Many times it pains me to so much as entertain some of these ideas, but as professionals we have to swallow our pride and everything we were taught to bring ourselves to use laughable typefaces (see Comic Sans and Papyrus) and graphics to please our clients. We also have to be gifted generalists within our profession. I don't think I've ever met or heard of a designer who focuses on one particular genre. I find myself working within a variety of media including 3-d packaging, print (brochures, posters, invitations), identity (logos, business cards, letterheads, envelopes) and page layout. If I had a client who asked for a project that was something I didn't know how to do, I would make damn sure to either learn how to do it and get it done for them, or have a list of people I know to whom I can outsource the work. Oh, does that mean we're contractors too?

We may not be certified in Business, English, Interpersonal Communication and Critical Thinking, but with one simple Graphic Design degree, we certainly do it all. We're supposed to be miracle workers and it is assumed that we know everything. Just so you know: we aren't and we don't. But we're damn close.

I Just Googled Myself

& here are the results:

Adventures in Dollyhood

I hope this inaugural blog entry reaches you all well, and I also hope I actually stick with updates. I will say that I don't plan on keeping the content about any one subject in particular, but would like to discuss design/art and entertainment/pop culture. I digress...

It is sad to see Labor Day Weekend come and go so quickly, and it is even more difficult to fathom that we are already in the ninth month of 2008. I was fortunate enough to spend the extended holiday weekend holed up with some girlfriends from high school in a Smoky Mountain chalet; one that appropriately holds the moniker, 'The Love Shack.' I suppose that, in all actuality, that is pretty disgusting given all the 'honeymooning' that goes on there.

On Saturday night, somewhere in between playing Uno, having cocktails, and raging out (responsibly) to either Grand Ole Party or the rap mix we unanimously made our soundtrack for the trip (I can confirm with this piece of information alone that we made it back to our Finneytown roots), I received a picture message from my boss for whom I've recently done a lot of design work.

There it was: Berry Probiotics, nestled proudly on the shelf at Publix. I may have a bit of a bias, and it helps that the names of its neighboring products carry negative connotation, but Berry Probiotics looks great! After months of packaging and label design for five different Natures Dynamics products, I feel a great sense of accomplishment as well as relief, for we can finally see the completed product on the shelves of over 900 Publix stores. Now it's only a matter of a couple of weeks -we hope- until the rest of the supplements grace the shelves at Publix as well.

It's kind of disappointing that I don't have a Publix store readily available within any reasonable driving distance, but the picture is proof enough for me until I either a) get to a Publix store sometime in the near future, or b) the products start being shelved and sold in additional stores in the U.S. (ie. Target and Whole Foods) as previously discussed. It's nice to know that Natures Dynamics is a very stable freelance project and relationship for me, and I look forward to see where its success goes from here. There are already some potentially mega projects coming up, but I will keep you updated on those as the deals solidify. (I don't want to jinx anyone!)