Shutting Down For Awhile

Greetings! This is a difficult blog post for me. I have been in denial about my lack of blogging habits for the past few months. I keep telling myself that "someday" I'll get back into it. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. Between work and school, I can't seem to find the time to contribute to this blog on a regular basis. I think Facebook has also contributed to the death of my blog. Communication and interaction happens so much faster on Facebook. I would like you to keep following me on my design blog... if you aren't already. It's called "Design Gopher". The blog is a gathering place for my creative ideas on art and design, interesting design references and current projects I am working on for school. I update the Design Gopher quite a bit during the week. I would love to receive feedback from friends and family... especially those of you who may not have any training in graphic design. After all, you are my target audience. I will continue to keep this blog open, and hope to be able to write more when school is finished.

Matt and Kim

Kelly and I had the privilege of seeing Matt and Kim perform at the Dallas House of Blues last Saturday evening. They are a two person band from Brooklyn, NY. Matt plays the keyboard/synth, and Kim plays the drums.

I saw Matt and Kim for the first time when they opened for Cut Copy at the Granada back in March. Their energy and passion for music is infectious. I promised myself that if they ever played in Dallas again, I would go and see them.

Here is the video for their song "Daylight." If it sounds familiar, you might have heard it on a Bacardi commercial recently. I promise that if you listen to it once, you will find yourself singing it again and again throughout the day.

Annual Goals Update

Everyone Panic! 2009 is almost halfway over! Okay... no need to panic... there are still about 14 days until the year is halfway over. That is plenty of time to make sure that I am halfway to my annual goals. Honestly, I don't know where the time goes.

Looking back on my goals for 2009... here is how they line up:

1. Run and complete a marathon (26.2 miles)
GOAL COMPLETED! I Ran my first marathon on April 11, 2009 in Abilene, KS. I finished the race in 4 hours and 21 minutes.

2. Run over 1000 miles in 2009
GOAL IN PROGRESS... As of 6:30am today, I have run a total of 412 miles in 2009. If I am close to 500 miles by the end of June, I should be able to complete the full 1000 miles before the end of December. To make sure I get enough miles in the second half of the year, I am planning to run in the White Rock Marathon.

3. Lose 10 pounds
GOAL COMPLETED! I have lost 12 pounds since April 1st. I am using an iPhone application that allows me to monitor my calorie intake and daily exercise so that I can lose 1 pound per week. I am only 3 pounds away from my goal weight... but I am thinking that I can lose about 5-8 additional pounds and still be healthy.

I hope that all of you are finding success in reaching your goals this year. It's definitely easier for me to account for my goals if I make them available to the public. Plus, this gives you an opportunity to keep me in line on here or on Facebook.

Elm Street River

Dallas got hit pretty hard by a large thunderstorm yesterday. I was at work when the heaviest portion of the storm rolled through the city. Our power was out for about two hours. It's hard to get anything done on the computer when you don't have any electricity. The wind and rains combined to form a river of water on the street in front of our office. I've never seen water rise so quickly on a city street. I had to take a picture of it. Some of the cars were driving quickly through the water... I wanted to put a sign out that would get them to slow down. I think a sign that reads "No Wake" might have been appropriate.

Jerryworld

To all of the Dallas Cowboy fans and haters in the world - here is a look at the new stadium that is under construction in Arlington, TX. Around here, it's known as "Jerryworld". I have the privilege of driving past this monstrosity every time I visit the UTA campus. Love 'em or hate 'em, the Cowboy stadium is going to be incredible...

Design Gopher

In case any of you are interested, I will be journaling my summer design experiments on a secondary blog. It's called Design Gopher. The blog will be dedicated to my designs, projects, thoughts, research, etc. surrounding visual communication. Stop by for a visit and see what I'm working on. If the blog gains any momentum over the summer, I may continue to publish my design ideas and experiments on a more permanent basis. I would love to hear some of your thoughts and feedback on my projects. Enjoy!

Family Portraits

It's not a secret - I'm not a big fan of the family portrait. In fact, I might go so far as to say that I hate family portraits. The problem is... I come from a "family portrait" family.

One of the things that bothers me most about family pictures is that we feel the need to dress in similar colors/styles/fabrics. When did this become a family portrait requirement? I say, let's throw caution to the wind... just once, let's try a family portrait where everyone wears whatever makes them comfortable. This might add some variety and show the true nature of our family character. I imagine we would have some people in swimsuits, others in ties and sport jackets, a pair of camouflage pants here and there, a couple of kids in mesh tank tops, an animal print t-shirt, etc. You get the point.

The reason I am mentioning this today is that I recently came across a website that celebrates the beauty of the awkward family portrait. The site photographically summarizes the many reasons why we should not expose our family members to this type of annual ritual.

Here is a sample of what you can expect to find on the site:

Pretty good, right? Do you have any awkward family portrait moments? Am I alone in feeling the way that I do?

I hope that this is the year my family gives in and agrees to wear these shirts for our portrait. I'll keep my fingers crossed.