Mobile, AL.

yes folks....I used to live in Mobile, Alabama...I'm not proud of it, but it is stories like these that make me very happy to live where I live now.

It's a boy!

Well folks, scary as it may be...I am an Aunt, again. Featured in these photos are my niece, Anna Katherine, holding her new brother and my nephew, John Elliot. I am excited to, once again, have the opportunity to corrupt the future leaders of America. Soon to be posted is a musical tribute to these adorable kids featuring me on the harmonica. Please, stay tuned....

Brotherly Love.

After Fox's day of "mama-only" time, it appears that both dogs were happy to be reunited when I got home from school.

STOLEN BLOG CONTENT!

Admittedly, I have stolen the following quote from this fabulous blog. I am a blog thief...so, arrest me. I think it is so beautiful, though...and worthy of repetition. Someone asked me one time what the MOST important thing to me was....I responded, freedom. It is and always will be. The freedom to choose, the freedom to express myself as I see fit, the freedom to live the life of MY choosing, the freedom to love, the freedom to SIMPLY be.

To be free is to choose.

CHOICE
The word that allows yes, the word that makes no possible.
The word that puts the free in freedom and takes the obligation out of love.
The word that throws a window open after the final door is closed.
The word upon which all adventure, all exhilaration, all meaning, all honor depends.
The word that fires evolution's motor of mud.
The word that the cocoon whispers to the caterpillar.
The word that molecules recite before bonding.
The word that separates that which is dead from that which is living.
The word no mirror can turn around.
In the beginning was the word and that word was CHOICE.
- Tom Robbins

Here's another nugget of wisdom:
"Fearlessness may be a gift but perhaps more precious is courage acquired through endeavor, courage that comes from cultivating the habit of refusing to let fear dictate ones actions."
-Aung San Suu Kyi

Enjoy!

Welcome Back Potter.

Back from NYC. How much do I LOVE that city? A LOT. I was seriously ready to pack my girlfriend, our pets and a piece of furniture or two and move when I stepped out of the taxi and hit the streets, my nostrils filling with the scent of street food and car exhaust. I got in on Sunday afternoon, put my bags down at the hotel and went to MoMA...got to see a beautiful Motherwell painting up close and personal...to see things live and to scale is breathtaking. I then proceeded to walk all over the city, saw one celebrity (Jerry O'Connell): and went to the Strand bookstore. 18 miles of books? I was in heaven. Around 7pm, I was just about tired of walking and took advantage of a REAL public transportation system, the New York subway system, and headed back to my hotel. Sure, it was the size of a shoe-box and in the middle of Times Square, but who really cares? New York is not really about a hotel room anyway. It was clean and the restaurant served sushi. Life was good. Monday was the portfolio review...it was a GREAT experience. I just about lost my voice talking all day but it was a fabulous opportunity to develop my schpeel for future interview opportunities and I got to meet a lot of very cool people. It truly is amazing to see what opportunities are out there for us as designers and I believe it is a very exciting time to be entering the field. I got some great feedback on my book and I am in a great place to be finishing up my book. Tuesday I woke up, went to the American Folk Art Museum (talk about some visual storytelling...we should all be paying attention to these self-taught "folk artists"--they have something to say and they say it in a most beautiful metaphorical way) and the Museum for Art and Design, ate a pastrami reuben and headed to the airport.

WHEW!

I am exhausted...but excited to finish things up and head out into the world of the working. For now, I am looking forward to a quiet dinner with my lady and a nice, big glass of wine.

enJOY!

This month's word it on SpeakUp, "Joy."

New York Bound!

(photo courtesy of somebody on flickr....um, yeah...thanks!)

So, I am headed to the big city, New York that is, in a little less than a week. We were informed last Thursday that a group of us were *invited* to attend a portfolio review at the New York Art Directors Club. Aside from being under a LOT of pressure to get things done, shot, printed, mounted, bound and ready for presentation, I am excited. Ultimately, like any other "critique," I am looking forward to getting some feedback. I won't know any of these folks, none of them know anything about me and I feel like I will get a really honest assessment of my work. I am anxious to really know where I stand among my peers. Ultimately, I understand that it doesn't really matter....that I have to believe in my work, and all of that but, who am I kidding, I want to know how I measure up against the competition. That is the one thing that is so utterly demoralizing about design...we are constantly comparing, measuring, trying to be the best, the smartest, the most creative...and, alas, there is ALWAYS someone else who is better. It is the perfect profession for a perfectionist. We are trained to seek out mistakes and imperfections like heat-seeking missiles...as I sit here looking at my packaging project...my "final" edition, all I can see are the little details that are not quite right.

Folks, it is going to be a long week.

Say a prayer for me, the F-Bomber. That is my girlfriend's new nickname for me...because I like to use the F-word frequently. I embrace it. I may even make a t-shirt commemorating it for myself...maybe I'll even wear it to the portfolio review.