Christopher Lee

Another Leaf Turns

2008-11-27T03:20:00.001-06:00

I have a lot going on and a lot to discuss, but my family is here (YEAY!) in WA visiting for a few days (although I have work Fri/Sat, BOO!) but i will have a more lengthy update when everything returns to normal schedule.

Happy Turkey Day.

Free DP

2008-11-24T03:23:00.002-06:00

Get your free Dr. Pepper, courtesy of Guns n Roses. I tried earlier and it didn't work, but only have today til 6. Go!
On the sidenote, Dr. Pepper's branding is awful, and one day, I will take it upon myself to rebrand it.

Put on your red shoes.

2008-11-20T23:04:00.008-06:00

I survived Orientation today. Not really sure what that means, I start training on Saturday. I train for 3 days then have 3 days off and then my first is........Black Friday. Impeccable timing. Wish me luck that one.

Found some new design links to pass time on your Friday:

-40 Indie Film Posters. I think I'm going to start to compile my own list; just think I could have done better than this list, or left some of those out....
-Dark Lord of Logos
-Some interesting collage work by Eva Eun-Sil Han. I need to do more collages.
-Pandora Modular storage
-Typography Served by 25 Professionals
-Graphic Design Spam - Interesting and incitement article from Design Observer
-Typography on the location cards from Quantom Solace. Anyone seen that yet? any good?
-Tom Kundig: Prototypes and Moveable Parts
-Lunch bag art. This will most def. be Mike when he has kids.
-I'm bound and determined that someday, Mike and I will compete at Monday Night Foosball at Pentagram. and reign supreme!
-Probably one of my favs of the week: Visual Movie Reviews

Misc:

-Bid and stay at the house from A Christmas Story. I kind of feel like a complimentary Leg Lamp should be part of the deal, or a BB gun. or both.

-and correction from two days ago, you can buy me this house instead. Only need 895,00 bucks. only.

Orientation

2008-11-20T01:22:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow I embark on Target adventures at 11:00. I'm not really scared about the job, more like, scared that my first week of work will involve Black Friday. and I'm keeping my fingers crossed I'm off Tuesday for M83.

And in other news, I was informed today that everyone works Christmas Eve and the day after, so I won't be going anywhere for the holidays. Yay for retail!

Playing the Role of Suzy Homemaker

2008-11-17T14:24:00.008-06:00

...As Mike so bluntly put, earlier this evening. This was in response to the fact that I cooked dinner tonight (for everyone), made some cookies (snickerdoodles, yes!), went grocery shopping (w/quite an extensive list), did some laundry, and did some of the dishes. I'm going to miss having the free time though. I feel like I'm in some sort of weird job limbo right now, with the Target thing, still kind of sitting there. I'm supposed to go in sometime this week, but just waiting for them to call me. I've been looking online and there really hasn't been in a new postings in over a week, at least none that I'm qualified for or even seem like I would be remotely suitable for the job.

Here's some mid-week linkage:

-No ban on nudity at Seattle Parks. Kyle sent this to me the other day. A bit frightening.
-Family Guy Grape Stomp. Anyone who is up on classic internet videos, will enjoy this.
-Apple Apples, but not made from Apple
-Points of View. Thus proving once again, I'm a realist, not a pessimist.
-Fan Free Agent. I only post this because it has something to do with the Sonics moving to OKC (which consequently involves where I moved to and from): fan is on a search for a new team to route for, since the Sonics moved.
-Everything's Amazing, Nobody is Happy. Well put Mr. CK.
-Javascript Drum Machine
-A Conversation with Richard Renaldi, who worked on a series involving taking pictures of touching strangers. Interesting.

-And I found my other new house that I will be living in, in Seattle.

And a bit THANK YOU to my family for the package yesterday, which included the following: Star War lego mini pack, General Hawk G.I.Joe, mini LCD videogame, photo album of the great OK Landscape (quite a contrast), candy bar, t-shirt (of this design), Kinder Eggs!, cotton, new pens, and an X-Men dvd. Oh yeah, and my mail, which included in my Print Design Annual (Score). Awesome. Made my week.

And I'm officially adding these to the wishlist:

I got a job (sort of).

2008-11-17T04:58:00.003-06:00

I took the advice from my dad and brother and decided to venture into getting a part-time job at the very close Target. I had an interview on Thursday, and it looks like they're going to bring me aboard. It's not official quite yet, supposed to go sometime this week to start all that business: orientation, etc. Although I'm looking forward to staying busy, having a paycheck, interacting with real people, there's still a little itch on the back of my head that bothers me. Mostly due to the fact that I've taken another step backwards, but hopefully another step back that will eventually lead me forward. The last 2.5 months have been all about stepping out of my comfort zone, and this is no different. But it will be an adventure to some degree, and maybe I'll meet some people along the way.

I was going to make an end of the week post last week, but it has somehow turned into a Monday post. Here's some late internet happenings:

-Culture Bus. I'm deeming this logo of the year, Pentagram proving once again why they're the premier design group.
-House Industries Exhibit. I want to go, but I don't live in LA.
-The Die Line. Another package design site to add to the blogroll.
-Obama might increase the chances of World Cup coming to the USA again. YES.
-Make Your Own Muppet (and purchase it). Not sure why you would want to, but it's there now.
-IKEA Interactive Closet. You can upload your own music to effect the movement of the characters. Via Mike
-Highlighter redesign, allowing 3 different marks. Nice.
-And if you haven't already, a new Watchmen trailer is out. I've noticed they have yet to use any original music for their trailers. First half of the new one is straight from Koyannisquatsi, which I guess is actually used in the movie.

Art Contests

2008-11-16T03:39:00.001-06:00

Failed to mention this earlier this week, but my sister got first place at her art contest at my former college this past week. Congrats Sis!

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

2008-11-13T04:33:00.002-06:00

-It seems everyone is embarking on new adventures, mostly in the marital sense and/or popping out babies. And my adventures....are just beginning. I can't even imagine what it's like at that stage of life, nor do I want to think about it.....It's been 2.5 months since we left the desolate lands of Oklahoma - free of the bible belt, wind, 90+ degree weather, and who knows what else...and not much has changed in that time. I'm still struggling in the job category, as it seems the task is much more difficult than I imagined. It isn't the only thing that I've been dealing with. Living in a very tight space with a family that opened their space to us, yet there is still a level of uncomfortability to me. I feel the weight coming down on me. I'm slowly coming to terms of stepping out (even more) of my comfort zone, but everyday has been a struggle to get out of bed.

-I'm anxiously awaiting a time when I'll have my own space back, and I won't have to go searching through a labyrinth of boxes to find the simpliest of things (as 75% of our stuff is still in boxes). I am grateful for what I have now, but there are certain elements to my life that are really starting to close in on me. I will spare you the details, as even this brief synopsis is a bit far for the general public.

-These factors will eventually rise and I can move on to figuring out other problems in my life, but it's not easy. It's never easy. This jobless time hasn't been totally useless, as it seems I have been able to explore and develop other projects I've been wanting to work on (avantcore, ie cards, etc). I have also been in the dark about another project that I will be producing, but trying to work out a lot of issues with it (as with everything else, nothing is easy) before I actually release it into the wild.

-Along with everything else, I've been in huge debate over my decisions on what to do this coming holiday season. As it seems, I am not employed, the idea of coming home (Oklahoma) is not too far fetched (despite the costs). But I'm quite concerned if I get offered a job before then, the fact I will not be here for a few days might effect that outcome. A bit of a catch 22.

Nothing seems to have a clear answer right now.

End of the Week Round-Up.

2008-11-07T04:11:00.004-06:00

-Vader Toaster
-How many Spidermans can fit in a Jamba Juice? It's an old clip from Letterman, but new to me. The fat spiderman makes it funny.
-Batman Meets Superman
-10 Computer Ads from the 80s

-Spielberg and Smith are in talks of remaking Old Boy, which I think is the dumbest cinematic idea. IWatchStuff sums it up:
"If you haven't seen Oldboy, it's really good, and don't get me wrong, I still like Steven Spielberg despite the Indiana Jones incident, but this like somebody saying, steak is really good, and I really like milkshakes, so I'm going to make a steak milkshake (starring Will Smith)."

And to also demonstrate how unfitting the idea is, my good friend Shannon made a nice photoshop for us.

-Li Wei Photography: interesting work, as he does not use any photoshop in his photos.
-I also ran into this flickr the other day: Esanatha. Nice minimalist and abstract work. Love the colors and compositions.

-Change.gov. Presidential blog of sorts, and nicely done as well.
-700 Obama Headlines
-Next graphic showing what presidents did on their first 100 days.

-Liking some of the work of Timothy Lims, especially the Spiderman.
-Whiteboard Pong
-Streewithaview. "introduces fiction, both subtle and spectacular, into the doppelganger world of Google Street View."
-Photoshop: As real as it gets...

Tillman Project

2008-11-06T04:42:00.003-06:00

As a friend and contributor, I'm going to promote Clint Reid's new shirt line. He has been ferverously working on his business, The Tillman Project, based out of Red River, NM. He will be soon be printing his first run of shirts at the end of this month and would encourage everyone to check it out and bug him to buy one. The Tillman shirts will be sold exclusively through Clint's shop in NM, but I'm sure if you drop him a line, he can work some mailorder out for you. I put up the mock ups below (click for larger image) as well as the design I contributed. So let one of us know if you're interested...

Autumn Kills

2008-11-05T19:54:00.002-06:00

-That's an old moniker I haven't heard in a while.
-Anyways, this week is slow moving. Even though it hasn't been the greatest month, it's nice to be in a place that resembles Fall: leaves on the ground, different colors and chilly weather. I am here Washington, here for the taking.

and the week begins...

2008-11-03T18:33:00.005-06:00

In another evening of trying to apply for some jobs, I kept encountering errors (as seen below). The second one was halfway through a Target app. Looks like I'll be starting all over in the morning. Thanks. and the blogger error was a result of me trying to upload the error photos - Coincidence? I think not.

In the most unpatriotic actions, I'm not voting today. and I probably should. But it feels more like a popularity contest or picking the 'lesser of two evils.' Which I believe shouldn't be the reason why I'm voting. I just want that feeling of knowing that I'm doing my country a favor. It still kind of baffles me that there are just two choices, like the ever going Coke vs. Pepsi. What if I want my Jones? I don't really feel like going on a political rant, as I'm not really too knowledgable in that area. But it's politics. Just never been a fan, and don't feel strongly enough with either candidate or party to really make my 'voice' be heard. But if you feel strongly towards either side, go for it.

-Political link: Best Political Buttons 08
-Rubitone. I'm pretty sure if I had the money, I would start a Rubik's cube collection.
-Plus Bike. Although I don't particular enjoy the overall aesthetic of the bike, I really think having the built in lights is a great idea.
-My new favorite blog this month: LovelyPackage
-Speaking of packaging, Amazon is doing something that should have been done a long time ago, and trying to do away with the horrible plastic packaging we always complain about, as explained in an open letter from the CEO on the front page about "Wrap Rage." Thanks Amazon.

-Found this lecture from Chip Kidd at the University of Michigan. Overall-somewhat informative, but entertaining. If your a graphic designer, it's a must watch. And it's free on iTunes. Can't beat that.

Some news has come to my attention, regarding some good friends being either pregnant or engaged or married. And just would like to say Congrats to all. This has most definately been a crazy year.....and makes me think babies are falling from the sky.

Back Online.

2008-11-02T22:55:00.002-06:00

I've oh so aggravated the last few days, as it seems that I was not able to access my website. This means, I wasn't able to view my site, access my FTP, or publish my blog. Frustrating. On Friday, I called my ISP, talked to Tech Support for about 30 mins, where he had me pretty much go through steps that I already determined weren't the problem. And then he concluded that he wasn't able to do anything, had to submit a ticket for someone higher up to look at the problem. I get a call Saturday morning/early afternoon from the Internet, and the guy explained me the situation. Had nothing to do with me or them, rather the situation between Sprint and Cogent. I'm not really sure what happened, but it's Sunday night and I'm finally back. That was quickly resolved, or maybe it's just temporary. Either way, makes me somewhat relieved that it's back.

The job hunt seems to be going nowhere, where I'm averaging an interview a month. and the Economy is pretty much the worst it's been in years and years. Great timing Chris. Anyways, the search must go on, as my moral and my job expectations seem to be lowering.

I will be updating more this week, as it seems this is actually working.

Friday Friday

2008-10-23T15:22:00.004-06:00

Spend a lot of time online today, as the job hunt has been slowing down and becoming harder to find places to apply to. Kind of scary, but still in hopes of landing something. Anyways, here's a few Friday links for yous peoples.

-Geeky Pumpkin Faces (and some are fake, lame)
-Hollywood Directors take on McCain Campaign. The John Woo one is annoying, Kevin Smith is ok, but the Wes Anderson version is spot on.
-Pepsi's new logos. Downgrade.
-Mustache Pencils! Yes please!
-Poladroid. I suppose this is what we have to replace the dying breed of Polaroids. anyways, its a fun app to apply a Polaroid feel to your photos. Quite fun.
-Designers Designed Stamps

That was Quick.

2008-10-22T14:04:00.002-06:00

-Tetris Party is mine. And it seems to be pretty fun, although I have no one to enjoy co-op Tetris with.
-Also, a couple new scenes from the Watchmen have popped up. I'm quite excited.

Five Albums Heavy on the Playlist

2008-10-21T02:17:00.003-06:00

1. This Will Destroy You/Lymbyc System - Field Studies EP
2. M83 - Clouds of Thunder Bootleg
3. Aughra & Mosh Patrol - Is There Anyone Else Outside?
4. Copeland - You Are My Sunshine
5. A.Armada - Anam Cara

Uh Oh. Tetris Party has arrived.

2008-10-21T01:29:00.003-06:00

Tetris Party has officially been released on WiiWare, which is frightening situation. Why? Because I still don't have a job and I could very well see myself investing time and money into this. I'll get back to you when I get this (there is no 'if' there).

-On the sidenote, I apologize to those who visit my blog and have had to put up with that Star Wars/Juno video automatically starting. I don't know how to fix that.

Avantcore + IE + Etsy + Cards = Greeting Cards Now Available

2008-10-17T02:10:00.003-06:00

Well, after years of preparation, and by preparation, I mean mental anguish and months of this project being thrown on the back burner, I have finally released my greeting cards online. I decided to go with Etsy, as it pretty much sets up everything for you. I have 12 up right, with a few developing as well, and 2 sets (that are from the 12). As the Etsy stuff is still new to me, I've already encountered an issue with my shipping costs, but I believe I fixed it. Within 20 mins of me posting it, someone had already tried to make a transaction and he emailed me to let me know of the outrageous shipping (I changed it already). I was curious on how someone found it so quick, but then I typed in "greeting card" and realized that I was one of the first ones (because it's posted by date). So hopefully my transaction skills will smooth out.

For those of you who don't know, the Greeting Cards was an idea that spawned about 3 years ago. With the help of Ms (ahem, Mrs. now) Marianne Taylor, we had brainstormed a few ideas and how to market them. Some of those ideas I killed and some of those are still alive. The project kind of died off, but I still continued to make custom cards for people (I don't ever buy greeting cards.....ever), and developed a few generalized ones that I could see working to sell. This past month, I decided to revive the idea and printed, photographed what I had. It was actually more of a task than you would think.

I've added to the Avantcore Etsy store, which will probably seeing more than just cards, so keep your eyes peeled, I will be adding some buttons to the mix, and hopefully some shirts down the road.

Avantcore.Etsy.com

Madmen

2008-10-15T01:53:00.004-06:00

I had a semi-eventful day, as I ventured out to the big city on my own, for the first time. I had a meeting with Creative Circle, a creative temp agency, that seems quite optimistic about helping me find a job here in the NW. I had quite a bit of issues working against me: birth certificate issues (which was needed to finalize paperwork), someone snaking me on the only parking spot in the parking garage at the bus station, parking in a sketch parking lot, having to stand up on the bus, not being able to find the offices where I had my meeting.....but you know, it worked out: my birth certificate arrived in the mail 15 mins prior to my leaving of the house, the parking lot ended being ok and my car wasn't towed (which had me nervous all day), and I ended up finding the offices (with ten mins to spare). But yes. the meeting went well, and it's giving me some hope in the job search.

After my meeting, I decided to waste some time in the downtown area, and ventured across to the Design Within Reach store (that Eames chair will be mine!), then over to Peter Miller Design Book store. I read about Peter Miller online, and was curious how it would deliver....well. it was awesome. I could easily throwdown $500 bucks on books. and discovered there is a new Los Logos book, that I need (along with several others). I made my way back up to Mike's work, stopped by a small toy store, Schmancy, which was a little disappointing (more plush than vinyl) and the giant Nordstrom (4 stories) and and chilled in Mike's offices for a bit. And then we (Me, Mike and his coworker Jeremy) discussed how we are going to make our way down to Astoria, OR sometime, which is apparently the hot spot for movies, including THE GOONIES, Free Willy, Short Circuit, Kindergarten Cop, Overboard, and to top it off, TMNT 3. Astoria, you're officially on my to do list. After Mike got off work, we grabbed some sandwiches over at the Honey Hole (I give it a B, the fries were pretty awesome). and then headed home.

In other news, I decided to give Madmen a try. I've been a bit curious about it, as the idea of watching a show about an Ad agency definately appeals to me. I will get back to you when I've reached a conclusion. I've just been seeing a lot of commentary regarding design decisions made on the show. Mostly regarding the misuse of typography, Yes, I'm a dork and I spot these things as well. Just ask my family.

All and all. Pretty successful day. Feels good to get out of the house every now and then.

A-HA, 1983 HBO Intro and The McPenguin

2008-10-11T02:29:00.003-06:00

A-HA: Literal translation of the music video
HB Intro: Behind the scenes of the 1983 intro. Interesting to see where visual effects have come from...
McPenguin: John McCain appears to be the Penguin.

Cellphones and Star Wars

2008-10-10T22:00:00.003-06:00

What an uneventful Friday evening, although that Whiskey River BBQ Burger from Red Robin was pretty awesome.

Regarding cellphone usage, Mike and I used our rollover minutes finally. Wait, let me rephrase that, Mike used our rollover minutes. Mike has officially shed his nickname of "Crabby Patty" from the move out here and now "Chatty Kathy," as he's been on the phone quite a bit with our good friend, Lindsay. By 'quite a bit,' I mean he's like a 13 year old girl. Got the cellphone bill for the past month, and decided to decipher the minutes. Let's break it down. Keep in mind, Mike and I share the same cellphone plan, with 700 anytime mins and unlimited night/weekends, so this is what's coming out this past month.

Total Mins:
Chris: 174
Mike: 2384

Anytime Mins:
Chris: 11
Mike: 689 +816 rollover

But we have 4,000 rollover minutes stashed away, so that's fine. Just a lot of minutes to be had.

Not much is going on tonight, so here is a couple fan made Star Wars videos. First (just saw it tonight): Juno + Star Wars. Second (Classic): Cops + Star wars. Have fun kiddies.

This is how it starts. This is how it ends.

2008-10-08T03:09:00.002-06:00

The job search is a slow one. I think its starting to wear on me. Mostly due to the fact I haven't gotten bites since my first short interview, which I've failed to update everyone on: Rejected. Uhm, yep, got a rejection letter in the mail. Kind of felt like a college kid getting rejected by a back up school. All is well, been trying to keep my chin up in that area, and have been sending my work to studios on a daily basis now-at least one a day is my goal. Sent 8 out last week, 3 so far this week.

I've also been having a hard time figure out how to get a copy of my birth certificate, which is boring to you, I'm sure. But it's quite an extensive task if you're a born-abroad American citizen trying to get a copy of your FS-545 AND FS-240. Yeah, I'm speaking the code now. So why do I need to do this, you're wondering? Only to get to my passport in the future, and visit Canada.....So probably won't be seeing the great white north for another 2 months. Yay for slow government processing!

With that being said, I've taken it upon myself to revive a couple projects I have thrown to the side over the past months.....and years. I still have a couple things to print/photography/set up, but I should have some items up on Etsy here shortly. Mainly greeting cards and buttons. Yes, greeting cards. If you know me, that's been something that's been tossed around for over 2 years, maybe even 3. I think I have to actually market now though. I might be taking some feedback when I get them up, as far as cards that you might want to see in the future. Have to get it set up first though.

Anyone know of anyone looking for some design work? I could use some spare moneys, and definately have some time for it.

Also created a new wallpaper a couple weeks ago, it hasn't been updated to avantcore yet, but I'll let you download here.

Living Space

2008-10-06T03:34:00.002-06:00

Here are a couple images of Mike and I's current living space, or sleeping space. Our friends have kindly allowed us to store our labyrinth of boxes and assorted items in the garage.

The Air is Getting Thin

2008-10-01T01:47:00.004-06:00

October is here. The job search continues. It's been about 3 weeks here, 2 for the job hunt, considering the first week was spent being a tourist. It's been slow. I had one small interview last week, but that's about it. I haven't send out my work to as many places as I need to, haven't seen many decent job postings either. I feel like I'm not doing as much as I need to be doing. I'll get there. Eventually. Starting to feel a bit cramped lately as well, living in a 10X10 space with my brother, and 7/8 of my stuff still in boxes. It's frustrating when I can't find the smallest of things (i.e. my copy of short circuit and adventures in babysitting). With that being said, Mike got a job offer today, which is very exciting, considering the time we've been here. It's definately a blessing and an exciting opportunity. And with the time away from the house, will probably ease it up for me and my space.

Another thing that is starting to get to me, is the lack of socialability and friends in the area. No offense to the people I'm living with, Mike included, but it's always nice to get out. I feel like I'm 10 again and I just moved to a new place and having a hard time making friends. Only this time, I'm not in school. and I don't really participate any other sort of adult social situations, i.e. drinking, coffee shops, etc. Hopefully a job will help in that area. If and when that happens.

Pictural updates are still being made to the flickr. Yesterday I put a few shots I took around where Mike's possibly new work is at. I went to Seattle with him on his interview, and just walked around while he was in his interview. Two hours later, we met back up....I was walking in huge figure 8's. I still have a few more shots I need to upload.

I realize I haven't posted post moving statistics, as well as my thoughts on the new OKC NBA logo. I'll try to work on that soon.

On the sidenote, I totally missed Tycho playing in Seattle last weekend. Bummer.

Mount Rainier

2008-09-24T01:33:00.001-06:00

Uploaded a few shots of Mount Rainier to the flickr.

The job search out here is in full effect.