I’m sure it’s possible to write a really long entry about everything I did while in Oklahoma for 2 weeks. But I’m not the man to do it. In fact, I’ve got a better idea. I’ll point to you a slideshow of my adventures. I will say this though: Oklahoma makes some seriously delicious meals. I had plenty of frieddishes to make my arteries struggle. But now that I’m back and ready for action, I’ll be hitting up the gym every day again. Starting… tomorrow.
A quick shout-out to all the new friends I made out in Claremore, OK. Thanks for everything, Nick, Daniel, Sean, Greg, Lynn, Justin, Amanda, Alexis, Emma, Brad, Emily, Ryan, Gavin, Josh, Angela, Alison, Berlin.
Well I’m only a few hours away from heading out to The Sooner State. I can’t say I have any particular goals except to relax and eat some good American food. And maybe ride a horse. There is a possibility I’ll take a road trip to Dallas while I’m there, which sounds like an adventure.
I’m all about hitting up the local museums, so that’ll be fun for me too. If you can think of any suggestions on where to go or what to do, drop me a comment.
There are a few new developments for me to brag about (in no particular order):
I redesigned Sketchism. It was a long time coming, really. I’ve cleaned up the sidebar and even added a second one right next to the original. Also, the photo up top is new but consistent with my last one. I hope you like it.
I got an iPhone (1.0). Originally, a family member bought it refurbished in an attempt to resell on eBay, but said family member waited too long to sell it. By the time it went up, Steve Jobs had just announced the new iPhone G3, which would be much cheaper than what we were trying to sell it for. So I kept it and have loved every second of it.
I will be doing an exchange program sometime in July or August… to Oklahoma. From what I understand, the objective is to undergo a bit of culture shock and document it by way of a brand new sketchbook and, once the project is complete, creating a poster about the experience. It’s my dream to see the world, so this is giving me another opportunity to continue on that quest.
I’m getting fit. For the past month and a half I’ve been consistently working out and watching my diet. I’ve gained a few pounds in muscle and lost a few pounds of fat. It’s been a tough few weeks, but now that I’m in the habit of doing it daily it’s been getting easier.
So this is looking to be another one of those life-changing summers for me. I’m learning a lot, enjoying the company of friends and family, getting healthier, traveling, and enjoying a new gadget in the process.
Not too long ago, I briefly mentioned that I was heading to Tallahassee for an event that I had a part in. It’s time I explained a little further. Every year, my school holds a tie design competition open to its graphic design students for an event called Miami-Dade County Days. Here’s how the official website describes it,
“Miami-Dade County Days in Tallahassee is a two-day celebration of our community during the Florida Legislative Session. Dade Days is considered the premier event during the Session, bringing with us more than 1000 people representing over 200 organizations, from both the private and public sector. It is a wonderful opportunity for participants to meet with our Miami-Dade Delegation as well as with Florida’s Legislators.”
My fellow students are supposed to design the tie based on the theme provided by Dade Days. This year’s theme was “A Kaleidescope Of Colors“. When we were finished designing them, we had to present a printed version to a panel of judges who would decide which tie would represent the entire city of Miami for the annual event. The winner would have the design printed on hundreds of ties and scarves, and would have the opportunity to fly to Tallahassee for the event, as well as receive a cash prize. This year I was fortunate enough to win the competition. (And just in time because I was short for money and I had to pay off some bills!)
My reaction to the entire trip was one of perplexity and excitement. This was my first time seeing my artwork in a public forum, not to mention on clothes. I was receiving compliments from politicians and strangers, shaking hands and taking photographs with people with much more political clout – I’m talking mayors, governors, senators, chairmen, that type of stuff.
Unfortunately, 48 hours prior to my trip I had a bad case of food poisoning that I took with me to Tallahassee. But all in all it was an exciting but strange experience, one that I was glad to undergo (minus the barfing).
Post graduation life has been sweet thus far. Now that I have the evenings at my leisure, I’ve decided to make use of them. I joined a gym nearby and enlisted a fit friend of mine to be my workout partner. We’ve been meeting up consistently in the late evenings to pump ze iron. I’m loving this rare form of soreness that’s taken my body hostage, (I submit, I submit!). My plan is to form a solid habit of working out and eating healthier. I’ve already begun both. 7 days down, 1 lifetime to go. I’ve also been making an effort to enjoy my evenings by meeting up with friends, grabbing some dinner, and watching some films. So if you happen to be in my part of town, hit me up. I’m ready to plunge into this thing called a social life.
On a completely different note, the video above was taken at the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago. Despite what the video displays, the horseman was actually very helpful in bringing people over to The First Saturday In May booth where I was selling the DVD. Gracious enough to have me stay over his house was Rey, who was an awesome host and quite the DVD pimp. By the end of both evenings, I was dead tired and had barely enough energy to finish my BBQ dinners.
