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.
I’m heading up to Lake Placid in about an hour with a bunch of my blogging buddies. Last time I went we had a good time and I wasn’t eaten by a giant creature. I hope to have the same success this time around. Have a great weekend, everyone.
I realize it’s taken me a while to post photos or any details about my trip to New York. Sorry about that. I’ve been trying to catch up with some assignments and sleep.
Saw the film Michael Clayton at 2 A.M.. Should have watched something with more action.
Spent about $150 total on the trip.
Flight back to Miami was delayed 3 hours. Still had a good time.
Developed a new catchphrase which involves yelling “Thank You!” in a rude Brooklyn accent.
It’s too bad we didn’t get any snowfall. I never seem to be in town for that sort of stuff. I can’t wait to go back yet again. Enjoy the photos, I focused mostly on street typography, museum photos, and city shots.
In a few hours I will fly out to New York along with 27 other students for the Whitney Biennial. During the day we’ll be visiting artists, studios, museums, and other cool artsy things. At night, we’re free to go about the city on our own. I still don’t quite know what I’ll be up to in the evenings, but I intend on having a good time. As always, I will document my adventure in photos. I’ll be back on Sunday night. Good night!
Hey everyone. It’s 1:30 in the morning and my family is still up and at it. We always wait until midnight on Christmas Eve to celebrate by exchanging gifts, hugs, and kisses. It’s always an emotional thing for us. Above is a picture of a handful of my cousins with my brother and me tonight.
Merry Christmas everyone! Thanks to all of you who have been a part of my life. I have been blessed with your kindness.
I’m definitely looking forward to this weekend. Tomorrow is the company’s annual Secret Santa gift exchange followed by the Christmas dinner in the evening. We’ll be heading to Dave and Buster’s for a night of billiards, greasy meals, and arcade games. But wait, there’s more! Later at night I will embark on a mini road trip with 7 other friends to Lake Placid, FL, for a weekend of home-cooked meals a la Maroo and hopefully a few games of Manhunt (a.k.a. group hide-and-seek). Anyone who knows me well can vouch for my unbridled passion for a good game of Manhunt. I’ll play that anywhere, anytime. The only trouble I ever have is finding other like-minded people to join in on the fun. Now we’ll have an entire house and wood to run around in.
We’ll return on Sunday afternoon, just in time for me to hop on another trip up to Orlando with my family where we will spend the week together for Christmas. The cousins and I will most likely end up going to one of the many theme parks where we will dine on expensive snacks with our Disney Dollars. I’m not quite sure yet, but I may have to travel back down to Miami on Wednesday to work a few days before driving back up to Orlando to spend New Years with the family. Either way, it doesn’t bother me. I enjoy being on the road, listening to albums and audio books. I’m trying to decide whether to purchase the audio version of A.J. Jacobs’ The Know It All or Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything. Either audio book runs at least 15 hours long in an attempt to cover a world of data.
I’d say it’s a nice way to end one year and begin another: Food, friends, fun, and a whole lotta facts.
On a completely unrelated note, please check out this soundtrack for the Irish indie film Once. It’s wonderful.
I don’t know if I’ll have much internet access after tomorrow, so enjoy the weekend and Merry Christmas!
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