And That’s That

December 27, 2010February 11, 2011 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

So after all the stress, and running around, Christmas is over for another year. Other than working extra for Sky, I spent Christmas day with family, and met up for a drink with some friends on boxing day. All in all, I really enjoyed the holiday, though I don’t think it really felt like Christmas. But I don’t know if that’s because Christmas as an adult is not the same as it was when you were a kid. I do think that’s probably because it was all about toys and Santa, and now its about family.

But, as usual, it is probably me overthinking, and nothing has really changed.

Anyways, I have access to my website’s cPanel again. This means I can update it all, and start redirecting things here for the time being. That is really awesome, as I feel that this blog and things, at least show me having some level as productivity. Mostly because, no matter what is happening in my life, I always have time to blog. Actually, it is something I make time for, and I am glad I do. It always helps me organise my thoughts, and sometimes vent a little. And to me, I feel that you can tell someone’s personality from how they write and explain things.

I mean, I think a lot of people lose the interest of business prospects because they don’t show personality in what they do. Like, I have seen an Australian girl I know’s website. Her work was awesome, but her site was a template and contained a blog written in text speak. The point of a blog, on a site, is to express yourself but to let readers know you. If you don’t show opinion, or you write badly, then I think that you are doing a dis-service to yourself and your work.

Again, I have rambled off on an irrelevant tangent. That is becoming habit on here. *LOL*

Merry Christmas

December 25, 2010February 11, 2011 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

So everything has calmed down and the big meal has been devoured down to the last Brussel sprout. Dad is reading, Mum is watching Doctor Who, brother is sleeping and sister is playing with her new phone. To me, it is the most reflective part of the day, where I feel lucky to have crossed people’s mind enough that they send me a message of some sort.

It makes me feel like I am not as alone, as my thoughts lead me to believe I am. And this, isn’t a bad thing to feel. Christmas is about family, and being thankful for those who you are blessed to spend their your time around. No matter what this, now commercialised, holiday means these days, it’s roots are based in Christianity, and its various offshoots. Religion is where much of society used to get its morality from.

Now, I don’t like to believe in one God over another, I have no inclination to blindly follow one specific faith, but I can see what appeals to it.

Religion is something which gives people hope and helps them cope in life. If some words, a story, can help people better themselves and treat one another nicer, how can it be a bad thing? Where it becomes negative, when people use these stories as an excuse to treat others poorly. And honestly, no religion, not even Satanism, tells you to hate those who are different to you. People hate people, no book gets you to hate. People think if they can excuse what they do, then they can pretend they are good people.

I think that religion offers guidelines for people, and it shouldn’t be gospel, pardon the pun. I mean Noah and the Ark was one of my favourite stories as a kid, alongside The BFG. Both the stories show kindness, and are good for kids to read. Take on face value, there is no harm in stories and appreciating them, but using them as weapons is disgusting, and shows no understanding of what these religions actually stand for.

Whatever it is you celebrate, hoping all readers and their famillies have a good day. XOX

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and not a creature was stirring…

December 24, 2010February 11, 2011 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

..apart from the poor souls working in a call centre. *coughs* Yes, apparently I have decided I don’t need much of a Christmas holiday this year, as I am working both the 25th and 26th. I am a bit of an idiot sometimes.

But I felt I should put that creativity into something productive. And that productivity was to make it so my domain name comes up with my wordpress blog. Which I cant do, because I have apparently forgotten almost everything to do with managing my site online. Which is so handy. I think I put off looking at it for too long. Mosly because I’m scared I’ll break it.

I need to get more confident with this stuff, because its the one side of things I am unsure of, and I refuse to take up any work related to it till I have a bit more confidence in it. But that is a good thing, because it means that I won’t be doing anything that is out of my league. And untill I am completely happy with the process, I don’t think I would be able to deliver something 100%. Work in progress, I guess.

Anyways, hope everyone has a lovely Christmas.

Falling into a pre-Christmas stupor.

December 21, 2010February 11, 2011 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

The run-up to Christmas is always a dire time on television, unless you like soaps, reality TV and movies you have seen a dozen times. It feels like this year, they have thrown in about 50 TV ‘chefs’ into the mix, just for good measure. And, I look at the TV listings, and mentally tick off what is rubbish, rather than see anything I want to watch.

It says it all, that the highest watch programs in this country, are reality shows and soap operas. Both which are watched by people who include TV viewing as a hobby, and like the routine that it brings. Its like people put their brain into neutral and just watch the same-old stuff, over and over again. People are too lazy to even read a book, so we get the ‘kindle’. People want everything to fit into their ‘ultra-modern’ lifestyle, so they get rid of their CDs, DVDs and books, and their home loses all character. They believe that the ‘thing’ to do is to have it all on a computer.

I know, as a graphic designer, I should be championing the ‘digital age’, but I get my influence by flicking through the pages of my favourite book, or by reorganising my record collection. They are simple things that inspire me so much, but I couldn’t live without them. Looking through my itunes library doesn’t make me feel the same. It doesn’t feel like I can properly own something, if I can’t hold it and touch it. Maybe that’s me, and how I feel about things.

We have another 2 weeks of Christmas telly to go, and I want to throw my TV out the window already.

Thinkings of 20\12

December 20, 2010February 11, 2011 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

When people ask me what type of girl I am, I never know exactly what to say to them. I mean I have the answer, where I say I love music and literature, but it always sounds a bit vague for someone to get an actual idea of what I’m like.

Well, today I found the perfect way to explain me and how crazy I am. I am the kind of girl who sees typographic wrapping paper, and gets more excited than a 3 year old after too many E numbers. Yes, I got all stupid in public over cheap wrapping paper. And it was really, really cheap, 3 rolls for £1, wrapping paper.

Anyways, I am not a big fan of shopping, and Christmas is the worst time of the year for me to be in a shopping centre. I am a short tempered, no-nonsense, in shops and out again, kind of shopper. And Christmas shoppers just ruin my routine of getting things done as quick as possible. So I get more aggravated, to the point I simply wish I hadn’t bothered.
In an odd moment of anger fuelled reflection, I went into the book shop and found myself reading the nativity story in the Good News Bible. The same bible I had when I went to church as a kid. Now, I am not a person who takes religion seriously, but I can see why people look at the bible to enlighten them. I mean, how has the simple story of the birth of a baby, transformed into people forcing themselves to go shopping? Its crazy.

I get people christmas presents, because I like the idea of giving people things that they’ll treasure and need. Its not about what’s biggest or most expensive, I like the idea of getting someone a gift they will use. Unfortunately, not everyone puts that much thought into things.

But then I look on something, like wrapping paper, that I think looks awesome, and know its just going to be thrown out when the presents are opened. It is rather annoying, but I guess that’s what happens when you give things to others. *shrugs*

Steve Olson and Alex Olson|Boom Boom

December 17, 2010 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

STEVE OLSON

“My Art gives contemporary art a juvenile delinquent phase. Its
self-made style icons gleefully trashed conventions of beauty and
society while pick pocketing from the coolest underground styles and
beliefs of the previous centuries…” Steve Olson

Steve Olson, a pro skateboarder in the 70s and 80s and prominent
figure in the L.A. and San Francisco Punk Rock scene, creates Post
Modern work that weaves narrative themes of capitalism, pop culture,
social decay, and modern banality with the energy and fun of early
Punk. Steve Olson’s work confronts and undermines the way society
constructs and imposes a traditional hierarchy of cultural values and
meanings by critiquing contemporary society and our relationship with
it. The artwork explores power and the way economic and social forces
exert that power by shaping the identities of individuals and culture.
Questioning the nature and extent of our freedom his art challenges
our acquiescence to authority and conventional thought.

Bold imagery, layered texture, deconstructed material and a playful
relationship between art, language and meaning gives this thoughtful
work a dimension beyond its visual impact.

———–

ALEX OLSON

www.olsonstuff.com

———–

Known Gallery
441 North Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
info@knowngallery.com

**I know that I am in Scotland and have no hope in going, but I am still promoting because I think this father and son exhibition, will be really good. So if you can’t see this show, I suggest you look up them both, as they are both fantastic. I have known of Steve Olson for a long time, because I liked everything about the skaters, in California in the 80s, like The Z-Boys, and Steve was a part of all that. **

Facebook test

December 17, 2010February 11, 2011 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Just reconnecting WordPress to facebook again. I missed having my blogs on my facebook.

Anyways, there have been a few more posts since I last posted here, so come check it out. This is the third attempt at reconnecting things, and Facebook is refusing to do things. Gah!!

WordPress is the blog for me to update from my phone, so this will still be updated, regardless of when I recieve my router.

Ugh!

December 17, 2010December 17, 2010 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

So. I am doing work, which is making me happy. I am doing drawings, videos, t-shirt ideas and all, and I can upload none of it. Technical issues always happen when I have to get work to possible clients. -.-

So you might guess, from my cheerfulness, my internet router has still not appeared, mostly because of issues with the mail, but its still frustrating. Things always happen at this time of year, when things are so busy. I have lost all hope of getting my router before christmas, and that really bums me out.

It makes me wish I wasn’t so reliant on the internet. Because if I had other ways to update my portfolio and things, I would at least feel all my work was counting towards something. So I have decided, I am going to try and make my CV more interesting, because I am going to start handing it out in the new year. I need to get something more, as having my main job working in a call centre is slowly killing me. Its not that I hate the job, its more that I know its not what I want to do forever.

Put Out The Positive

December 12, 2010February 11, 2011 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

There is an old saying (dunno where from), I read somewhere, which said that you get out of life, what you put in. It’s basically taking ownership for your own life, and making things happen. If things go wrong, it’s because of what you have done something wrong yourself.

I suppose it’s similar to the idea of Karma, where your actions come back to you. So if you are nice to someone, someone will be nice to you.

It is something psychological, where if you think negatively about things that happen, then you focus on the negative things. So if you are in a happier state of mind, your outlook on life would be happier

Well in theory, that should work. So, gonna try a little bit of positivity, and see if life picks up a bit. Hopefully it does.