To grad school or not to grad school

Colleges in Vermont are SO collegial.

 I am currently in a frustrating situation.  I need a career.  The economy sucks and even if it didn't my education is worthless.  Who knew that a humanities degree wouldn't yield lucrative opportunities?  Ok, put your hands down… assholes.  At least I know more about Brunelleschi’s discovery of perspective and its relation to the humanist writings of Pico Mirandola than you.

 The point is that have been sitting at this metaphorical crossroad since I graduated.  One direction leads to grad school.  The other direction leads to under employment where I simply continue to toil out a meager existence by utilizing the skills I had before I even went to college in the first place.  Both directions are wrought with peril.  Obviously the under employment route sounds dismal and potentially suicide inducing, but at least I don’t drag my family further into debt.  Grad school seems like a more positive choice but there is a distinct possibility that I would invest a shit ton of money and resources but not be able to find adequate work when I am done. 

Not so subtle metaphor.

Option number three is to continue to sit in the intersection looking at the arrows.  This is growing tiresome.  I feel like I am starting to lean towards grad school.  While it might plunge my family deep into soul crushing debt it also might erase the mistake of the humanities degree. 

Ah, stupid life decisions…and stupid cold indifferent universe.

Hire this dude.

This past weekend I spent some time shooting a short video presentation for John.  Apparently there are some job applications that now require you to upload or link a video.  This particular job asked for a short sales presentation.   Check it out:

The parameters of the assignment didn't really allow for much creativity, but we were able to add a little personality.  My favorite part is the tracking shot at the beginning.  We did a handful of takes and this final one was simply inspired.  John's motioning with the remote, Kate's improvised gesture, and Ryan's "Woah" when he put on the 3D glasses really pulled it all together. 

I am still not totally happy with the lighting despite using six directional lamps, a chandelier, and an overhead light.  I think I might invest in some more portable spotlights.  John and I have discussed doing a video podcast for sometime, so it might be a good investment.

Speaking of podcasts.  Stay tuned for some info about a new project.  Here is the teaser line: 

F-Bomb gets called up to the majors.

Birthday Vacation

Don't worry, this isn't a "my vacation was SO awesome" post.  Part of my displeasure at facebook recently is that the micro blog format doesn't provide real estate for the whole truth.  People post about their vacations and you get the watered down "look at me and all the fun I am having, aren't you jealous" version.  The whole truth is that even the funnest (most fun?) vacations are peppered with complicated and sometimes comically shitty moments.

Don't get me wrong.  I had a great time.  We went to some spectacular museums, and immensly enjoyed the concerts that we went to see; however, the retelling of only the great things makes for dishonest storytelling.  I have no desire for this to become a whiney "Fail" blog but in the intrest of honesty I'll discuss the bumps in the road before I bore you with any of the awesomeness. 

Just to catch you up:  Me, Amy, and Ross went to Raleigh and Winston-Salem, NC. Our reason for this adventure was to celebrate my birthday with a pair of concerts by our favorite band, The 2 Skinnee J's.

Dreary weather plagued us the whole trip

First failure of the trip: weather.

"Dismal" is the only word to describe about 90 percent of the entire trip.  When it wasn't simply overcast and gray, it was raining.  It was a cold and dreary rain that we Floridians only recieve once or twice a year in the winter.  Ross was the only one of us to bring a jacket. Me and Amy just got wet and cold.  Amy also stepped in a puddle and had a wet foot for an evening.  The Sun did come out for a few minutes but we were inside buildings for most of it.  How do people in Seattle live?

Second failure of the trip: minor injury.

I bashed the shit out of my toe on some bricks.

Even after reading this sign.

This happend the first damn day we were in Raleigh so I spent the entire trip limping around North Carolina.

Third failure of the trip:  pancakes.

The challenge.

For my birthday Ross promised to win me a "Big Ed's Diner" t-shirt.  The challenge is to eat three pancakes and get a free t-shirt.  Three pancakes does NOT seem like a challenge but aparently "Ed" got "big" by eating them three at a time. 

Here is a short photo essay of how it went down:

Ross has got this.  No problem.

uh-oh.

FAIL.

There were other minor things that went wrong on the trip.  Nothing serious.  Irritating things like iphones in my face at the concert, shitty people fighting, gps systems leading us into dagerous neighborhoods, hotel not having HBO, etc. 

I suppose in the interest of balanced scales I should show you a few pictures of us having a good time or you might get the impression I am miserable person. 

Alex and Amy participate in a North Carolina tradition: getting fat.

Oh like YOU've never made out with Ross in a hot tub.

 

Ross and Amy are weird.

Battling Addiction

There are a lot of reasons I quit Facebook.  I'll get more in depth about it in a later post but one significant reason I quit was how much time I was wasting scrolling through the endless amounts of inanity that makes facebook what it is.  I didn't quite realize just how habitual this act had become until I deactivated my account this past Friday evening.

When I woke up Saturday morning, my first impulse was to check facebook to see if anyone had posted about my departure.  I stared dumbfounded at my tablet screen for a good 30 seconds before the reality of that impulse fully hit me.  Wow.  This Thing REALLY has its teeth sunk deep. There may be some rough roads ahead.

Facebook isn't doing addicts any favors either.  After a 20 minute search for the "deactivate account" button, facebook parades all the smiling faces of my friends and family across my screen with messages like, "Connie will miss you!"  As if I won't ever see or hear from them again.  "Ok, you can leave.  But we're keeping your family!"

And then they send me the note pictured here.  I have cropped out at least 2 other "reactivate your account" buttons.  Apparently all I have to do to reactivate my account is to log in.

ENABLERS!

Quiting Facebook

It’s a bit like a high wire without a safety net.  Or maybe it’s more like walking without crutches.  That’s not quite right either.  I am sure that there is a perfect metaphor…

The point is I have to trust my skills and talents.  I am of course talking about my relationship skills and talents.  Can I keep connected without the "crutches" of a status update?  Can I throw a party that people will show up too without an "event" creation?  Will I be left out of other peoples events?  Will I fall off the map completely? 

I don't know the answer to these questions, but I am going to do my best.

“Vacay” is a short version of “Vacation”

James and Mandie moved to the Tampa area a few months ago. I was supposed to visit them on their new farm last week but last week imploded, so I re-scheduled.. I decided that a drive to Tampa was not congruous with my goal of driving as little as possible so like a good little new urbanist, I rode my bike to downtown Winter Park and took the train. (video coming soon)

James and Mandie have been living in the northeast for the past several years. Even though they have been back for a few months, I wanted to bring them a gift that is not just a house warming present but a welcome back to Florida present. These two have some trepidation about returning to the hot and humid climate so I want them to have something that provides unadulterated comfort while they transition back into our weather and temperature patterns.

Enter the Banana Hammock Republic.

James loves the new hammock so much that we spent all Friday scavenging around their farm for materials. Our mission: build the most kick-ass tree house/hammock habitat the world has ever seen.

Despite low battery power, bending nails, miss-placed tools, and swarming ants, we conquered the odds and were rewarded with the most excellent location I have ever had the pleasure to hang my hammock.

Due to the raptors that seemed to keep us company while we labored, we named it Hawk's Roost.

I'm still here.

This blog post is mostly just to let you know that I haven't given up the whole endeavor after one introductory post.

If you have been anywhere near me in the last week you would have undoubtedly heard me complaining about how shitty everything was going. I have been working on a post about all that happened last week but it is a slower process than I would like it to be. It turns out that writing about tragedies and other emotional subjects is a difficult process. I am trying to scribe something that is not just an exercise in catharsis but something that is informative and compelling. Maybe a little time is what I need.

This week will be better than last. Sunday was full of bike rides and hammock swaying. We even got a little tipsy on mimosas and beers. Yesterday yielded the first step in some exciting projects that I will be blogging about soon. The rest of the week will contain a new video game and a mini-vacation by train. I'll blog about one and make a video about the other.

I’ll leave you with a photo taken by my friend and tattoo artist, Alder. It is of me and John at the Orlando Museum of Art this past Thursday night.

Pretty cool right? I guess last week wasn’t all death and pestilence.

A little Q and a little A

I have always felt that the best way to begin a relationship is with some good solid Q and A. “Whats your name?” “What do you do for a living?” You know... Shit like that.

So lets start this right....

Q. Why is this blog called Mustache Door 2885?

A. This is the door to my apartment. Behind this door there is comfort, safety, shelter, and family. There is also parties, debates, creative projects, hammocks, self expression, epic meals, artwork, etc. You get it. The door is literally a portal to the place I love and where I thrive. I am using it here to symbolically create a new place where I can thrive. I want to use this blog to flesh out projects and ideas, display artwork, keep record of my days, and generally express myself in a positive and productive way.

Q. Why is there a mustache on the door?

A. Fuck if I know. Someone must have put it there.

Q. Will there be lots of cursing in this blog?

A. fuck.