I spent a bit of time looking through the School of Visual Arts 2004 thesis projects this morning. Their theme was Designer as Entrepreneur, an idea we thought quite a bit about in our Design for Innovation class last year. The site doesn't tell the 'rest of story' as in which, if any, of these projects became reality and were mass produced and sold. There are interesting ideas, although the focus seemed to be more on the design of the branding and not as much on the product's innovation or its function as part of a service. One project that looked like an attempt to break that mold was called Go Gowanus, which was a plan to improve the reputation and increase awareness and use of the Gowanus canal. The design of all the artifacts, i.e. brochures, banners, maps, website, etc., were extremely well executed and there seemed to be plans for tours, art shows and clean up events, but I'm not sure how much of this actually happened. I went to the website, but it was no longer there. I'd have to say I wasn't overwhelmed by the exhibit, I think the main reason being the lack of innovation in many of the projects. There were many slick, cool and edgy looking products which showed that much consideration was given to the design, but there seemed to be a lack of depth within some of the projects.
I would love to design packaging for a new type of cookie or salsa, I would salivate over a project that involved writing and designing a travel book or children's book, but I'm not sure this type of project would constitute an mfa thesis. Perhaps if the product was part of something larger. Let's say I was interested in dispelling stereotypes of West Virginia and wanted to research, write and create a travel book that worked to dispel those myths or bring out the charm in them. (I find offbeat, disintegrating towns like Grafton wildly fascinating and always manage to meet up with interesting characters) Maybe the book is paired with a website that was interactive somehow... a place where people who've traveled to those spots mentioned in the book could tell their stories as well. Who knows? But back to the exhibit - One project I did find to be awesome was a book about signs in rural america. I'm not sure how original this idea is since I've thought of doing something like it myself, but what a seductive coffee table book idea! The designer was especially interested in typography and was designing fonts inspired by the signage he was exposed to on his journeys. And the most innovative product of the bunch I thought, provided a fun service to the physically disabled amongst us. The products consisted of padding covers for the backs and seats of wheelchairs that had upbeat, cool patterns and colors that could be swapped out. There were also different brightly colored cane handles. I've never seen this before and thought it was an incredibly thoughtful, creative and fun idea.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Sunday reading
Today I've been perusing through a several months-old issue of Print and have ran across some interesting items, however random. I looked through an article about a recent redesign of Weekly Reader done by Alexander Isley's multidisciplinary design firm. Then name sounded familiar, and the article mentioned his crew is renowned for its work in children's publications. I checked out their website, but unfortunately they don't have a huge amount of work done for children up, but there were a few pieces. There's a kooky book, 'Trick or Treat', that mixes oddball cutouts from victorian era halloween greeting cards with playful typography - an quirky idea, simply and deftly executed. I saw a promotional poster for Target's and AIGA's collaboration on teaching kids about design. And there was an impressive packaging, merchandising and marketing program put together for the launch of the Animal Planet line at Toys "R" Us. It would be interesting to get ahold of an old Spy magazine - his art direction there apparently informed a whole generation of magazine layout designers. They mentioned how within the layouts some of the most hilarious jokes would be in extremely small type and compared this to the design of the MAD board game. I LOVED this game. It was pure goofyness. I remember how smug and satisfied I felt when I ran across one of those tiny jokes in the corner, it was like discovering a little gem.
Here are a couple quotes I stumbled onto by Isley:
"The ability to communicate and be persuasive is therefore a crucial part of the process. I’ve personally found that designing is actually the easy part; the hard part is getting others to invest in your vision. To be a good designer you must therefore be honest and convey a sense of trustworthiness. If you don’t, no one will believe in you, and as a result, nothing you design will ever be made. It’s as simple as that."
"...start a project by writing out a long list of what you want it to do. Then figure out how to make it work. Then decide what it should look like."
-------
Another article highlighted work by a designer, Erik Adams, who happens to be Mormon. They mention his thesis project involved compiling stories from 100 Mormon missionaries and combining them creating a mythological tale. The final work consisted of 3 bound research volumes, 3 bound sketchbooks and the final book titled 'Divine Identity.'
------
Nik Hafermaas was quoted frequently in an article about design education. This one seems especially fitting to discussions of late!
"Graphics designers have to find new ways of translating the world around us into messages that are relevant emotionally and intellectually – we are way beyond mere ink on paper. In a sense, we have to become visual engineers, and our tools are surprise, empathy and beauty."
Here are a couple quotes I stumbled onto by Isley:
"The ability to communicate and be persuasive is therefore a crucial part of the process. I’ve personally found that designing is actually the easy part; the hard part is getting others to invest in your vision. To be a good designer you must therefore be honest and convey a sense of trustworthiness. If you don’t, no one will believe in you, and as a result, nothing you design will ever be made. It’s as simple as that."
"...start a project by writing out a long list of what you want it to do. Then figure out how to make it work. Then decide what it should look like."
-------
Another article highlighted work by a designer, Erik Adams, who happens to be Mormon. They mention his thesis project involved compiling stories from 100 Mormon missionaries and combining them creating a mythological tale. The final work consisted of 3 bound research volumes, 3 bound sketchbooks and the final book titled 'Divine Identity.'
------
Nik Hafermaas was quoted frequently in an article about design education. This one seems especially fitting to discussions of late!
"Graphics designers have to find new ways of translating the world around us into messages that are relevant emotionally and intellectually – we are way beyond mere ink on paper. In a sense, we have to become visual engineers, and our tools are surprise, empathy and beauty."
ah, the experience
Today I went to Starbucks and ordered a fat-free, sugar-free, DEcaffeinated caramel macchiato. I was a little embarrassed ordering such a wussy drink, but the gal behind the register didn't flinch. I chuckled to myself thinking, what the heck is actually IN my coffee if there's no fat, no sugar and above all, no caffeine. Why would I pay for this? The answer of course relates to what we've been chatting about here... it's all about the service and the experience baby! Soft cozy chair, cool music, great smells, people to watch. The coffee's just an afterthought.
Now, if only the guy sitting across from me with his bare feet (I swear) propped up, hogging the round table between us could've been designed out of the picture...
Now, if only the guy sitting across from me with his bare feet (I swear) propped up, hogging the round table between us could've been designed out of the picture...
Monday, September 10, 2007
conference goodies
The conference left me with many questions, but also tipped me off to some cool websites, interesting projects, people, books, etc. I also appreciated particular things several of the speakers said. So here's a list of the goodies that emerged from emergence:
websites.
www.many-eyes.com
freaking awesome data visualization service for anyone. I can't wait to play with this site. I also wonder if information graphics people are feeling a bit nervous?
www.threadless.com
www.etsy.com (ebay for crafts)
http://www.getafirstlife.com/ (satire of second life online game)
http://blackle.com/ (does this really save energy?)
statements, questions, words.
We have multi-billion dollar training events that have to teach people how to use tools that weren't designed by designers.
Selling design involves very quickly demonstrating value.
The average power drill is used for 4 minutes. (!!!!)
A little bit of empathy in the hands of a designer can go a long way.
Every 'streetcar' takes 6 private cars off the road.
A strong sense of optimism is irreplaceable to a designer. Always be optimistic about how you can make changes to better the world.
Design should become a universal joint between business and all things produced.
The focus of a product should shift from its use as an artifact to its role in an experience (i.e. ipod)
There's an ambition here for design to go into every discipline... will it be accepted and is this realistic?
Service activates people, brings about justice because it gives people the knowledge and information required to act.
field research
usability
tag cloud
tree map
social network diagrams (i love these)
customer deliery experience
design sensibilities
rapid prototyping
participatory design
storytelling and narrative visual presentation
visualizing scenarios
measure longterm effects (in order to show value)
curiosities - books, people, firms
"Massive Change"; "Information Anxiety"
George Nelson (most articulate speaker, advocate for design); Jane Jacobs (urban landscaper); Colombian politician...?
ThinkPublic; Live/Work Studio; HowardDesign; Electronic Ink
websites.
www.many-eyes.com
freaking awesome data visualization service for anyone. I can't wait to play with this site. I also wonder if information graphics people are feeling a bit nervous?
www.threadless.com
www.etsy.com (ebay for crafts)
http://www.getafirstlife.com/ (satire of second life online game)
http://blackle.com/ (does this really save energy?)
statements, questions, words.
We have multi-billion dollar training events that have to teach people how to use tools that weren't designed by designers.
Selling design involves very quickly demonstrating value.
The average power drill is used for 4 minutes. (!!!!)
A little bit of empathy in the hands of a designer can go a long way.
Every 'streetcar' takes 6 private cars off the road.
A strong sense of optimism is irreplaceable to a designer. Always be optimistic about how you can make changes to better the world.
Design should become a universal joint between business and all things produced.
The focus of a product should shift from its use as an artifact to its role in an experience (i.e. ipod)
There's an ambition here for design to go into every discipline... will it be accepted and is this realistic?
Service activates people, brings about justice because it gives people the knowledge and information required to act.
field research
usability
tag cloud
tree map
social network diagrams (i love these)
customer deliery experience
design sensibilities
rapid prototyping
participatory design
storytelling and narrative visual presentation
visualizing scenarios
measure longterm effects (in order to show value)
curiosities - books, people, firms
"Massive Change"; "Information Anxiety"
George Nelson (most articulate speaker, advocate for design); Jane Jacobs (urban landscaper); Colombian politician...?
ThinkPublic; Live/Work Studio; HowardDesign; Electronic Ink
Sunday, September 9, 2007
conference aftermath
Is it possible to feel disturbed, confused and excited (in a good way) all at the same time? This is the mental state a weekend design conference has put me in, as I consider the ideas and conversations that were exchanged over the past 48 hours. The conference was on service design, an emerging genre that no one seems to be able to, or want to for that matter, define. I'm no stranger to the genre since I collaborated on a service design project back in the spring, although at the time, certain parts of the process felt a bit like event planning. I enjoyed that project, but I believe the bulk of my enjoyment came from designing educational experiences and seeing those come to fruition. Would I have enjoyed the service design experience as much had our 'clients' not been teenagers and the subject matter — teaching teens about careers in the visual arts — been so personally gratifying? I'm not sure. Which takes me back to feeling confused, so let's start there.
I'm confused about who should be practicing service design. Certainly, designers bring an onslaught of skills to the table. Here are several mentioned by conference speakers:
The ability to see the whole picture.
A human-centered approach.
The ability to formulate a message.
The ability to observe.
The ability to visualize solutions.
But is it arrogant to think that we're the only discipline cabable of making decent observations and visualizing change? What about integrated marketing experts, consulting firms and communication specialists? Are the techniques of service design so incredibly novel and unique that no other discipline has knowledge of them? Maybe, for now. At least that's what I've gathered from listening to service design experts the past couple of days. The other disciplines are beginning to catch on and according to at least one of the presenters today, that's a good thing, for positive and somewhat discouraging reasons. It's great because once it does catch on across disciplines, there won't be just a fraction of companies employing the tactic. Customers (us!) will all be served better, products will be designed better, the world will run smoother. This is exciting! Sadly, we need it to catch on among other disciplines because the discipline of design "hasn't been particularly clever in their business practices in the past. If we want the idea of service design to survive, perhaps we should hand it off to another discipline such as marketing." (speaker from Live/Work studio)
But back to this idea of service design in general. Isn't this all just good customer service and competent management and business practice? Those things certainly play a role. But considerations to service design make for a more holistic approach and address things like designing systems where employees are inspired and have a great awareness of the consumer/customer. I think many businesses, especially ones created more recently are perhaps not as in need of service design renovations as older, established businesses who are trudging along, doing things the way they've always been done. There weren't many case studies talked about during the conference, which was unfortunate, but of the few that were, one interesting example was an evaluation of, and recommendations for a hospital's rapid response teams and nursing staff. After thorough observations, the service design team was able to identify and code breakdowns with the hospitals response process. Since the group doing the evaluations were designers, they were able to visualize to the client through incredibly elegant diagrams where these breakdowns occured, along with the frequency and the type of breakdown it was. They will also be able to effectively create visual representations of possible solutions, whether those solutions be new structures within personnel or a prototype for some type of technology that will improve work flow. So why wouldn't a consulting firm identify the problem and then hire a design firm to create the artifacts that communicate the message of the problem to the client? I suppose that could work, but it's always good when the deliverers of a message have done the research themselves. As an information graphics creator, we always gathered our data and did research ourselves which made for much richer content. Ultimately regarding whose role is service design, it was suggested at the conference that collaboration is the answer.
But what about design's connection to art? As someone said yesterday, which was reiterated by the keynote speaker today, "design's link to art is getting more tenuous." I can imagine this is disturbing to some since it is disturbing to me. I went into design because I enjoy making things. Tangible things that other people see and appreciate. Would I be satisfied designing intangible processes that in their most successful rendition are not seen at all? Will I be looked down upon if I want to continue creating things? In our graduate seminar class last week we spoke about a trend in contemporary art where artists employ other artists to create their ideas. Also, that there's a sense of hierarchy and that the artists who still want to paint, sculpt and create tangible things could be considered by some to be lower on the intellectual food chain. Is this the direction design is headed? Will the 'graphic designers' of today become the production artists of tomorrow?
Our keynote speaker said very decidedly that graphic design and industrial design WERE important genres of design in the first half of the 20th century, but taking their place are service and interaction design (among others). I don't deny these are hugely important and fascinating fields. But will a whole generation of designers want to stop creating beautiful and meaningful visuals that can impact people's lives in order to create beautiful, yet unseen, processes and structures that can impact people's lives? The verdict's still out for me.
I'm confused about who should be practicing service design. Certainly, designers bring an onslaught of skills to the table. Here are several mentioned by conference speakers:
The ability to see the whole picture.
A human-centered approach.
The ability to formulate a message.
The ability to observe.
The ability to visualize solutions.
But is it arrogant to think that we're the only discipline cabable of making decent observations and visualizing change? What about integrated marketing experts, consulting firms and communication specialists? Are the techniques of service design so incredibly novel and unique that no other discipline has knowledge of them? Maybe, for now. At least that's what I've gathered from listening to service design experts the past couple of days. The other disciplines are beginning to catch on and according to at least one of the presenters today, that's a good thing, for positive and somewhat discouraging reasons. It's great because once it does catch on across disciplines, there won't be just a fraction of companies employing the tactic. Customers (us!) will all be served better, products will be designed better, the world will run smoother. This is exciting! Sadly, we need it to catch on among other disciplines because the discipline of design "hasn't been particularly clever in their business practices in the past. If we want the idea of service design to survive, perhaps we should hand it off to another discipline such as marketing." (speaker from Live/Work studio)
But back to this idea of service design in general. Isn't this all just good customer service and competent management and business practice? Those things certainly play a role. But considerations to service design make for a more holistic approach and address things like designing systems where employees are inspired and have a great awareness of the consumer/customer. I think many businesses, especially ones created more recently are perhaps not as in need of service design renovations as older, established businesses who are trudging along, doing things the way they've always been done. There weren't many case studies talked about during the conference, which was unfortunate, but of the few that were, one interesting example was an evaluation of, and recommendations for a hospital's rapid response teams and nursing staff. After thorough observations, the service design team was able to identify and code breakdowns with the hospitals response process. Since the group doing the evaluations were designers, they were able to visualize to the client through incredibly elegant diagrams where these breakdowns occured, along with the frequency and the type of breakdown it was. They will also be able to effectively create visual representations of possible solutions, whether those solutions be new structures within personnel or a prototype for some type of technology that will improve work flow. So why wouldn't a consulting firm identify the problem and then hire a design firm to create the artifacts that communicate the message of the problem to the client? I suppose that could work, but it's always good when the deliverers of a message have done the research themselves. As an information graphics creator, we always gathered our data and did research ourselves which made for much richer content. Ultimately regarding whose role is service design, it was suggested at the conference that collaboration is the answer.
But what about design's connection to art? As someone said yesterday, which was reiterated by the keynote speaker today, "design's link to art is getting more tenuous." I can imagine this is disturbing to some since it is disturbing to me. I went into design because I enjoy making things. Tangible things that other people see and appreciate. Would I be satisfied designing intangible processes that in their most successful rendition are not seen at all? Will I be looked down upon if I want to continue creating things? In our graduate seminar class last week we spoke about a trend in contemporary art where artists employ other artists to create their ideas. Also, that there's a sense of hierarchy and that the artists who still want to paint, sculpt and create tangible things could be considered by some to be lower on the intellectual food chain. Is this the direction design is headed? Will the 'graphic designers' of today become the production artists of tomorrow?
Our keynote speaker said very decidedly that graphic design and industrial design WERE important genres of design in the first half of the 20th century, but taking their place are service and interaction design (among others). I don't deny these are hugely important and fascinating fields. But will a whole generation of designers want to stop creating beautiful and meaningful visuals that can impact people's lives in order to create beautiful, yet unseen, processes and structures that can impact people's lives? The verdict's still out for me.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
A working blog (perhaps I should rethink the title leesies LEISURE)
The fall semester has begun! This blog will now do double duty as a record of thoughts on my search for a thesis topic. I ran across this website today:
http://www.design.cmu.edu/show_news.php?id=91&m=200611
that has a story about a graphic designer turned fashion designer. In the article she mentions that her thesis involved working with inner-city youth in an after-school program. The kids become agents of positive change as they designed magazines, board games and created videos about topics they thought were important. The topics ranged from bullies to pit bulls to the war in Iraq. I like how her thesis melds together a variety of interests that I share... A concern for and enjoyment of working with youth (I was a girl scout leader for at-risk girls in Raleigh, NC; I've worked with teen girls in various youth groups) and the development of educational materials for children. It's also an interesting experiment in user-centered design as the end users are creating materials for themselves – kids designing for kids. I'd like to find out more about her thesis and will email her to see if she wouldn't mind chatting with me about it, sooo more on this later!
http://www.design.cmu.edu/show_news.php?id=91&m=200611
that has a story about a graphic designer turned fashion designer. In the article she mentions that her thesis involved working with inner-city youth in an after-school program. The kids become agents of positive change as they designed magazines, board games and created videos about topics they thought were important. The topics ranged from bullies to pit bulls to the war in Iraq. I like how her thesis melds together a variety of interests that I share... A concern for and enjoyment of working with youth (I was a girl scout leader for at-risk girls in Raleigh, NC; I've worked with teen girls in various youth groups) and the development of educational materials for children. It's also an interesting experiment in user-centered design as the end users are creating materials for themselves – kids designing for kids. I'd like to find out more about her thesis and will email her to see if she wouldn't mind chatting with me about it, sooo more on this later!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
The 5-year-old brain
I recently had an entertaining phone conversation with my 5-year old nephew who has the country drawl of weathered 80-year-old Kentucky farmer. Here's the gist of it:
--Hi Aunt Leeesie!
Hiiii! What have you been doing with Grandma?!
--Weuhlll, we went to the fair and saw lots of pigs! We saw Hunter's pig! It was big and fat. But Grandma says they're gonna kill those pigs. I thaink that's a big, fat lie.
Oh yeah, Grandma doesn't know what she's talking about...
--Hey, we saw someone got dead on fox news!
Oh geez, is Grandma making you watch Fox news again? Tell her you want to watch some cartoons.
--Are you moving?
Yeah, I'm moving to a different apartment.
--What's a Partmnt?
It's like a little house.
--Oh. Well I hope we can still find that little house, cause we were maybe gonna come see you.
--Hey, can I speaayk to Jason?
No, he's not here right now. He's at his job. Have you been having fun swimming in the pool?
--Yeah. Oh, we saw an elephant in the neighbor's yard!! It sprayed Grandma into the raawcks.
Wow. I hope Grandma's ok....
--Hi Aunt Leeesie!
Hiiii! What have you been doing with Grandma?!
--Weuhlll, we went to the fair and saw lots of pigs! We saw Hunter's pig! It was big and fat. But Grandma says they're gonna kill those pigs. I thaink that's a big, fat lie.
Oh yeah, Grandma doesn't know what she's talking about...
--Hey, we saw someone got dead on fox news!
Oh geez, is Grandma making you watch Fox news again? Tell her you want to watch some cartoons.
--Are you moving?
Yeah, I'm moving to a different apartment.
--What's a Partmnt?
It's like a little house.
--Oh. Well I hope we can still find that little house, cause we were maybe gonna come see you.
--Hey, can I speaayk to Jason?
No, he's not here right now. He's at his job. Have you been having fun swimming in the pool?
--Yeah. Oh, we saw an elephant in the neighbor's yard!! It sprayed Grandma into the raawcks.
Wow. I hope Grandma's ok....
The Giant
I had a giant sighting today. The giant man who works in the hospital walked past my coworkers and I as we passed through the tunnel at lunch. It was very exciting since you never know when you'll see the giant. It's been at least two weeks since I've seen him last. I have noticed in the past few sightings that the giant has a rather small head. Not to a freakish level, unlike his overall size, just a bit noticeable. Kind of reminds me of those 'Don't be a pinhead' posters by Scholastic that show giant basketball players with teeny heads due to the fact they haven't been studying.
The first time I saw the giant was on the elevator. There was an almost uncomfortable silence as he stepped on. I noticed the size of his hands and shuddered in horror to think of the size of his other extremities. Glances of awe were exchanged between myself and an older gentleman who stood on the other side of him. We made small talk about the giant after he'd stepped off the elevator.
"Wow."
"Yeah, I think that's the largest human being I've seen in my entire life."
"Me too."
"Well... have a nice day."
"You too."
I wondered today if seeing a midget character sporadically around the hospital would be more exciting than the giant. I can't decide.
The first time I saw the giant was on the elevator. There was an almost uncomfortable silence as he stepped on. I noticed the size of his hands and shuddered in horror to think of the size of his other extremities. Glances of awe were exchanged between myself and an older gentleman who stood on the other side of him. We made small talk about the giant after he'd stepped off the elevator.
"Wow."
"Yeah, I think that's the largest human being I've seen in my entire life."
"Me too."
"Well... have a nice day."
"You too."
I wondered today if seeing a midget character sporadically around the hospital would be more exciting than the giant. I can't decide.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Pic 1: After the fall
Pic 2: He's a climber!
It's a slow work day here and I've spent at least an hour drooling over a world travel blog posted by some old friends. I went to their wedding about a year-and-a-half ago, but they are more friends of friends so I had no idea they were spending 8 months traveling around the world together. Truly, just traveling AROUND the globe! They flew from their home in Raleigh, N.C., to New Zealand to Australia to China to Vietnam to Cambodia to India, etc. They'll eventually end up in Athens, Greece visiting our mutual friend, then off to the Netherlands, Iceland, and back to Raleigh. Amazing. They are currently in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan -- definitely need to mapquest that one. The pictures are amazing - anything known as 'golden city' should be impressive, and it is.
Have a look:
http://www.danandandie.com/worldtour/index.html
Back here in West Virginia us graduate students have to quench the thirst for travel on tighter budgets. Which usually means staying within the state, unless your cute BF can tote you along on one of his trips, which is always nice.
Last weekend the cute BF and I checked out some parts of West Virginia that we've never been. To get there we drove through Grafton, a bombed-out town that we think of quite fondly, but that's a post for another day. We kept driving, winding up up up the mountains with roads so curvy that the switchbacks had arrows pointing towards each other. We drove past gorgeous farms, a virgin forest - J was intrigued - and then, of course had to pull over when we saw a sign for the tiniest church in 48 states. We happened to meet the caretaker, quite a tiny man himself, who must've been like 90 and very proudly told us of his impending 61st wedding anniversary, which was the next day. I teased him about not having a gift for his wife, so he promised he'd take her to out to eat on the big day. Which means he'd actually have to drive somewhere and that he still had his license - eeek! Hopefully i wasn't the cause of their 'premature' deaths or anything.
That night we ended up in Davis and Thomas, West Virginia, two reeeally small mountain towns that are right next to each other. After checking into our B&B in Davis, which was more like a quaint mini-hotel, we backtracked to Thomas to hang out at the Purple Fiddle. I had read and heard some good things about the Purple Fiddle a few months previous and it did not disappoint. The food, the beer, dessert, coffee, atmosphere and most importantly – the music – was awesome. That night it was Celtic bluegrass. Two nights later it would be our new favorite band, Steppin' In It, playing a mesh of old timey country, Cajun and swing band music. The age range of people dancing, including us!, was from 4 to 60.
The next day we mountain biked from Davis to Blackwater Falls State Park. The forest looked enchanted -- so lush, with a thick carpet of pine needles and boulders and moss. The falls were gorgeous, but J neglected to tell me until later that day that he'd heard if you look at them the right way, you could see the T Model Ford that's buried at the bottom. Eager to show off my athletic prowess, I only had one wipe out on the bike. J said it was the slowest and most ungraceful fall he'd ever seen. Sweet! Just what I was shooting for. On the way back to the B&B we got an impromtu tour of another B&B that was for sale by the owner who used to live in the South American rainforest amongst the Maroon Indians!
After driving through Dolly Sods on a dirt road and winding down deeper into the state, we passed an RV and bus village on the way to our campground. Yes, bus. People living, however temporarily, in buses! We passed a pickup truck that had a wooden box in the back with coon dogs sticking their heads out through the holes - very cute! That eve after a half an hour of trying to put the tent together (very bad instructions) the camp owner felt sorry for us and put it together in about 5 seconds using only one hand while he chained smoked with the other. Then we tried to start a fire using damp firewood. The, yet another, 90-year-old man (good ole Shreve) who sold it to us said it should be OK once we threw some cardboard on it. It never worked and after ceremoniously burning up my notes from last semester we gave up and retired to the tent to drink a bud light and eat some smores. We decided we suck at camping and resorted to reading to each other by flashlight and snuggling.
Next day, I'll make it short. Rain, rain and some more rain. Driving on kiss your butt turns. A tour of caves with really cool stalactites and stalactmites (sp?). Driving on kiss your butt turns. More rain. Seneca Rocks in the rain. Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia with white out conditions. More rain. Napping in the Jeep. Analyzing the lyrics of Baby Got Back. DWD - dancing while driving. Driving on kiss your butt turns. Yummy hippie pizza joint in Davis and back to the Purple Fiddle!
With all this, who needs Jaisalmer, Rajasthan? We had an awesome time.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Workout Hell
I just got back from the gym this morning and was subjected to what no man, woman, child or dog should ever need go through. I forgot my ipod and you know what that means. I am now at the mercy of of whatever's on the radio at 6:30 am. And, unfortunately, you know what that's going to be . . . your good old, local morning radio show.
I believe that there's a special place in, well, let's say purgatory since my mom may read this one day, yeah, a special place in purgatory for these people. It will be there that these once-upon-a-time local, yocal radio announcers — 95 percent of whom are named Billy — will be strapped down and forced to listen to incredibly dull conversation for hours. They'll reeeeeally want to hear a song, just one song!!! Even a bad one! Even PART of a bad one! But instead, they'll be forced to hear celebrity news that's so old even your grandma who has alzheimers and has lived in a nursing home for years knows about it. They'll hear really boring details of their own personal lives and will hear spectacularly dumb advice being given out to call-ins. And, of course, there will be extremely annoying and incessant laughter following all of this. This cycle will repeat over and over and over....
Then comes the WORSE part. The worst punishment of all for the local yocal radio announcer who quite possibly might be more in love with the sound of his own voice than an opera singer or politician in the middle of a filibuster.
When they open their mouths to speak they'll hear nothing. Not a peep. Not a sound. nada.
The rest of us will be in heaven jamming out to Nelly, Bon Jovi and Parliament. Non-stop music and no interruptions as there will no no radio announcers to ruin the vibe.
I believe that there's a special place in, well, let's say purgatory since my mom may read this one day, yeah, a special place in purgatory for these people. It will be there that these once-upon-a-time local, yocal radio announcers — 95 percent of whom are named Billy — will be strapped down and forced to listen to incredibly dull conversation for hours. They'll reeeeeally want to hear a song, just one song!!! Even a bad one! Even PART of a bad one! But instead, they'll be forced to hear celebrity news that's so old even your grandma who has alzheimers and has lived in a nursing home for years knows about it. They'll hear really boring details of their own personal lives and will hear spectacularly dumb advice being given out to call-ins. And, of course, there will be extremely annoying and incessant laughter following all of this. This cycle will repeat over and over and over....
Then comes the WORSE part. The worst punishment of all for the local yocal radio announcer who quite possibly might be more in love with the sound of his own voice than an opera singer or politician in the middle of a filibuster.
When they open their mouths to speak they'll hear nothing. Not a peep. Not a sound. nada.
The rest of us will be in heaven jamming out to Nelly, Bon Jovi and Parliament. Non-stop music and no interruptions as there will no no radio announcers to ruin the vibe.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
The local news continues to not disappoint
Last night while catching up on some much needed 'veg' time — time spent laying on the couch watching gosh I almost forgot what it was called, television! yes, that's it — the local news had their top-of-the-hour update. I was sort of half paying attention when I heard the anchorwoman say, and this is verbatim, "the man belonging to the missing fingertip has been found." (whaaa?) A locator map pops up on the screen with a pointer box that reads, 'Fingertip Found Here.' I rushed to grab my camera that never works because it perpetually needs fresh batteries. Is this for real? Perhaps the Onion has bought out the network! She continues with, "The man, who lost his fingertip while operating a snow plow has come forward, does not wish to be identified. The fingertip was found along route 7." And that was it! Fifteen seconds of your latest missing fingertip news. Man, I couldn't have lived without it-
Thursday, March 8, 2007
You've experienced snow delays, but...
sun glare delays? Yes. Sun glare delays. Apparently, this stopped traffic coming into Pittsburgh this morning on I-79, as well as causing bump-and-go on 705 and other troublesome spots. This freak of nature, act of God, whatever you want to call it, was part of the daily traffic alerts on the local news this morning. It was mentioned very casually, as if sun glare delays were an ordinary occurrence in the surrounding area. I know this is not true because as a devoted sun worshiper, I've kept track of all the sun's appearances since mid-November and I could count all of these on one hand. Ok, maybe two if I didn't exaggerate. Anyway, be careful out there and, above all, don't forget the shades.
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
A trip to the county health department equals fun, fun, fun
Today I experienced the county health department for the first and hopefully last time. I will say this, the types of people I saw there surprised me and are a testament to the state of health care in the U.S.
There were nicely dressed couples, young women in suits, even women in scrubs for crying out loud --- doesn't ANYONE have health insurance anymore!!?!? I'm a fulltime student so I don't really count. But what about these other people? I had to make my appointment a month and a half in advance to compete with them. Only one person matched my expectations. You know, the 'my baby's daddy' type who apparently had just tested positive for a second pregnancy and had a very sad, scared looking 3-year-old following her around who could barely see for all the blonde hair in her eyes. This person looked to be about 17. Other than that it looked like a gathering of representatives for middle class America. Which was great because I could worry less about contracting some freakish STD if any of the instruments weren't washed properly.
But on to the fun. First, a nice nurse who looked to be in her 40s gathered up all the new patients so we could collectively fill out paperwork and watch educational movies that we had all previously viewed in the seventh grade. We learned about all the different methods of birth control and I mean ALL of them. I was making fun of it at first, but I have to admit, I've always wondered how the sponge or diaphram actually worked. There were diagrams and everything. The graphics were top notch with very realistic looking penises ejecting clouds of semen. I learned there's a type of device called the, well I forget what it's called, but it's basically a cervical cap. You stick it up inside yourself and it surrounds the bottom part of the cervix. Owie!!! Lord knows how you pry the thing out. After watching the video all the girls in the room maintained that yes, they still just wanted the pill. Only interested in the pill, for sure now. Then came the mountains of paperwork where along with our name and address, we had to answer if we were bisexual, our partner was bisexual, had we had sex in the past 24 hours and how many partners had we had in our lifetime. I swear, you could literally see everyone freeze up when they got to that question. They concentrated hard, thinking about how they could lower the number....'let's see, that one time with Billy doesn't count because it only lasted like 5 seconds... and that time with Bobby, hm...' If guys were filling out that form, they'd be doing the opposite for sure. They'd add partners based solely on fantasy.
After our papers were collected our prim 40-something-year old nurse described condom usage while flopping a giant, what looked to be used condom around in her hands. Then we got weighed – 116 with shoes on, woo hoo! – blood pressure taken (108 over 72, good) and the other usual doc office stuff.
Then on to the real examination room. The one with, uuuugg, the stirrups. I was under the impression that a med student would observe, not perform. Well, I was wrong. Really, there's just nothing like having a nervous, chubby 3rd-year med student feel every inch of your boobs, then request that the grandmotherly nurse in the room raise your chair so he could get a better angle at your vagina. Things got more tense when he couldn't get a sizable enough swab of cervical tissue. I swear, the student, the nurse and the real doctor were all leaning forward collectively looking at a giant cutip of my cervical tissue deciding it wasn't enough. He'd have to go back in. Fantastic. I had a feeling the way he was fumbling around my vagina during an exam was exemplary of his performance in, well, other areas. Sensing the tension, the grandmotherly nurse began asking about my socks. (Yeah, I left my socks on. I wanted to feel like something was covered, plus my feet tend to get cold.) I told her I got them at Target. Aah, finally the instrument was out. Then, no joke, the med student and doc started to go over the whole thing as if they were analyzing a football play.
The student: 'Yeah, I just couldn't really get a good shot at the tissue.'
The doc: 'You were real close. Sometimes you've just got to go around the....'
Oh geez. Are we done here?
And then the grandmother gave me my pills and asked me if I'd like her to throw in some condoms for good measure. I said sure.
Now as I sit contemplating all this, a few week's worth of condoms and a year's supply of birth control pills lay on my kitchen table. I suppose it's all worth it to save at least $450 on pills alone — that doesn't even count what the office visit would cost. Which brings me to, oh god, please let me have health insurance next year...
There were nicely dressed couples, young women in suits, even women in scrubs for crying out loud --- doesn't ANYONE have health insurance anymore!!?!? I'm a fulltime student so I don't really count. But what about these other people? I had to make my appointment a month and a half in advance to compete with them. Only one person matched my expectations. You know, the 'my baby's daddy' type who apparently had just tested positive for a second pregnancy and had a very sad, scared looking 3-year-old following her around who could barely see for all the blonde hair in her eyes. This person looked to be about 17. Other than that it looked like a gathering of representatives for middle class America. Which was great because I could worry less about contracting some freakish STD if any of the instruments weren't washed properly.
But on to the fun. First, a nice nurse who looked to be in her 40s gathered up all the new patients so we could collectively fill out paperwork and watch educational movies that we had all previously viewed in the seventh grade. We learned about all the different methods of birth control and I mean ALL of them. I was making fun of it at first, but I have to admit, I've always wondered how the sponge or diaphram actually worked. There were diagrams and everything. The graphics were top notch with very realistic looking penises ejecting clouds of semen. I learned there's a type of device called the, well I forget what it's called, but it's basically a cervical cap. You stick it up inside yourself and it surrounds the bottom part of the cervix. Owie!!! Lord knows how you pry the thing out. After watching the video all the girls in the room maintained that yes, they still just wanted the pill. Only interested in the pill, for sure now. Then came the mountains of paperwork where along with our name and address, we had to answer if we were bisexual, our partner was bisexual, had we had sex in the past 24 hours and how many partners had we had in our lifetime. I swear, you could literally see everyone freeze up when they got to that question. They concentrated hard, thinking about how they could lower the number....'let's see, that one time with Billy doesn't count because it only lasted like 5 seconds... and that time with Bobby, hm...' If guys were filling out that form, they'd be doing the opposite for sure. They'd add partners based solely on fantasy.
After our papers were collected our prim 40-something-year old nurse described condom usage while flopping a giant, what looked to be used condom around in her hands. Then we got weighed – 116 with shoes on, woo hoo! – blood pressure taken (108 over 72, good) and the other usual doc office stuff.
Then on to the real examination room. The one with, uuuugg, the stirrups. I was under the impression that a med student would observe, not perform. Well, I was wrong. Really, there's just nothing like having a nervous, chubby 3rd-year med student feel every inch of your boobs, then request that the grandmotherly nurse in the room raise your chair so he could get a better angle at your vagina. Things got more tense when he couldn't get a sizable enough swab of cervical tissue. I swear, the student, the nurse and the real doctor were all leaning forward collectively looking at a giant cutip of my cervical tissue deciding it wasn't enough. He'd have to go back in. Fantastic. I had a feeling the way he was fumbling around my vagina during an exam was exemplary of his performance in, well, other areas. Sensing the tension, the grandmotherly nurse began asking about my socks. (Yeah, I left my socks on. I wanted to feel like something was covered, plus my feet tend to get cold.) I told her I got them at Target. Aah, finally the instrument was out. Then, no joke, the med student and doc started to go over the whole thing as if they were analyzing a football play.
The student: 'Yeah, I just couldn't really get a good shot at the tissue.'
The doc: 'You were real close. Sometimes you've just got to go around the....'
Oh geez. Are we done here?
And then the grandmother gave me my pills and asked me if I'd like her to throw in some condoms for good measure. I said sure.
Now as I sit contemplating all this, a few week's worth of condoms and a year's supply of birth control pills lay on my kitchen table. I suppose it's all worth it to save at least $450 on pills alone — that doesn't even count what the office visit would cost. Which brings me to, oh god, please let me have health insurance next year...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)