decks...

I've never been a skater. I've never really had the motivation to get through the hundreds of falls and scrapes and scars to actually be good at doing tricks or even being able to ollie, but one of my favorite design challenges to ever see well executed are skate decks.

The most beautiful design to me, is the contrast between such an intensely painful and risky sport with design that is so clean and well-groomed. Or maybe type that is so eloquently hand drawn, that it completely goes against what skating is all about. Below are three of the most memorable decks I've seen in the past few months. 

 

Deck by Filter 017 Graphic Design

 

 

Deck by Simon Ålander

 

Deck by Saturdays NYC

 

 

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dawson...

my ultimate life dream is about to come true in less than a month. no, i'm not getting married or having a child. or buying a house or a car. or working for jeremy cowart. or traveling the globe. I'M GETTING A PUPPY! not just any puppy...a golden retriever puppy. ever since i could remember (probably some time after i saw homeward bound and fell in love with shadow), i've wanted a golden retriever "when i grew up". well, i'm grown now. i have a steady job and my own house. one of my best friends, hannah, breads golden retrievers and she saved the runt of the litter this time for me. i specifically asked for the runt, because my mom used to call me runt when i was a little kid, because i was so small. to make things even cooler, dawson was born on june 29th. the number 29 has been my lucky number for as long as i can remember, at least since the '95 world series when i started to obsess over the awesomeness that is john smoltz. needless to say, i'm overly excited that one of my lifelong dreams will be coming true soon.

i'm going to love dawson so much. (yes, she has a boy name but that's because i've always wanted a golden retriever named dawson but not necessarily a boy dog, so a girl named dawson is how it's going to be.) i'm going to teach her to be the most loving dog in the world, who knows how to fetch and catch a frisbee. august 10th can't get here soon enough. in the meantime, i'll be visiting her in anderson until i can bring her home. i get to see her tomorrow night after work and i can't be more excited because she'll be two weeks old and her eyes are finally open now so she'll actually be able to tell what's going on. she's going to have the biggest family ever, with multiple aunts and uncles, and grandparents. I CAN'T WAIT!

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push...

today, during my monthly training day, i decided to push my color correcting skills. and by push, i mean learn to be better at it. i've been inspired by a lot of photographers who get richer and more vibrant colors out of their shots. i also wanted to try to achieve the colors that VSCO studio gets, without paying for the presets kit. i knew i could figure it out somehow. i'm getting closer. there's still a lot of tweaking but i now have a master file to work from. here are some shots i reprocessed. some favorites i've taken in the past.

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experimental...

today, i had the afternoon to do training. i invested in another shoe mount flash and some wireless triggers so that my next training day will be a bit more interesting. today was fun though, with my beautiful best friend as a willing model.

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life...

in hopes of not coming across as completely cheesy and obnoxious, i kind of wanted to write about my thoughts on seeing the vow.

the entire movie, i kept thinking about how our lives are comprised of moments. a series of moments that shape us and mold us into who we are.

the movie is about a girl who loses her memory, but only a span of five years, so she basically only remembers her life up until right before she made critical choices in her life, like quitting law school and enrolling in art school, and breaking off an engagement with a guy who she loved but knew in her gut she wasn't in love with. as sappy of a movie as it is, the real core of it is thought provoking. for me anyways. coming from someone whose life has been shaped and molded by the tiny moments that i chose to make my own, to live an extraordinary life, rather than a life that was alright.

had i never changed my major back in april of 2007, i wouldn't have experienced the series of small, (at the time) meaningless moments that have forever impacted me. i would have never watched a stupid youtube video with jennifer, chelsea, and ali in the design lab, which would then lead to the most valuable friendships i've ever had in my life. i would have never had that moment with phil and jivan, the moment of creative inspiration, that led to crave. i would have never experienced the joy it was to stand in front of a room full of best friends and mentors that became my family, presenting my work in an art gallery, explaining to them how much they mean to me. i would have never stood in front of a room full of students, sharing with them, realizing i wanted to be a professor one day. i would have never built the family of friendships i have now. the people that accept my anti-social, introverted tendencies, but try their best to force me out of those stupid habits because they love being around me so much. those friends are the beat of my heart. i guess you could say i romanticize life a bit too much, but when it unfolds so wonderfully around you, how can you not enjoy it for every tiny, special moment that it is made up of? life is beautiful.

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cabin...

there's a sense of overwhelming freedom you get out of spending a weekend away from phones and computer screens. last weekend was that weekend for me and my friends. the older i get the more i appreciate the people in my life. the people i can go on trips with and spend time away from the obnoxious parts of our lives, like work and bills and anything else.

i don't think my group of friends is a normal group of friends by any means. judging from how outsiders see us, i'd say we're a bunch of weirdos with one common goal, and that's to always have the best time together. whether that's sitting around doing absolutely nothing or dancing to the worst music you've ever heard in your life, we're going to be laughing the entire time, enjoying every little moment we can with each other until responsibility and maturity slap us in the face. i'm eternally grateful for my friends and i'll say it every day until i die. these people steal my heart every second i spend with them.

so, to jennifer, chelsea, jivan, phil, wes, valine, kat, andrew, seth, kacie, walker,mary lindsay, and ross...you guys were the best group to spend the weekend with!

...and with that being said, because i say it all the time, here are some of my favorite shots from this past weekend.

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