Cryptomnesia

Friday was a good day but the highlight was probably the most intense 4 games of ping pong ever played.  Klemens and I took on Christian and Tom and I was litrally sweating after the second game.  For some reason everyone was really animated/funny and we were all super intense about the games.  I don't remember the exact game count--but I know Klemens and I were the day's champions.

I came home around 6 and went out to get some food for dinner after walking home with K.  I didn't do anything for the rest of the night though and went to sleep around 10:30.  After 12 hours of sleep I woke up and went to the supermarket for groceries for the next few days.  Today was absolutely perfect in terms of weather.  Super sunny--no clouds--slight breeze--and about 65.  I came home and made lunch and then went out with my bike.  I rode around for a while and then stopped by the naschmarkt to pick up some dumplings from the asian super market.  I went home on one of the main roads in vienna (that goes in front of the MQ and Parliament--but it was closed to cars because there was a big political march.  I sat and watched for a while but wasn't able to really understand what the were marching for.  It was more of a political parade--because at the end there was like a concert in front of the parliament building.  When I got home fabio was heading out to the Schonbrunn Palace so I tagged along to enjoy the great weather while it lasted.  We got there at dusk and it was really beautiful.  I can already tell how much the city is going to change as it gets warmer.  Everything just came alive and stuff I see everyday seemed so much better and more vibrant.  Everyone seemed more beautiful and glamourous and there were aston martins, porsche's, and bentleys EVERYWHERE.  I got that great feeling that I was really in a special place.  

I posted some pictures from the day, but they will not do it justice.  I am really excited to have this peek at spring and the weather to come.  GP told me that April is like the big transition month into spring, so there is only a few more weeks left of rain/snow.  Then I will start to plan my trips to the alps...

One last thing--only a few people will be interested but---there is a new band called "El Grupo Nuevo" and it is most of the people from The Mars Volta.  The one big change is--instead of their normal drummer---they have ZACH HILL from HELLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I read a review that said "this band is going to kill people" and I agree.

thursday

I rode my bike into work yesterday and was able to make it in less than 15 minutes--which is good because I didn't leave the dorm until 9:15 and work starts at 9:30.  It was a good day and I got some more information about a few internship opportunities.  It is really stressful trying to plan for the future and I hope something concrete will form soon.  I came home and watched the movie "Man on Wire" because ruedee said it might change my life.  I don't think it did...but it was really good and it did make me think.  I had a lot of energy to start a new project last night but it sort of fizzled because I couldn't actually decide on what to start working on.  I began filling out the Umea application but half way through started to rethink if I really wanted to go through with it.  It is a huge decision and I am sort of just jumping right into it without fully considering what it would mean IF I got in (I am not at all planning to get in--but still).  They only take 8-12 masters students a year and I am not sure if my reasons for applying are really valid.  It is really just another option to have, and I dont have anything to lose by applying--but I dont know if I know enough about design and myself to get the most out of a masters degree right now.  I just dont want to end up with nothing else design related to do...

Today, Klemens, Ruedee, and Roland looked at my portfolio and gave me a good critique.  I realized that in trying to make my portfolio different from the VT standard--I sort of lost a bit of who I am as a designer and how I got to where I am.  It was really good to have some outside input and I really respect all of them immensely.  I think I will redo a bit of the portfolio this weekend and then try and step away from the stress of planning the future for a few days.

Ruedee has a friend from Umea visiting this weekend and I think we are going to do a potluck or something fun tomorrow or over the weekend.  No other plans for the weekend though--but im sure I will end up on the bike for atleast one of the days.

tuesday

Today started off slow at work.  I got a lot done-it was just a slow day.  I  applied to 5 or 6 firms today and I think I got a few leads out of it.

Klemens invited me to go out to the cinema with him and his friend--also named Klemens.  Earlier today I got an email from tuvie.com asking if they could publish my thesis work on their website.  We ate sushi before the movie and by some crazy chance found out that Klemens (the one who doesn't work at GP (yet)) was also contacted about his work and will also be featured on this tuvie site--maybe even on the same day.  

The movie was good and I was able to follow along surprisingly well for an austrian movie.  It was really neat to watch a movie (really well produced) that was shot in Vienna and it was a cool feeling to recognize the scenery on screen.

The core77 feature ended up being up for the whole day and my portfolio got something like 900 views in 24 hours.  It really gave me a boost and I am once again ready to start a little side design project.

Monday

Today was pretty great.  I had to do a couple p-shop renderings for a presentation, and then spent the afternoon in solidworks.  Ruedee, Klemens, and I went to a new japanese restaurant for lunch and it was really good.  I am really excited about the work I am doing at GP and hope that it will go somewhere and that I can show it eventually.  I made more sushi rice for dinner and I think it must be the rice I bought that is consistently making it turn out well.  I re-did my coroflot pages today because they were last updated more than a year ago.  About 10 minutes after I uploaded them I got a notice from core77.com that they were being featured.  Im not really sure what that means--but If you go to core77.com you can see one of my page thumbnails with my name under it.  It will prolly only be there for a few hours but it is exciting nonetheless.

I feel wierd after continuing to work after work...and dont really feel ready for bed although it's 12:30 here.

Creature Fear

Da club wasnt as fun as it was last week--but it was still nice to go out with fabio and miljan.  We were out until 3 again and I was asleep about 2 seconds after I got into bed.  I slept in until 11 and then got up and made some brunch.  I did some firm research and then got an email from ruedee about going out for a walk.  We met at 2:30 and just walked around for a few hours.  She is such a peaceful and wise person and I really enjoy hanging out with her.  The weather is still playing games with us and it was about 40 degrees with 40 mile-an-hour winds.  

I am going to stay in the rest of the day and try and get over a little cough that I have been fighting off for a few days.  I also think I may cut my hair--cuz its about that time.  I don't not like my hair--its just getting boring and long enough that I looks like I am homeless when I wake up in the morning (and that is how it looks when I get to work--cuz I am not about to run a comb through these golden locks).  The homeless looking hair--in combo with my homeless looking beard--makes me look homeless AND crazy.  

sushi rice

I had a great rest of the week after I posted on tuesday night.  I sent out a bunch of emails to firms, I did some fun research with Ruedee for a GP project, and was kept busy with sketching and photoshop renderings.  I had to come into work early on friday with Roland and Klemens to finish some presentation images and at 11 when they were done i had lost most of my motivation to work for the rest of the day.  We played ping pong for the first time in a while and it was a blast to get back into it.  I rode my bike into GP a few times but always walk the half hour home with Klemens.  

It snowed thursday and friday and I think all of Vienna was pissed about it.  Today, however, was really bright and sunny--still around 40 degrees--but the sun was really great.  I ran some errands in the morning and got in groceries for the week.  Ruedee and I met at 2 to go on our weekly big bike ride.  We went in a new direction this week towards the big fair grounds in Vienna (roland told us about a big park area close by).  We rode around for 3 hours and saw some really amazing things.  The park was really special and had litrally something for everyone.  Horseback riding, a theme park, public trampolines, a BMX course, a skate park, about 5 playgrounds, tons of sports fields, trails through the woods, historic towers, and so much more.  We found two really small communities that were really tightly packed together and every house was really stylish but really small--maybe like 500 square feet at biggest.  The lighting today with the sun out was really amazing and everything looked really vibrant and dramatic.  

Miljan, Fabio, and I will probably go out to the same club tonight that we went to last saturday.  I am going to try and update my portfolio and coroflot pages this weekend--and also apply to the growing list of firms that I am accumulating.  It feels crazy but I am almost at the half-way point to the internship!!!

Also--most importantly--I made absolutely perfect sushi rice today for the first time ever.  I have tried atleast 6 times in the past but today I nailed it-

tuesday monday

I rode my bike to work for the first time today.  I leave in what seems to be rush hour traffic--so although I got to work in about 10 minutes--Im not sure that I will be riding everyday.  Also--when I ride by myself I cant seem to take my time and enjoy the ride--I always end up pushing myself.  I got a lot of compliments on the bike at work and I think Klemens is going to start looking into getting one soon.  He and I have been walking back home after work instead of taking the tram and it is really fun/a nice way to mentally transition from work to home.  Christian finally came back from his 3-4 week vacation in Thailand and he told us about it at the morning meeting.  

I wrote to porsche design studios on sunday and on monday had a really nice email back thanking me for my interest and saying they were going to look at it and forward it to someone else ect.  Then this morning, I have an email from them with the subject --Letter Of Rejection for Patrick Nally from Porsche Design Studio....The email was actually really nice--and they explained that I couldn't intern there because I had already graduated-but the email title was like a punch to the gut.

I started working on a new program today and it felt really great to sketch and marker render again after almost two weeks of illustrator--and I have fallen in love with Copic Markers--they fit my style of rendering so much better than prismacolors.

Monday was also good....I literally didnt work on anything all day.  Two of the projects I was working on were both presented to the clients on monday--so the partners were out of the office almost all day.

bermuda trianle

Fabio, Miljan, and I made our way out to da clubs around 11:45.  We walked to the first district towards a group of clubs called the Bermuda Triangle.  We went in the first one we saw and were disappointed at first because it was really small and wasn't playing techno.  We followed the signs down to the basement of the club and right when we got to the stairwell we could here the base.  It turned out the be a super pimp.  The basement looked like a huge old wine cellar.  The whole room was rough stone/brick and the ceiling was rounded.  It was about 100 ft by 15 ft and really dark but had beautiful lighting on the stone.  There were a bunch of people but mostly they were just standing and not dancing.  The music was really good and loud and if I had quel with me I would have been getting down like vavan and treaxy.  We didnt get back to the dorm until 3 but it was a really fun night and I think we will do it again.  We all agreed that it is really fun to just watch people dance and I don't think it is creepy if we are in a group---right?

Today was rainy and boring.  I only left once to do laundry and that wasnt until 8.  I am looking forward to work tomorrow and the start of a new program?  I got an email from Jon Mills today and he is finally in germany--I think we will start planning a trip to the alps when the weather gets a bit more reliable.

selling the wind

We didnt end up going to a party last night--but we are going to a club down the street tonight with our Serbian neighbor Miljan in a few minutes.  I woke up early today (one of those weekend mornings were you think it is really a work day) but I was back from my weekly errands by 12.  I was just sitting around thinking about going on a bike ride when Fabio said he was going to try out the city bike system with a quick ride around the block.  I went with him on my bike and we ended up riding for like 3 hours.  Biking in this city is so much fun and we covered more ground than you could walk in a day.  I literally had 3 different people say "nice bike" and one person came up to me and asked me about it while we were stopped in a park.  I LOVE BICYCLES...

It is supposed to rain tomorrow so I dont think ruedee and I will be able to ride together.  Fabio and I were going to do laundry tonight but Miljan talked us into going out to a club with him.  I am excited to hear some really loud techno--but I don't think it will be as fun as Space electronic in Verona.

friday the 13th...wasn't on my birthday this year

I think this has been my busiest week at GP so far.  Ruedee and I were able to get everything done today for our review at 1 and it went well and we only had to make a few updates.  I am ready for a break from illustrator for a while.  At 4 (just when we were finishing the updates) I had to do a rush solidworks model for a presentation on monday--and it had to be built with all surfaces.  The day  was stressful to begin with, so I wasn't expecting it to go well.  Amazingly though, I built it correctly from the get go, and at 6 I was able to go back and update a few sketches and not have the whole thing blow up.  It felt good to come through in the clutch for Roland and Christoph, and I think they feel like they can count on me.  Yesterday was good but again busy, we went to Kai's so that made it bearable.  Today was Francois' last day with his "trial project" and I am hopeful that GP will bring him on full time.  He is a really good designer but more importantly he is a really nice/funny/down to earth/french guy.  The weather here is just like in blacksburg, and it goes from beautiful blue skies to torrential rain in less than 5 minutes.  There has been rain (atleast an hour) everday for the last 2 weeks so I am hopeful that sunday will be clear for a big bike ride.  I think I am going to wait to travel until this rain season is over so I don't spend 80 euro to get out in the country and have it be raining all day.  Fabio mentioned a party tonight that we may go to--either way I know I will sleep good tonight after that long day.

W U PN?

Nothing exceptionally exciting happened today.  Work was good and Ruedee and I got a lot done with our project.  It was Klemens first day back since friday (he was on holiday) and it was nice to have him back.  At lunch Ruedee was telling Francois, klemens, and I about a graphic design firm she worked for where you had to call people by their initials--so that was a big hit around GP for the rest of the day.  

After work/during work--I was applying to a bunch of firms all over the world.  It is amazing how many companies there are (good companies).  I am sort of wanting to travel this weekend--but it has been raining the last week solid and Im not sure that is going to change anytime soon.  Roland suggested Kai's tomorrow, and although I said I was tired of it last week--I am really excited for lunch tomorrow!

Himbeere Sirup

I have found my version of crack.  My sister can attest to how I have always loved putting things (candy, fruit, ect) in my drinks--since I was really little.  Yesterday I bought a bottle of Rasberry syrup--but they had at least 12 flavors.  It is super concentrated super sugary fruit syrup that you mix with water (or in my case--coke, ginger ale, lemonade, anything!).  I even heard from my neighbor that it is supposedly better for you than fruit juice--because the kind I got was all nutural?  Good for me or not--I drank atleast 4 liters of water today with about .15 liters of this sirup and it was delicious.

Work was fine and Ruedee and I started working together to develop some Interface Concepts.  Ruedee gave me "Synedoche, NY" at work yesterday and I started watching it last night--but had to stop half way through to sleep.  I finished it after work and im still not sure what I thought about it.  I feel really confused but I liked it-- I think if I had watched it straight through I would be even more confused-but also maybe enjoyed it more?  Today was one of the first bright sunny days we have had in about 2 weeks, and I am really excited for summer in Vienna.

Make place, take space, and take it easy

The title of this entry is a saying that is printed on the far wall of GP's studio.  I think it is really nice and is very much the attitude about working there.  Today was good but busy, I was mostly doing graphics today for two projects.  One was final production artwork, and the other was very early concept generation.  I am looking forward to wrapping up these two programs though--illustrator is not a passion of mine.

GP updated their website with the current staff

http://gp.co.at/about/team/

missing from the site is--Mo (who just left) and Francois who is freelancing with us for a while.  I have been applying to firms all over the world, trying to set up something for august- and I got an email back from Philips HQ in eindhoven today saying that they appreciated my application--but that they were not hiring--and were not even taking interns because of the economic situation!  If Philips can't afford to bring on an intern--then i'm not sure how many other companies will be able to either.

also Fabio's girlfriend is here visiting for a few days (im not sure how long).

sunday bike ride

I got up and had a big breakfast in preparation for the big bike ride with Ruedee.  We decided on our last ride that we wanted to go up to the highest point in Vienna--a small mountain on the northern edge of the city where the danube turns west.  We met at 11 and by 12 we were at the bottom of the mountain, in a really awesome/really swanky/really designery suburb.  Every house was beautiful and had something weird about it--weird as in normal people would not care about the details put into these buildings.  We locked our bikes to one of the posts running along a vineyard (the whole mountain side is covered in grape plants) and started walking up the mountain.  We walked for close to 45 minutes and kept pushing higher and higher.  We eventually found a road leading to a resort and took that to the top of the mountain.  I posted some photos of the trip including--Some views of the city, a photo from my room where you can see the mountain we climbed, and some pictures of my bicycle!!!  We had a great trip and it was about 3.5 hours round trip.  I came home around 3 and started eating everything in sight and think I will go to sleep early tonight.

friday

Im not sure what happened to the week-I posted tuesday night and then sort of forgot about the blog until now.  The week was good but busy and I split my time working on 2 projects which is sort of like reading 2 books at once--when you leave one you sort of forget your place and have to read the last few pages to jog your memory.  There wasnt anything too eventful that happened, Francois is fitting in to the group well and I think he seems like a solid designer (he used to work at a baller firm in san francisco).  I dont have any plans for the weekend except to ride my bike a lot--and get some groceries.  

Today, when I stepped onto the tram, I immediately heard loud rap/techno music.  There was a group of like 6 really "cool" looking kids--atleast they thought so.  They were all wearing the same thing and were probably around 15.  They were all sitting together in a few rows and were just talking and blaring their music -- totally into themselves.  I told Klemens and Francois about it and how I sort of wanted to say something to them--but realized it would mean I was "old"--and I couldn't have that.

I think I may start a little side project in the next few weeks to bump up my portfolio--and to get something else to think about besides the projects at work.--any suggestions?

tuesday monday

I reset my alarm for 9:45 saturday night in order to get up for my bike ride with Ruedee.  I never reset it....and didnt get to work until around 10:30 monday morning.  Woops.  Work went fine and I got introduced to a new program that I will be working on with a designer named Francois.  He is just doing this one project as a sort of trial period and then he may join GP full time or freelance or something.  It is a really fun project and I am excited to work on it with him.  After work Pierre, Miljan, and Fabio were all hanging out in the common eating area on our floor and all wanted to go play fussball on the table in the entrance to our building.  I have never thought that it was a game of skill--just sort of freak out and spin the handles real fast--but they were all like super into it...and good.  We played so long that my back started to hurt--Im too tall for fussball--and then they walked into the gym to show fabio who had never seen it before.  We walked in and there was a super huge buff dude doing pushups so I just stood at the door so I wouldnt make it awkward for him.  But all the other boys went in, and I swear--in less than 10 seconds all three of them were working out.  Miljan was first with backwards sit ups on some contraption, then Fabio started doing pullups, and then Pierre lays down right next to the guy doing push ups and starts pounding some out.  I was just standing at the door in amazement....and laughing hysterically.  They were all super serious--and just like walked in and started pumping in less than 10 seconds.  I told them why I was lauphing on the elevator ride back to our floor and they all realized how silly the scene was--one huge buff guy working out by himself and then all of a sudden 3 guys in normal clothes walk in and start working out--one right beside him.  Then, they all leave after about 45 seconds.

Today went well.  Francois and I walked around the main shopping area of Vienna to do some research for our project and I saw some really beautiful stuff that I wanted to buy!  I told him about Kai's and got him hungry for sushi so Klemens, Ruedee, Francois and I all went there for lunch.  But on the walk home from work Klemens and I agreed that we have about had it with Kai's for the next few weeks--I never thought the day would come.  I guess too much of a good thing...is still too much.

last night and today

Fabio and I went on a long walk after I posted yesterday.  We walked to the center of the city and I got some good photos just as the sun was setting.  We got home around 9 and made dinner together and then went out to the laundry mat.  We didnt get home until around 12:30 and I was beat.  Ruedee and I met at 11:00 this morning and went on a 2.5 hour bike ride.  We went from the city center out to the danube canal--and on the canal until we hit the danube--and then along the danube--and then onto the danube island--and then we got lost a little--and then back to the city center.  We covered more of the city than you could walk in 3 days and I saw so many new sites in that short time.  I am totally over any apprehension I had about cycling in a foreign country with a foreign language and foreign traffic rules....It is amazing how many bike paths there are and how easy it is to just hop in and go on your way.  Ruedee and I made plans to go to the top of a nearby mountain by bike in the near future--there is supposed to be a great view of the whole city.  My butt is a little sore from 3 hours on the fizik arione--it definitely looks better than it feels.  Here are some photos from last night's walk.