Greater Satellites

Well, I’m having a bit of trouble sleeping, so I decided to blog about the weekend while it’s still fresh in my mind. I’m hoping that I just get so little sleep that I actualize a different persona. I think I’d call that person Tyler. Totally random, I know.

Friday began like most other days, with the sun rising in the east. I was up at the (relatively) early hour of 11am, beginning some design and data input work for my current (kinda) employer. Simulatenously, I began creating some new site mock-ups that I intend to use in future portfolio screenings for prospective employers. Jon and I discussed it yesterday a bit: It’s imperative to stand out among the crowd of sometimes thirty or more potential job candidates. Other than making a fantastic impression as far personality and work ethic goes, it’s as equally important to have a solid, diverse, and ultimately unique body of work on your side. Anyone could fiddle around with Frontpage (eck!) or Dreamweaver (bleh!) and have a halfway decent site up and running withing a few hours. A good designer should not only break you out of the slippery slope of template-ism, but also afford you a presence on these vast interwebs among your peers and competitors…

But I digress.

Point being that I sent out quite a few more applications on Friday with some updated template work. I’m excited to hear back from, well, any of them. As the day wound down, I started cleaning my room a bit and doing some laundry. How very home ec of me. When all of the very mundane chores I set out to do were finished, I decided to pop on a movie. In this case, it was the very awful Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers on the new epitome-of-awesome FEARnet channel. I remember watching that movie when I was much younger and getting a kick out of the gratuitous amounts of nudity and violence (but mostly the nudity… c’mon, I was 12!). It was such a terrible plot, but I appreciate and watch most horror movies, regardless of quality. Eventually Jackie showed up and she, Denise, and I hung out, had some drinks, and half-watched Darkness Falls. We had a good time hanging out and shooting the shit. It was an exceptional, indoors-y type night.

Saturday I sat around twiddling my thumbs for a majority of the day. I worked out a bit, sent out some more applications/proposals to local companies/businesses, and got some reading done. Kathy and Rich ended up stopping by around 7:30pm to hang out and relax. I like that my room is accepted as a decent place to chill, makes me feel good about the coziness factor of my house. Anyway, Jackie came by around 10pm and introductions were made all around. We got sucked into watching a pretty good portion of The Island, which is pretty decent sci-fi movie in this author’s humble opinion. Kathy and Rich bounced away around midnight, which is precisely when the J and I rolled our hungry selves over to Wawa for some sustenance. Upon return, we commenced the watching of Office Space, which my lady had never seen before. I know, I know, it’s crazy, but she iiked it right out of the gate. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to watch it all because she was feeling tired and it was getting late. Great times, all around though.

Today (technically yesterday) I woke up way late in the afternoon and did some reading. “What were you reading, dawg?” you may inquire, to which I respond “Only one of the best comic series I’ve read in a long fucking time, my friend, and that comic series is Marvel’s Civil War.” It’s a cross-over comic, so you get to see all of Marvel’s big names (read: Spider Man, X-Men, Captain America, Iron Man (douche), Fantastic 4, Avengers, etc) all at once. The artwork is really well done and it’s pretty fuckin epic. It’s definitely worth a look for fans of the Marvel Universe. Just as an aside, here’s another comic that I am totally psyched about.

Sunday is my new bowling day. From 6pm to 9pm I’m a possible and probable Brunswick-sanctioned substitute for a Friends & Family league up at the Brunswick Zone on Street Road. Today was my first day subbing on my dad’s team. I sucked pretty bad on my first game, only scoring a paltry 109, but my second game was a nice recovery with a 156, and the third and final game rang in to tune of 148, I believe, leaving me with the respectable average of 138. I had a lot of fun with my family, extended family, and the lady. I’ll be up there every Sunday until May or something (it’s a long God damn season). Got back ’round 10:30, ate a little, drank a little iced tea, read some news, caught a couple more of my comics, and that pretty much brings us to current.

I watch a lot of movies, I know.

I’ve found, increasingly, that my blog entries are mostly recaps of a series of days or even a week. This would explain why I don’t have a thousand entries and am still just shy of 300. This post is no exception. My story begins last Tuesday…

I was getting in the Thanksgiving spirit, merrily thinking about how much I was going to eat and musing over the possibilities of having a full stomach for the first time in 2006, a year that passed by almost as fast as those bullet trains in Tokyo. It was the early afternoon and I was browsing through the classifieds section in my local newspaper and on the internet. I came across the last line of a listing that grabbed my attention instantly, it read something like: “We’re a pretty relaxed group of people, no TPS reports to fill out here…” and decided to give it a shot. If they’re down to earth enough to semi-quote Office Space, then they must know the plight of the typical office drone. “These”, I thought, “are my people.” I compiled my online resume, but didn’t apply for the job. Call it cold feet. I knew that I had the skills they were looking for, but I just needed that extra little push to get me going. I saved my application email as a draft and feel asleep watching television.

Wednesday enters stage right (or should it be stage east? oh well…). I woke up just before noon and began my usual routine of reading the days news and my emails. The previous night just before going to bed, I sent my lady the first revision of my online resume for her perusal and opinion. Scanning through the normal junk newsletters that I subscribe to (for God only knows what reason) I found her response, and within that I found the little push I needed to get my ass in gear and apply for this job. I wrote a brief email which vaguely mirrored the block of text above this one, attached my shiny new resume, hit send, and hoped for the best. The post script on the email said “Gotta love Office Space…” As the day progressed I had a few errands to run, mostly Thanksgiving-shopping-related, and as such was not in the house for most of the early afternoon. When I returned to the computer it was around 3pm and I had received a response to the job. I discovered I was one of the last people considered before they removed the listing earlier that day, for a total of 314 interested people responded to it in less than 16 hours. I was asked to send along any portfolio work that I had done recently and so I sent them screenshots of the dark driving page, Excel Fuel’s original AG layout, a couple Mac-related sites I’ve worked on, a couple of my logos, and various other things. Within 45 minutes I received a phone call telling me to come down for an interview/skillz (yes, skillz, as in skillz that killz) test on Monday. Suffice it to say, this made my day and all of the waiting in line I still had to do worthwhile. After Jackie we began making plans to see each other because she was visiting family out of town for Thanksgiving. After some brainstorming and deliberation, we decided to hang out here with her friends Bridget and Vinny. They’re an interesting couple and I have a good time talking with them, so it was already shaping up to be a good night. Let us skip the waiting part right to when everyone arrived. After some initial chattery, we decided to watch Liar Liar and have a makeout party enjoy each others company. They all left (unfortunately) after the movie was done, making it an early night in the eyes of a few. But it was great seeing them, especially her.

I’ll try to keep the Thanksgiving explanation terse, because just talking about it makes me feel like there are mass quantities of tryptophan coursing through my veins. I woke up around noon and helped however I could in the kitchen, did some very last minute shopping, and tried to stay out of the way for the remainder of the cooking. Dinner was incredible, and it was shared with Denise, mom, grandmom, and my aunt. I’m thankful for friends, family, a great dinner, the new lady in my life, and our family coming together to help in the good times as well as the bad. I drank half a case of Yuengling after dinner and had some people over. It was a lot of fun and I was a lot drunk. I was also thankful that I didn’t have a hangover the following day.

Friday was more blurred than an image with a Gaussian distribution applied to it. I distinctly remember putting up and taking down a few decorations, that much was for sure. Nothing really major happened until Jackie showed up to hang out and be lazy with me around 8pm that night. We watched Comic Relief ‘06 for quite a while (we found it amusing) and then spent the rest of the night just hanging out and talking. It was very peaceful and a lot of fun considering that we really did nothing at all.

Saturday I woke up late (I think I see a pattern emerging here) and did some laundry, cleaned my room, and performed a few other minor chores. I caught up on some reading and did some research on video and editing equipment that I’ve had my eye on for a while now. It was all very informative and time well spent. I love learning, especially that specific kind of self-motivated cerebral drive. I went over Jackie’s house later that night and helped her with some computer related tasks (I’m good like that) and then we went out to Top Dog in NJ for some drinking and dance. We hung out, took some pictures, drank it up, the girls (Syl and Jackie) did some dancing, and then we left. It was as cold as a motherfucker that night; one of those “see your own breath”, breezeless nights, so I made it a point to stay close to a certain someone to keep her warm. We eventually ended up at my domicile where we played with the cat and worked on comfort and logistics. I’m a bad influence, I keep people out and awake until all hours of the night. I went to sleep somewhere in the 5:45am arena.

Sunday is always a hazy day for me. I’m almost totally convinced that my mind doesn’t turn on for Sundays. I can say that I downloaded a slew of new music on Sunday for my listening pleasure. Albums include: The Human Abstract’s Nocturne, Incubus’ new Light Grenades, Foo Fighter’s new live album Skin And Bones, the somewhat older Postal Service’s Give Up, and Pink Floyd’s The Final Cut. I have a lot of listening to do.

Monday morning, 11am, I’m standing outside of 124 Chestnut waiting for Jared to come open the door so I can have my interview and test. I’m a mixture of over-confident and excited, but ready to strut my stuff. Jared made a scheduling mistake and actually wasn’t expecting me until 11am on Tuesday, but luckily had some time to sit down and interview me despite the mix up. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t covet the jobs of people already working there. It seems like such a laid back atmosphere with a bunch of cool people doing what they love to do. Fortunately I think I left a good impression. Without going into too much detail, my test basically consisted of converting a Photoshop web site mock-up into a functioning, active page. It took me about two hours, but I took my time and was thorough. The end result was almost identical to the original, so I was pleased. After the other designers took a look at it, they commented on how clean my code was (to the nerdy, it’s quite a compliment) and I left shortly thereafter. Now I play the waiting game, although I should know for sure no later than next week.

Today I woke up and did some design work, some coding, some reading, and a small amount of learning. I chatted it up with Denise about this and that and ate a Wawa pork roll sandwich which are delicious, by the way. I got to talk to my girl shortly after she got out of work, although I missed one of her calls earlier in the day (oops). The rest of the day was peaceful and serene. Good times all around.

Alternate Titles For This Post: “You Haven’t Updated Since November 7th”, “I’m Hungry”, and “Woo Bang”. I reserve the right to use those blog titles in the future.

I don’t know how many people who read this keep blogs or journals themselves, but I’m just a few entries shy of 300 posts. Not too shabby, although I can’t help but think that number should be quite a bit higher considering that this journal is now five years and 11 days old (wow). But if you break it down and play the numbers game that roughly averages out to an entry a week. There were a few months where I wrote nothing at all, so I guess my current game of catch up has leveled the proverbial playing field.

SO, some major developments in the Gormley world recently. Let’s start from where we left off, eh? Since the time I smelled Windex at Glendale and Erie I’ve secured my place in the working world once again, had a great weekend with a great lady, caught up with an old friend, and coerced said femme into a mutual, exclusive relationship. I gotta say, I’m feeling pretty good about the way things have been going recently. The job is pretty self explanatory. I discussed payment and responsibiities last week and came to a happy medium. I actually start later today (it’s close to 3am as of this sentence). I’m still searching for something better (see: more pertinent), but to pay the bills and get caught up, not to mention finally have a little extra spending money, is going to be nice. Now to the meaty parts…

On Friday Jackie and I went out to Paddy Whacks for some drinking and brief stints of in-your-chair dancing. We talked about everything and anything, joking around and cracking up when we noticed how white girls always grind up on each other while dancing. I got a little loaded, I’ll admit, and it was nice of her to be the designated driver for the evening. Afterwards we came to my humble abode (her first time here, as a matter o’ fact) and watched… wait for it… wait for it… Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead. That’s right, I’m an awesome host.

On Saturday during daylight hours I did very little other than clean up, do some laundry, shower, eat (I think), and get a bit of writing done. That night I agreed to accompany Jackie to Top Dog over in Jersey for some drinking and dance (although I didn’t) along with her friends Sylvia and Paul. It was a great time and I got to return the designated driver favor to Jackie, who wasn’t so much drunk as she was pleasantly buzzed. After Top Dog we hit a diner that I can’t quite recall the name of and then shot home. Two great nights in a row, who’da thunk it?

Sunday was the Lords day. The weather sucked, the Eagles played, Denise woke me up, I ate a Wawa hoagie, I drank a Lemonade Tea, I talked on the phone for a bit, pirated many softwares (Photoshop CS2, Windows Vista, Office 2007, among others) and ended up getting an old friends phone number. I decided to call and see what he’s been up to and how life has been treating him. He told me he just moved into a house with a couple guys from grade school / high school and invited me over to party. I’ve heard some crazy stories come from those guys, but I’m feeling like maybe that’s something I would like to do, so who knows?

Monday: Monday, ’nuff said.

I stopped up the Excel office today to see one of my favorite people. I brought her some pirated softwares as a peace offering (which makes us both nerds, I believe) and hung around for a few hours. Came back home, took a nap, and then talked to Jackie on the phone again until just a short while ago. I asked her something that, to me, felt a little overdue but was graciously accepted and returned in kind. I won’t go into too much detail, but let’s just say my status has changed. Woot!

I haven’t felt this way in a while… I was almost positive that I never would again. Reinforces the old “never say never” addage, I suppose…

This commercial sucks and it seems to be on every single commercial break for the shows that I watch. It’s sad because I really dig that song and it fits very poorly with the on screen action, unless of course Microsoft’s brilliant marketing team is going for that audio-visual irony thing… Which I doubt.

Tomorrow we as Americans vote. I’ve never voted before, although I am registered. I’m considering going tomorrow for the whole 5 minutes it will probably take and just pulling the Democrat lever or button or rotary crank or whatever it is you tug/push/operate. I’m so disillusioned with politics that I want as little to do with it as possible. I know the decisions that they make will ultimately affect me, but unless I were to get seriously involved I probably wouldn’t be able to change much. I’m sure that’s the mentality of a lot of young Americans: “I’m just one of millions, how will my voice be heard?”. Winston Churchill (a pretty smart guy, in case you didn’t know) said something that made me laugh: “Democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

I really dislike the enlongated processes for passing new laws, the slander campaigns that run non-stop on television right around this time, the “Vote For ______” signs that literally pollute major roads (I’m looking squarely at you, Boulevard), the bickering between the two sides, the fact that there are only two sides, candidates who tell lies, candidates who tell half-truths, and it downright infuriates me that those fucking clowns in Washington make $165,000 a year (after, of course, voting to raise their own salaries, something a surprising number of them finally agreed on) and only worked 93 days so far this year. You have to be kidding me.

I did a little research earlier today and found that not one candidate is standing for everything I believe in… Which doesn’t surprise me, for the record, I just wanted to establish that fact. I find it difficult to objectively choose a potential candidate based on political platform alone. Further, it’s difficult for me to choose someone just based on their individual stances. I need to know the person, not the politics, but you’d be hard pressed to find these wankers anywhere accessible the other 11 months of the year. I will vote for a candidate who I don’t necessarily see eye-to-eye with if I believe he or she is genuine, but I’m not willing to go above and beyond just to sit at an affair, albeit formal or informal, with said politician to really get to know them. Some of the ads, however, do give us a bit of insight from time to time. In the course of all these smearing campaigns, I’ll discover that Politician X was at a strip club with so and so and he was drinking *GASP* ALCOHOL. I believe those ads are attempting to make me think: “This man has loose morals and therefore is no kind of leader! He is stricken from my voting palette!” BUT, here’s what the ad actually accomplishes in my mind: “However he decides to spend his leisure time is totally up to him. If sipping on a Long Island Iced Tea and seeing a nice pair of titties bouncing in his face relieves the stress of a hard days work for him (it does, by the way), then right on. Hey, I could really go for a lap dance right about now…” The more “normal” a candidate seems, the more likely they are to get my vote (in my mind, and perhaps in actuality tomorrow).

This is the longest I’ve spent waxing semi-intellectual about politics… probably in my whole life. It’s making my brain hurt and filling me with rage so I will stop now. I hope, at the very least, some light has been shed on how my mind operates when it comes to politics (hint: the answer is either not at all or with incredible fury). Good talk, good talk.

Did I mention this commercial sucks?

I’ll keep this terse. Promise.

I received an email yesterday in reference to the resume I post on craigslist.org every seven days. It just a small paragraph saying, more or less, “I like what I see, please call me today.” So in typical Andrew fashion I call back a few hours after receiving the email and inquire more about the position. The name of the store is TNS Diamonds and it’s located, surprise, on Jewelers Row. 109 South 8th, to be precise. Anyway, I didn’t actually say much about myself or my qualifications, but the conversation went something like this:

Me: “So what does the job entail? Is it sales?”
Him: “Nah, nothing like that. I need some help from a design standpoint, so you’d be helping with the web site, possibly making banners, and taking nice photographs of the new merchandise.”
Me: “Sounds good.”
Him: “Your name is Andrew, right?”
Me: “Yes it is.”
Him: “That’s my name too. It’s a good, strong name.”
Me: “Yes it is.”
Him: “Alright, I’ve heard enough. How about you come on by HQ Monday, maybe around 1pm. I know you design guys don’t like waking up early.”
Me: “Heh, ok.”
Him: “See you then.”

Now I’m sure you’re all aware of the old addage, “When something seems too good to be true…”, and that’s exactly how I’m feeling about this job. It seemed too easy; I’m wondering what the catch is. Worse case scenario is that the pay sucks, and if it sucks bad enough I can just fall back on one of the other three phone numbers I have yet to call for employment. But the promise of loose hours is very appealing to me. Who doesn’t want a job where they can just come and go as they please. Granted, I’m not talking about coming in at 3pm and rolling out at quarter after, but showing up when it’s convenient and working until your job is done. That would be fucking sweet. Either way, I’ll keep everyone posted.

GORMLEY, OUT!

So you’re probably asking yourself “Is his life so interesting that he doesn’t have time to update because of all the going-ons he’s a part of, or is his life so interesting that there’s no way I could comprehend it with 100% of my brain if he were to chronicle it?”

Unfortunately, neither of these plausible scenarios are the case with me. I’d like to say that I’ve been travelling the world, saving lives, playing legendary games of table tennis, or even contributing in some small way… but I haven’t. This fact shouldn’t suggest that there have been no new occurences in my life, however…

I have a new job now. Video City, as fun as it was, did not work out unfortunately. The hours were decent, but it was a labor of love. I needed to expand my horizons a bit and obtain a job that actually pays the bills; gets me caught up and things of that nature. I took a new job at a company called Diztinct Designs as an independent contractor. I’m doing web design, getting paid a hefty wage, and working at my own pace. Pretty much the embodiment of the American Dream, huh? So work is new, and going well.

School is going pretty well too. I need to focus a bit more, and dedicate myself to my work a bit more, but I’m pulling my weight indeed. I’m just going through one of those Good-Will-Hunting-Having-Great-Potential-Yet-Squandering-It phases right now. My GPA is still a solid 3.5 and with any luck it’ll hover in that region after this quarter. I did put off almost all of my work until the very last minute and am now suffering because of it, but I have a little more than 5 days to get it all done, which I’m thinking is a pretty reasonable amount of time.

As far as personally / socially, I’m just existing. Going along with whatever crowd I happen to be with at the time. It’s fun, relaxing, and interesting. I feel some tangents coming on:

I downloaded a few really great albums recently, they include: Dane Cook’s Retaliation, Darkest Hour’s Hidden Hands Of A Sadist Nation, Glassjaw’s Worship and Tribute (a classic), It Dies Today’s The Caitiff Choir, Tool’s 10,000 Days, and the as of yet unreleased but leaked on the internets, Muse’s Black Holes and Revelations. Not all new, not all released, but certainly all 100% good stuff.

I’ve been playing Enigmo 2 like it’s nobodies business, and it IS nobodies fuckin business, you asshole.

I’m starting a podcast soonly, when I find a suitable sidekick / partner to do so. Interested? Maybe we can collaborate.

I’ll call you later.

-A