Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Business Cards

I had this overwhelming pile of business cards in my desk drawer, but I never really looked at them. I decided to group them into piles by contact category:

1. SMU

2. Buds (advertisers/marketers/entrepreneurs around my age)

3. Art

4. BBQ (I sell BBQ sauce) The Secret Sauce

5. Sponsors

6. Personal

7. Finance & Development

8. Misc.

All Organized.

I suppose the next step is to put the contact info into my gmail account. I'll save that for another day.

My current business card... I want to make a hybrid one- half BBQ sales rep/ half Artist.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Aaron Koblin has a fine arts and computer science degree. He uses flight technology patterns to create video and still art. I think it's be tight to have this video or the one below this on a screen in my house and display it as ART.

This one is ridiculous (wish it had music though)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ystkKXzt9Wk

Look at his Site!
http://www.aaronkoblin.com/work/flightpatterns/

Now compare this one to the first ones. This last one is interesting...but not as "artistically" enhanced as Aaron's.

Friday, April 16, 2010

UNION, Class Giving

If you saw the cutouts (like Lindsey Perry's above) on campus
a few thursdays ago at SMU, you were witnessing the school
wide Giving Competition. Union members set up around
campus stationed at different schools. I was at Meadows
with Ms. Mackenzie the news anchor and Mr. Sam Todd
who was representing Study abroad. Each senior Union
member gets a cutout that states a blurb :
"When I'm not_______ I'm giving to the Union".
I've already thought about my cutout for next year I'm
debating between two. 1) When I'm not playing indoor
soccer at Dedman, I'm giving to the Union". OR "If I'm
not organizing luncheons for the Scholars Luncheon I'm
giving to the Union".

The purpose of the Union is to increase awareness of
"giving back" among undergrads. SMU is trying to
improve our overall rankings of how much alumni
like their school. The way University's are ranked
depends on the percent of alumni who give back
(not necessarily how much they give, but the fact
that they do give!) If we get students in the habit of
giving while they are undergrads, they are more likely
to do it when they are alumni. We've had a 274% increase
in 4 years (which is unreal!) See Chip's email below to find
out more details.

P.S. I designed the stickers :)

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Styrofoam Cups...

I can't wait to live in my own apartment next year because I not only get to re-arrange furniture, but also I get to put MY paintings up on the walls. I get to pick out vintage table clothes and estate sale tables and mix them all up with my Pollock bean bag and other nonsense! I'm sure my mother is worried because my taste is a little...nontraditional. No worries mom, you don't have to live there!

On the left we have a solo cup. On the right we have Nate (an SMU ceramic "special" student's) original artwork.

I purchased 12 of Nate's cups because they are the perfect size and also fun to rearrange and display as sculptures.

Why not?

Beer Pong anyone? Don't be silly these are PORCELAIN! However, dishwasher and microwave friendly.

I'm not gonna lie... I am a super swift cup stacker.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Creative Ideas via Sleep

Why am I getting all of these nightmares!? Do I need to lighten the reading before bedtime? Teddy Roosevelt's River of Doubt must be getting to me...The Indian attacks and crewmen killing each other off is apparently too much for my brain to handle before I hit the pillow. I had 4 different scary episodes in my dream last night:

1. Bruce (fake name someone I've known for a long time...but somethings off about him) kidnapped me by a creek we live by in Kansas City. Details are blurry... but I do remember a white van and escaping back to my house.
poem I made from dream:

Bruised Bruce steering curves, screeching breaks, yet nothing heard.

2. I found myself on top of my cousins roof. They had repaired the roof with shingles packed tight in zip lock baggies (what!?). It was my duty to hammer the "shingles" down. Though the zip lock baggy part was weird, I can relate to the roofing. I've worked on Habitat for Humanity at SMU, and roofing is always my favorite part! Maybe my dreams are trying to tell me to volunteer more?
poem I made from dream:

Clickity clack on the rooftop I spat, straddled upside down -a flaying bat. Hammering plastic-- my wings--collapsed.

3. I watched myself or either my daughter (no I do not have a daughter in real life) get kidnapped by two older men. The men were well groomed, one had white hair, and the other was younger and more Italian mafia looking. They got in a car, and ordered me to get in. I miraculously had a pair of scissors and cut the saggy skin between one of the guys index and thumb. This was excrutiating, but not enough for them to stop chasing me. I ran away and climbed a black skyscrappers/rockwall. They weren't that swift at climbing, but they eventually caught up... then I woke up.
poem I made from dream:
Dusty fairies of familiar ties, colorful, wonderful, yet shy. Couldn't undo what I had to pry.

4. This part was closer to a columbine event. I was inside and could see machine guns firing through the wall. I had the instinct to run. I arrived at a huge gymnasium like room with neon colors (almost looked like a paint ball arena). Here I tried to hide under sheets on a trampoline, but I knew the killers would be able to see my shape. Time was running out, but I decided to go climb again, I was pretty sure they were in the room now... fortunately I woke up.
poem I made from dream:
Flipping and foam in this condescending dome. A tent I made- pinching for a spade.

Who knew sleep could be creatively productive?

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Africa Exhibit-AIDS

A couple of weeks ago there was this LARGE tent set up by the flagpole on campus. I was curious so I ventured in. They said it would only take 15 minutes...

It was a rough 15. A blow to the heart. I walked into Africa and experienced Kombo's life. The life of a 5-yr-old boy who's mother is dying of aids is not a pretty sight. Luckily, he has his grandmother to take care of him. But still, she owns a truck stop and prostitutes set up there daily. Imagine being around prostitutes at such a young age (well any age really)...

He is scared of the big trucks or the "big disease" -Aids.

Kombo's Trailer worldvisionexperience.org

The World Vision was an impactful way to learn about aids because they literally set up a village inside the tent. A headset witha voiceover of Kombo guides you through his life. It didn't feel like storytime...it felt real. There was dust on the ground, pictures on the wall...you felt like you were there...all that was missing was Kombo and the people themselves.

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In 8th grade The Coterie Theatre did a presentation on Aids awareness. I was an advocate for the program because my mom sits on the Coterie Board. Professional actors came and acted out a scenes as if they had aids. I remember some kids were crying and the discussion lasted a good 20 minutes. We signed a pledge card saying we would stay abstinent until marriage to lessen our chance of aids.

The audience definitely needs to be high school for this program because it is more mature. However, The World Vision experience could reach ages as young as kindergarten. Why not get kids aware of aids? Creatives should think about how we can impact social causes through advertising (cause advertising). It's so easy to start a viral video to make people aware...otherwise the Aids virus will take over.

AIDS PROJECT

THE DRAMATIC AIDS EDUCATION PROJECT (DAEP)

A free touring prevention presentation for 8th grade and high schools

Available year-round, serving 8,000 annually.

An award winning collaborative program between the Coterie, University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Medicine and the University of Kansas Medical Center to educate teens about the transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS. Professional actors and medical, pharmacy and nursing students, trained as AIDS peer educators, employ hard hitting monologues, slides and music to present stories of HIV+ teenagers in the Kansas City area. Followed by an intensive question and answer period which can also include STD information, the award winning program is highly lauded for its balanced message.

View a video of the Coterie's Dramatic AIDS Education Project in action.