Audrey Tautou in "Priceless"

priceless - audrey tautou, originally uploaded by Deluded Secretary.

Drawn from one of the movie stills.

6 Random Things Meme floating around in BlogLand

Got the idea off @mediachick's blog I <3 Media. She's a great local Portland writer, and I really love her blog!

Rules of Engagement:

Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on the blog.
Write six random things about yourself.
Tag six people at the end of your post.
Let each person know they have been tagged.

1. I don't like raisins, especially not in cookies.
   
2. I have always had pet birds. Growing up, we had parakeets, then we got a cockatoo, and now I have a pet cockatiel. Once you start it's hard to stop, I guess!
   
3. I taught myself how to draw people by copying out of American and Japanese comic books. I think a lot of talents are learned, not bestowed.
   
4. If they removed sports games/commentary and reality shows from television, I would be totally cool with it.
   
5. I know it sounds elitist, but I get really annoyed when people don't use correct grammar. To and too, your and you're, its and it's, weren't we all taught these things? What's wrong with our schools?
   
6. I really wish I could be in a rock band. Like a real garage rock band. That would be sweet.
   

Ok, now for tags… @bleung, @linzmarie213, @hollyoleary, @jokun, @juliema, and @aedgerton.

Ok, that should do it… and as always, have a happy Monday!

Thoughts on Freelancing

Inspired by Brian Yerkes’ blog post, 50 Reasons Why You Will Not Make It as a Freelancer, I was thinking about my own journey as a freelancer and what I’ve learned from freelancers I know who are successful (Humbly, I would not consider myself successful, as I am not yet making enough to quit my day job). However, in response to the article about why people won't make it as freelancers, here are my thoughts on those who will make it.

They’re disciplined.

Being a freelancer is hard work. You must be fully prepared to work long days, nights, and weekends. You don’t get to wake up at noon, skip a shower, and surf the net all day. Being a good freelancer means disciplining yourself to make deadlines, set goals, and actively pursue new clients and jobs. You must divide up your time between art direction, production work, project management, and client relations. Only those who take pride in their work and make their career a priority will have the stamina to survive the early years of establishing themselves as designers.

They aren’t afraid to charge their clients what the job is worth.

A very common mistake when you’re starting to freelance (I am guilty of this one) is not charging your clients for jobs early on, because you’re afraid they won’t like the work, or think it’s not to spec, or because you’re just plain afraid you won’t get the job unless you do it for free. I’ve figured out that if you have even a little bit of design skill, people will pay you to take advantage of it. Design is not a skill or talent everybody has. While it’s one thing to make a birthday announcement for your niece’s 8^th birthday party for free, it’s another when you make a habit of never charging for small jobs. Take pride in yourself and your work! If you never charge people at the start of your career, they’ll expect the same treatment later on when you’d normally bill a hundred dollars an hour.

They have a good understanding of marketing skills.

If you became a graphic designer because you thought you’d never have to sell anything, think again! A graphic designer is a salesperson for themselves— the difference is you are selling something you’re passionate about and understand the value in. The biggest mistake you can make as a freelance graphic designer is neglecting to network with people. You MUST be able to talk confidently about your value to others who may or may not share the same view. Social networking is crucial to maintaining a loyal client base and building upon it. Second to that, you must have a clear understanding of who your target client is— and to know that, you must first know what kind of design business you’d like to build. Which leads me to the last point…

They have a clearly defined business goal.

Jumping into a game without being prepared puts you at a huge disadvantage. If you clearly define what the goal of your design business is, you’ll be far more successful at reaching the right clients and establishing yourself professionally. A good place to start is to list out your own personal interests. Are you passionate about sustainable business? Sports? Popular media? Music? Designers can tailor their business to serving clients that fit their interests, or they can build their design style around these interests. But starting on the right foot and defining a business goal creates motivation and momentum to overcome obstacles and failures (which you will inevitably encounter). Also, having a business goal will help you better explain your business to potential clients, which will create confidence and encourage loyalty. Yay!

So freelance isn't for everyone. It's a tough business! But the freedom of self-employment and ability to define your own work are well worth the effort.

Starting the week on a good note

Hahahaha, I love the Muppets! Jim Henson, you are sorely missed.

The Beginner’s Guide to Evaluating Art like a Pro

If you are one of those people shudders at the idea of visiting an art gallery or thinks most artists are violent, drunk hippies, well this guide is for you. Because you too can look and act just like a professional art critic if you know what to look for when you view a piece of art.

There are four basic principles when judging art:

Realism – This is basically when a piece of art looks like something. So now when you look at a TV smeared with dog doo, or the picture of someone’s ass cheek with an anarchy symbol written in Sharpie, you can safely say, “That is realism.”

Formalism – This is a more subjective principle, so it’s easier to bluff your way out of sounding stupid. When a piece of art uses formalism, it means in your opinion it has beauty (form). So a flower painting is beautiful, a nudie picture is beautiful, same thing.

Politicism – This critique principle will tell you whether the artist will vote for McCain or Obama. Or if they’re gay.

Interpretism – This is the presence of social relevance. Look for hidden messages in blobs. What is the blob saying to you about racism? This also applies to those hidden pictures puzzles. Oh, THERE’S where they hid the shoe!

So there you go. If all fails and you forget your lines when looking at a painting, you can simply say “It works.” Ta da, instant genius!

TONIGHT: Oh Darling CD Release Party with Tea For Julie at the Doug Fir

On tonight’s menu are Fir Burgers smothered in Oh Darling’s indie pop rock, and a side of Tea For Julie for good measure. You are gonna kick yourself if you miss the CD Release Party of Nice Nice, Oh Darling’s debut album— show starts at 9pm! Opening for Oh Darling is NW Noise friend Tea For Julie, who will be playing tracks off their sophomore album, The Sense in Tying Knots.

Left: Oh Darling Right: Tea For Julie

Here’s an excerpt from the Nice Nice album review by my good buddy Justin for NW Noise:

“Oh Darling is no mere backing band for [lead vocal] Jasmine Ash. Each band member contributes heavily to the final project, resulting in ten tracks of beautiful indie pop rock. The album opens with a simple guitar riff on “Shoulda Never” before the rest of the band kicks in, leading to a rocking chorus. Guitarist Daven is actually new to the instrument, having played bass in previous bands and being told he would need to learn a new instrument in order to join Oh Darling… Most songs last no longer than three minutes, leaving the listener begging for more. However, it would be unfair to say that what Oh Darling does on Nice Nice is simple. There isn’t anything conventional about putting together an album this good.”

You can read more of Justin's Oh Darling review here, or visit their website.

Quality time with JP

My friend Justin, who likes to be called JP, is a fellow blogger (check out his blog, The Inimitable JP, here) and a staff writer on Northwest Noise, and he has agreed to sit down with me and answer a few questions for all the loyal readers out there.

I know you've led quite the adventurous life, JP. You starred in a show pilot, you were the president of a professional business fraternity, you've traveled all over the world, and you used to be in a band called Grated Cheese. Care to elaborate on your favorite past adventures?

As an actor and musician, it's always an unbelieveable experience to perform in front of others. Twelve years ago I was the Scarecrow in The Wizard Of Oz and people still talk to me about that role and how much they loved that performance. I remember signing autographs for kids after those shows, which was very cool. There are plenty of crazy stories working with other performers. One of the funniest memories I have while acting took place while on set. My friend, Gears, and I were watching the filming and were hanging with the production crew. The interior of the vehicle being filmed in the scene was miked and the broadcast transmitted near where Gears and I were standing. The director had cast his ex girlfriend in a small role and she happened to be in the car. After the director yelled "Cut!" he ran up to the car to talk with the actors. As he headed to the vehicle, the director's ex started telling the other actor in the car how horrible the director was in bed, believing that she was having a private conversation. But since the car was miked, everyone was able to hear what she was saying, except for the director. All of the crew lost it and the director had no idea why everyone was laughing so hard.

On a serious note, one of the most memorable and encouraging experiences of my life was watching my little sister, Misty, fight and win her battle with childhood leukemia. She went through things that I could never go through and inspired me with her bravery. It was a difficult period, obviously, and very hard on my entire family, but it made each of us stronger in the end. It's really incredible to see her nearly twenty years later just as healthy as everyone else.

But if I had to pick one defining moment in my life, it would be when I met Seigfried and Roy. Though, sadly, they would not let me ride on one of their white tigers.

So JP, I hear you have a super cute bunny named Petey. Would you care to tell me more about your precious little guy and how he came to love the ladies so much?

You heard correctly, my bunny is super cute. Petey is definitely his father's son: he has big ears, no chin, is kind of hairy, and he loves beautiful women. Of course, he has a much easier time getting them to rub his belly. He certainly has good taste in ladies; he adores my friend, Clarissa, and is a big fan of singer/songwriter Jasmine Ash. I feel very blessed to have the little guy in my life, though I had to promise him that I would cease to eat rabbit meat. He really hates when I joke about throwing him in a crock pot, which I tease him about often. That little guy always puts a smile on my face.

I also hear that you are quite the gourmet cook. Can you describe everything that's inside of your refrigerator right now?

Sadly, I have not been grocery shopping in quite some time, so my fridge currently looks like a bachelor's and not a gourmet's. I've got some leftovers from a bbq I had over at my place a couple of days ago, and some Thai food that I made the other night (I actually can make a pretty decent peanut sauce). My roommate has some of his home-brewed beer in there and this time of year, there is always Jubelale on hand. And because it will show my appreciation for Asian culture, there is also some edamame.

So I know you work as a staff writer for Northwest Noise because you got ME to work as a staff writer, but would you care to share how you met Tim Germer (the founder) and got started with the website? Also, would you give the readers a little bit of background on how Northwest Noise came to be a reality?

My good friend, Gears, is the one that introduced me to Tim. Gears and I were both represented by the same model and talent agency and became fast friends. Tim and Gears had known each other forever. So we became quite the trio, a little scary given our sense of humor and raw masculinity.

Northwest Noise started out as one of the first podcasts ever. The concept of podcasting was innovative at the time and Tim was smart enough to jump on the technology right out of the gate. However, there wasn't a lot of focus with Northwest Noise originally, it was usually just Tim and a guest host B.S.-ing for a half hour or so. But it was getting a lot of listeners since there weren't a lot of podcasts available back then; these days everyone has a podcast. I guest hosted on the show a few times, but didn't see the value at the time of making it a serious hobby. So I quit my involvement with the podcast to focus on other things, primarily school.

Tim continued working on the website, focusing it on promoting independent music in the Northwest. The website began featuring artist interviews and quickly became a legitimate media outlet in the local music scene. Last year, singer Debra Arlyn approached the website about putting together a concert featuring female musicians and Northwest Noise jumped on the opportunity. Because Tim knew of my business background, he asked me to help out with the show. Recognizing the potential in where the website was going, I agreed to help out and I haven't regretted it. I've met so many talented musicians, some of which I had been listening to since I was a kid, we've put out a CD (a live album from Debra Arlyn), and we have become an authority on the local music scene with our music news, album reviews, and artist interviews. We also recently brought a talented (and beautiful) staff writer/graphic design artist on board that I know is going to take us to the next level.

Ok JP, final question: You are taking a fine-lookin' lady out on a date for the first time. Tell me what you would do to make the night perfect.

I'm a music guy, so naturally a perfect evening is going to involve checking out a local artist in concert. Intervision, Justin King, and Debra Arlyn are all great shows to take a date to. Double bonus if the concert is at one of Portland's great venues like Jimmy Maks or the Doug Fir. Of course, we would have to take in some of the great Portland cuisine that is out there, maybe hit up Saucebox, Pok Pok, or Oba. And then I'd finish the evening with drinks and conversation at a nice bar, like BlueHour, Masu, or Thirst.