My once-in-a-lifetime adventure began in February… this was me ----> (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Rumors were circulating at work that the company would be downsizing. I began to realize that I was secretly hoping to be let go; this would be the catalyst I needed to change careers...
Through the magic of positive visualization (and a quick chat with my VP), I was laid off. I was lucky to recieve a great severance package and unemployment benefits. I immediately went to Austin, one of the great movie-loving towns, to celebrate my newfound freedom with old friends.
When I returned to Seattle, I took a 10-week typography class at the School of Visual Concepts where (unknown to me at the time) I met two future-classmates.
I worked on creating my SCCA admissions portfolio and taking the necessary tests to apply. I took a History of Pornography class and spent time bumming around in Portland. I finally finished reading Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement by Henry Hampton and Steve Foyer and then read Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison – I became obsessed with the graphic design of the cover. (Feel free to buy me one of these. I'll need a small.)
I went to Canada for the first time and liked it so much that I ended up going back twice in the next month. I voraciously consumed spy novels by John Le Carré (Call for the Dead, A Murder of Quality, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, The Looking Glass War) and again, was transfixed by the different layouts and cover designs depending on when each book had been published. I fell in love with the Penguin covers so much, I even found a mockup PSD file so that I could make my own.
Everything changed when I learned I’d been accepted to Seattle Central. I finally relaxed. I visited friends in LA (THE movie-loving town) for a week – it was beautiful and sunny and filled with adventure. I got to explore the Warner Brothers back lot with a film school chum and have a generally debaucherous and wonderful time.
When I came back to Seattle, I rode in the Fremont Naked Bicycle Parade with SCCA alumna Janice Cruz. Don't worry, I won't share any photos from that unless you ask.
Plane tickets already bought for Maine in July, I decided to spend the last of my money on LASIK – terrifying, but money well spent.
In July, I visited my sister and mother in Maine. I was able to stay for two full weeks. My sister and I visited Salem and spent two days and nights in Boston, and I even got to see Harvard in Cambridge. We went to Camden and visited my brother-in-law’s brother on his Windjammer, Angelique.
I got to see the Desert of Maine, the Boothebay Botanical Gardens, and the York Wildlife Preserve. The best part of the whole trip was the visit Orgonon in Rangeley--if you're not familiar with Wilhelm Reich, please don your tinfoil hat and click that link.
I spent a weekend on Whidbey Island and read PD James’ The Children of Men, – it’s a decent book but belongs in the wee cannon of books whose film surpass them in quality. (See also: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.)
Suddenly it was August and I was almost completely out of money, I was able to do Portland on the cheap a couple times and go out to Winthrop to watch the Perseids Meteor shower. Inspired by my trip to Orgonon, I read The Book of Dreams by Peter Reich.
The rest is a blur of newfound friend dates with future classmates and generalized anxiety at being a student again. So many good-byes, to the late nights, the sleepovers, the mid-day matinee movie, and epic Netflix binges.
...and even at only one week in it is already So. Worth. It.
