June is always a happy, happy blur for me. June I celebrate my anniversary with Husband. In June, we celebrated 18 years of marriage. Wow. We've been a couple for over 20 (I think…again, don't trust my math). Then comes the HOW Conference, which I look forward to every day that I'm not at one. Here are my recaps. While I spoke at the 2010 conference, neither of my two submissions were accepted for the 2011 conference. So I got really motivated and submitted SIX proposals for the 2012 conference. None of which were chosen. But I am not deterred in the least. "[S]tarting when I was fifteen I began to send short stories to magazines like Esquire, and they, very promptly, sent them back two days before they got them! I have several walls in several rooms of my house covered with the snowstorm of rejections, but they didn’t realize what a strong person I was; I persevered and wrote a thousand more dreadful short stories, which were rejected in turn. Then, during the late forties, I actually began to sell short stories and accomplished some sort of deliverance from snowstorms in my fourth decade. But even today, my latest books of short stories contain at least seven stories that were rejected by every magazine in the United States and also in Sweden! So … take heart from this. The blizzard doesn’t last forever; it just seems so." —Ray Bradbury I will again submit proposals to speak at HOW, and other venues as well. I have enough good juju to spread around—indefinitely! Thanks for reading, Cami p.s. Your good juju today: If you're doing what you love, don't worry if anyone else is on board with you yet. Your joy and enthusiasm are contagious! Spread that good juju!!! The event pictured here is AIGA's Design 360 from last May. Three rock-star designers come to judge our design competition, answer six provocative questions (they get to choose from a long list), to make zero boring presentations. Great concept, and great execution from the committee that organized the event. Last year it was held at Liquid 9, and included Robynne Raye, John Bielenberg, and (pictured to the left of me) Kit Hinrichs. Robynne talked about her legal battle with Disney. While interesting (I can only imagine the guts she's got to take on that challenge), it was not inspiring creatively. John's talk about Project M was very inspiring, worth looking up if you haven't heard about it before. Ah. Maze. Ing. Kit Hinrichs and I met back in 1994, at my very first HOW Design Conference—the one that lit my fire. That was the year I either heard speak or met (or both) Kit, McRay Magleby, David Carson, Charles M. Anderson, and Gordon McKenzie—all giants. Kit's designs resonated with me back in 1994, and still do. We chatted about our love of good food (whilst dining at Gram & Dun), and how 17 years just doesn't seem like that long ago. I look forward to seeing him again, hopefully this June when HOW moves to San Francisco. That tiny man to my right is the awesome and creative Stefan Mumaw, a man whose heart may actually be bigger than he is. Stefan's written some books too. Thanks for reading, Cami p.s. Your good juju today: Let the people around you know they're appreciated by you. Spread that good juju! April 11, 2012, was the 100 year anniversary of the RMS Titanic arriving at Cork Harbor (Ireland) to take on more passengers. At 2 p.m. she raised anchor for the last time. Four days later, she sank, and 1517 people perished along with her. Union Station hosted a fantastic exhibit, which I attended with some great friends of Irish decent. It's something I'll remember always. April is also the month my father died, almost 23 years ago (I think… don't trust my math). One night he fell asleep and didn't wake up. There are worse ways to go. Like bobbing in sub-freezing water, hoping to get rescued. Ok, this has gotten really gloomy. I'm sure April wasn't all doom and gloom. Ok, besides having to do my taxes, it's when Spring starts to spring. And that's my favorite time of year. Thanks for reading, Cami p.s. Your good juju today: Enjoy what you can, while you can, as often as you can. Some stand out moments in March included attending a talk from Alain De Botton at KU in Lawrence. His talk was based on his book, Religion for Atheists, asking "Even if religion isn't true, can't we enjoy the best bits?" My stance is that no matter what you believe, don't try to force anyone else on board with you. Your belief should be enough for you. That having been said, religions have some important stuff we can get on board with. Like the importance of family, the role of community, and the effects of tradition. Good stuff. Also in March, of course, was the St. Patrick's Day parade, here in KC. As staff of the Kansas City Irish Fest, we always have way more fun than we should with our float and "marching" in the parade. I tasted a decent whiskey that day, 12-year-old Red Breast. While is was the best whiskey I've tasted, I still won't choose whiskey over vodka, beer, well, anything really. Thanks for reading, Cami p.s. Your good juju today: Don't underestimate trying new things, and repeating good things. While I'm waiting for CS6 to install (EEeeee!!, I know right?!), I'll peruse February, since I can't remember any specifics about that either.
I spoke to a group of KU graphic design graduates about playing nicely with others in the workplace. It was the first time I had been on the KU campus. Very cool. I had the idea that these students could really benefit from job-shadowing people in the creative industry. The students were absolutely thrilled at the idea but, sadly, no one I contacted would say yes. What is it about sharing what we know that's not appealing? Where I work isn't very exciting for a graduating senior, but it's knowledge they would not have had the opportunity to gain before. Apparently, I'm still passionate about this idea. So if you're in the Kansas City area, and would be willing to have a design junior or senior shadow your for 3-4 hours one day, PLEASE let me know? Sometime in February, I started a project that just last month was finished and delivered samples. Since I work full-time, I don't take on many freelance clients at all. This one was fun, and I hope to do more projects with them. The Irish Center at Union Station had an Irish Winterfest, like a mini-Irish Fest, over the course of several weekends. I discovered why being sleepy and drunk are great for creativity in this article. And in this article about making ideas happen, I was quoted for my pearl of wisdom, "Under-promise and over-deliver. Every time." Thanks for reading, Cami p.s. Your good juju today: Consider sharing your knowledge with young people. Maybe they don't have to learn everything the hard way, like we did. =) When I said yes to making 100 blog entries by March 25, I didn't stop to consider that I'd fall short of ideas within the first two weeks. And this being the end of the year, and right before christmas, I'm busier than I'd like to be. I'd love to stare at the ceiling for an hour and come up with brilliant blog ideas which would inspire you, and cause you to do something wonderful daily. A girl can dream, right?
My darling mentor told me to blog about my "life in small little bits." Since I didn't start blogging regularly again until just 13 days ago, I'm going to do my year in review, by month. I have about 12 days left of the year, right? No? Oh. Ask anyone; I suck at math. Since I have no recollection of anything specific, I'll start by going to Facebook's activity log, since my the loaded calendar died with my previous phone. Damn! I played a sh!t-ton of games of Words with Friends. Ok, that's a little surprising. I mean, I know I love to play it, but damn. I mean, DAMN! Maybe I should cut back? That would certainly gain me some free time, right? Next, I see that we had Husband and I had our annual holiday party, and we made a lot of stuff "on a stick." Bacon-and-date something on a stick, chicken-something on a stick, and cheesecake-something on a stick. That reminds me, I need to schedule next month's party soon. And have a snack too; I'm hungry. My amazing friend Dyana Valentine posted this TEDxOjai video about not being sorry that got me to thinking. Good advice there. I always look forward to being around her, even if it's only once a year. Her energy is orange-zest-zingy and catchy! I finished fighting with Progressive insurance about an accident their insured driver caused. I lost. I think that's all I'm going to say about that. Ugh. I found out late in the month that my mother planned for 8 months to move away, but didn't tell me until 8 days before she planned on leaving. Yeah, I don't think I want to say anything else about that either. Ooo, more happy stuff, good! A musician friend, whom I love dearly, wrote a song just for me. Just 'cause he can. That was a great way to end the month, being appreciated. Thanks for reading, Cami p.s. Your good juju today: Time to reflect? Time to let others know they're appreciated? Absolutely! Last night, Husband and I went shopping for stuff for him. I know it's December, but he needed shoes and whatnot, and I had a 30% off coupon. I enjoy shopping with him for many reasons, two of which: he's very easy to shop for (and with), and he's as frugal as I am—always keen on a good value. But value is the key word here. There were some great-looking man boots, at a not-too-expensive price…had they been leather. They weren't. They were pleather! What are they thinking? Man-feet in pleather? Ew. I'm willing to pay a little more if the quality is good, if I'm getting a good value for the money. But so many things are so poorly manufactured. Blech. Contrarily (can you tell I like that word?), I just received my order from Sock Dreams. I abhor tights (they're called that for a reason--evil torture devices!), and prefer over-the-knee socks. Not flimsy hose that run if you look at them and don't do anything to keep me warm, but real, honest-to-goodness socks that are long enough to go over my knee, and stay there. And I'm tall, so socks that fit the bill are really hard to find. Skirts are great in the winter with warm boots and nice warm socks. The socks I got are perfect!!! They're all cotton, and even made in the U.S. My order shipped the day I placed it (Dec. 14), and I received it yesterday (Dec. 16). And shipping was free. I'm wearing a pair today. Not cheap, but an excellent value. (I recommend you visit the website if you're in the market for unusual, great quality socks, especially over-the-knee socks.) Yep, I'll be ordering from them again. Thanks for reading, Cami p.s. Great things sometimes have a higher price, and they're usually worth it. This morning I read an article that disappointed me greatly. While I try to keep this blog about things that uplift, I think this needs to be discussed, especially with religious readers.
Here's the link to the article: http://news.yahoo.com/school-yoga-tries-avoid-religious-controversy-194405733.html. Go ahead and read it now. (I'll just wait here for you.) Welcome back. What did you think of the article and, more importantly, the argument? My stance: Yoga is not to be feared for having a history steeped in religion. Yoga, in a nutshell, is a series of poses and movements that teaches you to be mindful of your breathing and aware of your body. But there are people in California threatening a lawsuit to have it stopped. "Parents opposed to the program say the classes will indoctrinate their children in Eastern religion and are not just for exercise." Have these same parents ever taken a yoga class, or done any research into what yoga is? The series of positions called "sun salutation" is worshiping the sun? First, since when is a salutation equivalent to worshiping? When you greet your neighbor, you're worshiping them? Is quiet introspection really challenging their religion? Are their religious foundations so fragile? If they're afraid of the unknown, find a way to know more about it. Yoga is not something to be feared, truly! Ok, I think I'll go do some deep breathing for a few minutes; rant concluded. Thanks for reading. —Cami p.s. Your good juju today: yoga can benefit you, no matter your age, religion, or gender (or fear level). I just ordered a magnetic telephoto lens for my phone. Imagine my surprise when the bubble envelope also produced this little dinosaur! I thought, what the hell? Why is there a little toy dinosaur in here too? For some reason, I thought this little guy might be good company to the lizard I got from one of Jim Krause's photo workshops. But I digress. I checked the packing slip, and lookie there! "Rawwwwwwr!" is listed on it! Hee hee! I just LOVE little surprises like this. It really made my day! Thanks for reading! Cami p.s. Your good juju today: Rawwwwwwr! just for fun! So many times have I seen women's lives shaped by the relationship they had (or didn't have) with their fathers!! While my father was never around much (at all!), and my parents divorced when I was 8, I knew without a doubt my father loved me unconditionally. When he did come visit, once every year or three, I knew I was the apple of his eye and would never be spoken harshly to by him. I was called "Punkin" and "Daughter" and snuggled and loved. And I ate it up! I know of a very young woman whose father calls her—to her face—a bitch. What the hell?! She's still a teenager!! How is this even possible and why is it allowed to happen? I know of a young woman whose father made it clear she would never be good enough for him. In her relationships with the boyfriends in her life, she's still trying to be good enough, and lives with a fear that she's not. What was her father thinking?!! I know of a much older woman whose father molested her as a child. She harbored a deep disgust for men and distrusted them her entire life. Why do fathers not realize the harm they're doing?! Fathers, listen up and listen up good. Love your daughters! Show your daughters, as well as tell them, that they are beautiful as they are. Show your daughters they are capable of whatever they set their minds to. Show your daughters they deserve unconditional love, and give them yours. Because my father showed me his unconditional love and support, I knew that's the kind of love I deserved. I settled for nothing less. Thanks for reading, Cami p.s. Your good juju today: Ladies, you are worthy of love whether your fathers showed you or not! |
Cami Travis-GrovesGood juju-spreader, speaker, graphic designer. I'd love to hear from you! Archives
June 2014
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