Ode to coworkers

Inspiration is a ridiculous thing to even attempt to discuss. It works in ways so convoluted and odd that it doesn't seem appropriate to announce inspiration when it does strike, as it is often the case that the person struck is the only one who sees the connection between the inspiring object, and whatever was produced by said inspiration. (Can you tell I work for lawyers now?) What I'm trying to say is that I feel like a dork when I start to write things like "I'm inspired by the colors outside today." The expression of inspired-ness often turns into a cliche because there are few ways to express the value of being inspired.

That being said, inspiration is a fact of daily life. There are triggers which inspire us to create physical objects, form ideas, start relationships, strike up conversations, and make humorous remarks. The crazy thing is that these triggers are everywhere, and often lying around unlooked-for in places buried under uninspiring and mundane facades.

To put something concrete to these ramblings, one of the things that inspires me lately is my coworkers at my retail job. (I have two jobs--one in customer service at a clothing store, one at a law office as a typist/intern.) Don't get me wrong--my coworkers often drive me crazy. In an environment in which the tone of your entire day's interactions is often set by the moods of everyone around you, it is hard not to get caught up in useless irritation sometimes. But the fact of the matter is, I am often in awe of them.

Being a writer, I am nosy as all hell. (This may seem like a non sequitur. It's not. You're welcome for the clarification.) I also tend to think I am very clever. (I am.) Through those two traits, I have cobbled together the basic pictures (some more detailed than others) of each of my colleagues' various insecurities, ambitions, histories, and daily lives. Creepy statement. But relevant, I promise.

Not wanting to be all that specific for fear of overstepping my bounds (or getting even creepier), here is what I have to say:

Working together, you can learn a lot about people. Their issues. Their tics. Their weird fantasies. Their obsessions. The things they think make them look good. The things they think make them ugly. The things YOU think make them look good or ugly. You wonder how much they've figured out about you. You wonder if they know stuff about you that you haven't figured out yet, like you're pretty sure you do about some of them. (SO MANY PRONOUNS.) You work toward a common goal but you learn about everyone's personal goals. You figure out what they do in their outside lives that affects their attitudes in the workplace. (Ew, "attitudes in the workplace"...I sound like an employee handbook. Enough of that.)

You sympathize, commiserate, and share cookies, pizza and bagels. And at the end of the day, you realize that you spend half of your life with people who are something like family, something like friends, and something like inmates. (Okay, I had to infer that last one. I haven't actually been in prison. Well, I was in one once. It was for a tour senior year of high school.)

The point is, when you work with people and pay attention you inevitably learn a bunch of crap about them.
 
And sometimes the things you learn can teach you about respect. About boundaries. About having kids. About being strong. About owning up to your bullshit. About not apologizing for the person you are and the way you choose to live, because hell, that's who you are. Sometimes the things you learn can keep you up until 11:11 (MAKE A WISH) thinking about how much you've changed for the better (and definitely for the thicker-skinned) since you descended into the scummy pit of doom that is customer relations. (It's getting late. I'm getting moody. Abort! Abort!)

Anyway, I've decided that I'm pretty lucky. I've found a place where I can be a total smart-ass and get away with it, in company with others highly skilled in the arts of smart-assery. (It's a thing. Look it up.) And I also get to be totally nosy, eat free pizza, and feel like I'm at least learning a bit about human nature (capitalism, greed, the rich, the poor, the identification of self with personal style...oh, it goes on. I think a lot.). Okay, I'm losing focus here. I just wanted to pay homage to these humans with whom I spend 20-30 hours per week in the best way I know how--rambling on paper (okay, a screen, but you get the idea). Even if none of them ever reads this (Please, God, don't let any of them ever read this. They'll think I like them or something.) I want to admit that I admire them for just showing up every day and trying really hard to do whatever they have to do to stay awesome, whatever their definition of awesome is.

I know that's a really vague description in a lot of ways, but there will be a lot more details about all of them when they show up as random fictional characters in my future novels. 

So, coworker-creatures. If you're actually reading this, stay awesome. And thanks.

My Google Search of Future Careers

What will you be when you don't grow up, Lizzy?

One of my favorite Mary Englebreit drawings

I'm in a rather cheery frame of mind regarding my future at the moment, so I thought I'd make myself a nice, multimedia list. Job descriptions, listings, and illustrations included. Kind of like a fun way of "doing my homework"?

Anyway, read on if you are interested and feel free to comment with thoughts. 

1. Obviously I will be an author. I say "obviously" because it is my dream. The occupation that I will never, ever give up on occupying. And now I've published that on the Internet, so (for those of you who didn't already know) it's official.

 It's kind of impossible to provide a job description for an author, because they/we all have their/our own methods of working, hours, etc. So here's J.K. Rowling's wiki page, 'cause she's basically living the dream, as far as I'm concerned. And here's an interview with Tamora Pierce, where she says things about fantasy that very much expresses my own thoughts on the genre. She's another of my favorite authors, who once said, either in a reading I went to or an interview I read, that she starts writing at noon every day and spends her mornings doing whatever she wants. Hello, my future.

Listing: You can't apply for author-ship. You can only write, submit, and pray. Or, write, exercise, and shower. Either way, or all of the above, but unfortunately without sending anybody your resume.

2. Journalist

The thing about journalism and me is that it's not the THING that I've wanted to do forever. You know, there's that kid who wrote for all his school papers and has already done four internships at various newspapers and watches the news like it's his favorite sitcom. And I'm just not that kid. I watch my favorite sitcom like it's my favorite sitcom. Period. (Actually, I have more than one. Specifically, they are New Girl and How I Met Your Mother. And then in the category of drama, there's Glee and Once Upon a Time. And I miss Gilmore Girls like crazy.) Writing fiction is my THING. I majored in creative writing, wrote stories starring my dolls and stuffed animals, and pranced (yes, pranced) around the house "reading" aloud something I made up out of my head while holding a book. (I have since honed my creative process. A little.) The point: I look at journalism not as a career path, but as a possible conduit for writing experience.

Listing: Editorial Intern, Syracuse, 2nd Nature LLC

3. Art director

I realize this is not a position one starts in, and this is an entirely unrealistic listing. So basically it's a pointless one. But I already looked up some stuff about being an art director, so it's getting included anyway. Plus I found a cute picture to go with it. So judge me.

Listing: Creative Director, Syracuse, Bankers Healthcare Group, Inc.


4. Public Relations

This is something I think I'd be good at on the writing side. No idea about anything else it entails, but it might be worth an internship to find out. I actually already applied to this listing, but I missed the (unspecified) fall deadline, so I'm planning to reapply in the winter. The cool thing about this one, though, is that I'd also get to work in an art museum, thus pleasing my artsy side. And actually, several of these internships look good to me as possible experiences, given that I am very open-minded about what I'd like to do career-wise outside author-ship.

Listing: Public Relations Internship, Syracuse, Everson Museum


5. Advertising/Marketing/Copywriting

Weird picture. I know. But relevant, in a tattoed-baby kind of way. (?)
Basically, my reasoning behind trying copywriting would be the same as my reasoning behind being a journalist or working in PR. It's another avenue for gaining writing experience. However, it is another really competitive field (anyone else noticing a pattern here?) in which I have only marginal interest. Basically, it would be a use-my-skills-to-pay-the-bills job until I can devote myself to being a full-time J.K. Rowling. Ahem, author.

Listing: Marketing Internship, Syracuse, Daily Orange, Corp.


6. Illustrator

Illustration by Page Tsou, more of his work here

I know this one is a bit out of left field. And it would require an education search, rather than a job search. But if I had unlimited money, this is only one of the things I would get a degree in. I love illustrations. I love art that inspires a story or a vision, that deepens the way you imagine a setting or characters. (Clearly I'm talking about book illustration here.) But again...super-competitive field. And a huge commitment, time-wise. If I were really going to be an illustrator, it would have to be my dream at least almost as much as writing is my dream. So it remains a big, fat, maybe. But it is still included in the list, as much because I want to explore a future in something artistic as anything else.


7. Something in design.

Okay, clearly, I'm getting lazy. And tired. Ouchy eyes tired. Making up words like "ouchy" and typing them out tired.

Anyway, those are the career possibilities I've given real thought to. Top choice is, as always, making up stories. Second choice would (if money were not an object) be something artsy, which would involve going back to school. (Actually, I will probably go back for my masters within the next few years, it's just that I want to do more artistically than I do now. I don't care if it results in a BFA, but my dream life includes art as well as writing. But I digress.) Third choice would be all these money-making using-what-I-learned-in-college-to-sell-stuff-to-people options.

Next time, on Lizzy's Career Decisions Lists:
Basket Weaving
Scuba Diver Instructing
Porpoise Training
Circus Motorcycle Driving

 Actually, I would love to run away with the circus...I wonder if Cirque du Soliel is hiring art directors with tons of imagination and no experience...

I'm Back!

Hallo, blogfriends.

I have been back in the USA for about a month now, and this is my first blog post, so yay!

Some thoughts on recent events (In no particular order):


The Olympics: London is so cool. I didn't get to explore much of it when I was there (IT IS ENORMOUS) but I like revisiting it through the bike races. And the opening ceremony was awesome. Also, poor Jordyn Wieber! I love watching the women's gymnastics stuff, and this is the first time I've been older than, like, ALL of them. And it must be really hard going through whatever you go through when you're 16 on top of being a world class athlete and needing to have that kind of discipline. Anyway, random tangent.

My goddaughter: I had a visit from Beth and Diana last week! For those who don't know, Beth is an old friend from church. We met when I was 5 and she was 16 and I fell in love with her peekaboo skills. Anyway, 17 years later (wow) I am her daughter's godmother. And she is the cutest, smartest, best little toddler I've ever met (no bias whatsoever). We had a great time when they were here, mostly in the pool. She LOVES the pool. It's hysterical. Anyway, we got to be quite good buddies, and she might even be able to say my name the next time I see her. (She's only 20 months, and "Lizzy" is a tough one. I'm currently Yi-yi.)

My trip to Europe: It was amazing. I stayed in hostels. I went with my friend Sarah for the whole thing and we met up with Loryn for about a week and a half of it. I went to all the cities on my previous list (to reiterate: Milan, Venice, Florence, Siena, Pisa, Rome, Florence again, Milan again, London, Paris). My favorites were Florence, London, and Paris. Venice was also beautiful and a ton of fun to explore (and shop in) but the leather markets in Florence just killed me (seriously, along with a large chunk of cash, I think I left part of my soul there).

Some highlights (Also in no particular order):
- Art exhibits in Paris on Degas' bathers and da Vinci's Saint Anne with Jesus and the Virgin Mary (one of my favorite Renaissance paintings anyway, and seeing it on this trip was so amazing).

-The beach in Pisa, where I found a live starfish and a live hermit crab, swam in the Mediterranean, built a sand castle, and learned how to duggie on top of a boulder.

-The exhibit Americans in Florence (in Florence) of Impressionists like John Singer Sargent and Mary Cassat and a bunch of others that I walked through twice because I liked it so much.

-The aforementioned leather market in Florence, which was full of color and vendors and people and where I spent more money than I had.

-The Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens in London, where Sarah and I went with Del, a family friend on my mom's side who had us stay with her (She's 84, and her late husband met my grandfather during World War II in Trafalgar Square in London and invited him over for tea). It was one of my favorite moments. I love Peter Pan and I love fairies, and the statue had tons of fairies, with Peter on top playing the flute. They put up the statue at night so that the children would think it was a gift from the fairies. I could go on about that statue for ages.

-Having 2 buses break down on the way from Rome to Florence. It took 3 buses to get us there, and we were waiting at a gas station for at least an hour in between the last 2, so the three of us had a sing-along. I think we entertained some of the older Italian onlookers.

-Gelato.

-My peaceful afternoon in Paris's Luxembourg Gardens with my camera and my kindle (soon to be uploaded to facebook).

-Getting home.

-Sketching in Venice and Florence and Paris. Sketching in a lot of places, actually.

-The waiters--We had funny ones, flirtatious ones, and some that were a mix of both and spoke imperfect English. Such as the one in Pisa who said "I know my chickens" when he was talking about the three of us. Probably meant "chicks." But we liked chickens better.

-The handmade candle shop in Siena. It was really cool to see all their candles hung up, on shelves, just everywhere. There were tons of colors, and they had melted wax in regular old spoons (probably for painting details) suspended over larger vats of wax, so you could tell they made them right in the shop.

-Fish and chips at a pub in London (now I'm hungry).

As for what I'm doing next, we shall see. I am hoping to join a writer's group that meets in Syracuse, and maybe go to some figure drawing classes (expensive) and join a book club (hopefully free). So for the immediate future, I will continue to live with my parents (did I mention that I'm completely out of money after this trip? Still working, but paying off some debt for the foreseeable future. Not exactly going on shopping sprees). And I will be trying to write. Not so much here, but I will be writing. Let's go, dream-followers. We can do this.

Ciao and cheers!

Updates on le grande TRIP

1. I am pretty sure Sarah and I are going to do a mask-making workshop in Venice. It's kind of expensive, but it's also kind of like a master craft class/history lesson through art. Sooo I'm game.

2. There will be a gelato festival in Florence while all three of us are there the first time around. Um. Thank you, gods of food, travel, and timing?

(I found a link for the festival too, but the website's in Italian. So just use your imaginations as to how awesome this will be.)

3. I'm probably not going to be blogging much (if at all) while I'm there. I don't know that this really impacts anyone, but the facts of the matter be: we will be traveling around a lot, I will be journaling, and I won't be bringing my lovely little Bertha. (My laptop. She can't help being a Bertha any more than I can help naming her.) So I will probably post about it when I get back. That, or I'll skip posting about the trip, and I'll end up posting about my post-trip anxiety about not knowing what I'm doing next with my life. (Since you ask, currently I am all back-up plan and very little Plan A. But hey. Europe's inspiring. Right?)

Holy Guacamole, I'm Going to Europe.

I'm actually leaving. Tuesday, to be precise, but today I'm going to stay with my grandma in Westchester, and I'm staying until my flight. I can't believe it. This trip still feels like a crazy fantasy, only now I feel like I'm about to drive to the house that contains the wardrobe through which Narnia is available. (Yep. It's gonna be THAT magical.)

The tentative list of cities I posted in an earlier post ended up being correct, but here is a slightly more detailed itinerary:

Milan (The Last Supper and shopping)

Venice (Tours of lacemaking and glassmaking factories, gondola rides, and the opera!)

Florence (for a couple of days--chilling and exploring)

Pisa (as in, the Leaning Tower of)

Siena (BEACH DAY and a cute b&b)

Rome (Tour of the Vatican, a night walk tour, and a tour of the catacombs!)

Florence (This time a more extended visit)

Milan (ditto)

London (Staying in a family friend's home, and being crazy tourists.)

Paris (Art art art shopping shopping shopping art. Nough said.)

Reasons I'm excited:
1. The things I'm going to see. Architecture, historical landmarks, ART ART ART, and the beaches.

2. The shopping. Designer stores, markets, the LEATHER, lace and glass from Venice, scarves from Paris; you name it, I'm psyched to bring something home from it. (Are Parisian scarves a thing? I feel like they are, although maybe that's just because one of my college roommates had some. I love scarves though, so I'll probably buy some there regardless. AAHH I'M GOING TO PARIS!)

3. The food. Pasta, pizza, pasta, wine, cheese, bread, nutella, pasta, gnocchi, and PASTA. 

4. Getting lost. I'm actually really excited to wander the streets of Venice, Florence, Rome, London, and Paris. I've heard it's the best way to see a city, and I am positive it's a great way to get inspired. Which, for me, is part of what this trip is about: inspiration for writing, art, and finding/creating a frame of mind that will help me stay happy in the next year while I figure out what I'm doing with my life.

5. The people I'm going with. I wish I could bring everyone I love on this trip, but as things are, I have two of the best travel buddies I could ask for. I'm soo psyched to be tripping around Europe with Sarah and Loryn. THIS IS GONNA BE AWESOME!!!! :-D

Hello, Europe. Nice boot you've got on there.

Dear Blogfriends,

I'm going to Italy! And France! And probably London!

I just bought the plane tickets for the trip I'm taking this summer. Since August, this has been my post-undergrad year off, and as I hoped, prayed, and swore I would do, I'm finally using it to work toward a trip to Europe.

I'm incredibly excited about this trip. I'm going with two of my best friends, one of whom will be touring around Europe with me more extensively, the other of whom will be there exclusively for the Italy part.

List of cities I will be visiting:
Milan
Venice
Florence
Rome
Pisa
Paris
London 

I will post more when I know what our more specific plans are. We may try to visit more places in France (And I'm not 100% sure about London yet), but those are the definite ones so far.

This is a super rough map of the trip.

We will be arriving in Milan and leaving from Paris, and visiting a lot of places in Italy during the first couple weeks of the trip. So far the rest of the trip is not that detailed, but I'm looking forward to planning it! 

Please, those of you who have been to these places, post recommendations (or email me) of where to go for shopping, eating, art, and music (like any pubs where local artists play or anything). Keep in mind that I will be short on funds, although I will be working right up until we leave in May, so I might end up with more than my estimated budget...a girl can dream! 

Coming Soon:
The Clothes I Want To Wear in Europe
Shopping in My Closet
and/or
Packing For a Trip Way Too Far Ahead of Time.

The Restless Bum

Okay, I haven't been anywhere except New York in over a year. I'm getting The Restless Bum.


It feels like this:

 

Source

When it looks at pictures like this:

Source

It gets turned on by this: 

Source

And it is wearing these pants:

Source

...
I really gotta get out of here.

Missing Summer

I miss summer so much that I have been going through the pages of Vogues and staring crazily at the pictures involving the ocean. And bathing suits. And short skirts.

I have been listening to Yellowcard, and MIKA, and other rock-ish kinds of stuff that reminds me of summer vacation. I'm listening to 3 Doors Down, for crying out loud. I don't even know where I got 3 Doors Down. (Katy, if you are reading this, I need new music. Anything MIKA--I'll tell you what I already have. And if anyone else feels like exchanging mix cds, I would be down. Ahh, mix cds! Another thing that reminds me of summer!!! Or maybe just high school..)

 Soo here are some pictures that make summer feel a bit closer when I look at them...

Source

Source

Source: Because of this blog, ladders are my new favorite things.

Source: Pretty sundresses from Dolce and Gabbana spring 2012 collection.

Source

 

Source: Santorini Blog. Only the most beautiful place on Earth.

Same source as above.

So if you, like me, are sick of wearing the same warm pair of blue jeans all the time, leggings under your pants, and nothing with flowers on it, I feel your pain. And I hope we can all find some summery things to pull us through these crazy months.

Watercolor inspiration

I've been thinking about doing watercolors again. I did a ton of them when I worked on my fairy book for Mixed Media, but since then I've pretty exclusively used oils. (Although some of those have been really watery, so maybe it halfway counts.)

So here are some inspirational watercolors, to get me excited about maybe painting again.

 

Source: artist's website

I love making my own cards. I've never seen this technique before, with the watercolor and then the metallic cutouts over it. They must use a special stamp and emboss, or maybe it's metallic paper glued on top? Very crafty. If I could figure out the technique, it would be sooo easy to make variations.

Source: someone's blog

Source: Design M.AG. Some really awesome watercolors here.

Source: Keith Williams' Behance
This is probably my favorite from this post.

If you've never heard of Behance, it's an artists' network where you can post your work, and I think you can also buy artists' work. I have an account, but it's really a fan account so that I can check out art I love. This is my favorite artist on Behance: Sveta Dorosheva. I love his/her (foreign name..? Boy for now.) art so much that his profile is on my bookmarks bar. Here's one of his paintings, which I think is ink and watercolor, although I honestly can't figure out which materials this person uses...

Sveta Dorosheva book illustrations

Source: Stina Persson's Watercolor Portfolio

This one has to be partly digital. But even besides that fact, how can someone have this much control when painting with watercolors?? And get colors this bright? Maybe it's a different medium. Like gouache. Which I've never used, but it sounds really fun. Just the word gouache. Right?

Funny Food

Every now and then, when I am in the kitchen or at the market with my mom, or just moving through life, I come across some funny food. There are no rules. It could be a coincidence that the food item looks the way it does. Or it could be that an opportunity for a comic edible arrangement has presented itself, and I am not to be denied in this situation.

I know there are a few famous carrot pictures floating around out there. I may not have anything quite that groundbreaking (hahaha groundbreaking...carrots are roots...get it?), but I humbly submit my own findings for your viewing pleasure.

Sometimes when my mom makes hard-boiled eggs, she drops just one of them into the pot a little less delicately than the others...hence Spermy Egg.

No caption necessary.

This is just an arrangement I did at a dining hall in Binghamton one day. Dr. Pepper's weird older brother--Green Pepper. (With a 'stache.)

This is from when I worked at Thanks a Latte (RIP). I came out into the parking lot one day (clearly in the middle of winter) and this cupless frozen soda was too perfectly soda-shaped to pass.

Okay, like the green pepper face, Hummus Yoda is man-made. Note the chip mouth.

This zucchini looks like a bird who's embarrassed about something...I'm naming him Bashful Bill.

Duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh Butt-shroom! Yeah, I just pulled out the Batman theme for this.

Eggbert.

These are from this Thanksgiving. My mom made Soup in a Pumpkin--an amazing, delicious recipe--and it turned out that the squash was the same size as the turkey. Awesome. And delicious.

 

And, last but not least, introducing the food item that started me off on funky food photography....


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...

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This is my good old friend, The Happy Tomato. This picture is from 2008? 2009? Either way, this is the veggie that got me going, and to it (him), I will always be grateful.