creative geek sheek

I often say "I revel in my creative geekiness".  Over the past few weeks, this couldn't be further from the truth.

It started with a phone call from my dear friend Dan - from the ICU at Froedtert.  Apparently, a pulmonary embolism will land you in ICU.  Yes, it freaked me out.   However, he asked me to essentially run Southeastern Wisconsin Arts Guild (SWAG) for the week he was in ICU.  And in the same (faint) breath, he promoted me to SWAG Vice President.  (note:  I personally never thought I'd be a vice president of anything).  In that one week, I learned quite a bit more about social media and running this little arts & culture information we've got going.  

The good news:  I was able to take what I have learned and apply it to MJ Care's social media sites, which I created and currently maintain.  Yes, I am becoming a little guru in this area.  And no, I'm not going to bombard you with the links.  The better news:  Dan is recovering at home and slowly getting back to work. 

I also created professional  Twitter account:  @rjl_creative.  I swear, I am not a tweet-aholic.  Why a new account, you ask?  The professional account shows potential freelance employers will see I keep abreast on issues and trends in the marketing/communications industry.  My original @beckerbean account follows many a political & social sites (read: Democratic Party & Hash House Harriers).  While I don't care if my friends know my views on politics or that I hash (because chances are, they already do), any professional contacts or fellow marketing communications folks don't need to know. Additionally, they don't need to know my random brain spew.  On the flip side, friends who don't give a crap about social media, design, marketing, etc. don't have to read about it (although I think you should anyway, even if it's just to humor me).  But really, it was to separate the professional and the personal.  

I also updated my resume to add the SWAG position and to match my website (news on that in a teeny bit).  However, I learned I really shouldn't do that at work.  Keith (my wonderful boss) saw me working on it Friday and this morning, he asked me point blank if I was looking for another job.  I had to reassure him that I was just adding the part-time SWAG position.  Apparently, he doesn't want to lose me as an employee - and I really didn't mean to freak the guy out.  Once he calmed down, he did say the design itself was "striking".  I will say, however, it is nice to be needed and appreciated. 

But the biggest news is that my rjlcreative.com site is complete!!!  I will admit that this will always be a work in progress, but all the links are up (and functioning) and it includes all the facets of what I do.  I still need to brush up on HTML/CSS, but I think I did pretty well with my trial-by-fire skills.  Now I just need to get out there and get some freelance jobs.

So if you don't hear from me for a while, I'm likely immersed in a graphic design or a social media site - or perhaps both.  But definitely reveling in my creative geekiness.

in business....kind of

I finally took the plunge.  

Not only did I create the logo for rjl creative (complete with swirl as promised), but I also registered the domain name of rjlcreative.com. I even have some resemblance of a website on said domain.  

It still truly is a work in progress, so please bear with me, but at least it's finally out there. Again, I figured if I actually published it on the interwebs for the world to see, I might be motivated to finish it faster.  

Now if only I could figure out the code for a non back-ass-halfwards way of creating a gallery for some of the pages. 

If you feel so inclined, check it out! 

freelance?

I think it's really about time to develop/promote my freelance site (and subsequently promote a freelance business). Yes, it is relatively slow at work so I should be working on something, right?

I have the site layout configured in my head; it's just a matter of getting on the interwebs in a cohesive, somewhat "pretty" fashion. I think I've discovered a way add designs and photography without having the upload each piece individually. And thankfully, I have a little above basic knowledge of html, xml and css.

However, the hardest part has been creating the logo. No, I'm not a fan of the current one. You'd think that if I could design logos for others, this would be a piece of cake (or in my case, pie). Nope. Just like in life, it's hardest do to things for yourself. Sadly, I've probably been using this as a crutch for not getting myself out there.

The good news is that I have a few logos created but not unveiled to anyone...yet (but the swirl is involved). The bad news is that I can't seem to escape red and green (my favorite colors), which might explain why I prefer blue and silver at Christmas.

The catch is trying to decide on one, then I won't have any more excuses. Or that's what I'll keep telling myself.

behind the lens

By the end of this month, I may have actually succeeded in getting my trip pics from Spain (2010), Greece (2008) and the Baltic Sea (2006) into photo books. Better late than never, I must say. This may be a sign of the apocalypse.

As one would expect, Spain was the easiest to complete as I was there the most recent and it was the freshest in my mind, followed by Greece. The Baltic cruise proved to be a bit more difficult as I couldn't really differentiate between Denmark and Sweden at first (or fifth) glance. Eventually it all started to run together. And based upon the number of pictures taken, I had an affinity for the Slavic areas of Russia and Estonia as well as Germany. (I'm Polish & German....go figure).

Yes, it was nice take the pictorial view of my travels. However, in looking at the photos from 2006 and then the ones four years later, I noticed something. I believe my photographic eye has improved.

As someone who doesn't brag about her talents (or lack thereof), this is of revelation-type proportions. Maybe Spain is easier to photograph, than say Finland, thus the photos came out better. Well, at least it's more intriguing - no offense to the Finns. Then I thought it could have been the camera, but I used the same camera in 2006 and 2008. There's even a difference between those two years, the Greece more exciting than Finland argument aside. But even after (over)rationalizing, I came to the same conclusion: the photos really are better. (Note: you can actually judge for yourself by viewing my photo blog. Yes, this is a shameless plug.)

It is true that I did have a photography interest when I was younger, and even took a class in high school. And this was old school with the film developing in the darkroom. I even had a fancy-schmancy camera and everything. But the female teacher favored the boys, so I somewhat lost interest (and maybe sheer stubbornness played a part as well). After that, I pretty much only took photos of friends and stuff. Nothing serious.

It was the Baltic cruise that piqued my interest again.

After that cruise, I started carrying my camera around a bit more often just to get a little more "experience" behind the lens. Of course this also sometimes leads to taking pictures whilst driving, which is not recommended. It also led to the role of being official photographer where I work, which includes visiting facilities and capturing the therapist/patient interaction for marketing materials. Another example of how a hobby became part of my career.

Nowadays, I almost aways have my (or work) camera on me. Yes, I may very well be that person along the lakefront or driving down I-94 with her camera in hand. However, photography has allowed me to capture life's moments such as a rainbow over the Marquette interchange to a nine-month old stuffing his face with avocado, as well as to have a visual memoir of my travels. While I do enjoy sharing my photos (especially the travel ones) if asked, I really photograph for myself - simply for the art and escapism of it all.

To quote Ferris Bueller's Day Off: "Life goes by pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Photography allows us to stop, observe and capture those life's moments that we might otherwise miss, forever.