Here Goes Everything

Today is my last day working part-time at the local college here in Grays Harbor. It's been fun bringing in entertainment and putting on and planning events like giant bowling and lunch time karaoke, but it's summer time now (despite the warning email I got this morning about possible lightning strikes on campus) and I've got lots of other projects to get working on!

I've got three major goals or guiding values on my list:

1. Quality > Quantity. I will be focusing on taking all of the things that I do and figuring out how to slim it all down to the top quality projects, then making those things even better.

2. Connect. I love people. I love fast paced environments. I know that if I don't spend some time focusing on ways to stay connected to these things, I will become discouraged and end up spending my days watching The Wonder Years on Netflix and eating way too many burritos.

3. Make some money! Let's get real. I've got bills to pay...

By Banter Banner

Here's the short-ish list of things I'll be doing this summer:

• Use writing as an excuse to have more adventures in Grays Harbor. Drag my camera and friends along and post it all up here, here, here and here.
• Relaunch Gray's General Store... I've got some big ideas including an online store, new product lines and a co-working space!
• More picnics. Fancy ones. Like how they do in Portland.
• More hammocks.
• Fill my brain with inspiring and educational books, podcasts and videos... like this one:

Chris Glass - Designer for Wire & Twine from CreativeMornings/Cincinnati on Vimeo.

• Attempt to take on creative and self-improvement projects that I hear about in these books, podcasts and videos (... a photo a day like Chris Glass does... maybe).
• More, more, more copywriting, marketing and advertising projects!
• Get back into my running and yoga routine.
• Ride my bike more so I can have thoughtful and deep contemplations on my place in this world like my friend Kelly Hogaboom.
• Host a backyard music festival/camp-out.
• Try to help get a few businesses off the ground for friends and family.
• Generally (and hopefully) not be too lazy.

Wish me luck! (please... I'll need it)

Apple's Got INTENTIONS

I am totally fascinated with this ad.

Apple wins again. They take an inspirational design philosophy and somehow turn it into an inspirational life philosophy... so, naturally, I must buy this thing (or things, I suppose) and cling to these ideals.

if everyone is busy making everything

busy... it's like a dirty word. And, yes... my attention is really divided among so many things...

how can anyone perfect anything?

what am I doing with my life?

we start to confuse convenience with joy

Holy crap. Am I happy? Did a buddhist monk write this ad?

abundance with choice

yes.... ok. I've been to the Cheesecake Factory. I've tried to order from their 20 page menu. Abundance is not always a good thing.

designing something requires focus.

eeek. I need to focus. What do I want in life?

delight

yes...

surprise

want...

love

need...

connection

I suddenly feel like I need a hug

then we begin to craft around our intention

that's a word that seems lost in our culture. It sounds so serious... and... intentional.

it takes time

I'm so impatient... I should work on that.

there are a thousand no's for every yes

O_O

simplify

I need to clean out my closet

we perfect

I want to perfect something

start over

life is so hard sometimes

until everything we touch

where's that hug?

enhances each life it touches

I want to change the world

only then do we sign our work.

Oh, right. This is an ad. But I have so many feelings now. What do I do now? Buy the new Mac Pro? Maybe...

Ready, Set...

Running a business is hard work! It has been made more difficult by the fact that I'm still working my full time job and trying to grow this business to be big enough to support myself by the 17th of September, but... whew.

I'm constantly trying to keep up with customers, update facebook, twitter, find people to work with on websites, photography, advertising, posting on craigslist and other classifieds, getting all of my paperwork and legal stuff in line, reqruiting new customers, and... oh yeah... actually making my product. It's been a hectic few weeks and I bounce between wondering if I'm actually making any progress!

I am so ready to go for this full time!

Want

I've got some news. Three weeks from today I will be leaving my full-time event planning gig. It has been a really interesting experience and I have learned a lot, particularly about management - the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I am very excited to see what happens next in my career and I'm sure big things lie ahead of me. But, I will definately take what I've learned here along with me wherever I go.

This train of thought was sparked by this article from inc.com: 10 Things Employees Want Most. You tell me, if you got all of the things on this list from your workplace, would you ever leave?

1. Employees want purpose.
2. Employees want goals.
3. Employees want responsibility.
4. Employees want autonomy.
5. Employees want flexibility.
6. Employees want attention.
7. Employees want opportunities for innovation.
8. Employees want open-mindedness.
9. Employees want transparency.
10. Employees want compensation.

After years of management classes in business school, I think this sums everything up very well. When it comes time for me to be a manager of my staff, I plan to post this prominently on my office wall.

My Vintage Year

I know I am crazy.

But I'm also crazy for vintage travel trailers and my birthday is coming up so...

What if a bunch of people gave me a couple of bucks and I could buy this little baby!

Let's get real here. This thing costs $2000. I have officially applied to have this project hosted by Kickstarter.com but that's a bit of a process.

My plan: Buy this trailer and turn it into my craft studio/home if I become homeless for some reason. I would totally remodel the thing, paint it, throw my Queen B Quilts logo up there. It would be amazing.

So, I'm not kidding (please refer yourself here, here, here, andhere. Help me out! You can give me a really great birthday gift and hopefully it will add up to a number that will warrant me buying this cute 1955 Vintage Duggan canned ham. If I don't get at least $1400 from this fundraising effort I will return all of your hard earned money (just make sure your mailing address is correct).

Thanks guys!

Let's See...

I Love You a Little $2.00 I'll Give Up a Beer for You $5.00 Pickpocketing is a Crime $10.00 I heard American Apparel is Going Under Anyway.... $20.00 I'd Like to Reserve a Night $100.00

A List

Obviously, things have been a little crazy around here lately. I'm still limping quite a bit due to my sprained ankle and I've been all over the place trying to run my summer events. In about 2 weeks things should be slowing down again (finally!).

Here are a few things I've been reading about lately:

-When Less is More in Consumer Choice

-Are you an Early Bird Entreprenuer?

-Retail Analytics

-Researching Packaging Design for a new project I'm working on

-Finding new things to do on Friday Nights

Post 101...

... and I'm ready to hit the road.

New goal: Save up enough money to quit everything and take my life on the road for at least 3 months.

Jennifer O'Keefe has lived my dream. See her pictures of The Great American Road Trip.

Listening to: The Helio Sequence