theres a lack of color here
mmm listening to death cab for cutie, one of my favorite bands. It’s monday and spirits within the office are about as dismal as the skies outside (either it’s going to rain later, or the apocalypse is coming). I don’t think anyone has quite woken up from the weekend yet. Me? my head is in europe, where I’ll be in less than 5 days : ) I’ve been researching italian phrases and trying my very best to remember some french from those 2 years in high school. So far I can remember one thing – je voudrais un petit chapeau, s’il vous plait. I’d like a small hat, please. It’s a good thing I studied french, i think that will come in handy. haha
But other than being mentally checked out, we’re also uploading Shellie Hall’s new Quark to InDesign course, for those who are considering switching programs. Apparently it’s a big step for most old school designers and major companies, which fascinates me. I’d love to do some old school type setting and splicing and printing to better understand all of these terms, or why one program is better over another. I’m dying to take a film photography course if I ever have the time to do it. But, the great thing is that Shellie goes over all that stuff in the course, and out of many of our classes this one is the whole complete package, from start to finish, shrunk into one course rather than a track. Should be interesting.
I’ll be leaving in a few minutes to pick the kittens up from the vet. They are going to be soo angry at me for getting them vaccinated and spayed, poked and prodded. : ( I don’t want their last memory of me before I leave to be one of evil needles and knives. I’ll just have to bribe them tonight with bits of alfredo noodles, their favorite. Theres nothing like bribery to win over a child or a pet, right?
The end of an era
I officially put in my notice of resignation today. I’m kinda sad about it, but the timing is right. Next wednesday will be my last day at the office before I head out for Europe. When I get back I’ll be diving right into a heavy summer class schedule in order to graduate next spring. I’ve said it before and I still maintain that this job was and is the best possible oppurtunity I have/had at this point in my life and I’m extremely thankful for it. What am I taking away from this? A knowledge of business and how “grown ups” function – I almost became one, that’s for sure. But I’m ready to have some time to focus on school and really finish college with no regrets about missed opportunities. The older I get the more I realize that life is something that you can’t really plan more than a week in advance, but you have to make choices that will lead you to happiness, which is above anything else. You choose who you work for by the caliber of people in the company, not by the company itself. And the people I’ve worked for here will forever have an impression on me as truly amazing. This week, I’m working on writing tests and posting new classes, as well as packing my things at the office, at my apt, into my suitcase. This trip sets me at a crossroads in my life, and where I go from here is anyone’s guess. Although I may not be older, certainly not old enough, I feel wiser. I hope that my next job, and most likely my first full time professional job, will land me in a place where I feel as comfortable as I was here. So to you, all 3 people that read my blog, including my mother, I bid you good night and good luck.
These are a few of my least favorite things
The fax machine is messing with me again. Unfortunately it’s a fax/copier/printer combo, so it has a multitude of evil looming under that xerox face. I’ve been wrestling with it for 20 minutes, and I’m pretty sure I can hear it laughing at me. Fantasizing about doing this:
I’m starting to think that life is just one huge exercise in frustration.
Uploading many new tests this week : ) try out your knowledge :www.xtrain.com
Hump Day!
So, it’s wednesday people and if I can make it through today, it’s all downhill to the weekend. yay! It’s been pretty quiet around the office, with the exception of everyone congratulating Tabitha on her new Aperture 2.0 class. Of course this is the first of a couple new courses Tabitha recorded on apple software, including garageband, iphoto, imovie, etc. which I’m super excited about. Lately I’ve been experimenting with video blogging and imovie, the fruits of mine and Tabitha’s labor of which can be found here. Yeah, pretty much we’re losers. Ahh the beauty of blogging by video.
YouTube and my video blog
So, Tabitha and I decided to do our first ever video blog. (Not counting the one we recorded at Macworld and lost the video to…) It’s supposed to be about the AdobeTV release but you know how the mind wanders.
Check it out, and find our videos on digg and digg them! I want to be famous…
Our personal afterthoughts:
These are also being posted to Tabi’s myspace so we will forever live in infamy…
And if we haven’t offended enough people with them, I think we will produce these for future large xTrain releases.
Adobe TV and Adobe Media Player launch with xTrain content
Adobe just announced Adobe TV and Adobe Media player today. Adobe TV is your on-line source for expert insight and inspiration. Feed your passion for Adobe products with insider tips, innovative techniques, and behind-the-scenes tours. Get to know Adobe personalities by tuning in to Russell Brown Photoshop Laboratory.
ADOBE TV IN THE HOUSE!
So, I promised a big deal and such, I have delivered. Yesterday night Adobe launched Adobe TV, a new special project that xTrain and our sister company, Splash Media produced shows for. Not only will you find all sorts of awesome xtrain content on there, but you will also find shows by Adobe created right here in our pretty little studio. Pretty cool, huh?
I know. We’re kind of a big deal. You can check out the press release here, in case you just don’t want to take my word for it.
So, I would add to this post, but all other random events in my life seem to pale in comparison. OH! except the kittens have figured out how to dive off the toilet and drag the entire roll of toilet paper onto the floor. very cute. also annoying. That’s all for now, check out the linkage people!
More great stuff on the way…
So listen up kids, tomorrow we will be recording another great Dr. Brown’s Photoshop Laboratory and it promises to be a good one. So far our prop pile for it contains pitchforks, tiki torches, and a giant lighter in the shape of a match. I can’t wait : )
But even better is all the great stuff that will be making it’s way to xtrain.com soon including Rob Sheppard’s Night Photography course and a full spectrum of classes on iLife ‘08 by the ever fabulous Tabitha Russell, which I’m mostly pretty excited about. I count those two as some of our very best instructors. I consider myself an expert on judging educators because we’ve been doing teacher evaluations all week at UTD. I consider it payback for our teachers. I wrote about 2-3 good evaluations and ripped my other teachers a new one. I really do think it takes a special kind of person to be an excellent instructor.
Also, we’re giving away free air! and not just the vital kind, but even better. Our sweepstakes to win a free macbook air is wrapped up and some very lucky lady named Sophia gets to take one home with her. Whether or not she gets mugged by jealous employees in the parking lot is another story…
One month, seven days before I leave for Europe. I am freaking out.
I think I might be a masochist.
I never really thought of myself as an overly ambitious or driven person, but I think that’s a personality trait I’ve developed. I just signed up for 11 hours of summer classes, in conjunction with the full month I will be out of the country touring Europe during my summer break. Of course, during all of this I will be working probably 20-30 hours a week as usual. Oh wait! I almost forgot. I also signed up for min. 18 hours this fall, max 21 hours depending on how many they give credit for my internship. Why so much scholastic-tastic fun you ask? Because I want to graduate college a year early so that I can transfer straight away and start an MBA program at Texas A&M. Coincidentally, they do not accept applicants without a minimum 2 years post-baccalaureate work experience except on exceptional basics. Which means that from this day forward I cannot afford to get anything less than an A in my classes, do less than spectacular at work, and MUST ace the GMAT.
Why do i feel like I need to do this? I really don’t know. It will be difficult. It will be painful. But, I’ve been feeling lately, more than ever, that I need to take full advantage of every oppurtunity I can. I feel the need to travel and get out, see the world, and do anything and everything. I guess I’ve developed a phobia of settling down.
Which is cool because xtrain videos have been traveling around the web this week too. We’re getting ready to put up over 100 videos on howstuffworks.com Right now theres just a sample of some drawing classes, but much more should be up by the middle of the week. If you were looking to learn anything graphics related, you should check it out, along with our free classes. Shellie Hall was also in the studio last week recording classes on moving from Quark to InDesign and recording her weekly podcast in our studio.
Psst, Word on the street is there will be a big announcement for xtrain and a certain other company coming up next week…
so stay tuned! You won’t want to miss it.
whelmed
“I know you can be overwhelmed, and I know you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?”
“I think you can in Europe.”
If you recognize that quote from the film masterpiece, 10 Things I Hate About You, I salute you.
I went through last week and watched some of the old movies I have with Heath Ledger in them, may he rest in peace. That of course, was just one of the things I was doing over my spring break instead of getting any real work done. Which, all of that work is now piled high on top of my little lazy head. I’m overwhelmed.
This wednesday I have my screen test for teaching my Photoshop Elements class and I’m slightly freaking out. I don’t have any issues with teaching or being on camera but I’m worried that the combination of the two will trip me up a bit. It’s easy to lose your focus when talking to a camera instead of a live audience. But, I’m also really excited about it.
Between the nerves, excitement, and stress of 8 million school projects being due this week I haven’t eaten or slept much lately. Sleeping seems to get harder and harder though with 3 rambunctious kittens eager to chew on my fingers and toes and climb my face with their claws while I’m unconscious. They’re so adorable it’s hard to discipline them, but once I’m awake I end up doing homework and working on my laptop at 4:30a in the morning. Okay, so mostly I just surf facebook and stare at my term papers. But, one of my term papers is about how computer mediated communication has changed the face of business. Of course, our internet marketing trac is a poster child for my paper, discussing the importance of search engine optimization and brand reputation management to the livelihood of an internet business is the beef of my paper. Even though its an interesting topic, motivating myself to write a term paper is never easy. I’m considering “interviewing” some people around the office to clean up my paper with quotes, but I haven’t gotten around to doing that yet.
My mind keep drifting to Europe, where I will be for an entire month this summer. yay! I’m also planning a return trip to Japan (i have some family there) for next spring. I want to rewatch some of our digital photography classes before I go so that my pictures will be fabulous. After recording Rob Sheppard’s Night Photography class with xtrain, I did some experimenting of my own with night photography. Some of the results were pretty good, if I don’t say so myself 
I’ll post some of them later. In the meantime, I have plenty to keep me busy.
