Jericho: Kitten Hunting
In an attempt to keep up with Mighty Max, I will do a Day in the Life post - right here before your eyes! Actually, today was a little more interesting than average, so it might be worth a shot.
As some of you know, we put down one of our cats a couple of months ago. Punky was old and in poor health. So, we have only had our two here since then. But, it's that time of year, litters start arriving to the shelters by the truck load. We have been talking about adding to our herd for a while now. Steph has long wanted an orange colored cat, she had a great marmalade colored kitty growing up; Odie. She would like to get a pair of kittens who can grow up together as pals. We feel that a pair of kittens will play with each other, and leave our oldest cat, Tigger, alone with her paranoia. We also feel that a pair of kittens will totally terrorize our youngest, Wesley, as it should be. Amen.
We knew today would be the day to go look. Shelters are starting to gear up for the season. The Humane Society hosted an event today that peaked our interest. They took over a window at Barney's in Downtown, Seattle. There, they placed a male model with a load of kittens to play with - very Benetton. The kittens were cute, as all kittens are. But, we are looking for long haired kitties as well as an orange one if possible. No luck at Barney's.
Next was a sheleter in Everett. By ths point, my alergies were out of control. The weather here in Seattle has been very odd. We have in the last two weeks gone from thunderstorms and unseasonable cold, to balmy, clear, high 80's and warmer. For we web footed Northwesterners, this is a lot to bear. Along with the heat, pollen and mold counts are through the roof. Add in a little cat dander, and I'm a walking mucus factory. If we could figure out a way to harness the power of a human sneeze, I'm sure I alone could keep the west coast from seeing a rolling black out ever again.
The shelter wasn't as filled with kittens as we had been lead to believe. The few there were either in quarantine, still nursing or already adopted. That just left the feeling that one was standing in a cat prison. I hate shelters. Steph likes them because she feels that it's a hopeful thing - these cats will eventually go to good homes. I just end feeling like I'm not doing enough to help these poor animals that just want to be loved and let out of their cages. Depressing.
Back home to the too-hot house. We have one window unit air conditioner in the bed room. I lay down in there for a while to allow my alergies to ease off and let my meds do their work. I slept through most of two movies - in one dream, cast members of Ghostbusters were having a terrible arguement. I'm afraid their team will never be the same.
I woke up and Steph had been on the phone with more shelters. We will probably go look for more kittens tomorrow. We went to find an air conditioned restaurant for dinner. We decided on pizza - we're back on Adkins next week - we mean it this time. Then, off for DQ Blizzards!
One of the main things I did today was avoid working on my comic strip. I have zilch for this week. I have no strips, no scripts, no photography - nothing. This was my fear, that I would let myself get behind - and I've gotten behind at the worst time. Work has gotten on my final nerve - I'm just so stressed out I don't know what to do next. Anything requiring cncentration is beyond my grasp. This is what killed my last attempt at a comic strip. On top of this, I have struck upon an idea, and as Max will tell you, I am a sucker for a new project. I think the strip might come to an end, much sooner than I thought it would. We'll see. I love doing the strip, but, I was hoping it would take off sooner than it has. I have thrown a lot of money at it and seen no return. I've done a lot of work and no recognition. There comes a point when you have to admit that an idea isn't flying. I'm very close to admitting that. Besides, I need a way out of the 9 to 5 thing, and the strip isn't getting me there.
So, what's the idea? Well, here, have a look at this. Okay, it's a girl in a pink tee shirt, right. The shirt is by Buddhist Punk, the tee shirt features pictures of members of the Rolling Stones. So, this is licensed merchandice from the Rolling Stones and a new, hot design house. But, click on the pic and check out the price. Yup, $128, for a tee shirt! If you look around the Internet, you can find other Buddhist Punk creations - I haven't found anything less than $75 and I have found things for a WHOLE LOT more. None of this stuff is made in any outstanding way or of any insanly cool materials. It's all just silk screen on rayon and cotton - they aren't even handmade. So, I started thinking, if I design something, that makes me a designer. What if I started to produce one of a kind, hand made, silk screened and air brushed tee shirts. Outragious designs and every one of them with it's own serial number - guaranteeded to be unique! I can sell them on-line to start. Set up a store front, put a few on eBay, etc. I can make stuff as good as these dufuses and I'll charge half the price! Designer chic for the masses! And, I won't just make shirts in "small" either! Fuck that! Guys who wear 7X shirts wanna look cool, too! Besides - it's a bigger canvas for me to do my thing on. Rock, rock on!
Now, I just have to learn how to do silk screening, get the junk to do it with and find some space in the garage to set up shop. This idea appeals to my creative side. I like the idea of working on a product that feeds my creative need and will serve a functon when I finish. I also like the idea of sticking it to the fashion elite! My little protest in the battle against stupidity. Who knows - maybe I will become a big-time designer and I'll be able to sell a $5 tee-shirt with a $1 worth of acrylic paint for $200 some day. And, maybe Jean Paul Gaultier will fly out of my butt.
Or, I could just go play with my action figures and camera and complete a project for once!
As some of you know, we put down one of our cats a couple of months ago. Punky was old and in poor health. So, we have only had our two here since then. But, it's that time of year, litters start arriving to the shelters by the truck load. We have been talking about adding to our herd for a while now. Steph has long wanted an orange colored cat, she had a great marmalade colored kitty growing up; Odie. She would like to get a pair of kittens who can grow up together as pals. We feel that a pair of kittens will play with each other, and leave our oldest cat, Tigger, alone with her paranoia. We also feel that a pair of kittens will totally terrorize our youngest, Wesley, as it should be. Amen.
We knew today would be the day to go look. Shelters are starting to gear up for the season. The Humane Society hosted an event today that peaked our interest. They took over a window at Barney's in Downtown, Seattle. There, they placed a male model with a load of kittens to play with - very Benetton. The kittens were cute, as all kittens are. But, we are looking for long haired kitties as well as an orange one if possible. No luck at Barney's.
Next was a sheleter in Everett. By ths point, my alergies were out of control. The weather here in Seattle has been very odd. We have in the last two weeks gone from thunderstorms and unseasonable cold, to balmy, clear, high 80's and warmer. For we web footed Northwesterners, this is a lot to bear. Along with the heat, pollen and mold counts are through the roof. Add in a little cat dander, and I'm a walking mucus factory. If we could figure out a way to harness the power of a human sneeze, I'm sure I alone could keep the west coast from seeing a rolling black out ever again.
The shelter wasn't as filled with kittens as we had been lead to believe. The few there were either in quarantine, still nursing or already adopted. That just left the feeling that one was standing in a cat prison. I hate shelters. Steph likes them because she feels that it's a hopeful thing - these cats will eventually go to good homes. I just end feeling like I'm not doing enough to help these poor animals that just want to be loved and let out of their cages. Depressing.
Back home to the too-hot house. We have one window unit air conditioner in the bed room. I lay down in there for a while to allow my alergies to ease off and let my meds do their work. I slept through most of two movies - in one dream, cast members of Ghostbusters were having a terrible arguement. I'm afraid their team will never be the same.
I woke up and Steph had been on the phone with more shelters. We will probably go look for more kittens tomorrow. We went to find an air conditioned restaurant for dinner. We decided on pizza - we're back on Adkins next week - we mean it this time. Then, off for DQ Blizzards!
One of the main things I did today was avoid working on my comic strip. I have zilch for this week. I have no strips, no scripts, no photography - nothing. This was my fear, that I would let myself get behind - and I've gotten behind at the worst time. Work has gotten on my final nerve - I'm just so stressed out I don't know what to do next. Anything requiring cncentration is beyond my grasp. This is what killed my last attempt at a comic strip. On top of this, I have struck upon an idea, and as Max will tell you, I am a sucker for a new project. I think the strip might come to an end, much sooner than I thought it would. We'll see. I love doing the strip, but, I was hoping it would take off sooner than it has. I have thrown a lot of money at it and seen no return. I've done a lot of work and no recognition. There comes a point when you have to admit that an idea isn't flying. I'm very close to admitting that. Besides, I need a way out of the 9 to 5 thing, and the strip isn't getting me there.
So, what's the idea? Well, here, have a look at this. Okay, it's a girl in a pink tee shirt, right. The shirt is by Buddhist Punk, the tee shirt features pictures of members of the Rolling Stones. So, this is licensed merchandice from the Rolling Stones and a new, hot design house. But, click on the pic and check out the price. Yup, $128, for a tee shirt! If you look around the Internet, you can find other Buddhist Punk creations - I haven't found anything less than $75 and I have found things for a WHOLE LOT more. None of this stuff is made in any outstanding way or of any insanly cool materials. It's all just silk screen on rayon and cotton - they aren't even handmade. So, I started thinking, if I design something, that makes me a designer. What if I started to produce one of a kind, hand made, silk screened and air brushed tee shirts. Outragious designs and every one of them with it's own serial number - guaranteeded to be unique! I can sell them on-line to start. Set up a store front, put a few on eBay, etc. I can make stuff as good as these dufuses and I'll charge half the price! Designer chic for the masses! And, I won't just make shirts in "small" either! Fuck that! Guys who wear 7X shirts wanna look cool, too! Besides - it's a bigger canvas for me to do my thing on. Rock, rock on!
Now, I just have to learn how to do silk screening, get the junk to do it with and find some space in the garage to set up shop. This idea appeals to my creative side. I like the idea of working on a product that feeds my creative need and will serve a functon when I finish. I also like the idea of sticking it to the fashion elite! My little protest in the battle against stupidity. Who knows - maybe I will become a big-time designer and I'll be able to sell a $5 tee-shirt with a $1 worth of acrylic paint for $200 some day. And, maybe Jean Paul Gaultier will fly out of my butt.
Or, I could just go play with my action figures and camera and complete a project for once!
posted by Jericho Brown at 5/28/2005 12:46:00 PM
9 Comments:
Now that was interesting. Feel free to keep it coming.
That said, lack of follow through is going to be what finishes us.
I'm not sure, but I think I'm insulted: "if I design something, that makes me a designer."
So why the hell have I been going to school all this time? I've designed stuff since I was a kid- cartoon characters, t-shirts, fonts- you name it. (I designed it, but no one said it was good!)
Anyway, the reality of it is that some people have a gift for design and don't need the schooling, while other's must go study design prinicples and color theories. I have a gift that just needs honing. I did OK work, but with my schooling, I do better work. Hopefully someday I'll do brilliant work and have a damn job doing it.
Oh yeah... the "day in the life" thing is quite interesting and I dig it. Keep it up!
My brother owned a t-shirt printing company in Columbia, MO for a few years. I'm not sure why it died, but I think it went bankrupt. He did shirts for schools, sports teams, churches, the MO Lottery, and tons of other things. The main difference you're posing is that you'd be designing shirts for the plus-size community, which could make for a good niche market.
There's a lot more that goes into silk screening a t-shirt than one might think. For one, you use ink, not paint to silkscreen. ;-) Things like color seperations can be complicated when it comes to silkscreening. You can only avoid doing it by having one-colored prints on your shirts. That's a tad boring, maybe, and won't sell many shirts.
I would recommend starting out with iron-ons and moving to silkscreen. With an iron-on you can create your design however you want it on Photoshop or Illustrator or whatever and then you just print it out using your computer printer and iron it onto a shirt. You dont' have to worry about color seperations or any of that this way. The only problem you'd have is that a 7XL t-shirt has a larger surface area than a XL and I've only seen iron-ons in stores that are 8.5"x11". If you're careful, you could probably piece them together to make a larger image, but that could be tricky. Perhaps you can find larger ones on-line somewhere and then have them print it out at Kinkos or something?
Anyway, it's a good idea, but maybe a trickier one to impliment than you'd think.
Oh yeah!! Have you tried www.petfinder.com to look for new kitties?? I found Adi though PetFinder. I highly reccommend them.
http://www.petfinder.com/fotos/WA107/WA107.4516332-1-x.jpg
Here's a cute bunch!!
Ask Max about the design that I did on a T-shirt for him. I thought is was pretty cool. Maybe it would sell, maybe not. Just an idea...I won't put it here as this is read by many. If you like the idea and do start, it would be yours from me.
Wow, thanks, Mom! Hey, Max, either email the design to me or share it here if it's not TOO embarassing! :)
Remember that Carpe Diem shirt I wore until it fell apart?
Yeah, well, times and ideas change. Right now I'm trying to keep myself from blowing $200 on an airbursh, paint and compressor. It would, most likely, sit around and do nothing because my fear and self doubt would keep me from creating with it. *Sigh*
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