Present Joys
“We thank the Lord of heaven and earth
who hath preserved us from our birth
for present joys, for blessings past,
and for the hope of heaven at last.”

Tag ccad

285 posts between December 2010 and June 2017

I obtained my BFA at Columbus College of Art & Design.

The fourteen minni kids are back home! Let me tell you about our sunday together:

  • This morning, I woke up early to pack and rendezvoused with the gang at 9am. We dithered around for a while then decided to go to breakfast. We ended up at the News Room, the same place we’d had dinner on wednesday night. (I made everybody sit in the exact same places as before for continuity’s sake.) I had a very delicious corned beef hash and a ton of different beverages (including a bloody mary, which John did not like the taste of at all.) Lutz picked up the tab for our meal, which was both totally uncalled for and extremely generous. We have been taken care of grandly.
  • After brunch, a handful of us walked with Lutz and Burleigh to the sculpture garden where we saw the giant cherry + spoon and some other stuff. The walk itself, which took us through a lovely park in downtown Minneapolis, was lovely. There were churchbells ringing and ringing and ringing and it was an amazing experience. When we got to the sculptures, Haley and Burleigh climbed on them.
  • Then we rode to the airport and did all the nonsense associated with air travel. I “opted out” of the naked body scanner machine and took a pat-down instead, which was completely hilarious to everyone involved. My friends gleefully took highly illegal photographs of the whole experience. As the wise John said, “Nigel finally got his neck massage!”
  • Our flight was smooth and uneventful with a dull three-hour layover in St. Louis, during which most of us ate appalling food at Chili’s. The ride home was nice, surrounded by friends. And then we said goodbye. Back to school soon? What’s school?
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Saturday was spectacular. But it’s already 2am and I need to be quick:

  • We started out the morning with a general session followed by a breakout session with the creators of the University of California brand. It was delightfully awkward.
  • Then we went to lunch together while our teacher chaperones were off doing their own thing (as usual). 13 of the 14 minni kids were there and we had a great time! (The restaurant put us in our own party room, which had a mirror perfect for taking a group photo.)
  • After that, Graham, Adam, Anna, and I went on a little adventure around the city. While on the way to MartinPatrick3, a cool little menswear/home furnishings boutique, we walked past what seemed like a thousand different Minneapolis strip clubs. Of course, we took a few choice photos. (Get it?)
  • Graham and I also found flowers for our boutonnières, though mine wilted quickly and Vicki Golden made fun of me about it.
  • We finished off the conference with a long, final general session, culminating with a talk by Aaron Draplin, who was completely fantastic!
  • Then, an amazing, beautiful afterparty at the Walker Art Center where there were five bizarre floors of fancy food, fancy drinks, and lots of conference-goers. CCAD students literally kicked off a fantastic dance party (thanks, Julia).
  • Finally, after the AIGA/Walker afterparty had finished, I made the very questionable decision of “going dancing” with eight of the other minni kids. I should have known an event starting at 11pm could only end in disaster. We all ended up in a weird, creepy place called Sneaky Pete’s where the music was too loud. It turned out everybody was uncomfortable and wanted to leave. But what a beautiful bonding experience. And we got a great group photo outside the sign.
  • Oh! This has been such a beautiful day.
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Oh, friday! You were beautiful.

  • We started the day with breakfast (I ate an English-muffin breakfast sandwich and stashed another one in Anna’s bag) and then sat in on a general session.
  • Then we raced back to the hotel to catch a taxi to tour Sevnthsin, which was in a cool, industrial part of town. It looked like a really great agency which I was very glad to tour! Besides practical work environments, they had arcade games, a ping pong table, and a small replica of the Black Lodge from Twin Peaks.
  • THEN practically all of us had lunch at the hotel on CCAD’s dime.
  • Raced back to the convention center in time to sit through a very boring breakout session. Thankfully, Julia and I kept each other occupied with a very dry text message conversation while sitting next to each other.
  • After a short refreshment break, we went back into the big auditorium. I wrote a cheeky tweet to John which showed up on the big big screen! We listened to more people talk.
  • Had a nerve-wracking portfolio review where I was locked down to a table and random people came by. Got some good advice mixed in with a bunch of lame advice. Classic portfolio reviews.
  • Once it was over, there were lots of hugs. Let’s never stop this, okay? Can we keep doing this always?
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