freelancing again or why job security is a thing of the past

As I'm far too poor to afford therapy, allow me vent for a moment. (Please don't send me a bill!)

For the last two years, I've been trying to build up a startup design firm. It started as the marketing department for a local architectural design firm. The idea was that we would do some marketing of that group and also offer services to their clients as well.

For the first two years, we weren't profitable. We did well with the work we got - we just never go much. We had nobody selling our services, so we depended totally on referrals. Plus, my superiors added three people to the staff anticipating a flood of work that never really came. And frankly, graphic design was a side show here. The real star was architecture. That's what was important - and that's what was sold. To make matters worse, every time I suggested un-tethering me from the desk to go develop some new clients, I was told that I needed to just stick with what I did best - designing. So, we spent most of our time feasting or famine-ing.

Making what could be a painfully long story mercifully short, after two years we were finally starting to take off. We landed an up-and-coming local homebuilder and were doing literally EVERYTHING for them. From simple design work to a redesigned website to TV spots, I was killing myself trying to make things go - and they were going. For the last four or five months, things were really popping. We finally had work to do and we were getting it done. We had five profitable months and were getting buzz in the industry.

Then, I was called in on a Wednesday and shown all the accounting since I started two years ago. Ironically, I had been asking for this for about the last year. Finally! Now I can have some solid information to work with in order to assure success. But that wasn't what this meeting was about. Instead, my supervisor explained that I would need to take an enormous pay cut to keep my job. Of course, I had to say no. I've never gone backwards. My wife and kids depend on me. They're back in Christian school this year. The cut would have meant no more school for them.

So here I am. Almost 40 and freelancing again. At the request of my former employer, I dismissed all my old clients to cater exclusively to real estate-oriented businesses. I've given away my biggest client because I didn't have time to focus on their work. I feel like I'm back at square one.

I really respect the way my dad was able to have two jobs his entire life - the Air Force and USAA. That kind of security doesn't exist anymore - especially for graphic artists.

So for my friends and family out there - lob up a little prayer that I find a place to land and that it's a good situation. For my designer buddies - let me know if you need any help or hear of anything opening up.

A special shout out to Tweaks for working to get me an interview at his place.

OK. Here's a new one for you. A baseball take. You'll rarely find me talking about baseball. Frankly, I can't much stand it. The games have become tediously long and unwatchable.

That being said, I'm sorry I missed the Orioles V Rangers game yesterday. Final score? Orioles 3 -- Rangers... 30. That's right, I said 30! I thought the logo to the left was just a cute little cartoon. Apparently, that's an actual photo of one of Baltimore's pitchers!

Here's the response from some poor guy who runs an Oriole fan site:

So...wow. Just wow. What on earth do we make of this? The Orioles just unveiled the most poorly pitched ballgame in any of our lifetimes. Go back as many generations as you need-- nobody has witnessed a more grotesque massacre on a baseball field than we witnessed tonight. Well...on the bright side, at least the Orioles will finally be mentioned in the sports highlights shows now! There's no ignoring them!

Read the rest here.

the front fell off

This is a great parody of an interview with an Australian senator after a major oil spill accident...

the reality of war

This is a clip detailing America's great "victory" at Hiroshima. They have a recreation of what happened and a few eyewitness interviews - both from the US soldiers in the plane and some Japanese people on the ground.

As I watch this, I can't help but see it as a terrorist act. It meets the criteria that we assign to terrorism - It was aimed at civilians and designed to instill terror into a group of people. God forgive us.

WARNING! This clip is rated PG 13 - R. Kids - check with your parents before you watch.

ok - maybe i don't like turtles

Some of you may remember way back in the day, about 2 weeks ago - I had a great idea to produce a killer t-shirt based on the "I like turtles" boy. Remember the good times here.

My cell phone has been dead for the last day or so. When I finally got it back up and running, I found that I had a couple calls from none other than turtle boy's mother! She informed me that they didn't appreciate me using their son's image to turn a profit. (Of course, she had no way of knowing that I have made a grand total of $4 profit). She told me that their son's image was their intellectual property and that I needed to cease and desist or else they would sic their lawyer on me.

So, the dream is dead. For those of you who were hoping to secure a t-shirt, please accept my apologies. I pulled down the site as well as the Cafe Press site that I had started.