I guess I need to just step up and admit that I love October. Every year I feel the change of the seasons very strongly during this month, and it makes me happy to think that we are soon going to have little trick or treaters out running around and then Thanksgiving and the winter holidays that for years have included a lovely Christmas celebration for me and for my family. I love the warm glow of candles and fireplaces, and I like the smell of things that are delicious being cooked or baked in the kitchen. I guess I value this even more since we had a very difficult, long and extremely uncomfortably hot summer.
I am having a great time with my students right now. We are starting new projects next week, but we have a school holiday on Monday for the State Fair of Texas. It is a much needed and anticipated day away from class to just have fun. I plan to do as much of that as I can this long, lovely fall weekend.
My students are very busy preparing to attend National Portfolio Day this Sunday at the Hilton Anatole this weekend in Dallas. I used to accompany them on this adventure, but in recent years I have been letting them "go it on their own" to experience what it feels like to stand independently on their own two feet and present and defend their own work in a critique session. The admissions reps are all there to give them advice on how to improve their portfolios. The students stayed late with me on Friday night in the studio to prepare the prints that they will include in their portfolios. The last student left around 7 PM on Friday evening. That made for a long day on Friday, but that will just make the rest and relaxation this weekend that much sweeter!
To everyone out there in the world who was sad to hear about Steve Jobs passing, let me just assure you that we are really bummed out about it around here in the CCE design studio too. So many of these students are very happy Apple users, and I have tried to teach them a little bit about Steve, Apple, the Microsoft rivalry, the IBM rivalry, all the technology history that I got to see as an adult observer. I guess the fact that I grew up in the desktop publishing/personal computing revolution makes me feel very lucky. For my students, using a computer is as commonplace as having a telephone or a television. In the 90's, most of us had the first computer interloper into our homes, and it really didn't do that much, ran slowly, held almost no data, and it makes me admire the stamina we showed just staying with it and not giving up. I am grateful that Steve Jobs never gave up on making the world of computing and the machines that we use so commonly today so efficient and fun to use! I know we lost a special innovator this week, and that is why I think I have to stop and smell the roses just a little more. He is gone, and he was only 3 years older than I am. Such a sad and early death. Rest in peace.
Steve Jobs On Success:
“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me… Going to bed at night saying I've done something wonderful… that's what matters to me.” [The Wall Street Journal, May 25, 1993]
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