Dah-ling I love you but give me Park Avenue

I went to see the documentary Helvetica tonite at the Gene Siskel Film Center in downtown. It is only showing this week in Chicago. It really excited parts of me that I hadn't exercised in a while. I was exhilarated by the aesthetic debate amongst the designers, the belief and devotion that each of them felt for their own way of working. However, I was not swayed either way—grid/chaos, neutrality/expression, modernism/youknowwhat. But not because I have disdain for either cause, or claim to champion anything new or revolutionary. It is just that I can find myself as truly affected or satisfied by a perfect alignment of squares as I can a cacophonous typographic assault. I'm not riding the fence, or anything sinful like that. I just don't see the choice as required, or the two options as exclusive. What a boring argument, Michelle! "Why can't we all just get along?" Such bullshit. I've never been one to straddle the issue to avoid offense. Though once, in Core II, I did manage to get through an entire final without actually picking a side in the debate. At the end of the class, Charlie Gorman called me on it, with an amusing look in his eye. In my defense, I had the flu that day. But I still remember it quite clearly, so Charlie affected my conscious somehow. Today, though, I am not ill.

It is hard to discuss the contemporary when you are in it/doing it. Perspective is feigned, self-awareness unachievable. But we have moved on. That can be the only thing for sure. To what? Who knows. All I can attempt to do is rationalize my own simultaneous fascination with structure and pandemonium, my tumultuous need for design restraint as well as anarchy.

Riding home on the L, I started to be able to grasp this concept about myself. I love the L, even more so I believe than the NYC subway system, my previous summer fling. But not because of either's efficiency or utility. Nor does it have anything to do with a preference of public transportation versus driving. I can truly appreciate a good, long drive. The control you have over your own changing environment, the way a car's momentum can be a catalyst for your mind's own wanderings. This desire for movement and change translates over to my pleasure riding the L as well. However, most of the romance of the L to me has to do with its constant—the city.

I have known for a long time that I was not a country girl, though I expect I will always be a Southern girl. It was the way things fit, much more than the typical teenage desire for freedom. And I realized today, on the train, that it is more than the pace and the excitement and the possibility of the city that fulfills me. There is something aesthetically satisfying about it as well. Chicago trains are elevated, thus making far better use of their windows than their counterparts in NY. The windows provide a frame as we tear through the city, between the buildings, the train beating against the tracks, the sunlight make a rhythmic game out of the chase.

It's the way the battered brick buildings hold their ground, wearing old painted advertisements like faded tattoos. And across the street a shining glass tower soars above, a beacon of perfection, its geometry obvious and balanced. In between, wooden billboards are slicked over with glossy paper and glue, some ripped or berated by the wind, others pristine and immune. But all these things do not compete, or form "isms" and force you to take a side. They are pieced together in grids, connected by concrete. Individually, they are as different as David Carson and Massimo Vignelli. Together, they become a whole new aesthetic. A city is a problem and these elements are solutions. They are relative to one another, in all senses of the word. Their association produces new associations. And their compromise is not compromising. In the distance the buildings blur, neighborhoods combine to form shapes. They blend, their materials of no consequence, their origins no longer evident. Their impact doesn't fade, but changes shape. A silhouette, a strike of black against the orange sunset.

Recently, an interviewer asked me where I get my inspiration from. Overwhelmed, I stammered something about architecture. This is what I meant.

On the subject of employment and post-graduate life

I apologize for not answering any questions until now about my job hunt in Chicago. Thanks for all of your support though! I didn't want to say too much until I got my contract, and as things are progressing positively, I can now share some details with you guys.

I came to Chicago May 16th. I'm living with Douglas in Northcenter. I did the whole round of interviews for a week and got some interesting prospects. Then I was offered an opportunity at Euro RSCG's Chicago office. Euro RSCG is one of the biggest advertising agencies in the world. They won 2006 Global Agency of the Year. The program I am doing with them is a full time paid internship for the summer. At the end of the program, they hire interns as Art Directors. Throughout the program I will get to work directly with Creative Directors on real projects for real clients (like Sprint). The building is in downtown Chicago and there are ping pong tables. It is very colorful, befitting of a multi-million dollar creative agency. They also do a class once a week for the interns to learn more about the advertising business. I am so excited about this opportunity! My internship last summer was fantastic as well, but it was a small agency. Now I get the chance to try out the other side of the field. I have a feeling that it will be perfect for me, but at least I get the chance to try it on to see if it fits. Even if I don't work for Euro RSCG full time after this summer, I have another offer from a fantastic creative studio in Chicago or I can shop my new advertising talents around to some more of the big agencies downtown.

So I would say that I had a week well spent in Chicago. As soon as I got the job offer, I flew back to Arkansas just in time to make it to my cousin's wedding in Missouri. I got to spend a couple of days with my family as well before coming back to Chicago to work. But then I found out today that they are pushing the start date of the internship back one week. So I don't actually start work until June 12!!!!

What am I to do with another week? Well, I'm probably going to go to Vegas with my mom. Seriously, we just decided this. Crazy life. I'm going to go look at airfare now.