actions and reactions

Ok, so here's what's going on these days in the world of mike.

First of all, Randy brought my old violin back here when he came home from Utah for spring break. It's not as if i was ever any good, but i thought it'd be fun to see if i could pick it up again. So far so good. I'm still struggling to stay in pitch sometimes, but i feel like I've made some progress-- enough to feel as though my efforts won't be completely fruitless. i remember hating practice when i was little, but this time around i actually look forward to it and play as long as time permits. maybe if there comes a day i have money i don't know what to do with I'll take lessons.



I started working a shift at the temple once a month last month and worked my second time last Saturday. It's a different experience being there as a worker rather than a patron. I think i get more out of the whole thing this way. I feel more a part of it. i guess it's kind of like visiting a ward each Sunday as opposed to having a calling and participating on some level. So that's good.







Work's been going splendidly. There are 4 partners that run the show, each working with his own list of clients. A lot of the designers here work exclusively with one or another of the partners, or maybe between two depending on which has projects going on at the time. well the whole time I've worked here I've been passed around between all four partners, sometimes working on projects from clients of all four in the same week. this is ideal for me, i think, because i have kind of a short attention span and therefor thrive on variety. Anyway, these days I'm being fought over a little between the bosses because they have projects from clients I've worked with before and were pleased with my work, or new stuff they just want me working on because they think I'll do well on it. Also i feel like I'm interacting directly with clients more and therefor more involved in the whole design process instead of just drawing pretty pictures. I know this all comes across as bragging, and maybe i am a little, but mostly I'm just excited that I'm improving as a designer and establishing myself as an asset to the company.

I had a volleyball game the other night. i signed up on a league by myself and was just assigned a team. it's not exactly at the skill level i was hoping for, but hopefully it will be fun nonetheless. Tuesday was our first official game. there are 13 (!) people on our roster. Four showed up. yeah. but honestly I'd rather it be 4 than all 13. Anyway, i felt pretty good with our performance. we lost all three games, but the second and third we were pretty close. the other side had a full team, and most were at least somewhat experienced. so all things considered, not getting completely obliterated was a success. one other guy i know of on the team knows what he's doing, so hopefully the rest of them are willing to let us give some pointers.



i think that's all for now.