tmabb

ray has decided to retire from taco man and burrito boy for a number of reasons. though it makes me sad, i support him 1 million percent. not just because it frees up more of his time and we can begin brewing together, but because he really thought it out. though he has a great story to share, he's realized that he wants to have the time to do other things: learn the bass, brew, paint, write a fiction blog, do a journal comic.

these are all great projects to look forward to, and i'm excited to see what comes of them. it would be a completely different story if he retired from tmabb so he could sit on his butt. but he's not the type to do that (plus he doesn't sit much anyway).

it's been a hard few days for him because a lot of fans are coming out of the woodwork and telling him how sorry they are to see tmabb go, but they support him. it would have been nice if they had been a bit more supportive BEFORE he retired, but that's my opinion and i'm leaving it at that. ray has really grown as an artist and i'm proud of him. the things he can do with photoshop and a tablet blow my mind. and he's not too shabby with an ink pen either!

so ray, i love you, and i expect great things to come of this: great creative endeavors...as well as a couple great brews.

when the cat is gone, the mice will play

so it's quiet here at work since we're waiting for the ad breakdown and editorial count, but even so, I can't do a ton with the layout since my EOC is out of town on a photo shoot. speaking of which, i just had one of my own so we can update the editorial staff page, so good times there. the photographer, elliot, even said he could remove the nasty little blemish that decided to make itself comfy by my eyebrow. little bugger.

work has been going well...my first issue has already printed and looks great, and we are on to june, which is the first issue that will have my writing in it (a book review of the green marketing manifestoby john grant...pretty decent, if not frighteningly thorough). we have been hunting for “green tips” for businesses, since our focus for the month is sustainability (hey senge, have you FINALLY finished the necessary revolutionyet?)

i'll be writing another review on a book about landing pages (oh that's gonna be a fun one) and then in september i'm slated to work with the EOC on the cover story. eek!

hmmm...i think there are better picks out there

sooo...when i went to check my e-mail on the grand yahoo, i was greeted by this. at first glance it intrigued me, but as i scanned the article, i was a little bummed that there weren't more interesting titles...luckily to kill a mockingbird and catcher in the rye were represented, but i dunno. i have definitely read many more books that have moved me and entertained me more than gone with the wind. unfortunately, since it's not even 9:00 AM yet, i can't think of any. gah...zombie brain.

in other book related news, i hope to have a review up of inside steve's brain soon. i am so close to finishing it, but i have been distracted by other more enticing reads. i can say this now: it's jam packed full of interesting things about jobs and apple, but the organization is horrendously piss-poor, with a lot of repetition. it is simply a book that must be read cover-to-cover in order to glean all the information from it (not that you shouldn't read books cover-to-cover). i guess it just annoys me to read a paragraph that seems hauntingly familiar...simply because the same core idea was in a paragraph 15 pages prior.

oh well.

oh...and i made a job change, which is amazing. now i'm calling a magazine home, and really enjoying it. yesterday afternoon, my editor in chief and i approved the editorial for the may issue...when only a week and a half ago i was assigned the layout. my first real magazine layout...given to me 3 days into working here. woo-hoo!

speaking of which...i think i have an article to content edit. onwards and upwards!