oh... so, on friday, at the new gig... i was pretty much told that i will be "owning" the one brand and designing that site (the other sr. art director that's been working on it for 2 years will be assisting me - sort of being my training wheels for a few weeks til i get to know where every part of the company lives...)
i am pretty excited... not exactly a small undertaking... looks like i may have to kick out the homeless guy that's got a nice cardboard set-up near the loading area of macy's and set up my own sleeping quarters since it's looking like i may be missing the earlier trains home (meaning the 6:43 and 7:08pm)
i am totally digging it there so far. had the keys to the office handed to me on friday as well... and the office manager asked me if i want a plant for my windowsill... yay! that means i fit in!
that feels good. see, at the last company i was at... things were grand for a while... but saddle brook, nj is not exactly the design mecca of the world. the cafeteria downstairs with it's frozen turkey burgers and bacteria riddled meatloaf was the only option for a meal... unless you actually ate lunch away from your desk and drove to bennigan's a half mile away...
granted... in nyc i may gain about 50 pounds... but as long as i throw that pax salad and coffee into my diet each day it shan't be too bad.... (famous last words)
the last time i felt this sort of calm happiness about a job/career/company was when i was at methodfive. and that was in 1999/2000. so long ago. right before the days of milk and honey went sour. where we were all in one large open space. no cubicles. plants everywhere. beer at 4pm. bagels at 10am. playstation set up on a projector on the wall whenever you needed it...
we don't have the playstation at the new place... but we have the open space/no cubicle crap and it's swellegant.
at methodfive, i sort of always felt a little on the "older" side at age 29... compared to the 24/25 year olds... and the 26 year old who owned the shop... and i didn't have the cute twisty weird web designer hair that one of the chicks had.
here. so far. the folks seem "normal" - normal in the sense that while fashionable, they aren't "trying to be freaky" --- maybe that comes across as odd... hmmmm... well, i suppose at 34 years old i'm just not into shaving my head to fit in anymore (already did that when i went to uArts)
it's mainly women in this company... a handful of guys... and we seem to be all around my age... a few older a few younger... but this is the interactive division only in this building... and we all seem to have the "milk & honey days" background with tales of where we were when the bubble burst... and it's kind of a nice bonding experience. whereas when i was in the last place, they were pretty much n. jersey... suburbs... corporate cubicle complex with standard issue parking garage folks... who've been at the place for 5, 10 and even, get this, 23 bloody years... which is nice to think about job security... but they look at you strange when you tell them that you were involved with two 90 person layoffs within 9 months... and you have to seem embarrassed and apologetic... meanwhile, at the place now... it's like a badge of honour to have been around back "in the day"
no, i haven't been drinking as i ramble right now... i just am gushing about the new gig. and want everyone to know that i am happy. and feel very much "at home" and "back in the saddle"...
that said, i'd like to give a hearty hello to a fella who wrote me today to say "Fun stuff erin"... thank you very much, dear sir.
