Woe Is the Apple Geek

TL;DR I need a laptop recommendation… skip the ramble section and help me decide.

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I purchased an iPad last October.  Loved it.  Didn’t know what my use for it would be prior to purchasing it, and managed to find some pretty good spots for it after I did.  It is my primary data consumption device, though it is admittedly poor at any sort of composition efforts.  I watch videos and baseball, read, play a few games, check email and Twitter, and generally ingest the internet through the device.  Tried writing a blog post once, and it worked OK, but I definitely had to do some post-formatting on it.

I’ve also owned a 17″ HP laptop since 2008.  The thing is a mammoth, heavy, and non-Apple… therefore, I detest it.  Seriously though, it’s extremely poor at fitting into my workflow, and I feel like wherever I take it, I can’t get anything accomplished simply because I don’t have any of the tools on that machine that I desire to use.

Early this week, I had a gentlemen offer to buy the HP, on one condition; I also had to sell him the iPad.

I now have a conundrum.  There’s nothing that I want more right now than to unload this piece.  By the same token, I really do like my iPad, but I’m honestly not sure if I would miss it in my workflow.  I’ve left it at home/in my bag the past couple of days, and the only things I’ve used it for is my alarm clock and to watch baseball.  Both are things that I can do with other products I currently own.

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So, dear readers, here are my options:

1) Purchase a new iPad ($499).  I will unload both items regardless, because as I said, I want this laptop gone.  But I could always go out and purchase a new iPad to replace the one I missed.  Still making a considerable sum of money, more than I asked originally for the laptop.

2) Buy a MacBook ($1,039).  Not really a fan of this option.  While it does have quite a bit of power, I’ve never been a fan of the plastic-like case.  Seems like a toy.

3) Buy a MacBook Pro ($1,789).  a) too expensive, b) I don’t need all that power.

4) Buy a MacBook Air ($1,339).  I lose a bit of power and a few features, but I gain a sleek, fast computer that does exactly what I need it to do, and nothing more.

I’m leaning, in order, to 4, 1, 2, and 3.  I’ve heard nothing but good things about the MB Air, and first-hand accounts that even the high-power-requirement things (like Photoshop) that I would want to run would work just fine.  It offers me portability, speed and a good battery life.

If it were your decision, which would you pick?

The Decision

I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but… I’m considering tacking on 2 additional years to my schooling.

I’ve really come to enjoy and appreciate graphic design quite a bit.  It’s fun, it’s challenging, and (I feel) rewarding in multiple aspects.  Any other “work” that I have to do for classes seems tedious and boring, but doing graphic design is extremely enjoyable.  As I’ve told numerous friends, graphic design is the first thing that I’d done that I’ve enjoyed both the classroom aspect, as well as the take-home work aspect.  Some classes have fun/decent assignments, others have fun/decent classes, but never before have I run across both.

If I’d go back, I’d get a B.A. in Art Studio with a Graphic Design emphasis.  13 additional classes, which could potentially be accomplished in 3 semesters… but who knows, if I’m here, maybe I’d finish up my music minor as well.  I mean, I already paid for half of those classes, so I should finish them, right?

Here’s the thing though… I HATE school.  I’ve never been good at structured learning, in part because I’ve never found things that I want to do, and in part because I don’t test well.  That’s part of the beauty of art school, though… beyond the art history classes, “tests” are really just projects that you complete.  Which rocks.

I’ve not had a good artistic outlet for myself in a while.  Playing at church is nice, but I haven’t had much of an opportunity to actually sit down and play/create some tunes.  I haven’t written much either, as evident by the lack of blogging over the past year.  So this would also assist me in fulfilling that aspect.  Plus, I sometimes struggle finding motivation for things that I do, and by taking formal classes with structured assignments, I’ll be able to get my creative juices going as well as learn a lot of things I may not learn on my own.

If I’m doing web design/development in the future, having the ability to do the graphics in-house would a) save me tons of issues and b) net me more money.  I’d probably be doing the web design as a side job, but who knows, maybe it could be a full time thing.

So by my logic, I have a few options:

1) Don’t be dumb. Graduate, get a job, etc.
2) Stay in school. Graduate when I’m 27. Stay in my hometown (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing).
3) Get a job in the area. Go to school part time.
4) Go elsewhere. Hope that they have a good graphic design program. Go to school part time.

Thoughts?

False Limits

I’m not going to believe that only a few people are permitted to be gatekeepers or creators or generous leaders. I have no intention of apologizing for believing in people, for insisting that we all use this moment and these assets to create some art and improve the world around us.

To do anything less than that is a crime.^[1]

Seth hit it out of the park with this article.  There’s truly no reason why we should impose limits on ourselves simply because something is “too hard” or “totally different than what I’ve done before”.  An old dog CAN learn new tricks, contrary to popular belief; they just have to work at it a bit harder.

And that’s not a bad thing. Think of things that you do on a routine basis that take no/minimal effort on your part.  How fulfilling is it when you complete those?  Now think about the last time you really put forth effort towards something. How rewarding was it when you completed it?  I’m guessing you’re like me, in that the more difficult tasks provided more satisfaction once you were done.

So why not challenge yourself?  Summer is approaching, and for a lot of us, that means time off from school.  For others, that just means nice weather when you get off of work.  Regardless, maybe we should all take this time and find 5 things we keep telling ourselves “I can’t”, and make that become “I did”.

So here’s what I’m going to try:

1. Learning a few songs on guitar I’ve been putting off because of their difficulty.
2. Start learning Chinese
3. Launch my web site (for the 3rd and final time)
4. Get back into a more healthy state of being. Work out, less junk food, less pop, etc.
5. Achieve a 3.33 (B+) average during my final 2 semesters of college.

I realize 2 & 4 are not really tangible, nor do they have fixed end.  But that’s ok.  I may never master Chinese, but it won’t hurt to be able to understand and maybe even speak a little.  I don’t have a fixed weight I’d like to get down to, or a certain bicep size (I’m not really that vain), but when I get to the right point, I’ll know it.  A finite end isn’t required for everything, and the fact that I challenged myself is enough.

What about you? What will you challenge yourself to accomplish?

[1]: “Accepting False Limits” by Seth Godin

Stress Test

Today = me taking a study break to update.  Real life stuff, no theoretical mumbo-jumbo.

- It snowed today.  Correction: it was a proper blizzard outside for the better part of 2 hours this morning.  It’s April 19. This is not right.

- Apparently this school year is the Year of Love.  I’ve now had 5 friends get engaged, with a bunch more friends/acquaintances also getting engaged/married. I’m nothing but happy for them, but I always feel a little twinge when it happens.  Less and less every time though, which is nice.

- Nothing frustrates me more than getting down to crunch time in school, and having professors that are unwilling to communicate effectively with students, or provide them with the needed materials for their closing projects. One professor refuses to provide her Powerpoint slides before class, when she has promised this all year.  Another won’t give us a template we need in order to have 3 rough drafts of our final done by Monday. And the third… well, it’s quite the opposite. Info overload, plus a group project worthy of the time and attention of a senior thesis.  Ugh.

- On top of that, I’ve got prep for Easter weekend for church. Rehearsal all afternoon on Sunday, after work tonight, Saturday afternoon, and then service Sunday. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to be serving, I just wish there were 28 hours in a day. And since I didn’t get the things I needed to work on, I’ve blown about 6 hours that I could’ve been working already.

- I hate school. Yet by the same token, I keep thinking I want to go back and do… other things.  Something’s wrong with me.

Anyone else feeling extremely stressed out as of late?

Handling Criticism

Last night at church, we got into a discussion about handling criticism.  You know personally whether or not you take criticism well… but let’s be honest, even if we take it well, no one really likes it.  While it may help us get better in the long run, no one truly enjoys getting told that what they did was not necessarily up to par.

A few good points came up during this talk that I wanted to share with you tonight.

1) The key point to taking criticism is to listen. If you go into a critique with an open mind, and are willing to hear the whole critique through, a lot of good can come from it.  Many people wall themselves off and instantly view a critique as an attack on their ability.  Others get caught up on small points early, and think you’re nitpicking on something, when you’re really talking about something else entirely.  Be receptive, take everything in, and only then should you process the info you just received as a critique. Listening will also help us to determine whether the criticism is meant to be constructive or destructive.  If it’s the latter, ignoring it might be ok.

2) Artists can get a little more sensitive about critiques, simply because of the details they put into it.  A musician might put a subtle nuance into a song that you don’t even notice, while you go on to critique that part of the song.  Graphic artists, painters, drawers and the like might have subtle shadings, gradients, or other minuscule details that, to them, make their work “pop”.  Personally, when I look at the Mona Lisa, I just see a woman. I don’t see any fancy work, and as such might be more apt to just shrug and say “meh”.  Which leads me to my 3rd point…

3) If some Joe Schmo walked up to me and said “hey, I didn’t like this about your guitar playing”, I’d be more apt to blow him off.  But if a respected musician came up to me and said “hey, I didn’t like this about your guitar playing”, I would give it careful consideration.  You don’t have to let everything a person says change what you do, and it’s fine if you decide to weigh the comments of one person more than another because of who they are/what they do.  But at the same time, realize that by coming up and making a comment or critique, that person obviously felt strongly about what you did, be it good or bad.  Anyone can say “nice job”, but it takes passion to say “that guitar lick you played on the 3rd song had a wonderful flow to it” or “the way you combined those colors on that piece really stood out”.

4) Critiques help you to be more intentional about what you do in the future.  If you know the thing you did was critiqued very strongly by someone, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use it again in the future. However, you should give it careful consideration when you do, and make sure that it really fits and belongs where you’re trying to place it.  Got a reason for that font?  Do you really need to pair those 2 employees together again?  Why are you using that effect on your guitar?  If it makes sense and has a purpose, then go for it.

Critiques should never be things we should shy away from. We should actively seek them in order to improve who we are as people, as well as the things we do.