*edit* Dear Diary,

Dear Diary,

My neighbors band Sequoia played at a bar called Martyr's tonight. I went to go see them play and lend my support. I met a girl named Meg at the bar. She liked to talk... A lot. It was loud in the bar, because Sequoia was playing... So to be heard she had to scream and occasionally spit into my ear. She was nice, but I wasn't interested. She trapped me. When the band was over I wanted to leave. She begged me not to leave. I said I had to go. She asked me to get coffee with her. I said I don't drink coffee. She said "get tea with me". I do drink tea, but that's not the point. She rubbed my hand on her booby... It was soft. I said I had to go... She finally got the hint, and now I am at home writing about my crazy night at the bar.


good night,

Bud

*Edit*

It seems there was a photo taken this night.

ZOMG AMERICAN GLADIATORS WTF!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sitting here minding my own business watching Heroes. when all of a sudden a commercial comes on. There are these body builders running across a desert. They are dressed in outlandish spandex outfits. Some of them are carrying what appear to be giant Q-tips... GLADIATORS!? ARE THESE FREAKIN AMERICAN GLADIATORS!? OMG I can't believe that NBC is bringing back American Gladiators to their lineup. To my shame I used to watch this show as a kid. I remember it being extremely cheesy, but I still watched it and I would claim that I could take on any one of those jerk gladiators. I used to dream of playing on the course where you get to shoot all the giant nerf guns.

20 questions with Cole Benson

Cole,

What have you done!?


On Nov 25, 2007, at 10:38 PM, Cole Benson wrote:

Thats right. You wanted it, you dreamed of it, you even begged for it. The highly anticipated 20 Questions: Long-Distance 2nd Edition. We know the wait was long, but we can assure that this round will not fall into the sophomore slump. Wait, who are we kidding, this is a two-way street, and only as good as you make it. Enjoy!



1. What did you do for Thanksgiving?

I drove back to minishowtah with my dad who flew to chicago to ride back with me. I spent time with my parents, sis, and niece. It was a good time.

2. What is going on in Chicago, do you have snow? Are you jealous of 50 degrees and sunny?

Chicago is work and music and beers. No snow, just cold. Yes I am jealous (pause) ass.

3. Did I tell you that I got a job?

No.

4. I just bought a new camera... how do I use it?

Point... and... shoot...

5. Example, So I have it set on full auto, and I shoot a picture, the image color looks realistic. However, when I switch to full manual and match the settings, the image shoots with a orange / yellow tone. Does that relate to my white balance, how would that be fixed?

yes it is because of your white balance. Set it to auto white balance, or use the manual white balance. Refer to your owner's manual for further details.

6. What format do i want to be shooting if I want the best quality, mainly for enlargement? Large, RAW, or RAW+Large?

RAW = best

7. How should I import and save those large images on my computer? Photoshop? And if so with what settings? TIFF or Photoshop RAW? I shudder to say Jpeg. Does it matter?

I have a memory card reader and I take copy the files to my computer directly from the card. I put my pictures into folders titled with the date and a description such as "2007_11_26_ColeBensonIsSomethin" I generally then browse the images in bridge select the best ones and open them in photoshop. Make my moves then save them as tiff. Call me if you have any questions.

8. If there was one only song you were required to listen to at least once a day, everyday, for the rest of your life, what would it be?

I would listen to the McDonald's theme song... Bah da bah bah bah. I'm lovi... I'm ramming a pencil in my ear.

9. What the hot thing right now?

Pumpkin pie and whip cream... all over my body.

10. Cost-Co or Sam's Club?

Sam's club all up in this joint.

11. I just set up a blog, with Blogger, and I attached it to my current website... So I at least made it that far. Problem is i want to customize it, and I'm just starring at the code confused. So how do I change up the code, without fucking up the parts that involve posting messages and other necessary features? http://www.colebenson.com/blog.html

http://www.google.com/search?q=blogger%20templates&sourceid=mozilla2&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

try installing one of these and then looking at what they did. and then just start fucking with it. You'll figure it out, and if you can't... well, then. give up on it. all of it. life. all of it... I'm being over-dramatic. I heart you. call me and we'll work it through!

12. Could I just pay you to build a simple blog template for me?

probably not. I wouldn't really have time. I'll take your money though.

13. What is one Brand you live and die by?

REEF AND THE FL PROJECT!!!! (note the four, count them four exclamation points)... but for reals, probably, Apple computers.

14. Plans for next weekend?

Wallow in my own self pity with a bottle of whiskey. Or go to the empty bottle and see "A Light Sleeper" play

15. Do you feel shallow when you live by Brands, while others are starving and naked?

I think about these things sometimes. but what can I do right now... I try to not live by Brands.

16. Concert you cannot miss next year, or would like to see?

There is a cold war kids show coming up soon, but it's sold out. eh. life goes on. I really can't miss Cole Benson's solo debut of soft rock love ballads.

17. Have you seen Beowulf in IMAX 3-D?

No.

18. What are 5 of your New Years resolutions?

1. Kick ass at work.
2. Kick ass at life
3. Make real New Years resolutions.
4. Answer Cole Benson's Fucking questions as honestly and wittily as possible
5. Not Die

19. Hypothetical question. Let's say you have a "good friend" who decides to be thinking enough of you to send you a text message one afternoon. How would you respond? Would you deny this "friend" and their every existence by not answer? Or would you just interrogate them about the text as if they invaded your personal space and time?

HA

20. How many questions are actually posed in this correspondence?

Way more than 20.

Thanks for you participation, We look forward to hearing from you.

Eat it.

I love you.

Bud

Sock Swapping

I went to the laundromat today and apparently traded one of my nice Hanes® white sock for a random dressy type sock. I did not consent to this trade and I would like my sock back. If you are out there reading this please contact me and we can arrange a trade.

It is white with a gray toe and a thin red stitching line along the edge of the gray. On the bottom of the sock underneath the toe area it says Hanes®. It probably looks dirty, but it's not. Trust me. I washed it... I'm never able to get them completely white, wtf. Anyway I digress... Please return my precious sock as soon as possible and I will return yours!

Sincerely,
Bud.

I dreamt I was...

Standing next to my computer and a friend was surfing designer websites. We were commenting and critiquing the work. I mentioned I had a website and that he could check it out if he wanted. I remember feeling a little nervous and ashamed of my work.

I say, "It hasn't been updated in awhile, Heh."

Dreams part two

I am looking through crystal clear water to the bottom of the ocean. As I breathe through my snorkel I see something on the ocean floor that catches my eye. I swim down to take a closer look, upon closer inspection I realize that it is a small sea cucumber. John swims down next to me and finds a huge sea cucumber that he declares he is going to eat. It's like an overgrown black and white caterpillar with spikes all over it. At this point our snorkel tour guide intercepts and tells us that if we want to eat something an octopus is a better choice. We are now standing next to a table where our guide has laid out an octopus. He moves the tentacles to the side to reveal the face. He then grabs the corner of the face and peels back a square of flesh. It's a pinkish color and, slimy. If you need a visual think Independence Day when they are dissecting the alien, or aliens when they are dissecting the hand looking alien that attaches itself to your face and implants the alien in your head. At this point I turn away and when I turn back we are standing in a hallway and the guide holds up a square piece of octopus flesh. John reaches out and takes a big enthusiastic bite out of the octopus. I take the piece and taste it but don't bite down, It tastes salty. I wake up.

Some dreams I have

I don't know why, I'm not sure what has changed, but for the first time since I can remember I am having dreams. I never dream, and if I do, I forget them by the time I step out of the shower. I have had three in the past few days, and this morning I decided to start writing them down. Here are two of my dreams.

It's summer, and hot. I'm standing in the ocean, the water is up to my knees and dead calm. Before me is a huge whale. Not a real whale, but a whale right out of the cartoons. It's forehead rises straight up out of the water and towers over me. He is yellow, with a blue underbelly. He's not sick, that is just his natural color. I become aware that there is someone standing next to me and he says, "Go on, pet him. He likes you." I reach out and pet his side, he doesn't feel like anything, just solid. The whale looks at me and I can tell he likes it, so I pet him a couple more times. This time he seems to get really excited and moves towards me. I have to jump out of the way to avoid being crushed. He keeps coming and I have to run to the shore to get away. The whale swims down the shoreline and throws a big wave down the shore forcing all the people to scatter to avoid being hit. The whale comes back and swims by me and throws a tremendous wave my towards me. BEEP BEEP BEEP.

I'm in a cave looking towards a dark tunnel and before me is a gaping hole in the ground that apparently goes on forever. The room is a cylinder that with a platform that surrounds the emptiness in the center. Lined up down this dark tunnel are two lines of large red and blue stones about the size of stonehenge, and if I look close enough there appears to be dinosaur bones embedded in the rock. These are lined up all the way down the call and around my back and back down the hall. This stones look like giant dominoes and as soon as I think that they begin to fall, both lines simultaneously. They fall silently and rhythmically. Halfway around me the blue line of stones misses a beat and fails, there was a break in the chain. But the red dominoes continue all they way around me and back down the hallway. That is the way I must go. I turn to the left to move and before me are 4 four sarcophaguses. One lid is propped open and there is a girl standing next to it. Inside a skeleton lies with a shield and a sword crossed over it's chest. The girl says to me, "Look the sword is attached". I go take a closer inspection and she told me the truth, it is attached. It's almost as if the skeleton is still gripping the hilt. I pry the sword free and turn around and begin sword fighting with my friend. I don't know where he came from, but I know he's my friend and we are just practicing with our swords. With every crash of our swords I begin to feel like something is very wrong. I realize that every-time my sword is struck there is a flash of light in the sarcophagus, and with every flash the skeleton begins to stir more in it's resting place. "STOP, NO WAIT!," I scream "It's waking up". But it's too late, the skeleton reanimates and rises up out of it... BEEP BEEP BEEP.

Dum Dum Dum

The pressure mounts.

Every where I look I see [__________]

I don't know what it is, but I keep seeing people that I think I recognize. Everywhere. Today I swore I saw Brit Salmela, yesterday I saw Jenny Lennick, the list goes on. I'm not sure what it is. I think it has something to do with missing my old group of friends. Luckily I have had plenty of visitors! They've been keeping me pretty busy.

All is ok though. I am slowly building up a group of friends out here... Very slowly.

Fame and Fortune (not quite yet)

This past wednesday I had the opportunity to go to the Archive '07 event by STA (The society of typographic arts) with John. The event at first turned out to be a bunch of local designers hanging out and mingling. Cool right? Only problem was they were all standing in circles talking to people they knew, and John and I are in the corner making snide jokes because we don't know anyone. How do you break into a circle of people and introduce yourself? I don't know. I debated several different approaches all lacked subtlety and ended with me acting like an ass. All was not lost though, just as John and I were talking about ditching out early I happened to bump into a couple girls who seemed to be about my same age and started a conversation with them. Turns out that Jess is the president of her student AIGA group and Lauren appears to be one of her cronies. They then ask me where I work and i reply Thirst... To which they both are obviously stunned. "You work at THIRST!?" they exclaim. After wowing them a bit with my collaboration with Rick Valicenti the presentation started and they began handing out certificates for getting into the archive. Thirst got 9 certificates, these guys make pretty good work. Shortly after the presentation we hightailed it out of there.

but the story goes on...

The following day Jess and Lauren found me on facebook and added me as a friend. I got messages from both of them asking me if I am going to SEEK. I wasn't planning on it and didn't, but apparently John was scheduled to do a presentation of Thirst work, as well as speak about the transition period after school and settling into a new job. He grabbed a picture of me and told me he was going to use the phrase "Be like Bud". HAHA. So now these girls are going to be at a design conference and hear some one say "Be like Bud" to a whole freakin crowd of people... Later on in the day I received a message from Jess saying...

"I asked John where you were... my girls were pissed they didn't get to meet "The Legendary Bud" You were even in John's presentation!! Your ugly face was all over three giant projectors and you weren't even there to experience it. Haha."

I've highlighted one part of that excerpt for two reasons. "My Girls", damn maybe I should have gone to this conference! "The legendary Bud", It took me 4 years to have someone introduce me that way at UMD... WTF.

What a funny turn of events.

Subterranean Adventures

Last night I went and ate a jerk seitan sandwich at the Earwax Cafe (delicious)... then wandered around the corner and got a beer at the beachwood bar and met Hernando who then extolled to me the benefits of the bachelor life at age 50. The conversation then turned to not having kids because the world is overpopulated and places like china, then somehow got to nuclear weapons and nuclear winter. Then our "discussion" moved to nuclear weapons in the middle east. Finishing my beer I escaped and made my way to the subterranean and saw The A-sides play, followed by The Velvet teen and Say Hi. My right ear is still ringing

Too much fun all over the place.

I just realized I haven't posted an update since that fateful day of desk sealing. I guess the reason would be that I am just having way too much fun in the city. For reals. Too much fun. Way too much all over the place.

The office is slowly but surely getting in order. I have been documenting it along the way. It is going to be an amazing space. It already is, but once it's finished. Oh man, watch out.



Work is going really well. I feel like Rick is putting more trust in me and that I'm surprising him. Which makes me really excited about work and design. I have been biking to work too which is really great. I'm pretty sure I get there in about the same time and it's much more enjoyable than sitting in traffic. PLUS, It doesn't cost me anything! Woot!

What else is new... hurm. I have uploaded some pictures of work that has been done so far at Thirst. I'll be posting projects as they come back from the printer there.



Outside of the office I have been exploring Chicago. I have been to the Art of Rock and Roll show at the MCA twice now. It's very cool. On friday night I went to a show titled Targeting Johns put on by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. It was a pretty nice show and a great space.

Then later on I met up with Sarah Fuller's cousin Jonathan Werts and he took me on the lesser known tour around our neighborhood. I think he was just trying to bring me to the diviest bars he knew of. Mexico de Moderno was great, after being frisked at the door we each enjoyed a $5 can of Tecate. The next place was quite an anomaly. Is it a bar? Is it a Liquor Store? WAIT, It's BOTH! The name escapes me right now, but it is definitely a place to keep in mind when you want to move a little out of your comfort zone. John tried to order a Nordic Wolf Light, for which there was a faded poster hanging on the wall but i guess they were fresh out. Apparently Cooter Brown's in Louisiana isn't! You will find it in their beer list under Canada. Remind me to go by there if I ever make it down to Louisiana.

I think I am quickly falling in love with Chicago. It took me awhile to feel that way about Duluth, but Chicago seems to be growing on me pretty quickly.