i-tees

On the CBS evening news tonight, they featured Erik Proulx, who has created the film, “Lemonade.” After Erik lost his job as a senior copywriter he started a blog called, “Please Feed The Animals“ to help other advertising professionals reinvent themselves. Erik is the creator, executive producer and writer of the movie and he interviewed various creative people who had lost their jobs and shows what they are doing now. These creative people realized they now had the time to do the things they’d only dreamed about. Credits include: Directed by Marc Colucci, Directors of Photography are Peter Nelson and Will Van Hazel, Edited by Andre Betz. Producer & Executive Producer, Jennifer McKenzie, Producer, Carrie Jacobson, and Producer, Scott Burtnett.

It takes a lot of courage to set out on a new path and I look forward to seeing and hearing their stories.

I am remembering the year 1993, when I was an art director for Macmillan Publishing. After working with them for three and a half years, the company went bankrupt and once the banks took over, they found that the only solution was to tear the company into two pieces, and sell those pieces to Prentice Hall and Simon & Schuster. Almost all the employees working for Macmillan were let go, and yes, I was one of them.

At the time I panicked, as most do, when they find themselves out of work. I tried to find a job, but it soon became clear that it wasn’t going to happen. I’d say the reason was because there just weren’t enough art director jobs to go around, and no one was leaving to make room. So, the only solution was to start my own design company. I had the good fortune of friends and colleagues who helped me get going.

As time marched on, I knew I needed to expand my design skills and added website design/development in the late 90s. Knowing both graphic and website design has helped me through the toughest of times, after September 11th, and today with the economic crisis.

There is nothing in the world like being your own boss. Having the freedom to plan each day as it comes. For creative types, it takes a very serious commitment to be freelance. It’s also a truly rewarding life to be able to do what you love. I can’t imagine my life without design and meeting new people each day.

I look forward to the start of this new decade and will welcome all the opportunities that come my way with enthusiasm!

Now when is this film coming to NYC or NJ?

I’ve always thought that it took just the right amount of genius to be a caricaturist. Whenever I see those illustrations of celebrities, politicians, intellectuals and athletes, they’re not just recognizable, but clever in the way they’ve been portrayed.

On Tuesday, one of the greats, David Levine, died. For nearly a half a century his work could be seen in The New York Times Book Review and so many publications, such as, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone and The Washington Post.

To read a full biography and to see some of his work, visit these links:

New York Times Obit by Bruce Weber

Associated Press Obit by Karen Matthews

I’ve written before about my bicycle rides along the Hudson River in both New Jersey and New York.

I first moved to Hoboken in the mid 80s and at that time I had a car. I’d drive my car along River Road to go shopping and many times on my way to New England, I’d go by way of River Road to avoid the traffic to the George Washington Bridge. Many others have this same idea, and due to the overdevelopment, the traffic has been growing larger. Over the years, as they built more and more condominiums, and the Light Rail was extended, the road was widened. Considering all the effort given to making room for the Light Rail and widening the road, I’ll never understand why they didn’t think of the thousands of cyclists and paint in a simple bike lane.

With all the people now living and shopping in that area, a bike lane would be a wonderful and much needed addition, and would have helped with the traffic and congestion.

In the December 10th issue of “The Midweek” Reporter, Tricia Tirella wrote about the problems with getting a bike lane built on River Road in NJ.

“The problem is that right now River Road is not wide enough for a bike lane plan”, said Hudson County Spokesperson, James Kennelly. He explained that a long-term capital project is planned for the next three to five years that will include a dedicated lane. He said that the road will be widened and resurfaced when it is funded by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

I ride my bicycle during the Spring, Summer and Fall seasons and just to get from Jersey City to River Road is a challenge since there are no bike lanes in Jersey City either. They have “share the road” and “bike route” signs posted around but no lanes. They have put some bike lanes on a few streets in Hoboken so that does help. The worst of all, is riding in Weehawken where it meets River Road, to get to the walkway on the other side. This intersection has never been altered and is dangerous to bicycle riders. We sneak along a short dirt path where the cars are merging from two roads and for about 50-100 ft they are too close to us. Something has to be done with this intersection to make it safer for riders. There is no other way to get from this area of Weehawken to the waterfront walkway along the Hudson.

Why does it take so long for something that we need so badly, to get built? Maybe something will change before Spring 2010 comes and I’m ready to ride out there.

After publishing this post, I read about the first meeting of an advocacy group which took place in December in Jersey City to discuss safer streets/better biking. You can be sure I will be attending the next meeting in January and have written to one of the group members, Daniel Levin for more information and whether I can help build them a website, which they don’t seem to have. It’s time the city realized how many cyclists there are. Read the full article here.