Back in August, while on a visit back home on the East coast, my close friend MR invited me to an architect happy hour event in my beloved NYC. It was a beautiful summer night in the city and I haven’t schmoozed with fellow architects in a very long time. The invitation was well met and the event was a fabulous occasion to see some old friends, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit out of place. My usual social self would be on the social prowl, babbling about projects I worked on that I truly did not care about. And then I would stand there listening to the other architect critic a building. I didn’t know why that night I was just not in the mood…
Then my close friend AC asked me a question. It was one of those questions that really open your eyes to your present status in life. AC asked me this question as we stood on the corner of Broome and W. Broadway in the SOHO district over a cigarette break taken in between my usual drinks of captain and diet cokes. On the subject of life, “what do you really want to do, J?”
Taken by surprise, I immediately answered him with “I want to be an architect.” Just as immediately AC replied “No. If you really wanted to be an architect, you would be registered by now and working in an architect firm.” It was hard to swallow. I didn’t want to admit he was right. I also didn’t want to admit that when I said that answer, I felt a pang of doubt because in reality, I wanted to break away from the corporate architect industry and drafting someone else’s designs. I knew I wanted to go into the film industry and above all, own a design business where I will be hands-on designing. And I mean designing and actually making finished projects as in residential design to interior layout designs, from home goods to handbags, and much, much more. Ever since I was a kid, I absolutely loved being artistic and would spend hours in the art supply store, creating things in my mind that I can make and would eventually sell to people. Ultimately, to be my own boss, that’s my dream. I would rather be working from home and designing a small kitchen renovation than working in some corporate architect office, my creative juices draining out of me while I’m drawing office cubicle layouts on AutoCAD all day for a boss who’s living off the revenue I slaved for. A big pay cut, heck yeah. But if it meant that I am doing what I love, I will not mind living on cereal for as long as need be.
And this is how I got here. For the past year and a half since I stopped working in the corporate world, I have been traveling, experimenting, browsing, designing, decorating, reading, piano playing, teaching, photographing, hearing, smelling and seeing. Unbeknown to many of my family and friends reading this, I have actually been venturing in the sewing world, creating things and selling them with customer order requests coming in for my products! More importantly, I am making an attempt to begin writing again because if I don’t write it here, there’s a 99% chance I will forget all I had experienced. As I mentioned before, I am not at all new to the blogging world. I have been blogging since 2004. So this is a continuation and diversion from my Xanga blog in which I constantly complained about working in awful architect firms, spilled the juicy beans on working in the NYC nightlife, and made my big move to Los Angeles. In case I slip I apologize in advance for my occasional dirty mouth (what can I say, I grew up in an area where we tell it like it is) but compared to my Xanga blog, this will be like reading the Bible. In any event, die happy design was conceived.
This blog will focus more on design, ideas, projects, architecture, photography, history, and generally living happy. Don’t you ever experience those unexpected life moments when, after it happens, you wished you can tell the world about it? Well, that has happened to me hundreds of times. So this blog will also highlight those die happy moments that I, as well as others in my life, have experienced. And if for some reason I do not write an entry for a few months, it will probably be caused by the fact that I ran out of cereal and was forced to get a corporate architect job with an 8am-7pm schedule, although I would not get home until 9pm because LA traffic blows. And then I would be way too bitter to even want to write in this blog. So until then, I hope to write as often as I can and enjoy the world of blogging with you fine folks.
Sorry this blog post is long but after two years, you can believe I sure have a lot to say. So I will leave you today, dear reader, with a photo I took of one of those die-happy moments which planted the dhd blog idea in my head. It was during a drive from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, just before the sun was setting and when I was silently talking to God (Him and I have a looong history which should be saved for another blog). In return, He let me know He was listening. Enjoy your Saturday.
 |
| The Dove by Jemma |
No comments:
Post a Comment