my new logo

curt logo
Originally uploaded by cinnamon.stick.

Not that I'm spinning out at all these days, but let me know what you think of the logo for my DJ alter ego. A couple of people asked about the 80's mixes I was doing from all the records I received for free back in September.

yeah..... um...... I never finished those mixes. They're on my list of things to do though.

If you need any type of logo / letterhead / graphic design work done, contact my main man Wynn over at sexy pixels and tell him Curtis sent you. He's the guy that did the flyer for the weekly party I was the resident DJ for in Chicago.

Good stuff...

~C

whew! that was hard.

Damn. That was hard.

Although I haven't always been the most honest with certain folks all of the time, I've changed my ways and am really trying to be honest all of the time. It just saves everyone involved the pain and drama.

So since I knew I was going to submit my resignation, I didn't want to just wait all day and then do it at the very end of the day. I knew that morning so I was going to just do it in the morning and let the chips fall as they may. It was suggested to me to resign at the end of the day, but holding it in all day was absolutely killing me.

I was just going to do it first thing, but bossman was running in and out to go to a presentation, then in and out to a meeting, then in and out...... you get the point. Finally at 5, he's back in his office...... then he gets on the phone for 30 minutes......

.... killing me.........

FINALLY, he comes out of his office and I just grab him and tell him I need to talk to him. I basically just laid it out there for him and was completely honest. It was hard because every other time I've left a job it's because I've left the city. I've never just left a job for my own personal job growth, etc... especially after only working at a place for a few months. I'm a pretty damn loyal employee, and as my friend pointed out, I think it stems from our generations parents.

Our parents got a job and stayed at that job .... forever. So loyalty from and to your employer has always been a constant theme throughout my family. This is true for many of my friend's families too, so our generation sees things a little bit differently... not quite sure why this is, but it seems to be the case.

So I'm currently on vacation.

~C

CD of the moment: The Murgatroyd Trio - "Heavens"

I'm going to quit my job today

since this is about doing things one step at a time, let me tell my story....

I'm going to quit my job today.

I relocated to Washington, DC from Chicago to take an adjunct assistant professor position... Having not taught a day of my life didn't matter as I had been blessed last year to connect with two people that I had never met, but formed a strong bond with: a mental bond, a musical bond, a like-mindeness that led to being published in each of their publications.

So, with beefed-up looking resume in hand (with the words 'curiculum vitae' slapped on top), a slew of faculty retirements, and part-time departures who left the school in a state of scurrying to find faculty to teach some core courses. There was an opening in the history field, so I jumped on it.

Having slept through 50% of the history slides during school, I wasn't sure how I'd do it, but I took on the task anyway. Obviously, this part-time teaching gig with no benefits wasn't going to be enought to live off of, so I went on a job hunt... At first I had this idealized idea of only allowing myself to work for an architectural firm that is rooted in the complexities of design...blah blah blah....

Eventually, I just needed a job. Somehow I received 3 offers in one week, and settled on a cool little interiors firm, that does some really hot shit. I never saw myself doing interiors and had always felt that somehow us 'architects' were better than those 'interiors folks'. I had always felt that the level of complexity doing an interiors job could not possibly compare to coordinating 4 engineers, an acoustician, Data consultant, A/V consultant, landscape designer, and understanding if the submitted silicone caulk shop drawing is the correct one for this particular waterproofing application.

Well I was pretty much right.

Although it is a plus to work with a bunch of Italian women and hot exotic looking designer chics like you'd find in your favorite stylized lifestyle magazine. Ultimately, I don't find the work fulfilling, personally. It still takes a ton of effort to put together a set of interior drawings, however, to me, essentially, it's all drywall details and finishes. My interiors friends might disown me for that statement, but it's really quite personal and I mean no disrespect to those who make interiors their living. I felt like I couldn't 'grow' here though.

They were preparing to give me a whole team of people and were scheduling interviews for people I wanted to join 'my team'. I had never felt the amount of confidence in my skills and support I was receiving here at this new position, especially coming from the situation I was in while in Chicago, where I watched the 'yes-men' get promoted despite their lack of knowledge and the forward thinkers were left on the outside to fight for the crumbs amongst each other.

So anyway, I knew I had to get out of the interiors business, my heart wasn't in it. On a whim I went to a lecture and met a woman afterwards who spoke of creating details to solve new problems, about making the form of a new apartment complex she was doing as an expression of cubist painter Georges Braque. She spoke of a water treatment plant addition that she was trying to figure out how to make it appear like the building was floating........ I was intrigued.

Three weeks, 2 interviews, a slew of e-mails, and only 5 months into my current job where I'm being treated very well, I received a job offer from her. I struggled.... a dilemma that I never thought I would feel literally took over my body to the point that I was sick for two days and could barely focus on work. I knew I had to make adecision.... Go for the architecture firm where I'd clearly be #2, #3,maybe even #4 man on the totem pole for a project, or stay with the interiors firm where I'd be the HNIC (a saying us black folks use amongst each other - 'Head Nigga In Charge').

The prospect of being a 'manager', doing billing books, managing people's time, managing personalities, making sure projects come in on time and on budget, etc... were all essential things that I knew I needed hands on experience with. It would inevitably provide a level of job security and upward mobility that I had not been exposed to. But shit, I'm only 30. not married. no babies to take care of (at least none that I claim), and no obligations to anyone except myself, friends and family. oh...., and my hoes. :)

I'm choosing to go for the experience of learning how to put buildings together vs doing really hot design interior work. Coming from a situation where you couldn't get anyone to design a box that had more than 6 sides, I thought my current situation would be perfect, but I was wrong, and I have to admit that and move on. In the long run, I know this is a better choice.

This is about 'building' and moving forward right?

Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave comments below...

~C

CD of the moment: Parliament - "Mothership Connection" (Remastered)

let's peek inside Curt's inbox

Here is a peek at some of the recent inboxes I've received... read completely out of context of course... as well as some of the better websites people have sent me recently..

~C

--------------


you're so cute. if you throw a pillow at me...we're gonna be fist fighting and i'll win cause king kong ain't got nothin' on me!!!! but seriously i dreamt of this julie girl way before i even met bad-breath julie. i'll move on though. it's really not important.

Curt, for optimum performance, wash it in warm water with a mild detergent after each use and lubricate as needed to maintain that silky smoothness that the ladies love to touch!

We make money not art

screw you, man!!!!u know i hate those fucking chain letters. well, just to let you knowi didn't even read the shit.......therefore you didn't fullfill however many people you had to send it to. and if you send me one more of those bullshit e-mails i'm assign your ass to my trash bin!

ear muffs are funny. think about it.

find out your pimp name

I did look in the binder but it doesn't have pictures. Do you remember that one, made out of laser-cut wood? That's all I really want, since I didn't really work it, I want to use those photographs as samples of my skills.


I never go out anymore. I'm 32 and a total loser! I'll be home tonight watching the f$@#ing bachelorette pluck off unwitting victims who are shamelessly looking for fame, fortune and "love" in front of millions of stupid people, like me.

Cool CD cases for the discerning designer..

Took off bra to get in shower and what do I see?... bubble gum. stuck underneath my titty. i know it's not sexy, but I had to share it with you.

Oh Brian’s doing it again dude. Brian, you ain’t no pimp dude.
Where’s my money?
That’s my money.

abridged versions of philosophers..

See, if I were there, I'd come home drunk, wake you with kisses, and then fuck you, and you know what? it would be great.

NO. A cat jumped out at me and was chewing on one tooth and I was walking around with the cat on my face asking 4 help. This must symbolize that I want pussy on my face. :)

~C

now playing: Jazzanova bi-weekly radio show

Was there a deal on mulch last weekend??

I swear to God everywhere I've been I smell mulch this week!!

I've been in DC, MD, and VA and I swear, everytime I get out the car, get off the train, or roll down my window I smell the stank cow ass whiff of fresh mulch. Its like everyone got together and decided to dig up all the dead winter plants last weekend and cover everything with mulch...

I'm no horticulturalist, so I don't see the point, but aren't they going to come back and dig all that stuff up just to plant tulips and shit in the next couple weeks??

Not to mention, fresh mulch smells TERRIBLE!! It's nothing like that freshly cut grass smell so don't give me that shit.... mulch reminds me of my walks down to the pond at my grandfather's house down in mississippi. During these walks, you had to watch every single step you took in fear that you would be ankle deep in cow shit. I shouldn't EVER be reminded of Mississippi while I'm in DC except for my ocassional encounter with some bama ass local at a McDonalds or gas station.

gotdamn mulch smell singes your nose hairs and you end up smelling it for like the next hour or so.... then as soon as you get it out of your nose, you get to where you're going and there it is again, some more mulch...

...even the world MULCH is stupid. M - U - L - C - H .... don't even look right, it's an ugly word, aesthetically and sounds all rough and hill-billyish... nothing sexy about the world mulch... no sireee...

lastly, finally got my iriver mp3 player... it is quite loverly... loaded up and it's already almost 80% full... but I've quickly found out that I've downloaded a lot of bullshit so I'll be able to clear it out a little bit..

~C

CD of the moment: Erykah Badu - "Live"

NCAA tournament time

aaahhhh, go Illinois...........

I love NCAA tournament time... I'm even debating taking off work for round one... college basketball from like 8am until midnight is like crack..... I just can't get enough, the split screens, watching two games at once, the upsets, the last second shots, the glory, the pain, the success, the failure, all of the emotions of mankind wrapped up into a simple game.

It's a great thing.

~C

CD of the moment: St. Germain - "Soel" (streaming audio for free!)

pissed off Italian chickadees

Hey, I'm sorry, we have a deadline.

me: You knew about the deadline last week before you decided to go to your little fancy shmancy dinner soiree. If you wouldn't have left early yesterday to get your hair 'did', maybe we would be a lot further along than we are. But since your hair was obviously a bigger priority to getting the work done yesterday, we can just stay late tonight and do it.

her: "but tonight is the party?"

me: .................... {{{ blank stare }}}}} ............

her: "we can't get it all done in time!"

me: oh... it's going to get done....

her: "how?"

me: well, standing here right now isn't helping you get anything done.... so I suggest you bust your ass today all day if you're really trying to go to this party.

her: "and if it's not done?"

me: well don't drink too much at your party, I'll be here waiting for your return.

her: ........... {{blank stare}}}...........

me: it's getting done tonight....

her: {{{{rolls eyes and storms off}}}}}

~C

CD of the moment:

"Cafe Roma" - an Italian Chill Out Experience

I love vagina.

Like really.....

I mean, that $hit is loverly...

~C

CD of the moment: Various Artists - "Copa Mundial" (at Amazon.com for $ .39)