So this past Thanksgiving break was just about the longest 4 day vacation I've ever had. Kate and I were at the mall the night before Thanksgiving so I could get some pants and we just so happened past the Apple store. I wanted to actually play with the iPhone (technically, it should be pronounced "iPhone" and not "the iPhone" but I'm just going with what works here) so there we were, standing in the lions den. The holy water at the entrance of the store started to boil when Kate walked past it and I could tell she was getting itchy standing in the middle of the all-white store of wonderment. As soon as I picked the phone up I was sold and I think Kate was too. We both have been loyal Verizon customers (coming from Sprint about a year ago) and lately, Kate's Chocolate had been taking a shit on her. I was currently on my 4th Chocolate (yes four, three more than one) so I was as ready as ever to jump ship.

We had been waiting for Verizon's new answer to the iPhone to come out so when we were done with Apple, we moved on over to the Verizon store. Coming instantly from the iPhone to the new Verizon phone was like going from Vista to Windows 3.1 (sorry for the nerd ref. but it's way true here). Honest to god, I'm not just saying this because I'm already a die hard Apple fanboy; comparing the iPhone to well, anything on the market today, is a joke. There is NOTHING that even attempts to come close. I don't care what you throw at it, it's leagues above anything. I even remember telling Kate that once we switched, we could never go back which made us both giggle with gleeful anticipation.

• The iPhone will learn your words and eventually type them for you. This isn't like what cellphones have had for ages mind you, it eventually just goes ahead and types out what you are thinking almost.
• It tells you when it has a WiFi connection nearby and then leaches off of it so you can get home-speed web-browsing.
• It plays 2girls1cup (score?).
• It gets mail and is connected to the web 24/7.
• Google Maps
• iTunes
• the Edge network it runs off of when you are out of Wi-Fi is fairly quick. 2.5g I hear.
• VoiceMail is BADASS. You just hit a button and it starts. No dialing or ringing, no password entering; just click and listen. You even get to see the messages in list form visually. If you want to ignore #2, just click #3 instead. AWESOME.
• It's made by Apple so you know it's the best designed thing out there. It's beautiful and perfect in every way in terms of design.

And I know what yer saying... "Dude, my phone can get the web." Um, no, not like this. Go try it out and you will be sold. Web browsing on the iPhone is THE SAME as on your computer. And the best part is, it LOOKS like your computer, not some shitty-ass 16 bit look of every cellphone on the market today.

But as every thing out there, it has it's negatives which I am totally willing to admit:
• no photo texting which blows but I hear it will be fixed soon
• no cutting and pasting (like you needed this with your old phone anyways)
• some of the navigation in and out of programs is lacking but I'm sure will be fixed.
• no AIM for now but you can get it with 3rd party
• the camera is worthless

So, we had to wait the whole Thanksgiving day out to get the stupid thing. It was the longest day ever. In the time I didn't have the iPhone in my life, I had to go through the ordeal of cleaning out the closet to make room for Kate's goods which garnished a total of 8 full trash bags of clothes. Yes, I'm more of a clothes whore than her. THEN, after a day of cleaning, I went to moms to eat what I am now referring to as a surprisingly good meal even though she cooked the turkey upside down. Not a bad thing, just thought I would write it down so I can bust her balls later when I re-read this blog in the coming years.

Black Friday. I woke up at 8am for unknown reasons and we were out the door by 9:30. We were in the pit of hell by 9:45. I don't even remember buying the phone. All I can remember was pushing my way into the Apple store, giving Kate my credit card and walking out with a shiny $400 black box. We unwrapped our phones at the diner across the street and stared at our collected bounty with stary eyes as we enjoyed our club sandwiches together.

We got home, Kate installed iTunes and we even set our phones up at the same time. "Dude! Hurry up, I'm waiting to submit!"

Yeah, it was totally gay but we are now officially iPhone users and it's the best decision we've ever made. The cure for cancer pails in comparison to the iPhone. That's just a simple example of how awesome it is. If you are hungry, it will actually walk to the kitchen and make you scrambled eggs. FACT.

Saturday night, we went ice skating and had a couples date which was remotely odd in description but I had a great time nonetheless. There we were, three 20-30 something couples, ice-skating together and then grabbing dinner until 10ish. This may seem normal to you but remember, Kate and I have been like feudal China for the past three years and getting out and doing things with other people has been non-existent so far.

We had to leave a bit early so I could introduce my friend to a club owner friend of mine in the city so we decided to meet at said club which just so happened to be having lesbian night there. There's nothing like sitting out front talking to the bouncers while lines of butch lesbians trounce past you, all the while glaring at your penis like it was the person that shot Kennedy and at the same time, undressing your fiancé with their seedy little lesbian eyes.

And what's the deal with butch lesbians anyways? I mean, I understand that you fellas are trying to purvey the look and edge of us guys but for fucks sake, that's no way to pick up on a lady. I know you didn't really spend a lot of time gelling up your spiked hair, picking out the right torn jeans and backwards-wearing baseball hat but even I know the ladies are looking for a little bit more in a mate here. And why are you all so angry? I don't see the lipstick lesbians wearing such a mean-looking face. They all looked like they were having a gay old time (*snickers*) dancing around without a care in the world but there you all are, standing in the corner looking mad at the world. But I digress.

Anyways, the rest of the weekend was spent at Ikea buying a new dresser and chair for Kate, a toolbox for me and other random iPhone accessories. The holiday shopping weekend was awesome. We didn't buy a single thing for anyone except ourselves and it feels great to be drinking the Kool Aid.

God bless you Steve Jobs for bring us closer together. God bless you.

So there's this dame from my past who recently resurfaced in my life for a few minutes the other day and it got me thinking after checking out her blog. After snooping around in search of some inspiration (as I hold this gal in quite a high regard as a fellow designer) and instead of seeing any new and inspiring work, I was more entranced by her photos as of late.

Now a little back story here, she came into my life during the period I like to refer to as the "Jason's rampant abuse of time and money during college" time period. I was months away from graduating art school, I got out of class every day at noon and either went to the beach to surf or hang out and drink with my best buddy Stoner Dave EVERY SINGLE DAY. It was awesome I'm not gonna lie. It was probably the best time of my life in terms of just pure pleasure-based living. I had just broken up with my long-term GF for the 30th time and life was sweet. I had a massive crush on this girl for nearly my entire stay at school in Savannah and as luck would have it, we sort of started up something kind of in between dating and mutual worshipping of each other for the last semester. I thought she was one of the best designers I had ever seen and I think she got off on the fact that I went about life not caring too much about anything (in a good way of course). In hindsight, we used each other for our own reasons and were perfectly ok with it.

She could probably crack a walnut with her ass she was so uptight and when we hung out, she was sort of forced to finally let loose. I think that's where she got the most pleasure from out of what we had for those brief months. In return, I got to have an accomplice to hang out with while I spent my last days during school. She would smoke cigarettes and drink with me, we would go to parties together, we died our hair the same colour; essentially, I was her dark side. But with that being said, I don't think I have ever had a more creative period in my life than I did with her and living next to Stoner Dave.

To make matters more sticky, she was dating someone at the time, the relationship was going south and I didn't care one way or another. He was in another state and due to where I was at that time in my life, I had no problem being selfish.

So as the semester grew to a close, I found myself at a crossroads. I could hang out in Savannah for another 3 months and wait for everyone to finish up (I was a 1/2 semester ahead) or go back home and get a job. I chose the latter knowing if I stayed, yes it would remain the same and I would have a ball but it would just remain the same and I wouldn't get anything new out of it. So, the very last night I was in town, things went a little too far, things happened and the next morning I was driving across the Savannah bridge with all of my belongings in the trunk to never make the trip back over that bridge again.

The fucked up thing about this whole thing is that we never spoke after that morning.

Now, I'm not one to hang on to the past but it pissed me off that I was forgotten like a 6th period math class after all of the experiences we enjoyed with each other for close to six months. I'm an only child raised by my mom; I'm a sensitive pussy who needs closure and I never got it (although it is nice to get this out finally).

Anyways, moving on, so here I was, going through her flickr account and I found myself not really stalking on her per say but admiring her lifestyle. I missed how inspired I was by how she decorated her work station or how she styled her letters on notes. I missed how I always tried to adapt her styles to my own somehow just because she was really good at the intricacies of certain things and I always lacked that regime in my skillset.

Is it possible to just have a crush not on a person but on their creativity?

So, here's the kicker to this whole thing. After seeing how this now ghost of a person lived merely by looking at a handful of photos, I find myself inspired to push myself again just like I did when I met her for the first time.

I haven't cared about design for close to 5 years. The day I was let go from my first job in 2003; the job where I truly gave my all to, I never gave 100% again. I stopped keeping up with design trends and keeping friendships with people who created beautiful things. I stopped experimenting and became lazy with my work as well as at my jobs. I became stale. I'm actually really excited about my new job. I think this is going to be great for me and now I really think I'm going to start pushing myself again all because this random girl came back in my life for maybe 15 minutes.

Now I'm 31 years old, a homeowner, a fairly successful designer in my field and a fiancé of one of the greatest women I have ever known and I really feel like I did when I got out of school. I don't feel stuck anymore. It feels like I have this massive opportunity to do whatever I want with my life again and I have to admit it feels great. Kate and I survived the initial make-or-break period of living with one another with flying colours and there are blue skies in sight. My new job is giving me carte blanche with their brand and portfolio and the only thing that can fuck it up is me.

Kind of weird to feel fresh again. I forgot what it felt like.