a snowy season's greeting...

wishing you and yours the best this holiday season...

Picasso Pictures Christmas Card 2009 from Amael Isnard on Vimeo.

peace and love to you,
calixta.jive.

Read more...

"hello... you've reached the winter of our discontent..."

have you ever gone through each day wondering if a decision you made may have been the biggest mistake you've ever made?

i have.

i do.

Read more...

merry yule everyone!...

yuletide greetings, happy winter solstice, merry darkest night... whatever you prefer to call it. may your day, and (longest) night, be filled with joy and love.

xoxo.

is that a yule log in your pocket or are you just feeling festive? lol.

Read more...

i'm too old for this...

to be honest with ya'll, i'm not even sure where to start.

i guess i'll take the easy (easiest?) route and try starting at the beginning... when i last left you i was headed to my last day of work in SoCal before my big move back to WI.

let me summarize the experience by saying this... it was me and my 2 cats in the car for a little less than 3 days... wow. actually, it was kind of fun. and my cats like hotels. who knew?

i arrived in WI in the middle of july or so... and when did the moving company get all of my things to WI? THE. END. OF. AUGUST. no joke.

i packed my car with enough stuff for me and my cats to survive 2 weeks. i'm talking the basics here folks, some clothes, my travel toiletries, all my cat stuff, my sleeping bag and pillow, my laptop, my camera, and some valuables i didn't want to pack. so let's just say that sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag for 5 weeks is NOT my idea of a good time. hell, i realized i am far too old for that... i was so sore! and yes, it crossed my mind to buy/borrow an air mattress but i have 2 cats with all their claws. enough said.

the kicker is that the end of august and september is one of the busiest times at work for me... especially starting a new job. so how fast do you think i got my stuff unpacked? oh yeah, there are still a few boxes that i haven't even emptied yet. i'm hoping to tackle that over the holiday break. *fingers crossed*

so that is just a little bit of why i haven't been blogging in awhile... understandable, i think so. the rest of the saga, to be continued...

Read more...

drenched in vanilla twilight...

the stars lean down to kiss you
and i lie awake and miss you
pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere

'cause i'll doze off safe and soundly
but i'll miss your arms around me
i'd send a postcard to you, dear
'cause i wish you were here

i'll watch the night turn light-blue
but it's not the same without you
because it takes two to whisper quietly

the silence isn't so bad
'til i look at my hands and feel sad
'cause the spaces between my fingers
are right where yours fit perfectly

i'll find repose in new ways
though i haven't slept in two days
'cause cold nostalgia
chills me to the bone

but drenched in vanilla twilight
i'll sit on the front porch all night
waist-deep in thought because
when i think of you i don't feel so alone

i don't feel so alone, i don't feel so alone

as many times as i blink
i'll think of you tonight
i'll think of you tonight

when violet eyes get brighter
and heavy wings grow lighter
i'll taste the sky and feel alive again

and i'll forget the world that i knew
but i swear i won't forget you
oh, if my voice could reach
back through the past
i'd whisper in your ear
oh darling, i wish you were here

Read more...

someone turn off my mind...

i know i've been gone a looooong ass time. and i'll get to that at some point. but for now, i need to know...

are there such things as "signs" out there?

now, i'm not talking about red octagons and yellow triangle type signs. i'm talking about having a dream about smoke and then your house burns down the next day. or your not sure where to eat for lunch and then you get a restaurant coupon in your email. alright, maybe those weren't very good examples, but you get my point.

see here's the deal... i try really hard to not think about my ex, "the one", but he just happened to come up in casual conversation today. no big deal. right? i haven't talked about him in months and i haven't seen him in years, but whatever. then just a few short hours later i check my e-mail and guess who has friended me on FB? yup, "the one".

so is that a sign? a freaky coincidence? or just something to get my overworked brain all messed up about?

if only my mind had an off switch...

Read more...

you may need to sit down for this one...

yes. it's true.

i'm back.

:o)

Read more...

a short hiatus...

today is my last day at work before i start my trek cross country to my new job. therefore i probably will not get a chance to update ya'll until i'm settled back in good ol' WI. don't worry, i'll try to update via twitter @CALIXTAJIVE and i'll catch up on all of your lovely blogs in the hotel rooms along the way...

it's a sad and happy last day... i'm sort of at a loss for words.

Read more...

discontinuity...

today i read an interesting article about the new ad campaign by Wieden+Kennedy that is supposed to help re-brand the dying Levi’s.

here is a tidbit:

"...was supposed to target Generation O seems to have ignored all the participation and multi-culturalism that this Obama-era is supposed to represent. Instead, we find lone white young men and women running through the hills and towards waves reflecting a misplaced interpretation of freedom..."

Levi’s and its campaign don’t connect with the great things that are happening in this country, the radiant mix of cultures evolving within it nor the reality of its past."

"Probably the most appalling ad in the campaign is the one where a young girl runs through a meadow by the words “This Country Was Not Built By Men In Suits”. Now, some of us here (me) didn’t spend a lot of time studying US history but I know that the people who built this country couldn’t even run freely in the fields. Agency Spy spotted graffiti daubed on the ad in New York’s subway which spells out who a little more clearly: “By Slaves”."


read the entire thing HERE...

what frustrates me most as a graphic designer is the discontinuity of the images and overall message in the video advertisement compared to the print campaign. does THIS commercial look reflective of the above statements and posters?

i don't think so.

consistency and accuracy are key in branding. how could an advertising agency not see this? (especially W+K...)

Read more...

maybe the day has come...

"and the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

~ anais nin

Read more...

i'm still smiling...

there are so many millions of things that are stressing me out, frustrating me, making me angry, worrying me, etc. for example:

• i am moving to WI in 2 weeks... 2 weeks!... and i still don't have an apartment.
• because i still don't have an apartment i can't finalize the movers.
• i haven't even started packing.
• i still have a million things to do at work and my last day is july 13.
• i have to start work 2 days after i get to WI... what?!
• i have to start my life over... again.
• i have to make all new friends... again.
• i have to learn a new job and meet all new students... again.
• canceling/setting up utilities and changing addresses on EVERYTHING is no fun.
• have i mentioned that i haven't started packing???

but even after all of that... i am still smiling.

wanna know why?

i think i just unintentionally may have sort of accidentally kinda randomly unexpectedly maybe fell in love.

and i should be completely distraught about the thought of leaving him and moving halfway across the country. but i'm not.

i feel so lucky that he has been a part of my life, and that i have gotten to be a part of his, that i am just oh so grateful for him i'm smiling.

and it hasn't been like any other "relationship" i've ever had. i know i haven't regaled you all with a play-by-play of how things have been going (besides the occasional update) like i have in the past, but it's just been so different. it's hard to explain. it's hard to put in words. it's a little overwhelming and a whole lotta scary, but it is just so good.

and who knows... maybe if things are meant to be they will work out in the end.

if not... i am just so damn glad that the driver decided to let me be a part of his world these last few weeks. my heart has grown because of it...

:o)

Read more...

spit that game, v.4...

once again, it is that time...

if you missed the introduction to "SPIT THAT GAME", let me fill you in...

because i love hip-hop and because i'm "down" (i mean really, who doesn't need a tip drill?) (not too mention i have the ass to prove it, lol, that is a topic for another post...), i feel that it is my duty to share with you a random sampling of a few of my all time favorite lines. now some of these lines have specific memories associated with them, some are just so true it is pure genius, and some just crack my shit up!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

because it's been far too long since our last installment, i bring you... VOLUME 4!!!

"protection, for gangs, clubs and nations. causing grief in human relations. it's a turf war, on a global scale. i'd rather hear both sides of the tale. see, its not about races, just places, faces. where your blood comes from is where your space is. i've seen the bright get duller, i'm not going to spend my life being a color." - l.t.b. (in michael jackson's black or white) (now those are some rap lines that still ring true...)

"check it out! once upon a time in '94, montell made no money and life sure was slow.
all they said was 6'8" he stood, and people thought the music that he made was good..." - montell jordan (seriously awesome... because this is how we do it!)

'so what up, what's haapnin'?
all you haters, can get at me
'cause i hear you, and am watchin' but am serious
haters, so all i got to say is WHAT UP!?...
"what it is bruh? what it do man?"' - t.i. (i'm not gonna lie to ya... i greet all my friends with "what it is bruh? what it do man?" now... lol, it's funny 'cause it's true...)

"hell yeah ma, i love a girl that's willin' to learn. willin' to get in the driver's seat and willin' to turn. and not concerned about that he say, she say, did he say what i think he said? squash that, he probably got that off ebay or some, internet access, some website chat line. mad cause i got mine, oh don't wind up on the flat line..." - nelly (who doesn't love rapping this line? 'cause this girl does!!! i even have hand motions for it... heehee.)

"watch out for the medallion my diamonds are wreckless.
feels like a MIDGET is hanging from my necklace." - ludacris (classic. CLASSIC!)

i'm itching to go dancing now... bring on JULY!!!

Read more...