In Massachusetts for Xmas a few days ago, I was talking with my brother about how 2011 had been to us in comparison to other years. It was different — less fun, more work, fewer friends but more satisfaction, less freedom, more structure, etc. etc. etc. For the first time in the last few months I’ve started to feel like a significant amount of time has passed since graduating college, and I recognize that a lot has happened and I’ve done a lot since then, much in this year.
Right at the start of the year (January 3), I started working at McNally Smith. I began at 20 hours a week, but that was bumped up to full-time at the beginning of May. The official title is copywriter/webmaster, and I’ve been doing a lot more writing and web development outside of work as a result of getting into it.
My PR/Marketing internship at the Walker Art Center continued through the first part of this year. I had a few extra opportunities to do writing, and got to write about the making of a meat dress for an exhibition (still on display!), and a piece for the Walker Magazine on SCVNGR, an interactive app to explore the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and WAC in new ways.
I kept up with Funky Sexy Jazzmen until the end of February. Despite a marathon week in January where I posted one comic a day for a week (up from two per week), I eventually found myself without the drive or inspiration to keep making comics, and instead started focusing my efforts on web and writing.
In June, I started a music blog called Playground Misnomer with my long-time friend T.J. Things picked up steam over the summer, and by the end of August we were getting thousands of visitors a month. We also picked up two additional writers, Matt and Steven. I took a hiatus starting in September to focus on work, but about a month ago began writing reviews again. Most recently I wrote up my top ten albums of 2011.
I also began writing for City Pages’ A-List section this year — short articles, mostly on upcoming art exhibitions and events. Fun side project, and I’ve met a lot of great people involved in Twin Cities arts as a result of it.
Late in 2010, I got together with fellow Dee-lumni Tim Carroll and Greg Hunter to work on an Internet comedy series, ‘Rest Home. It’s a project that’s often taken the backburner to our day jobs and other interests, but we managed to film a few episodes this year, and the site and videos are ready for an early 2012 launch.
Given my new found experience in web development and Lisa’s eye for design, we decided this year to start freelancing together under the name Parsley & Sprouts. Our first project was a pro bono blog redesign for my Mom this summer, and since then we’ve taken on a handful of other small businesses, as well as the most recent redesign of this site. So, what’s next?
Goals for 2012
One of the first projects I’ll tackle will be the redesign for McNally Smith’s website. No, I didn’t work on the project itself, but with as much content and as much potential for growth as the new site will allow, I already have big ideas for the future of the site.
T.J. and I have talked a fair amount on Playground Misnomer, which I hope to redesign in the early months of 2012 — responsive, more graphically interesting, and more streamlined. I also want to stick to one review or article a week there, as well as expand our readership and staff.
In the theme of making each week count, I hope to stick to a schedule of one A-List per week for City Pages, both as an income supplement and good writing practice.
Like I mentioned before, ‘Rest Home will launch likely in the coming weeks — it’s been over a year in the making, and we’re all itching to get it out there. After its launch, I hope to keep momentum going with regular episodes throughout 2012.
Lisa and I plan on really turning Parsley & Sprouts into a business, and taking on both more and larger clients. But first we’ve got to get our own site up and running…
Finally, I want to stick to a stricter blogging schedule. I took my longest break from it this year (five months, although I was writing very regular for Playground Misnomer in that time), but since doing some redesign work, I’ve gotten much happier with the feel of it, and subsequently with writing in my own space. Shall we say MWF like back at Carleton? I can’t promise that all three posts in any given week will be as compelling as this one, but I hope I can keep up with the wide array of topics that pique my interest here — architecture, art, music, and my own creative work.
Thanks for reading. See you in the new year.
