Cafe Promised Land: The Long Daily Search for a Self-Employed Workplace

My current nest at Top Pot Doughnuts

The perfect workplace may not exist, but I still need my basic needs met as a self-employed laptop nomad. I am taking a break from my regularly scheduled work day to bring you this (albeit snobby, frivolous, and indulgent) gripe about the struggles of an office-less freelancer.

Let me begin with the caveat that I LOVE being a freelancer. I love being able to work from home. I love making my own hours. I love not needing to prove that I’m a hard worker by sitting at a desk in a sea of cubicles for the entire day.

However…

Sometimes I can’t work from home. There’s something about my living room during the day that does not inspire motivation. It seems mostly to be a day-time malady. At night I can work for hours on end at my desk. Maybe it’s the 8-year-old ballerina who lives above us. No, she’s always there running around, even at night. Maybe it’s the lighting. In any event, some days, it’s just not happening, and I want a little life around me as I try to pour a glass of insta-creative. Here is a list of common issues one faces when “working out.” I believe I checked off all of these during the course of my day:

1. …and they wandered the wilderness for forty years.  One would think that in a city that has more coffee houses than all other cities combined, it would be an easy task strolling into a caffeine shack and finding a table. No. It is not. Because apparently everyone else in Seattle is also a freelancer or student. Today I almost had the mind to walk up to people and poll them about what they do. Also, it seems everyone got up at 0:00AM to claim their Promised Land. It was probably easier finding a place to sit at Ellis Island.

2. Outlet Hell: Say you do find a table. Often times than not, the contractors who designed the coffee house you’re sitting in didn’t really think about the necessity of OUTLETS. My MacBook Pro actually lasts a few hours unplugged, but not an entire work day. Even if there are outlets, you might be sitting next to “that guy” who has his laptop, cell phone, iPod, and nostril hair trimmer all plugged into the power strip that’s meant to be shared by the entire back corner of the cafe. This leads me to my next grievance…

3. Cafe Real Estate Moguls: I am not referring to those developers who skimped on the outlets; I am talking about those individuals that sit at a table meant for six and begin building an empire of unusable seating. She sits in one chair, with her feet up on another, her purse and coat on a third, her open gym bag full of sweaty Lulu Lemon fabric flopped onto the forth. She’s got her laptop open, but she’s spent the last 15 minutes on her iPhone while a crinkled copy of US Weekly lies next to a two-hour-old cappuccino and a half-eaten 8 grain roll. Ooo! Another segue!

4. Lifestyles of the Loud and Obnoxious: OK, I know I’m not sitting in a library, but it’s also not Saturday night at the club. There’s no need to talk over the each other like there’s a live band. Then there are people on their cell phones shouting personal information into them. They are phones. If you speak normally, people will hear you on the other side. I’m not sure which scenario is worse really, having an entire conversation that I don’t want to hear about shoved in my ears, or just HALF of an entire conversation that I don’t want to hear about shoved in my ears. ”OH MY GOD NO WAY!?…REALLY?…UHUH…OMG I WAS TOTALLY CONSTIPATED TOO!!!”

5. Your Mind Now Belongs to DJ Barista: I used to be a barista. It’s hard work. You’re on your feet all day, covered in smelly milk, dealing with stupid customers who treat you like you’re a vending machine. You deserve to be able to play your own music in the cafe. That being said, I believe there is a courteous volume to bear in mind. Maybe I don’t want to go head-banging at an 80s punk show, or take a meditative journey down the Ganges, or sigh while listening to a sad, sad, sad lady sing her lament for the dying trees. It’s not that I don’t respect other people’s music (because people’s musical preference is sacred), but that really affects my attention span. If I put on my headphones, I shouldn’t be able to hear the cafe music combine with mine.

6. Why-Fi. As in “WHY bother having internet available if it SUCKS!?!?” Some places have great instant connectivity, while others make you sign up through some bootleg 3rd party internet portal that is slower than the evolution of mankind. In the amount of time it takes some connections to load a page, I could have walked to Office Depot, stolen a new modem, and served 2 years in a state penitentiary that has BETTER SERVICE!

7. Mind Over Bladder. You’ve finally found your spot. The laptop is plugged in. The coffee (in my case tea) is to your liking. The noise level is tolerable. Your new foe? Your bladder. It’s screaming at you like an impatient newborn at feeding time. What the hell are you supposed to do now? Leave all your stuff on the table with a “FREE!” sign, or pack up your stuff and lose your coveted space? I usually politely ask the person next to me to keep an eye out on my stuff. Is this the smartest course of action? Meh. I guess I’m hoping that they will sympathise with me. We office-less freelancers have to look out for each other.

Sigh. That feels better. Thank you for letting me get that off my chest. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go up to the counter, get a donut, and go back to work

Through the Years: My Evolution as an Artist–in Pictures!

Hello! I know I still owe you the rest of my 2012 US Tour, but I thought this would be a fun little post. Plus, I haven’t talked about art in a while. I’ll keep the set up brief. When I was in NY, I unearthed some old artwork I had stashed away under beds and inside sheds. Please excuse some of the image quality, as I had to take some shots with my little “travel camera” and no lighting.

I made this when I was 4. Since I totally failed at pee-wee basketball and would draw on everything in sight, my Mom thought it might be a good idea to enroll me in art lessons. Well played, Mom.

I was always into castles (and apparently bakeries). I made this with my sweet set of Design Spectracolor pencils, which we all know were the Rolls Royce of colored pencils. This is dated ’92, a very productive year for me.

Another theme in my work (and life) is ice cream and other sweets. I especially enjoy the sparklers and checkered orange creamsicle scoop. I think this was from 4th grade.

“Meow!” More colored pencil madness. I remember getting cross-eyed trying to draw fur.

Of course I was really into Disney. I copied this out of a coloring book.

By 6th grade, I learned how to make animation cels. I had enrolled in classes at Art & Design Studio of Rockland. I learned a lot of skills there from ink to pastel to paint. I took classes there until I graduated high school, and even worked as a part-time assistant for teachers in the younger classes.

In middle school, I ditched Disney and totally immersed myself in comic books, specifically X-Men. I related to their brand of outcasts with special mutant powers. My mutant power was drawing, although I was in dire need of an anatomy lesson.

In high school, my eye for photo-realism was sharpening, but a lot of what I made was just “pretty.” I hadn’t really tapped into the idea of art as expression. That changed when I took Mrs. Nicholls’ Art Appreciation class. It changed the way I looked at art. It wasn’t just about making something look good anymore, there was meaning and purpose behind everything. Mind = blown.

I started getting a little bit more conceptual with my work. This piece was for an independent study, where I was researching my ethnic heritage (my mother is Irish and my father is Filippino) and trying to find a link between two seemingly disparate cultures. This piece combined some of the myths and legends of the two island nations. I should really see a doctor about that ear leakage.

In college, we all took the same foundation freshman year in the art school. I declared my major as illustration for sophomore year, which was two whole semesters of photographing an entire composition with ektachrome, projecting it onto illustration board, tracing, and applying whatever medium we were working in at the time. It was soul-crushing, though I’m sure I got some useful crap out of it, like composition and medium technique (but I still hated tracing). This is a portrait of my little sister (not so little anymore) and her best friend “Puppy.”

Junior year we were allowed to try different styles. I was very excited to put photo-realism away for a while and just have fun with characters and color.

Then 911 happened. That’s all I’ll say about this piece.

During Spring semester of 2002, I studied abroad in Florence, Italy. It changed my life. Not only was I surrounded by the most sumptuous art of the Renaissance, but I felt totally liberated as a person and an artist. I really started pushing the envelope on an artistic level. Things literally got messy, which I never allowed myself to do before. It was wonderful.

Senior year, we probably heard a million times that we needed to focus on a specific style for our portfolio, but I just wasn’t there yet. I was still busy experimenting, and I do not regret it at all. I was still trying to find myself; how could I choose a voice that I didn’t know I had? This is Paulie Platypus, in acrylic and pastel.

For an independent study, I wrote a children’s book, The Adventures of Pina and Zed. It starred my host mother and her dog and took the viewer through the city of Florence on a wild goose chase (well, actually “dog chase”, but you get the idea). I made several finished pieces (acrylic under-paintings with oil finish), mocked up the dummy and actually shopped it around to publishers. A few little places were interested (Harper Collins and Houghton Mifflin) but the project never went anywhere. When I got my first rejection letter, my professor said to frame it.

 

I also played around with ink and digital coloring. I had done some of this in high school when I was still into comic books, but was taking it a bit further.

I took some painting electives, where I copied a lot of masters. This was very helpful in learning more about painting. This is a copy of The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Vermeer, acrylic underpainting with oil glaze.

This is one of my favorite pieces from college. It’s called “Zipper, I’m home.” The idea of a ghost girl kinda freaked some people out, but I think she’s precious. I did a similar approach with paint as I did with the Vermeer piece, but something wasn’t translating. It was hard not having something to copy (obviously) and I didn’t want it to be photo-realistic. I was more inspired by some pieces I had seen in the Society of Illustrator’s Annual that were neither realism nor cartoon. My professor at the time said that the painting never lived up to the original comp drawing. That haunted me for years, until I started going back to drawing as my primary medium.

I won’t say much about my post-college work. You can see some of it in the archives of my website. I will share that not long out of college, I started drawing a bunch of little characters in my sketch book frequently. I was very frustrated with painting and didn’t do it much, but kept drawing a certain little elephant…

Years later, Elly would become my little hero, combining everything I’ve learned along the way. Looking forward to continuing my journey with him!

Props and thank yous to some of my teachers:

Tonya Mulligan, Laura Nicholls, Mark Mitchell, Charlene Margiotta, Carmel Nicoletti, Murray Tinkleman, John Thompson, Yvonne Buchanan, Roger DeMuth

2012 US Tour: Maryland (otherwise entitled “A Trip Down Memory Train”)

After a few days of recovering with my family, I went to visit my friend Lara, who I have been pen pals with for (holy crap) 19 years. Wow. I am old now. We accomplished much on this short visit.

19 years and our friendship still got it goin on

I took the train down to Baltimore. There was plenty of time to think about how much Lara and I have been through together, even though we’ve only been physically in the same place a handful of times. We met at a summer camp in Pennsylvania when we were kids. We found a match of whit in each other, a blossoming sense of pre-teen sarcasm that the other kids didn’t get (cuz they were a bunch of…geniuses). We quickly became inseparable for one week of camp.

After camp, I returned to New York, and Lara soon sent her very first letter. I sent one back, and the volley has continued to this day (with a bit of an upgrade to email and phone calls–remember long-distance calling? FOR THE BIRDS!). We wrote about the pit of dispair that is middle school, the turbulent waters of high school, the great awakenings of college, and the excitement and challenges of living as grown ups in the real world. For 19 years, we have been each other’s distant place of refuge when the worlds that we stand in become too much. We can write a letter or make a phone call, and the other will be there to read and listen. It has also been a true honor to watch each other grow into the writers that we are today. I owe much of my confidence in my own writing to Lara’s encouragement.

mint-chocolate realness

After a three hour tour of mid-Atlantic states, the train pulled into Baltimore, and Lara was waiting with a warm hug. When we got to her house, there were Andes mint-chocolate cupcakes waiting for me! Lara’s cat Toby, who is perhaps more cynical than the two of us combined was even somewhat happy to see me after a while, and allowed me several minutes of petting.

Though most of the visit consisted of us talking, gossipping, and reminiscing, we did manage to fit in a few other worthwhile activities. We watched The Muppet Movie, which was awesome. We met Lara’s friend Bethany for some seriously fantastic Indian food in a strip mall. Bethany told us all about her upcoming trip to Disney World, where she planned and entire vacation around restaurant reservations and a “cupcake crawl” (a girl after my own heart). After dinner we went to Bethany’s house and payed with her three ferrets, also thoroughly amusing.

Sisterhood of the Travelling Cupcake

After 48 hours of trying to out-wit each other, Lara drove me to the airport for the next leg of my adventure. I’m looking forward to the next time she (and hopefully Bethany!) will come visit in Seattle so that I can show off my favorite cupcake places.

2012 US Tour Part 1: New York

Greetings from sunny Los Angeles! I’ve been on the road (and rail and air) for a while. I think I need to break this epic journey into smaller parts, so for now I give you Part the First: New York!

It all started mid-March when I flew to NY to launch our new gay wedding invite business, Queer Getting Married, at the GLBT Expo. (You can read my last post to read all about that). Some highlights that I didn’t mention were hanging out with my girls, Julia and Allison. We’ve been supah-dupah tight since our freshmen year at Syracuse. That reminds me, I really need to share some of my college misadventures, though they are not for the faint of heart. Granted, though I was the goodie-two-shoes of the bunch, I bore witness to many a tale. I also need to do a post about Julia, who happens to be an amazing artist. Till then, I will toss you a link to her site for your viewing pleasure.

Julia & Al, my special girls

The Monday after, I stayed in the city long enough to finally walk around Highline Park and have launch with my good friend Cathy. The picture below really doesn’t do the park justice. It’s something you have to experience. It was so gorgeous out–nearly 80 degrees without a cloud in the sky. Coming from Seattle, this amounted to a divine blessing. I gave thanks by making an offering of fresh macarons…which I ate.

Later I hopped a train to my hometown of Nanuet, which the photo below does plenty of justice. I learned that the old Nanuet Mall is being torn down to be rebuilt as “The Mall at Nanuet.” And you asked yourself why I moved. I had some good quality time with the fam as I recovered from some form of bubonic plague that I managed to score the week prior. I’m usually a “rest and tea” sort of person, but since I was travelling for the next few weeks, I didn’t mess around and got me some grade A antibiotics.

Nanuet, home of "nothing really interesting at all"

I did manage to do a little work while I was home. For an hour. On my parents’ patio. I really needed to sop up as much sun as I could while I was outside of Seattle.

My new "home office"

MacGyver Season 1: Blowin' $#!t up, mullet style

Other highlights included sleep and a Blockbuster going out of business sale, where I scored $2 copies of Inception, Mad Men Season 4, and one disc from Season 1 of MacGyver, which my brother, sister, and I promptly watched upon returning to the house. I remember learning a lot from MacGyver when I was little, and I’m still learning from his big Hollywood brain. For instance, I never knew that nuclear power plants are run by three scientists and a security guard, that there are only two people employed as freelancers by the US government who know how to disarm “complicated” bombs, and that the inside of a nuclear waste disposal chamber is a good hiding place for top-secret documents. Something I did already know was that a supporting character who appears in an action show during the 80s who is either– 1. a happily married minority with children or 2. the prettier girl’s roommate– are doomed to die in some kind of horrific explosion.

The next morning, after an onslaught of hugs and kisses and stuffing a homemade Irish soda bread into my luggage, I was off to Penn Station to ride the train to Baltimore. With my new-found MacKnowledge, I was ready to face any eventuality with my friend, Lara. Tune in next post to hear all about Maryland, homemade cupcakes, and ferrets!

We Have Lift-off!!!

Hello dear readers! So sorry I’ve been away for a while. I have been a bit busy. Since last May, my friend Jenny and I have been working on a new business venture, and we just launched this past Friday!

Queer Getting Married is a wedding invite company geared towards the gay community! Our mission is to create new traditions in wedding design for queer couples and allies with damn good taste.

Yes, I know –>GASP!<– But wait, there’s more!

Since we believe that gay marriage (or what I just like to call “marriage”) is a civil right that belongs to all people, we are donating 5% of all profits to organizations campaigning for marriage equality.

Total Eclipse of the Heart

“Why should gay people shop at Queer Getting Married? What’s the difference between these and other invitations?” Aside from donating money from each order, Queer Getting Married wants our customers to feel secure that the invite company they are ordering from believes their union is as meaningful as anyone else’s and that their order will be treated with the utmost respect and care. Also, there is no such thing as “traditional gay marriage.” We’ve waited a very long time for this reality, so why should we be tied down by some cumbersome outdated designs? Your save the dates and wedding invitations are printed declarations of your love! We want to help you celebrate your marriage with ridiculously stylish designs that break the mold of traditional wedding stationery.

“So…do you only do invites for the gays, or can a straight couple ask you for your services?” As I said in our mission statement, we serve queers and allies. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, an “ally” is someone who does not personally identify as queer, but supports queer people. If you’re reading this right now (and you’re not queer) you’re most likely an ally, otherwise we probably wouldn’t be friends. Don’t worry, if you’re a hetero, we won’t judge your lifestyle choices

Very Versailles

“This is amazing, Mike! What can I do to help?” Awww, thank you so much for asking! You can help by posting on Facebook, Twitter, Google +, talking to your gay friends who are getting married, or your gay friends who aren’t getting married, or your straight friends who support marriage equality, or your barber, or your Brazilian waxer, or your nosey neighbor that won’t stop talking to you even though you’ve given them all possible social queues. The point is, share, share, share whenever you can. Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter. We are really looking to the community to help us get this off the ground. Amazingly, within an hour of posting our new site on my Facebook page, a bunch of my friends already started re-sharing without me even saying anything. You all know who you are, and I’m truly touched. Thank you.

“How the hell did you think up this delicious brain nugget?” Good question. Last year, my friend (and now business partner!) Jenny was getting married to my other friend Nate. They are so ridiculously cute together that I throw up in my mouth a little bit every time I see them. For a wedding gift, I offered Jenny and Nate my design services to make their save-the-dates, invites, etc. When Jenny sent out her save-the-date, she had an amazing response. People liked it. A lot. Someone even scanned it in and posted it on Facebook. It was very flattering.

 

Wheel Love - designed for our first customers!!!

Soon after, Jenny and I were having dinner, and she said that I should really consider getting into making wedding invitations as a business. I had made several wedding packages before, and really enjoyed it, but I could see myself becoming very bitter making other people’s wedding invites when I’m not allowed to get married (which hopefully will become possible in Washington state this November once we get through REF 74). The next day I was working on their invites, and something clicked. I’ll just make invites for the gays! Now that would make me smile! I texted Jenny my idea, she said it was brilliant. We had always wanted to start a business together, and here it was! And there was much rejoicing. (yaaay)

Super Homo

Since then, it has been a long, windy road. I left my very stable job as Design Team Lead at Groundspeak at the end of October so that I would have more time to work on QGM (that’s cool-speak for Queer Getting Married–get with the lingo!). We’ve done a crap-ton of paper-work and searched high and low for the right printer (and it looks like we’re still looking for a long-term printing partner).

Working on all of the designs was so much fun. I loved experimenting with different typefaces and layouts, and pushing the limits of what a wedding invite can be. All of the samples on our site were printed on digital press, but we’ll be offering offset and letterpress! The site features our ready-made designs that people can purchase (I’ll be setting the type), and we also offer custom orders! The current site is temporary. We put up the temporary site just in time for the GLBT Expo in New York this past weekend.We have some super-duper web guys working on a more robust site, where you can actually place an order and personalize online. Matthew Elsea from Clutch Design is doing the web design, and Marc Bonne from Design Nebula is working on web development. They are such good guys and easy to work with.

Victor Victoriana

Jenny and I are both thrilled to finally be able to share our vision with you. Feedback is always welcome, so please do let us know what you love or dislike about the current site or products. Here’s to new beginnings!!!

Old Family/New Family

Wednesday night, I flew into New York to meet with several literary agents that have been interested in representing me. I’ll get to the exciting news of my decision in a minute, so keep your shirt on.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, I surprised my parents, who were completely unaware of my trip. My sister picked up my brother and I, and (by the grace of God) brought us home to Nanuet. As she sped through Midtown, gleefully squeaking “weeee!”, I dug my claws into the door handle and reflected on my life’s highlights. I have experienced cab rides in New York, Rome, and Manila, and all pale in comparison to our get away ala Bourne Identity. Anyway, I love my sister, even though she’s given me a new-found appreciation for NJ Transit (*I am not from New Jersey. Nanuet is in New York towards the end of the NJ Transit line, thank you very much).

typical Curato Clan scene

We successfully shocked our Dad at home cooking crab legs in his pajama pants, as he is prone to do. Of course, of all the nights I drop in unannounced, our Mom was at a mandatory work meeting. So, the three of us went for pizza, and then surprised her upon exiting her meeting. It’s kinda funny watching my Mom shriek like that, although I do worry about giving her a heart attack. We went home and spent a few hours laughing about…something. My mother and sister have an infectious laugh. Once they get hooked on something, they can’t stop, and then everyone around them can’t stop because they keep going, getting redder and louder and teary until they’re gasping for air. Finally, my sister brought me back to my friend’s apartment on the Upper West Side. Thankfully, there were fewer cars with the potential to hit on the way back…

Kyle is unfazed by Mom's hysteria

I also got to see an all-star cast of friends on my trip, including Sarah Jane, who I recently blogged about. Several even managed to take me out to dinner and dancing Friday night, which is a rarity for me these days. I still got the moves…although I was feeling a little…not-in-my-twenties. Also, I can no longer drink like I’m in my twenties, so I left a little “early” at 2AM to pack, shower, and get some sleep before my flight.

OK! Onto the big news!

I met with four agents. They are all smart, passionate individuals who are devoted to some of the best talent in publishing. I did my homework before the trip and talked to children’s book artists/writers that each represent. They all had wonderful things to say. This was a bit disappointing, as I was hoping that at least one or two of them would be evil goons, and therefore make it an easy decision to cross them off the list. But no, they all proved to be lovely. One took me to lunch. One even lent me an umbrella for a day, which really came in handy.

However, I have to say that one just felt right in my gut, and as much as I would love to work with them all, I have decided to sign with Brenda Bowen of Sanford J Greenburger Associates. Brenda has over 30 years in the children’s book industry as an editor, a publisher, a writer and an agent. I am honored that she (and the other agents) see my potential, and I can’t wait to get started!

My new little friend. I think I will call her Wispy

On Friday, I met with Brenda at her office and talked for a while. Afterwards, she invited me to a monthly get-together of some of her artists at The Old Town Bar. OK illustration nerds, hold on to your seats! I got to have drinks and fried appetizers with Carin Berger (Forever Friends), Jessie Hartland (How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum), Naoko Stoop (whose first book, Red Knit Cap Girl, comes out this summer), and Chris Raschka (who just won his second Caldecott Award for A Ball for Daisy). We also had a little Valentine gift exchange. I received this beautiful piece by Carin Berger, pictured above.

It was a wonderful trip. I got to see my old family and meet my new one.

These are exciting times.

The Juggling Game

It is very late, and Adobe Illustrator is taking its own sleepy time saving my files, so I’ll write a quick catch up during each save.

When it rains, it pours, they say. I have been feeling quite drenched lately. Believe me, I’m not complaining. I am excited about every project I am working on right now, and feel very blessed to have all the work. However, I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed.

As you may have read in previous posts, I have had sudden attention from several publishers and literary agents. It’s a bit of a fairy tale scenario for me. I’ve decided to fly to New York on Wednesday to meet with all of the agents that have shown interest in working with me. Each one is reputable, each one has their strengths, triumphs, and impressive list of artists and authors. I’ve talked to artists that each represent, and they all have wonderful things to say. I think it will just have to come down to an in-person meeting and seeing who feels like the most natural fit. What a decision! I will be sure to fill you in when I’ve made my choice.

There is much more going on behind the scenes. I have freelance gigs with Microsoft, Amazon, and Discovery Bay Games that are keeping me quite busy.

However, a friend and I are also starting a business. More to come on the specifics very soon, but I just want to say that this has been a labor of love for the past nine months, and we are just about to birth our project in a few weeks! Along with the analogy come the labor pains. There have been many late nights and tough lessons learned. We’re so close now, and I can’t wait to see it out in the world. Even now, as I restart Illustrator after an enormous file has crashed for the tenth bajillionth time, I feel the excitement of starting something my friend and I can call our own. I can’t wait to share it with you all!

Hope I can keep all these balls in the air. Here’s to circus acts.