27 August 2010

My first night out!

Last night, I did something I haven't done in a long time... I went out! Darin had a night with Lily, while I went to see Aaron Draplin speak in Detroit. It ended up being a great night out!

I traveled down to the lecture with Veronica & Shawn. We parked the car and mozied on down to the lecture. On our way there we stopped at Gourmet Hotdogs, a little hot dog stand that was amazing! I had a Detroit Chili Dog (Hot dog with coleslaw, chili, and cheese..did I mention it was amazing?). Everyone should go down there and try one, right now.



Back to the lecture...

First of all, I really miss going to lectures and I was so happy I went to this one. He started the show by having his Dad come up on stage and tell a handful of jokes. His Dad was a great character, bright hawaiian shirt, BIG white beard, and so jolly you just wanted to give him a hug! It was very sweet seeing how happy Draplin was to be back in Michigan to see his family.

The more he talked, the more he reminded me of a lot of me and my friends. He travels to estate sales and collects old junk for design inspiration, just like all of us! He said he goes to 'rescue' these old artifacts. So true! I couldn't wait to get home to look at my collection of things I've rescued. He even talked about how he takes pictures of things at estate sales, which made me laugh because I do this too! (which reminds me, we HAVE to take a family trip to Ludington, maybe next summer).

Draplin is somewhere in the middle of his career and already has a ton of exciting stories and projects to share. He told some amazing stories or tall tales as he called them. Most of which he did not want anyone to videotape and share with the world. He kept it intimate, and made sure these stories were only shared with the 100 or so people in the room, it was our thing (and I'll keep it that way out of respect for him). I loved that he had a personal story about each project. Most lectures are just a portfolio review, but I really loved that his life stories and work stories went together hand in hand. I guess that's something I've always wanted or assumed I would have, and didn't realize how much I'd have to work at it to make that happen. Somewhere along the line, my passion for incorporating design into my personal life has dwindled, but its coming back now! If anything, Lily has inspired me to finish a ton of projects already, and now I am inspired to keep the momentum going. Its time to have fun with design again!

We couldn't take any pics during the lecture, but I snapped this one as he was setting up.

No comments:

Post a Comment