civilian BLOG

Reflections from my intern…

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:20 GMT

Emily was a superb intern. She was the intern you really wanna have when you think about what an intern can really be for you.

Emily attends Bennington College where they have a traditional internship program. The student gets a real world job and hopefully a situation where the person they are working for teaches as well as expects work in return. Here is what she wrote about working for me this past January.

Emily Krug FWT 2009

Learning about Myself through T-shirts

Try to imagine this situation: You are a young intern who has only been working for your employer for a few weeks. Your boss has extended an invitation for you to accompany the business to the New York International Gift Fair in New York City. Excitedly, you accept and eagerly await your time to be spent at this huge industry show. Now, it is three days before the start of the show, and you agree to help your boss bring in the supplies for the booth. After hours of waiting the queue, it is finally your turn to bring the car up to the loading dock. A worker tells your boss that someone has to stay with the vehicle at all-times, and that once everything is out from the car, it has to move.

Your boss asks you to drive the car out of the loading area to park it (she assures you the worker will tell you where to go), while she gets some things straightened up in the actual booth. You bravely take the keys in your hand, start the car and head in the direction in which the worker pointed. After approximately 20 seconds, you realize that this direction only leads you out of the loading area and back into New York City traffic. Realizing that there is nothing you can do, you decide to just circle the Javits Center and wait for your boss to call. All of a sudden, you make a wrong turn, are driving through the Lincoln Tunnel and end up in Hoboken, NJ! You now have to call your boss, explain your mistake (how you drove her personal car out of the city, and can’t find your way back), the whole time choking back tears and praying with all your might that you don’t get fired on the spot.

I don’t need to imagine that situation; it happened to me during this FWT. However, I was lucky, my boss found this unplanned adventure very funny, and continued to tease me about it during the rest of my FWT. So, I got NYC driving experience, and I’m not soon to forget it. Aside realizing my large affection for public transportation, I learned many other things about myself over this FWT.

Working for a small, intimate silkscreening and design company, Short Sleeve Stories by Civilian, I furthered my belief that one day I want to start my own small clothing company, and participate in whatever community I may be living. Daily, my boss, Val, regaled me with tales of her various forms of community involvement throughout her career. She has done everything from printing t-shirts for schools, to hosting benefits in memory of other town residents. Hearing these stories re-enforced my already existing need for a strong community. Val was just one person reaching out to her entire riverside town. Walking around Frenchtown, NJ with her, there were innumerable people who warmly greeted Val, and the variety of people was also huge. Everyone from store owners to the Postal Workers knew Val. Seeing this breadth of relationships within the populace, I realized how important these support systems are.

I was working with Val in her new studio space right next door to her house. She really extended herself to me to make me feel comfortable and welcome everyday. We ate lunch in her kitchen and listened to NPR in the studio. It was easy to discuss our lives and aspirations. Val placed a high level of trust and responsibility in me very early in FWT. She allowed me to work side by side with her in production, and in other parts of the business. She trusted me to create an inventory spreadsheet for her. I felt very honored to be asked to complete important tasks. I learned to understand about myself that I can really pick up on things quickly and I am not uncomfortable to ask questions if I am not getting something.

In addition, I rediscovered the excitement of learning new things. I learned about networking, as well as gaining experience with spreadsheets, photoshop and, most importantly, with silkscreening. By asking questions and having them answered, Val shared a lot of valuable knowledge with me. Everyday had something new for me to learn. This FWT made me realize my love for technical, hands on learning. Sometimes just hearing about theories is not enough for me to grasp a concept, as a student I learn best by doing, actually getting my hands dirty and trying new things.

Personally working with Val gave me insight into the type of person I want to be professionally. Working side by side with her allowed me to learn about the type of people I would and would not want to do business with. I hope to become a person like Val, very generous, but willing to stand her ground when she feels she is wronged or taken advantage of. I learned how to be assertive and tell people my thoughts. Others cannot just know what I am thinking if I don’t let them in on things.

For a long time, I have pictured myself ending up doing something similar to what Val does; owning my own shop in a tight knit community and reaching out to others through her work, service, artwork, and caring. Working at Short Sleeve Stories only confirmed my thoughts, and inspired me to continue to pursue this dream.

Thanks Emily!

MOJO QUEST… DAY 3.. THREE.. 3.3.3.3.3.

Fri, 22 May 2009 00:19 GMT

All mojo energy stems from strong teenage sexual experiences… And lotsa mine happened at the beach - granted not at the “SHORE”, but rather at the “BEACH”. New Yorkers call it the ‘”BEACH” - New Jerseans call it the “SHORE” I must still be a New Yorker even after my 20 years in New Jersey. And the Long Beach Boardwalk was the source, the well, the underbelly of teenage life in the summer on Long Island. Under it, over the rail, or walking along it.. there it was. The source of this ex-teenager's subconscious mojo life.

In the summer, no kid in their right mind would pay $5.00 to sit on the beach for the day.. so jumping off the boardwalk was a must. And therein is the thrill.. the thrill of getting away with not having to pay for the beach for the day. No one should have to pay for the beach EVER! The problem with Long Island and most beach front towns, is that there is a sense that it is owned by someone. Such a problem. Not in Jamaica… (unless you are trying to walk a resort beach and encounter a huge fence blocking the beach off to non resort paying vacationers).. not on the river, either (where live now). Now that thrill, that thrill of getting away with bucking the system, THAT was the thrill. Then hanging out under the boardwalk and making out. Y'Know, 'cause no one knew we were there.. making out. ;). ha!

But today..

TODAY is DAY #3 of my MOJO QUEST. I am heading to Island Beach State Park with the man I love. Walking the beach in the afternoon. Gonna inhale the sea air and the feel the ocean breeze upon my face! Anticipating and already feeling some good, Mojo energy.

This should be a good Mojo Quest day.

Mojo Quest, Day 2

Thu, 21 May 2009 00:28 GMT

Out to play more music, since music is the amazing mojo vehicle from the gut. And so off to one of the many wonderful open mike/social havens of our delaware valley community. My chicken farmer/flute playing cohort was there, with a coors light… and her flute. And who, but the MIGHT MOJO himself - with his hair that is longer than it has EVER been in his whole life - was present for the quest. Bill played his ukulele while singing some traditional gems with a sweet passion and resolve that is so refreshing. Brenda, of Jack & Brenda, sang with the strongest of deliveries EVER!!! loved it. Claudia was beautiful and heavenly to watch. And My MIGHTY MOJO sang “GOD BLESS THE CHILD” (accompanied by Tom and John) with gusto and good solid pitch. A wonderful open mike! A satisfying chapter in the MOJO QUEST. But, still, what IS Alex doing in the Ladies room?

Beginning the quest to find my mojo. DAY 1

Tue, 19 May 2009 11:18 GMT

I started my quest today to find my mojo. Now I don't mean “MOJO” in that sexual way really, because THAT I really have not lost… ok, ok, so maybe it has waned a bit from the 40ish height it had reached. Yet, honestly, that part of my mojo is really quite in tact. It the other kind of Mojo. Of course there's a lot of kinds of mojo, if you really should know. Like there's the MIGHTY MOJO - that infamous local band - that is now minus val. Also, there is some food items that are mojo related. Also, some drinks .. stuff this. So, to make a relatively long-winded circular type story a bit shorter.. it's the ARTIST MOJO!!! The ”LIFE” mojo!!! the humor, the fire, the STUFF that make the THINGS happen!!! I am looking for it. I think I just misplaced it and RE-placed it with some unsavory replacement-type items. Like merchandizing… and paying bills… and the stuff of adult life. So, I went to a drumming circle in a little gallery in gardenville today. It was so good.. Felt my Mojo coming up like nobody's business. Surrounded by art all around, and some like-minded ladies, the session was quite satifying from a mojo-quest point of view. Afterward, I went to the location of the Future FLEMFEST.. and practiced for the upcoming concert event. Next… the accordian.

Throne for a HOBO

Wed, 13 May 2009 08:30 GMT

I always considered that driftwood chair as my throne. Being a Leo, there never seemed to be any reason why I should not have one. So, I put this chair, or rather throne, out on my loading dock -my precious loading dock that adorns my studio/shop. It seems that this throne has been the subject of far more “are you selling that” inquiries than any of my clothing has been. Not surprising, it is beautiful. It was made by a friend of my friend, Parran. I cannot remember his name, only that he made it out of driftwood and I traded it for handprinted clothing at a craft fair in Maryland.

ANYWAY…. Barry, my man, is sharing this studio with me, my studio with the loading dock. And he is displaying natural edged wood (http://www.homegrownhardwoods.com) in long planks. We are going to make chairs out of driftwood - similar of course, but could not be the same. I guess we are carrying on the tradition. We started collecting some wood this past weekend. Made me remember the joy I felt when I first moved out here. Someone nearby my home had been doing some of the same. I came upon a bunch of collected pieces of wood, balls, fish bones that were sitting on the river bank. The best thing was a skeletonized deer fetus. It sound really gross, but it was so groovy. I left it there. Yet, I don't think anyone else really can do anything at all with it. But I am thinking they probably do not make prints from old carcasses like I do. So, by leaving the deer carcass there, I hope they realize what a great sacrifice I made. I think I am going back to get it. It a relief and a comfort to know that someone else has the “wow look at this really cool thing I found on the riverbank” disease just like I do.

Yeah.. I am going back to get it.