Tales from the Job Front

Work Diary: May 24th

| Viciously Sweet

Today has been a busy day at work. Really really busy. It’s a day that will go down in history as “pretty darn busy.” It was also the kind of day that separates professionals from the… not professionals.

And let me be the first to tell you… I’m on the professional side.

Everything now makes so much more sense. The files seem much fuller, the text more encrypted than even before. Pixels more squarer than they have ever been… The codes for LA County crisp, as a magnificent apple in my mind.

If I were like a zany professional teen, I would write this down in my hello kitty diary quicker than anything ever before, but I’m too sophisticated for that… I have the power of doodles:

And everyone take note that it was a CC:’d email, not a BCC:’d email so it was no secret!

♥ & breifcases,
Lauren

You Are So Professional to Meeeeeeeeeeee

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Today I felt inspired by a coworker to get down with my inner Weird Al. I was going to take a song from popular culture and craft it to fill the void in this simple office environment.

I feel now like I’m in front of a crowd of fans on a smoky stage. I am crafting words into a precise moment. Capturing it and sharing it with the good people of the world. Now let me break it down to you those lyrics are to the Joe Cocker song “You are so Beautiful”. And that coworker… is the most professional one out there.

I’m sure he’d tell me not to post this because it will get him in trouble with other professionals out there, or some ladies or something. But, I cannot oblige in this must be shared because you Eric… are so Professional to me.

I can’t even make it to the end of the song without crying on my binder clips.

♫ He’s so proficient…. To me
He completed all his deadlines…. he even had TIIIIMMEEE to PROOFREEEEEAD”♫

I have a feeling that Eric will not be amused by this, in fact when he sees this post I’m pretty sure this is going to be his reaction:

He may not be amused. But *tear tear* he’s so Professional (*tear) to meeeeeee

♫Lauren

Missfit VS the Boys Club

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I am a little weird. I am 26, I like to listen to Phil Collins at work, I am pop culture obsessed, I can talk in song titles (shout out to Jen & Tonic), and I have a cubicle that can rival the childishness of any Pixar employee. Problem is I don’t work for Pixar. I work in the “real world” and the “real world” is not like that Matchbox 20 music video with the same name.

The real world is kind of serious, and also has stupid social rules. Like no limbo-ing during the 9-5. Or actually maybe just my office. It’s such a boys club up in this office that it’s very obvious that sometimes me and the Amber just don’t really get what’s happening.

I think our new sashes demonstrate this:

I think there is nothing we can do except create an X-Men like community… I’m going to say I want to be Jubilee she gets a yellow jacket.
♥ and Lollipops,
Lauren

That’s What Friends Are For

| Viciously Sweet

My day has not been all thumbs up, and happy bird drawings today.

And that’s okay, I guess…

But when I find myself a little bit down and find the projects I’ve been working on for months in shambles… I like to take a moment to draw my b.f.f. Christine in a large pile of dip.

Mucho Guacamole dip to be exact:

Yep this is what I do to relax… draw my friends in piles of food. Which is a completely casual fun way to pass your day. Someday I hope to convince Christine to let me make new packages for her dip mixes .. until then it will just become an obsessive hobby that I will try to convince others to join in…

So take some time, and draw someone you adore  in  a big ole pile of dip.

♫Lauren

P to the S: Did you notice my not so hidden advertisement for MPK Foods? You should totally buy MPK Food’s Mucho Guacamole Dip! It’s the dip mix of Champions and is 100% Lauren and Christine approved.

The Great Potty Dilemma

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Today’s Postie is real short & sweet.

My boss changed locations in the office and now is seated next to me. This is not a problem, I have a great boss… and now I don’t need to remember how to forward phone calls to him. But it does bring another problem to light. I sit next to the bathroom, which is also great because I love having super easy bathroom access. However this brings me to a problem I have:

 

It’s not like I do weird things in the restroom. (I hardly ever lock myself in there to sing Hall & Oates songs, cry, or reenact the civil war.) But it doesn’t matter! There is something that makes me paranoid of people noticing I go to the bathroom like every hour on the hour… espcially if that person is my boss. I am not completely crazy right?

And just in case there are any questions his desk is situated in a way where upon exiting the potty you make eye contact with him while returning to your seat. see my diagram:

 

Anyways tomorrow is Jon Hamm’s birthday. I must start on a doodle for that.

♫Lauren

Silly Requests: Architecture Edition

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I work in an architectural firm. If you can believe it… sometimes, they let me design spaces real people occupy. However, no one ever lets me put large tiger tapestries in these spaces… mostly because in our contract’s owners provide the furnishings…

But really what can you do about that?

Sometimes, our clients come in and tell us really crazy things they want in projects. We always try to appease them (they are paying for a space, after all) but sometimes they tell us things that really boggle our minds.

That brings us to today’s doodle:

In the real situation: this guy is a higher up who would rather not walk past reception to get to his office… Take that any way you need to. (I think the sour grapes face in my doodle responds quite well to how I assessed the situation, but that is just my opinion.)

What happened was an explanation of why this would not really work, his office for example is nowhere near a corridor (nor could we make a hallway that lead solely to his office.) However, that wicked side of me really wanted to tell him to propel into his space from the roof… but only doodle Lauren gets to experience this as a reality…

I’m going to go draw stuff now.

♫Lauren

So Close… yet so incredibly wrong

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I’m making this post very brief as I over did it with all those words yesterday.

One of my most endearing quirks* is that I read things like instructions, magazines, and billboards really fast… and sometimes My mind makes up a word or two in the process making thing sound so very strange.  I find myself re-reading things a lot.

For example, this.

And also Fantastic is NOT PRONOUNCED “fanta-stick”.

Here is my latest foray against the English language:

That’s a sub-tile joke!

But in my defense, I work in an architectural office and subway tiling is used a lot… so  it sneakily snuck into my subconscious.

♫Lauren

*I’m hoping somebody thinks this is endearing.

The Old Yam & Knife

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There are some certain truths on the internet.

You can always get that thing you want cheaper on Amazon. You can lose your day on Reddit. You can listen to the most Coldplay ever on Pandora. You can play bubble shooter as long as your clicking hands allow you… And, you will eventually get a letter from a Nigerian Prince asking you for money.

Last week Christine ran into this predicament. Her father/head of the best dip company in the world, received a suspicious email which he then forwarded to her. The email went on about her accounting not being correct and she owed money to A Federation in Nigeria and they of course need all her banking information to fix this correction. Christine did not believe this (obviously), but she found the email a swift treasure that was sure to make us giggle with reckless abandon.

Onward to the giggles!

The person who emailed her Dr. Ahmed Salami, to be precise (seriously?!?) Informed her he was “Auditor-General of the Federation that has the yam and knife on this issue at the moment.” Christine’s response, first laughter, then a flashback to her undergrad days as an Anthropology student… My response, unbridled laughter and then this:

 

I implore everyone to go out into the world and take what you need by the yam and knife!

P.S. Don’t ever believe Dr. Salami, I think he may not be a real doctor…

♫Lauren

Having a “Wonder”ful day at work

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Work has been really quite busy as of late.

My boss thinks I know enough stuff to manage my own projects which is very different from the view of architecture I usually have… which is in essence draw and print.

I have in the last few weeks been learning the differences and backing capabilities of carpet…  experiencing meetings about wall hung toilets and drain pipes, answering engineers questions, measuring trelli (that is my plural of trellis, because I’m not a fan of the word trellises).

Also today I had to tell a client that we’re running late on his new project because he keeps making changes to his old projects. In essence he back-burner-ed himself.

As you can tell, I’m basically experiencing the most exciting thing architecture really has to offer you… which is work.

However all this work has seriously made me want to make changes to my business cards:

 

On my break today I will be making a cuffs and a crown…

♫Lauren