Taping up my first Euro (and why Ryanair sucks)

Hello All,
Been hitting the proverbial pavement this week looking for work and I actually got some, albeit temporary and freelance...I had my first job interview this week for a design/publishing services company. They do all the typical, design studio stuff and also do a lot of production that's outsourced from big publishing companies. They had an ad (or should I say advert like they do here) for a production artist position. Not the most exciting job but I'm not being too picky-being on the verge of illegal alien status... So I went for the interview which was in a town called Blackrock (which is this sort of posh seaside town with a nice park.) I showed them my book and some Chedd stuff (Thanks Marko for the quicktime movies) and they really liked my work which was fabulous cuz I just never know what to expect. Unfortunately, they said it wouldn't be worth going through all the hassle of applying for a VISA for a production artist position which is only a 3 month contracted job and not super skilled...but they said they could offer me some freelance work with the design studio part of the company and that if a full-time designer position or design-related publishing position becomes available, they would think of me. The funny thing is they asked me to start working on the spot on an ad campaign that they wanted to finish up so my hour long interview turned into two days of freelance work. I think it went well and they seemed happy with the results so hopefully some more freelance will be thrown my way...we'll see.

Anyway, it seemed like a positive start to my job search...it's always nice to have your work appreciated, especially by strangers who have no vested interest in stroking your ego. I have a pending meeting with a dub designer later this week who offered to let me pick his brain about the design industry here and a soon to be scheduled meeting with a creative director who, fingers crossed, will be overcome with a desire to hire me...haha.

So that's the story so far. It's always stressful to try and market yourself and cold call and do all those tasks that go with trying to find work (with or without the looming lack of VISA conversation.) I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend. Am going up to Belfast for the weekend. Ireland celebrates both Good Friday and this strange thing called Easter Monday which means Tom gets an extra long weekend and I get a playmate besides my powerbook and the cashiers at Tesco. On Wednesday I'm flying to see Averi in Kidderminster which will hopefully involve lots of eating, watching movies, drinking cider at the pub and otherwise good craic as they say in these parts. (Good Craic = Good Fun. Not to be confused with good crack which is, of course, something else entirely.) My trip to England will include a scenic tour of the industrial midlands because I am a complete idiot and don't know the difference between one industrial wasteland of a city and another...haha. I booked my flight to Manchester instead of to Birmingham and when I tried to contact the nice people at Ryanair, they basically told me that the fees associated with changing the ticket would at the very least double the price. I wanted to reach into the phone and rip the head off of the English bitch on the other end of the phone (Is that too harsh?) but that not being an option that would solve my problem, I am going to have to take a 2 hour train journey from Manchester to get anywhere near Kidderminster...Alas. I guess I can add the Manchester airport to the list of exciting places that I have been fortunate enough to visit.

Will write again soon. Hope all is well in Beantown.

-D.