After 3 months of "vacation" I started work at The Honolulu Star-Advertiser. It's a temporary design and illustration position with the possibility of a permanent spot in January. Which is good for me because that is when my temporary position ends.

With my first few weeks of work behind me, I am being refreshed on the quirks of Quark again and translating my DTI brain to NewsEdit (this has happened much quicker than I thought it would). The real challenge has been moving forward and also away from the routine/styles I was so accustomed to (I can't let go of dog legging stories. I just can't).

I was pretty hard on myself at first. Not only was I trying to knock every page out of the park (no matter how much the page just wanted to be a bunt), I was also learning a new system and adjusting to collaborating with a new group of people. I'm realizing there is always a learning curve. I think experience helps shorten that curve, but there is always more to learn.

I've done some pretty cool things in my short time here. In my first full week I designed the Sunday front about drones and painted a Saturday lede illustration. No matter what, designing a front page will always excite me. I took a few photos of them in the rack at Starbucks. I've been designing features, illustrating, writing DIY's and helped make a video for online.

Overall it has been fun. It's nice to get back at it.

Aloha and as always -- brb