Max Riffner

The Parlor

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The Twenty Minute Nap

In high school, I had a friend whose father only slept about 3-4 hours a night because he was constantly working. His secret was to take 20 minute naps throughout the day, to not fall asleep completely, but to close your eyes and rest for only 20 minutes.

I’ve been so busy between work and teaching that towards the end of any given week, I’m just exhausted. If I take a couple of 20 minute naps throughout the day (usually around lunch and right after work between 5 and 6pm), I’ll wake up remarkably refreshed. It works well particularly after an all-nighter.

This survival technique however probably shouldn’t be sustained for long periods of time. After a few months of this, it’s wearing on me.

Simple Etiquette

Folks, it’s really simple: if you are going to get on an elevator, let the people who are getting off on that floor actually get off the goddamn elevator.

I’m amazed and astounded at the number of people who look at me perplexed when I try to actually get off the elevator. Let me off, you selfish bastards. It not only makes sense on a manners level, but if you are getting on and let the people on get off, you actually have more room in the small box that goes up and down.

So it has been one of those weeks… and by weeks I mean six months.

Unburying

Sorry for the silence, but I feel like I’m finally unburying myself a bit (and since we do love comics here in The Parlor — was there any other image that I could have chosen for this post?). So much has gone on in the last month that I have been wanting to talk about, but haven’t had the time.

First of all, I’ve been acting as an adjunct professor for my alma matter, Dana College. I’ve been team-teaching with another design graduate from 1999, Nikki Kinsey, for a senior capstone course in the iMedia program. I think I can safely speak for Nikki, but it is so much fun to work with these students. The course is for building their personal identity marks and online portfolios. Last night, Nikki and I went around and looked at their thumbnails for their identity marks and we were bubbling over with enthusiasm the whole car ride home. All of these students have talent, and we hope to bring it to the surface more over the course of the semester.

The move to teaching also forced me to upgrade my system. I am now rocking a Macbook Pro, the first laptop I’ve ever owned. It’s, well frankly, it’s amazing. I couldn’t be more pleased with the move from a 1ghz G4 Tower. Speedy, sleek, and damn powerful. I’m left wondering why I didn’t make this move years ago. Being able to type up presentations for class on the couch and then just plugging the Macbook into the projector has been a revelation.

Secondly, I’ve built my first movie site for Bozell with the launch of The Magician, a film about the true life story of Marlin Briscoe. Briscoe grew up here in Omaha and became the first black quarterback in professional football for the Denver Broncos in 1968. He went on to become a member of the much-mentioned, undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins as a wide receiver. After retiring from football, his life took a sad turn with drug addiction. The film will detail the rise, fall and redemption of Briscoe’s life. I built the site with the help of some very talented people at Bozell, which just helps confirm my decision for moving there a year and a half ago.

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