Yes, baby, I got a letter from my son yesterday!

[EFerrari]

Nick's still doing fine. He's graduated from his program, still working his job at the prison, negotiating to be out the last week of May and is on a Tom Clancy reading binge.

I'm really happy because this holiday I could afford to order & send him Howard Zinn's memoir, You Can't Be Neutral On A Moving Train. He's looking for a teacher and he will love it.

:woohoo:

Nick says the weekends are very slow and that he dreams of real food. Oy. But, he can do 8 more weeks. And I'm looking into graphic arts programs for him here and in San Francisco. 8 weeks are manageable (for me, I guess). I don't expect him to do tell me the worst of it all until he's out.

Trying to nudge him into planning to come here for a few months until he's on his feet. He's not hurting for money but imo, he'd do well to be around family support while he changes careers. ;)

Anyway, even if I can't physically go see him this weekend, something will show up for him. That feels really good. :party:

[mopinko]

1. damn it!!!

i was going to drop him a note, and I fucked up! ok, back to the top of the list!!
do look onto labor dept stats for graphic designers. I don't think there are that many decent jobs in the field. it is getting so much easier, and so much is going overseas.

[EFerrari]

2. Hmm. Well, it has to be something like that.

He has learning differences so anything that isn't graphic is going to be hard for him, he'll get frustrated and give up. His teachers used to get mad at him for drawing in class but, duh, that's how he was trying to stay focused, still and grab what info he could.

The other job he had that he excelled at was counseling at a treatment community. He was great at it but it was the wrong job for him in early sobriety and how we got to *here*. He needs a year to do something else that is a little laid back while he gets some sea legs.

Well, we'll see. 8 weeks and counting. :hi:

[mopinko]

3. how computer savvy is he?

if he can get into the geeky end of it, he might fare better. i am taking some graphic design classes myself right now, just to learn it. they are continuing/adult ed classes. they are full of print designers trying to keep their skills up, and trying to get into the digital end. that is where the jobs still are.
he had better be ready to keep on studying forever, also, because that is what you have to do.
right now adobe is hammering away at the productivity angle, and make all their products faster to use, and better integrated. a good designer can do twice as much now as they could 2 or 3 years ago.
but there still are jobs. everybody needs a website these days. and geeks with good esthetics are who is getting them.

best of luck to you both. hope that you can wrap him in family for as long as it takes.

[EFerrari]

4. I don't know, to tell you the truth. But if it involves a graphic environment

he'll have no problem. He absorbs stuff really rapidly in that kind of a situation.

Thanks, mo. He's not a teenager any more (which may be a good thing, lol) so I'll have to see what he's up for.