About Totsie
Professionally, I am still doing freelance graphic art and design for my select group of clients. (More about that below.)
Personally, I have a variety of hobbies and interests.
Hobbies
Photography
I have been shooting photos (mostly of our vacations) for over 40 years. I have a high-quality digital point-and-shoot camera and a digital SLR with a very long lens. I have an entire bookcase full of photo binders (prints and slides), but it is filling up more slowly now that I can save an entire binder full of photos onto a CD or thumb drive. And now that Brian is able to burn his videos onto DVD, I can include my photos on the same DVD as a “slide show” with music. See more of my photography on the Travel Photos page and the Family Photos page (although Brian’s snuck a few of his photos in there as well).
I also feature my photos on my annual custom calendar for the family.
Depression Glass
I have been collecting depression glass for over 30 years. I collect 3 specific patterns/colors. Anchor Hocking’s Royal Ruby and Emerald Green (plain square plates and bowls with a sunburst pattern in the center) and Manhattan in clear (concentric circles). I have most of what I want of the red and green (other than occasionally replacing breakage), but still need to complete the set of Manhattan. We use the dishes on a regular basis-the red and green set a beautiful table at Christmastime.
Fitness
After dancing for about 35 years, I hurt my knee about the same time my long-time teacher quit. I had just started taking step aerobics and found the lower impact easier on my knee (completely healed now, but I still find the reduced impact easier on the ol’ bones and joints). Some of the step routines are every bit as complex as a jazz dance number. I also found the weight and ab routines most step instructors include in the classes really helped me develop strength I’d never had as a dancer. Unfortunately, step isn’t as “trendy” as it once was, so it’s harder to find classes. But I still have my gym membership (over 20 years now), and am enjoying Zumba and yoga these days.
Gardening
We started getting into gardening in a small way when we first lived in Orlando. We learned about what would grow there from our neighbors and we wanted to be sure our yard looked as nice as theirs. We kept it up when we moved to California and had fun finding out which of the same things would grow there and what new plants were suited to California’s Mediterranean climate.
When we moved back Miami, we relearned about tropical gardening (last time we lived there, we just grew whatever was already there and didn’t die). And now that we’re back in Orlando, we’ve found a good mix of hardier tropicals and Mediterranean plants that thrive here.
Music
We first saw Jimmy Buffett at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in 1974. His Floridian attitude and Caribbean rhythms really hooked me. While his popularity on the radio has waned over the years, his CDs still sell well with parrotheads of all ages. A recent CD (“License to Chill”) was his first number 1 CD ever (mostly due the line-up of popular country stars he recorded with this time). Frankly, I prefer his more island-oriented sounds. Check out www.margaritaville.com for everything Buffett.
These days we catch a lot of oldies (and not-so-oldies) acts at Epcot during their frequent festivals. My personal favorite is Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (retro swing band)
Work
Freelance Graphic Design
I have been freelancing as an art director/graphic designer for more than 20 years. When I first started, we were still living in Orlando and I had a lot of contacts there and kept really busy. Many of my clients continued to send me work after we moved to California, but over the years as people changed jobs, hotels were sold, agencies lost accounts, etc., most of those clients have fallen by the wayside.
When we moved back Florida, I renewed my contacts in both Miami and Orlando, and built up some new business. I am also working with Brian on graphics, logos, photo retouching, and the occasional print pieces for some of his clients.
Samples: View my mini-portfolio (.pdf)
Past Jobs
Prior to beginning to freelance I worked for over 9 years at Robinson Yesawich and Pepperdine (now MMGY Global) as an art director handling the design work for a variety of hospitality clients including the Walt Disney World Dolphin, Lee Island Coast (Lee County, FL Visitor and Convention Bureau), and the Grand Cypress Resort. Before we left Miami in 1986, I had been freelancing there a couple of years. Prior to that I was Art/Creative Director at Parsons Advertising, a small ad agency specializing in real estate clients.