IntrigueThursday, August 23, 2012 www.theplainsman.com Intrigue

B5

Freshman? Read on

Melody KitchensINTRIGUE EDITOR

It all started when Michael Stricklin, senior in architecture, studied abroad in Europe during his spring semester of 2011.

“I began to pay more attention to details in certain things, and I no-ticed what I didn’t like about them and how to improve them,” Strick-lin said.

He then stumbled upon the Port-land-based blog Wood & Faulk that features tutorials for making var-ious accessories, mostly made of leather.

Stricklin said he noticed the tuto-rials were similar to models he uses in architecture, and he began craft-ing his own.

“I thought, ‘Hey, this is easy,’ and I knew that I really wanted to build things, and I’ve always wanted to have my own business,” he said.

This sparked the beginning of 1813, a branch of M.STRCKLN GARMENT & DESIGN. 1813 boasts handmade leather iPhone cases, wallets and business card holders.

“I started out wanting to do den-im, but I realized it’s much harder to get started that way,” Stricklin said. “The moment I started with leath-er I knew I wanted to keep working with it. It’s such a nice material, and you can really just about make any-thing out of it.”

Stricklin then showed his design to friends, and word of his designs began to spread.

The Locker Room on Magno-lia Avenue recently started selling his iPhone wallet, and products are also sold through the MSGD Face-book page.

The idea and preparation of 1813 began in January 2012, but Stricklin said he began making and selling the designs in May.

He began the process of sketch-ing endless possible templates for the iPhone wallet. Stricklin said he knew he wanted it to be sim-ple, yet well-made.

Stricklin settled on a one-piece template that holds an iPhone, a few credit cards and cash.

“It’s only one thing to worry about,” Stricklin said. “I wanted to consolidate everything and sim-plify it, too. I think living a simpler life is much better; an older way of life.”

All products are hand-cut, dyed and stitched, and he frequent-ly travels to Atlanta to pick which quality leather he finds to hold the best for the iPhone wallet.

“Every aspect of the business, from manufacturing and produc-tion to distribution, I do all my-self,” he said.

Although the wallets fall on the expensive side, Stricklin said “it’s quality, handmade and bet-ter than plastic. It gets better with age.”

Any product is customizable, and Stricklin said he hopes to cre-ate more designs as his business continues to develop.

In the future, Stricklin plans to expand his business by starting a luxury line of leather products and also finishing his website in order to sell most of his products online.

“If I were selling 50 wallets a week, I’d be happy living a com-fortable life where I could travel and live in a lot of different places,” he said. “I still want to be an archi-

tect, just maybe not immediately. There’s nothing like being your own

boss. I want to be the type of man that made himself.”

MELODY KITCHENS / INTRIGUE EDITORAll products are hand-cut, dyed and stitched by Stricklin.

MELODY KITCHENS / INTRIGUE EDITORThe iPhone wallet is now being sold at The Locker Room on Magnolia Avenue.

MELODY KITCHENS / INTRIGUE EDITORMichael Stricklin, senior in architechure, started 1813, a branch of M. STRCKLN GARMENT & DESIGN in January. 1813 features handmade iPhone cases, wallets and business card holders.

Lane JonesINTRIGUE REPORTER

The challenge of adjusting to col-lege life can seem daunting, and it's not made any easier by parents and professors telling you the key to suc-ceeding freshman year is going to class or keeping your grades up.

To really thrive here at Auburn, you're going to need some more practical advice.

Exchange names with everyone you meet.

The first semester of your fresh-man year is the last time you'll have a free pass for striking up casual con-versations with strangers, so capi-talize on it. Make sure you exchange names at some point in the conver-sation. There will come a time when you see your new acquaintance ap-proaching on the concourse, and you find yourself faced with two op-tions.

One: You know you recognize them but you’re not confident enough about what their name is to say hello. In your quest to remem-ber who they are, you sustain eye contact for so long that you start to look vaguely threatening and at the last minute opt to avert your gaze and study a particularly interest-ing cloud formation while you pass them.

Or two: You remember their name, exchange a pleasant hello and continue on your way.

Now is not the time to launch a new nickname.

This is not the time to break out the alias you've always wanted to adopt, but that never seemed to catch on before. I know it’s tempt-ing, because the level of anonym-ity you feel as a freshman lends it-self to creating a whole new iden-tity. All the time you spent in high school trying to get your friends to start calling you ‘Ace’ might finally pay off ! But it will backfire. By Oc-tober, you'll have the entire campus confused about what to call you and visiting parents asking too loudly, "Honey, why do all of these people keep calling you Keith?"

Avoid on-campus dining after hours.

I'm a girl who regrets nothing, ex-cept every meal I've ever eaten on campus after 8 p.m.. This is a snare that's all too easy for new folks to stumble into. It's after 8 and you haven't gotten dinner yet (or you made the mistake of only buying one taco at the taco truck instead of a dozen). You step outside the dorm to assess your options. A tumble-weed rolls by. The Denny's sign flick-ers menacingly in the distance. I've spent too many lonely nights weep-ing silently into a platter of Wafflein-is to let you make the same mistake.

Give up the quest for an 'inter-esting fact.'

During your first week of class, every one of your professors will subject you to the ruthless ritual of class-wide introduction. Their fa-vorite tactic is to ask you to come up with an ‘interesting fact’ and then, I assume, watch with sadistic plea-sure as you spiral into an existen-tial crisis. Up until this point, you thought you led a fairly interesting life. Now you can’t seem to remem-ber a single anecdote or personal quirk. High-pressure situations like this have often caused me to reflex-ively lie to my entire class (“I play club soccer,” “I can tie a cherry stem with my tongue,” “I was originally the third head of TLC’s conjoined twins Abby and Brittany,” etc.,) but then you have to worry about keep-ing up the facade for the rest of the semester. My advice is to admit de-feat, share your favorite flavor of ice cream and melt quietly into the background until this merciless charade comes to an end.

‘The Bookstore’ brings Scranton to AuburnRebecca MoseleyINTRIGUE REPORTER

A day in the life of Auburn Univer-sity Bookstore employees has now been satirically captured through a parody of NBC's “The Office” with the release of “The Bookstore.”

The comedic and cinematic ven-ture was the directing debut of Aar-on Mattox, senior in radio, television and film and marketing employee of the bookstore.

According to Mattox, the 12-min-ute video has received unexpectedly positive feedback since its release on the AU Bookstore’s Facebook page on July 12, with the most common reaction being, "I really thought it was going to be terrible."

Mattox said he feels the book-store's reaction was that everyone seemed to enjoy it and that their ini-tially low expectations caused great-

er enjoyment of the final product.With film class being his only ed-

iting and film shooting experience, Mattox said he learned along the way.

“I’m not very good at directing," Mattox said. "It’s not something I’m really that interested in.”

Regardless, bookstore market-ing specialist Jennifer Edwards ap-proached Mattox with a request for a bookstore marketing project in film because of his major, and he accept-ed the opportunity with the goal of providing entertainment.

"The idea was to speak to the stu-dents by entertaining them and was not just for promotional purpos-es," Edwards said. "My expectations were exceeded. I think he did a great job with it. Hopefully, he will be able to continue with the episodes we have scripted."

Mattox said he originally began the writing in late May with the idea of a sketch comedy, but it became more of a sitcom as the story began to unfold.

Filming began in June once fellow bookstore employees Jesse Strick-land and Cade Loftin stepped to the plate with their acting experience. Mattox said the process became a more comfortable activity, and drive had surfaced for further develop-ment and filming.

Strickland, Auburn alumnus, urg-es students and fans to continue watching as the story further devel-ops in the next episode.

"Jesse takes the new guy under his wing and shows him not just around the store, but shows him ev-eryday life in the bookstore," Strick-land said.

According to Mattox, planning be-

gan before the finish of the first epi-sode and filming for the second epi-sode is nearly complete. Mattox said filming took longer than expected due to scheduling conflicts and that "it definitely wasn’t an afternoon playing with the camera.”

Difficulty in aligning schedules and availability worsened as Camp War Eagle began. Mattox said the in-flux of students and parents brought employee motivation back to book sales.

After filming, the editing process began in which all the footage was combined and then cut down to fit into the time frame using Final Cut Pro 2.

Mattox says outtakes of the first episode will be released at a later date as well as possibly six more ep-isodes this fall, depending on sched-ules.

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Railyard and Standard Deluxe aim to redefine typical night on the town

REBECCA CROOMES / PHOTO EDITOROutskirts (from left: Sierra Farr, Brian McLeod and Lisa Taylor) get set to rock out during the Opelika Shi-dig Saturday evening. The party was to celebrate local artists, vendors and musical talent at The Rail-yard, a gallery and exhibition space in downtown Opelika.

Melody KitchensINTRIGUE EDITOR

Rebecca MoseleyINTRIGUE REPORTER

Only good things seem to be developing when the owners of The Railyard and Standard Deluxe combine their ideas to bring music from local musi-cians to the surrounding area of Auburn.

“Richard Patton (owner of The Railyard) and I have been putting on shows for the last 15–20 years,” said Standard Deluxe owner Scott Peek. “We didn’t want to overlap shows in Opelika and Waverly on the same nights and thought the best way to get crowds would be to join forces and collabo-rate.”

The atmosphere of both The Railyard and Standard Deluxe is different from the typical bar scene, as these upcoming events are intended to bring the community together to support Auburn’s talent.

“The Railyard is a place where we share many creative

talents and the expression of those through music, art, et cetera,” Patton said.

Last Saturday night’s Ope-lika Shindig—Back to School Bash at The Railyard launched the first of many concerts Pat-ton and Peek have planned for several weekends this fall in ei-ther Opelika or Waverly.

Patton said he and Peek wanted the Shindig to focus more on the local talent from Opelika, Auburn and Auburn University.

“We want to promote and encourage our community to get out there and support live music, art events, theatre, restaurants, night life and all things where people are show-casing their gifts,” Patton said.

The three local bands that played at the Shindig—Adven-ture the Great, Outskirts and Lonely Wolves—consist most-ly of students and “fit together well and fit the show,” accord-ing to Patton.

“This night (the Shindig) was designed to be a showcase

and gathering of the art com-munity here in the area,” said Chandler Jones of Adventure the Great. “I’m just excited to

be a part of it.”Capi Jenkins, another mem-

ber of Adventure the Great, agreed.

“After spending the summer touring in cities where no one knew us or heard our music before, we felt mighty blessed

to be met with an enthusias-tic and energetic crowd,” said Jenkins. “I was just happy to be there.”

On Friday, Nashville native Bobby Bare Jr. will be play-ing at The Railyard. Bare has toured with bands like My Morning Jacket, Dr. Dog and the Drive-By Truckers.

The infamous Waverly Boo-gie, known as a spring event, will become a semi-annual event Sept. 29.

WEGL 91.1 will be a main sponsor of the Fall Boogie, and the all-day event will feature several bands and food ven-dors.

“I just encourage everyone to check and see what is going on in the community because there are so many opportuni-ties to see some amazing peo-ple and what they do creative-ly,” Patton said.

To see the full list of events to come at The Railyard and Standard Deluxe, visit the Standard Deluxe Facebook page.