Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} My Father's Dirty Friend by Ava Carpenter My Father's Dirty Friend by Ava Carpenter
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Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} My Father's Dirty Friend by Ava Carpenter My Father's Dirty Friend by Ava Carpenter. Completing the CAPTCHA proves you are a human and gives you temporary access to the web property. What can I do to prevent this in the future? If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. Another way to prevent getting this page in the future is to use Privacy Pass. You may need to download version 2.0 now from the Chrome Web Store. Cloudflare Ray ID: 660d44efec0b05b7 • Your IP : 116.202.236.252 • Performance & security by Cloudflare. My Father's Dirty Friend by Ava Carpenter. Completing the CAPTCHA proves you are a human and gives you temporary access to the web property. What can I do to prevent this in the future? If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. Another way to prevent getting this page in the future is to use Privacy Pass. You may need to download version 2.0 now from the Chrome Web Store. Cloudflare Ray ID: 660d44efe8c9176e • Your IP : 116.202.236.252 • Performance & security by Cloudflare. I read about my wife's affair in her diary. I don't remember the exact day Colin (not his real name) became part of my life. A fleetingly glimpsed neighbour I'd sometimes nod to, I knew he was a long-distance truck driver and I think he knew who I was. When our paths crossed, he would seldom meet my gaze. I don't even remember when I first heard his name. A familiar voice uttered it, though: my wife's. It wasn't by way of an introduction, although years later I did wonder how that might have gone. "Honey, you've seen that handsome man with the blond hair, broad shoulders and light tan who lives at number 18? His name's Colin." But no. Rather more mundanely, she referred to him matter-of-factly in conversation. "Colin took the remains of that old fence to the dump for me today, honey." Or, "Oh, by the way, Colin mended the lawn mower. Then he mowed the lawn." Colin was indeed the helpful friend who lived down the road. It is easier now to see that he was a more astute people-watcher than he seemed. He must have known that my job often took me abroad, and he probably had me profiled as a workaholic, as insensitive to my wife's needs as I was trusting of her fidelity. By then we'd been married for some time and had two young children. While I was away, my wife stayed at home taking care of the kids. I thought we were happy but, in truth, I was too wrapped up in my job to know. Life went on. And secretly, day by day, it was written down: my wife was a meticulous diarist and spent 20 minutes every evening logging the day's events. One afternoon I walked into our bedroom and noticed she'd left her diary on the bed. This was unusual but, stranger still, it was open. I went to put it in her bedside drawer, but as I closed the pages I caught sight of the word "Colin". My immediate impulse was to slam the diary shut and try to forget I'd seen his name before it had a chance to sink in. Instead, I started to read. The entries stretched back months, detailing their covert liaisons - romantic, practical, but mostly sexual. The descriptions ranged from the relatively tame ("Kissed and cuddled today, it was lovely") to the kind of things you get in the racier passages of a Mills & Boon novel - nothing too graphic, but surprisingly comprehensive. My jaw ached with panic and I felt the sudden flush of adrenaline. Of course, I confronted her. I wanted to yell at her, but my initial anger was quickly anaesthetised by shock. I felt numb, confused. With tears in her eyes, she said she hadn't been happy for years and that Colin provided an escape. At that moment, I didn't know what to say. It was four or five hours before we could sit down and talk. We discussed the usual options, including divorce, but decided to stay together for the sake of the children, make a fresh start. Next day, she told Colin it was over. We didn't see him for a couple of weeks after that - he'd been driving his lorry on the continent. But Colin never did return. The news that he had gone missing on a ship, presumed lost overboard, was broken to us by his next-door neighbour. My wife's first reaction was stunned disbelief, as was mine. Then she turned away and covered her mouth, trying to stifle any sobs. Thoughts and emotions more tangled than ever, I tried to comfort her. Colin's death was confirmed by the positive identification of a body washed up on the beach. Some weeks later, my wife asked if we could drive to the crematorium so she could lay some flowers and say her final farewells. It felt strange but, in the hope of her finding some kind of closure, I told myself it was the right thing to do. Somehow, and completely irrationally, I felt involved in Colin's death, as if a personal timeline had been derailed on my behalf and destiny rewritten to rescue a failing relationship. Slowly we tried to put it behind us and his name was never mentioned again. A few years later we had another child and our marriage entered a new, happier phase. I vowed to be a more attentive husband and adjust my work-life balance. But I couldn't forget the affair, especially how close it had happened to home. I should have trusted my instinct: 12 years later, my wife ran off with my best friend. Tad Carpenter. Hailing from Kansas City, Tad Carpenter runs his studio, Tad Carpenter Creative with the focus of bringing powerful messages to life through branding, packaging and illustrative based design. Carpenter’s studio has created campaigns for Macy’s, Target, Old Navy, MTV and Adobe to name a few. He is the author and illustrator to over a dozen children’s books in our market today including “ Sad Santa” , “ Ninja, Ninja Never Stop” and the “ I Say, You Say” series. Carpenter has also taught Graphic Design at the University of Kansas since 2009. HOW DID YOU GET YOUR START IN GRAPHIC DESIGN AND ILLUSTRATION? WERE YOU ALWAYS INTERESTED IN DESIGN? I WAS ALWAYS INTERESTED IN MAKING. I was not sure if I wanted to become a painter, illustrator or graphic designer. Like many young kids, I am not sure I fully understood what graphic design was at a young age. I am really lucky to be the son of two artists. My mother makes fiber work. She dyes her own wool, creating rugs and fiber pieces. My father, Stephen Carpenter, is a renowned illustrator and art director for Hallmark Cards going on 40 years. My Dad really taught me everything I know about design and illustration. He would stay up really late collaborating and working with me. He taught me his skill set. To this day, I still reach out to him for advice. I am so thankful for him. Having my Dad as a mentor from such an early age, really helped shape my voice as a designer. DESCRIBE YOUR DAY TO DAY PROCESS AND HOW YOUR STUDIO OPERATES. WE ARE BASED IN WEST PLAZA, in a newly built live/work space that my wife, Jessica and I recently built with our Architects and friends at Kem Studio. Our studio specializes in brand identities and creating memorable brand experiences. Often a client needs a full brand identity. Other times, we might be creating a packaging campaign or an illustration collection. It really changes all the time based on the clients needs. Our studio currently is comprised of myself and two part-time designers. I’m also married to the very talented art director/designer, Jessica who’s always involved in some capacity. Our studio is collaborative, hard working and we try to put a strong emphasis on play. Not that we just sit around goofing off all day, but I have recognized that I do my best work when I am fully engaged in the project and frankly, having fun. I try to keep it light, encourage everyone to experiment, try something totally new and play. We all really do our best work when we are enjoying ourselves and engaging in play. I learned this philosophy from the late, great Gordon Mackenzie. Gordon was one of my Dad’s best friends at Hallmark. He wrote the book, “ Orbiting the Giant Hairball” in which he discusses how to survive as a creative in the corporate world. Play was a big part of Gordon’s overall philosophy. WHAT TYPES OF PROJECTS ARE YOU WORKING ON NOW? I WORK ON A REALLY WIDE RANGE OF WORK, which is what I love about what we get to do.