Hello!

Thanks for stumbling across my personal webpage!

You might be wondering what this page is all about. You might not be wondering that, and thats okay too!

Briefly, before I begin (and this won’t be brief), I want to advise you on a few things that you are about to read. I believe that as sole curator of this page, I am afforded a few privileges in how I tell you about myself on this section of the web page I have created for myself by way of Squarespace. One way I can tell you about myself is through tone. And I have chosen a conversational tone to keep this as “what you see is what you get” as possible. This will perhaps be too conversational, and to that I say, “It’s my website, and I’ll cry if I want to.” Another privilege I get is brevity, or lack thereof in this case. The approach I am taking here is, I will start with the important, pertinent information, and you can just tune out whenever you want. I hope you don’t though cause I think this page is worthwhile and has at least some insight into who I am and the purpose of my personal webpage. So sit back, grab a snack, you should probably grab a water too. Can’t be too hydrated. Let’s begin.

At its core essence, this website is intended to be a place that collects and presents a wholesome look at not only past projects that I have worked on in at least some creative capacity, but also to provide potential glimpses into future projects as well. These projects span across different media and some projects date back to the start of my college career (around 2012). My works mostly reflect the environment I was in at the time of their creation. Consequently, my unique perception and processing of this environment no doubt shapes how the world around me manifests itself throughout my works. So, when exploring my past works you are effectively viewing a slice of space and time through my perception, and as such, the views and opinions expressed are all my own, and not that of any institution to which I may be associated. Parts of this website also include ways to contact me with any questions or comments, and I really do appreciate every single one.

While the above may give indication of the purpose of this page, it still doesn’t give any information about myself. For those who don’t know me personally, my name is Evan Flynn, and I am a self-described creative. Although the meaning of this title and any connotations associated with it can vary from person to person, to me, It means that I not only enjoy, but I am also motivated by a voracious appetite for taking in the various means by which our society creates culture. From said consumed culture, I attempt to dissect and, and most importantly, thoughtfully display what I have discovered embedded in these cultures. Some of these discoveries and subsequent presentations may be benign, superficial, mundane, and seemingly unnecessary, while others may be potentially more profound, exciting, or pressing to one’s life. This range of interpretations varies across populations and cultures and is critical to the beauty of humanity. Beauty derived from difference. Being a creative and displaying personal projects may not be important to all, but it is of personal importance for myself because if anything it serves as a personal log as to how I am interpreting and grappling with the daily blues and beauties of the world around me.

Okay, so now you may or may not be thinking, “Great, well that explains in a bigger, possibly gratuitously existential manner of what it means to you to be a creative, but I still don’t know who you are.” That’s fair. You can at least deduce that I am long-winded and I like to hear myself type. While, it is hard to fully encapsulate the entire being of a person into a short post, I will attempt.

I already mentioned my name, so check that off the list. For starters, I grew up in the far, far northwest reaches of suburban Chicagoland. From a young age, I had a fascination with the workings of the world. In school, I had a thirst for knowledge that I still pushes me to continue accruing information of the world around me to this day. In high school, this grew into a love of involvement. During this time I participated in numerous extra-curricular activities that really shaped and stoked the fires of my future passions. For me, high school was a momentous time in figuring out my identity and my place in the world. During this critical period, I and the surrounding environment planted the seedlings of taste in my mind. A Taste for culture. A taste in music, literature, film, the performing arts, even food! As I grew older, I continued my quest for knowledge at the University of Wisconsin. Madison fostered a spirit and depth of learning that has without question left an indelible mark upon my life. It also allowed me to further explore my interests and gave me many resources and opportunities. I not only had the opportunity to try my hand at radio thanks to WSUM at Madison, but I also was able to further develop my love for music and its appreciation through various Madison based music magazines. I would listen to albums and attend shows for these journals (things I would’ve done on my own anyways), and in turn I would produce articles and content that reflected my experiences. This was the first time in my life I had fully realized my ardor for writing. In addition, the track that my major took me on allowed for me to participate in many different steps in the production of various media, notably radio, television, and film. I, along with the help of an equally determined crew of amateur film students, got hands on experience with the duties involved with pre-production (screenwriting), production, and pot-production. These are skills that I had honed at university and that I now continue to work into my life, despite not currently participating in a career that encourages these skills daily. I returned home after I obtained my Bachelors of Science in Communication Arts in 2015. Looking back, I can say that this time of my life nurtured an inquisitive attitude, a diligent work ethic, and most importantly, my own unique perspective to which I would apply to some of the future passions (to which the fruits are display throughout this website).

Fast forward to life since leaving Madison. I returned to suburban Chicago upon graduation and jumped right into put countless hours into an industry that has a special importance to me, the restaurant service industry. I have been a part of the food and beverage world since the age of 15, when my mother would drive me to her second job working banquets where she was the bartender and I the humble bus boy just helping out when needed. However, along the way I became enamored with the food and beverage industry and have since worked my way up to bartender. Evidently, my thirst for knowledge in academia would eventually cross over into macadamia, per se. Now, I hope to not lose people here (especially to bad puns), but this is a point that is really important to me. The restaurant industry is something that many people throughout the world (certainly the US), increasingly deal with if not on a daily basis, then at least a weekly basis. I believe the increase in restaurant attendance and the increase in necessity for people to work at these places, although great at providing people opportunities for employment, it has lead people to believe that the people that hold these restaurant positions are participating in an industry inferior to others. While this is unsupported, it at least, that seems to be the perspective of some adults I have encountered. And I don’t blame them, I just want to challenge them modify their perspective. I am not arguing that any given restaurant industry worker deserves more appreciation and respect of say first responders, groundbreaking scientists, moral lawyers or any array of noble careers. I am only arguing that the restaurant service industry be given slightly more respect and legitimacy. I can’t tell you how many times since graduating university that I have gotten the slightly underhanded question of “If you have this degree from this wonderfully acclaimed institution (their words, not mine), what are you doing at this place?” Valid question, and I don’t take offense as much anymore as I know many would most likely also think this way. However, I do feel others consider that being a college graduate working at a restaurant carries with it a feeling of not living out my potential, which I believe is erroneous. What I am trying to say is, what is wrong with having and educated bartender? Why can I not apply my personal quest for knowledge in the food and beverage industry to give you a worthwhile experience? And for now I take that quest to my current line of work that is a passion among many passions.

That pretty much brings you up to speed on where I am at currently. Content but always pursuing something greater. All in all, the take away is that no matter if I am serving up cocktails, snapping photos, making obnoxious music on my computer, researching the exotic plant I am desperately trying to keep alive, trying to keep up with the current political landscape, attempting to impress my Latina girlfriend with an elevated riff on elote, reading my favorite immersion journalist Michael Pollan, listening to true crime podcasts, or just plain binging on chips and Netflix, I love taking the world around me and learning everything it has to offer. The pursuit of self-betterment through knowledge is a core belief of mine and I hope this website and the works within reflect that mentality.

Thanks for visiting. I appreciate you taking the time to explore who I am.