So what have I been up to for the past year? I am glad you asked! 2013 has been an eventful year, with much more traveling than I expected, plenty of work, opportunities to see many friends and family members, and a chance to make some new friends along the way! I hope you enjoy a glimpse of what I have been up to over the past twelve months.
continue »
Being single is tough. There are all sorts of activities out there that would be fun to participate in, but they can be unsafe when approached alone. I recently watched a film by Danny Boyle called “127 Hours,” a movie about a guy who went out into the desert wilderness, all alone, and ended up becoming stuck out there for several days without anyone realizing he was missing. While I have not been faced with such a situation so far, the premise hit close to home as I sometimes find myself going for hikes alone.
I have known for many years that I was interested in the animation and moviemaking process. However, it was not until my junior year of college that I realized I was especially interested in producing and production management. In fact, it is more than just an interest in that area, I seem to have acquired certain skills conducive to such roles through various job opportunities, classes, and volunteer efforts. But why is it that I would choose production management to concentrate on? What makes this area so unique that I would choose this as the focus of my vocational endeavors?
continue »
As the sort of person who has to constantly be doing something, I find it discouraging to be sit around and wait. And while it seems that I have had a fair share of waiting over the past couple of years, I have been able to learn much while I am waiting. That does not make it any easier, but I have definitely had plenty of opportunities to think about waiting, while I wait.
continue »
Pop-culture, fads, and trends – elements of society that mysteriously appear and disappear seemingly upon a whim. Personally, I like to think that I try to avoid fads generally, primarily due to the lack of substance usually included with whichever trend is currently rocking the populace. However I do occasionally find myself involved in random trends, which is not necessarily an issue as they are usually harmless enough, although in retrospect silly bands look kind of, well, silly… While I could limit this discussion to physical objects that people collect, I am including relatively new concepts such as memes and trendy internet videos since the digital age seems to be generating an entirely new type of fad: information.
continue »
As mentioned in my last post, here is an outline of the speech that I was honored to deliver at the dedication ceremony for the “Martin Center for Digital Media Arts.”
continue »
Last month I made a trip back to the Midwest for a few days. The timing was great, as I was at the point where I needed a break from routine and to visit family. I apologize for not writing for the past several weeks, as I have started a new work schedule and have been playing catch-up on several things. continue »
A few weeks ago at work many people went out by the bay to watch an event that will likely never happen again: the transport of a space shuttle on top of a carrier plane. With the retirement of the fleet, the Endeavor was the last of the shuttles to be transported and decommissioned. The final resting place is in Los Angeles, but on its way to that location, it flew over Sacramento and San Francisco.
On its loop over the Golden Gate Bridge and down along the Pacific coast, the plane and shuttle flew over DreamWorks in Redwood City. What was interesting and somewhat intriguing to me is that several hours later, hundreds of miles away, our co-workers at our LA studio were also able to observe the shuttle. Granted, the studios are both in major metropolitan areas within the same state, but still, there are very few events that we participate in jointly between the two sites due to geographic separation. This was definitely a very unique experience. continue »
Have you ever considered the differences in interaction between you and your friends? It seems to me that we have, in general, three specific types of friends, at least in the way that we contribute to the relationships. We have friends that are our mentors, friends that walk through the challenges of life alongside us, and friends that we ourselves mentor. continue »
Time travel is a concept that has been written about and discussed for many years. The idea of time travel has long been affiliated with the science fiction genre, especially in movies, but even in writings of fiction before movies were around. It is an intriguing idea, but one that I have come to believe that is extremely improbable. I will not go so far as to say that time travel is impossible, but unless there are extreme natural limitations on time travel, I just do not see how it could logically work.
continue »