Thursday, March 29, 2007

New website.

I've been taking an xhtml/css course, and the website is starting to become something. I should think about getting a domain name better than the one that we have with telus, but that can come later. For the moment the hard work is poured into making the site itself. But if you google me, it still doesn't come up. Since the biggest reason for the site is as a vehicle for my portfolio, I need people to be able to google me and find it. So I'm linking to it from everywhere I can, and I'd appreciate if you would too. Thanks!

Matthew's Portfolio

<Oops! I'd used a colon instead of an equals sign in the link. It should work now.—Matthew 2007.03.31>

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Amazing Race

I guess the Amazing Race will be going through Vancouver this season. I know this because there were guys at the front of the bus wearing pinneys, and they got off at a run down the street and it said Amazing Race on their shirts. I presume I was noticing the staff who were following the participants.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Lost with soap.

Does anyone watch Lost?
Perhaps I was blind or ignorant before, but now I have seen that Lost is really just a massive soap opera. The following lines spoken in a hospital setting did it for me:
"Are you the one paying the bills?"
"Yes."
"Who are you?"
"I'm your father."


Good greif, eh?

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Clear Horizons

Wow! I just looked out the window, and for the first time since I've been here (that I've noticed) the horizon is totally free from clouds, and much to my surprise, I can see Mount Baker. Crazy!

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Web Class

Well, there's all sorts of fun stuff to talk about that happened this week, including a couple of days doing some freelance identity work for one of the design studios in the city, and a meeting with the President. It's been a very encouraging week. Now I have lots to do for next week—on the president's advice I'll be first bandaging and then reworking my portfolio. Revise revise revise! This will be the third major revision of my portfolio in about as many months, but you don't make something great without putting in the sweat. And the better my portfolio is, the higher my chances of landing a really sweet job. It's very exciting being out here. There are a lot of fantastic studios.

One thing that's been really encouraging has been realising that I come from a city that really has quite a good design scene despite its relatively small size. If you don't know some of the amazing stuff Winnipeg has to offer, try Neuhaus, Spacecadet, Circle, Bounce, or Guppy, just to name a few.

And now I'm also taking a web class to get all my skills in order, to fill in that gap in my ability. I should have started this a long time ago. It's really not all that hard—it's just another language, and one closer to english than Japanese is, and it's a design exercise. Why did I wait so long to get into it? Web design can be fun! I think it was just that streak in me that dislikes being associated with what's popular. Funny thing for a designer, eh? But it's fine if my client is associated with the popular. Learn learn learn, we continue to learn. It's been a great week/month/six months/year for that.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Oh, to be six again...

A man was sitting on the edge of the bed, observing his wife, looking at herself in the mirror. Since her birthday was not far off he asked what she'd like to have for her Birthday.

"I'd like to be six again", she replied, still looking in the mirror.

On the morning of her Birthday, he arose early, made her a nice big bowl of Lucky Charms, and then took her to Six Flags theme park. What a day!
He put her on every ride in the park; the Death Slide, the Wall of Fear, the Screaming Monster Roller Coaster, everything there was.
Five hours later they staggered out of the theme park. Her head wa s reeling and her stomach felt upside down.

He then took her to a McDonald's where he ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a chocolate shake.

Then it was off to a movie, popcorn, a soda pop, and her favorite candy, M&M's. What a fabulous adventure! Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed exhausted. He leaned over his wife with a big smile and lovingl y asked, "Well Dear, what was it like being six again??"

Her eyes slowly opened and her expression suddenly changed. "I meant my dress size, you imbecile!"

The moral of the story: Even when a man is listening, he is gonna get it wrong.

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That made me laugh.