It’s Christmas time, and I’m off work.

Last night I had the fortune to watch I Am Legend staring Will Smith. The premise of the movie is that Robert Neville (Will Smith) is the last man alive, after a deadly super-virus lays waste to 90% of the worlds population. 1% of man kind had a natural immunity to it, and 9%… well that’s something else.

This is the fifth part in an ongoing series of articles that depicts my process to becoming a graphic designer. I will reiterate that this is not a sure-fire guide on how to become one, but merely my process which I am sharing to the general public.

Don’t Freak out.

Now for the section that makes or breaks a would-be designer. Realizing that you know nothing about design. Everyone hits this when they start, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Have you ever shown someone some of your work and when asked why you did what you did, you responded with something like “because it looks cool”? Believe it or not, this is not a valid explanation for artwork. Well okay, sometimes it is but most of the time, this is the stamp of an amateur, or someone who knows how to use a program.

Let me stress now that knowing how to use a program in no way dictates your understanding of design.

So yeah, this past week’s been somewhat busy, as I have had a room upgrade and had to move all my junk into another part of the house. This also requires me to go wireless, so I may not be online for a while (we’ll see how installation goes).

Regardless, here is something to tide you over.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a personal post, and for the first time ever, I can’t even think of what to say. Usually I am bursting with witty remarks and enough sass for two, but alas, I just don’t have it in me today.

I guess I’m in a subdued mood for having gone to Dan’s father’s viewing. I’m not an expert with dealing with departed relatives, and so I’m hardly an expert on what to during these situations. I can say a couple things on it though, and if you’re still reading this, I’ll assume you will indulge me in my speaking of them.

Finally! A new series that actually has a little body to it. I was honestly starting to lose hope in the new adventures. The Last Dodo puts a little bit of that darkness, that deep reflection of the Doctors that has been until now has been sorely lacking from the new books. Though there is only a small moment of it (part of which is quoted in this review) it demonstrates what I’ve been talking about over he past couple books. I know that the authors were probably told that they need to ease into it all, what with trying to nail such a wide demographic and so many new readers, but have a little compassion for those who’ve stuck with the series all these years.

Recently Bart and I went to StartupCamp Toronto, a venue for new Canadian startups to demo what they’re strut their snazzy new 2.0 projects, and seek input (if they want) on what they’re trying to accomplish. Five companies demoed their wares, the highlights amongst them being Defensio, CakeMail, and Investmate. It was really interesting to see how different companies set about accomplishing their dreams. I wish I could post pictures I took, or give you a blow by blow of what went down, but I didn’t have any of the tools to do so with me. I will note that it took place about 200 metres from Corus Entertainment at No Regrets (which is as sexy a lounge as I’ve ever been in). The entire event was put together by the great folks at StartupNorth