Stylus Monkey Design

Adrenalin Shot: Work Hard Brah!

Darren Yeow — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 00:30:37 +0000

So you can have the best art schooling in the world? You study under the best teachers? Watch the most inspiring tutorial videos?

That’s good…but if you are unwilling to dedicate time and effort over and above what is “required”, or place the importance of constant practice above watching TV or playing video games or getting drunk with friends…then you’ll never make it in the commercial art field.

For every moment you decide to goof off, there are thousands of others who are practicing and getting better and growing and they are your competition for a very very very small pool of jobs and assignments. Do you like competition? You’d better.

Push past your limits.

- Daz

Facing (Some) Freelancing Fears — Part 2

Darren Yeow — Thu, 26 May 2011 02:46:21 +0000

Welcome back to Part 2 of Facing (Some) Freelancing Fears. It’s a continuation of part 1, which you can find here.

Apologies for the delay, I hope this helps you out if you’re thinking of going, or are already traversing this path.

Marcus Hits Me Back…

Hi Darren

Thanks for replying so quickly.

You’re definitely right about getting comfortable, I had a 2 year contract that ended a while ago and I got pretty lazy with that job. I stopped pushing my art skills and business development during that period, so that when it came time to start freelancing full time again, it was almost like beginning again. It is definitely something I need to be mindful of this time around.

I also agree with the savings, 6 months of income reserve is definitely something I will aim for. I recently bought an eBook from Illustration Island which recommended 3 months, but 6 months would be best given my circumstances. I’ve got my finances in order, so my savings are steadily climbing. Definitely going out a lot less, drawing more and saving more money in the process.

Regarding my fears, I think it comes from a few things, I’m not totally sure.

Maybe it’s my passive nature? I wasn’t particularly good at contact sports like football, because I would feel bad for knocking someone down and would literally stop to help them back up. It landed me on the bench a lot. I guess it’s why I got into golf.

When I was young, I was almost always alone, so I guess I like solitude. That solitude is perhaps what makes me fearful of getting into the whole commercial art scene I suppose. I fear my work is not good enough, that its not original. I dont have a style. I have always envied those with such an individual style. My art has been mostly self taught and it’s a lonely world to live in where I’m my only critic and my only client.

I recently went to book publisher to see if I could get some work. They loved my stuff, and I need to make a portfolio for them. So I have created some art to put into it…but not enough for a full folio, and I don’t know if I can motivate myself to continue adding to it.

It’s my fear sabotaging me again. It’s so full on, I don’t feel like I deserve that kind of chance — I’m not established, I don’t know enough about art, I feel like I have just fluked my way to this point. It feels like I don’t know if I have done things the right way…people like my pictures and I don’t know why, so I don’t know if I can produce more good work. I see other artists emerging slowly, having exhibitions, going to schools…I have done none of this.

Do you know what I mean by a fluke? Like I have no real training to fall back on. I went to Julian Ashton’s art school for 3 months, I found it really hard because it was so slow and it was very much all about drawing things perfect which I got bored with. I appreciate Ashton’s, but it just wasn’t for me.

Marcus

My Reply…

Hi again Marcus,

No problems about the reply…you sound a lot like me earlier in my career. So, let me try to address each point you bring up.

Firstly, I think it’s great that you’re reaching out to others, trying to learn, reading books and teaching yourself. I think it’s important to recognise that, for people like us, a lot of this comes from an underlying feeling of “I don’t know what I am doing!”

You never quite feel that you’re worth what you are charging, even if it’s not that much, because you haven’t been schooled in art, it’s like you’re not worthy, so it makes you eternally curious and you grab onto and remember things other artists say, snippets of information, here and there to somehow build up your understanding and confidence on how things are supposed to work.

As a self taught artist myself, I completely understand where you are coming from. We simply don’t have the voices of our teacher’s to help guide our path early in our careers, we don’t have the luxury of asking ourselves what they would do in this or that situation.

The truth is, it’s a blessing in disguise and as long as you are mindful that you will always feel like you don’t know enough, it will serve you well in your career. I’ve been through and felt everything you listed, so find some comfort in knowing that you’re not alone. 7 years ago, I somehow lucked out and someone started paying me $300 a week ($14,400 p.a. — no pay for time off or breaks…all of it invariable went to more art books hehe) to work as a concept artist. Not much money but I wasn’t going to complain as I’ve never been trained! I have even less schooling than your 3 months, so you’re already ahead of me

The first 3 years of my career, I still felt everything was a fluke despite the fact that I was by that stage a senior concept artist and then an art director presiding over other artists who did have qualifications. Was it scary? Did I feel like I didn’t deserve it? Was it a fluke? I felt all those things. I did things one way, and people seemed to like it, but I didn’t know if it was the right way or not.

In my spare time, I read interviews with successful artists, listen to them talking on mp3 interviews and watched a ton of training DVDs. The underlying thread I noticed, was that everyone, I mean EVERY single artists, proceeds with their work in a slightly different way, everyone works their way because it works for them and it allows them to end up with a good end result. That alone, the knowledge that there IS no singular “Right Way” was and still is empowering for me and should be for other artists too.

You do things one way, and it works but you’re not sure if it’s the right way? Let me tell you right now, not even knowing how you do your art, it’s the right way, because the end result is the thing that matters. You could be the first person to drag their dick in the sand to come up with their art and it would be the right way, because you end up with the art you want and need.

So you help people up who you’ve knocked down? Hell, you sound like a good individual mate, the world doesn’t need you or me to knock someone else down to bring myself up all the time. There is of course an element of competition out there in the freelancing world, but that doesn’t mean you need to be an aggressive asshole. I (and I’d venture to say the majority of commercial artists) don’t feel the need to stomp on other people to get jobs. I simply go out there, say my piece, try my best to convince someone that they need my skills and convey that I am a pleasant enough person to deal with, so that people won’t hessitate to do business with me. If someone likes and trusts you (and can afford you!), assuming you can do good work, that’s all someone needs to do business.

I do differ in some ways from you regarding to competitiveness though. I am a highly competitive dude, I always have been, but I used to HATE competition, just like you. If someone else liked the same girl, I’d pass. If someone wanted to go for the same job, I’d pass. I was competitive, just as I believe most people are competitive, but I was also deathly afraid of failure. At some stage, you have to just sit down and go, okay, so if I do fail…what’s the worst that will happen? The world won’t end, you’ll pick yourself up from rejection and go to the next thing, and the next thing after that. I learnt to do that earlier in my career, but it’s a skill, and skills can be built, it’s no natural talent. I hated public speaking, so I did more of it until I wasn’t scared of it anymore, same thing.

If it will make you feel any better, I’m still plenty fearful about things, but the difference is that I’ve been through all this enough times to know it will end okay, it’s how you manage fear that is the deciding factor between quitting and carrying on.

Taking it a step further, I actually think fear is good to an extent, it means that we will not go into something unprepared. It only becomes a problem when it stops us from doing something, that’s when you need to rein in fear and recognise that most of what we fear is inexplicable and really…not that bad if we were to screw up. People put too much stock into — oh if I fail my life will be over. My take is to just do it, like Nike says.

Style? Do you have weaknesses? Yes? Then you have style. I once heard that our style is determined by our weaknesses and limitations. With my art, I have this crazy wonky-ness to all of it, it has become recognisable as my style, but you know where it began? It began with me being crap at copying someone’s facial features accurately. It was always a bit crooked, so one day, instead of trying to get everything perfect, I said screw it and made it even more wonky — I had more fun, it captured people’s likeness and I stopped worrying about whether I had style or not. It grew out of my perceived limitations and yours will too, just give it time and don’t pay it any mind. Draw your influences from far and wide so that no one particular artist influences you to become a clone.

Passive natures, I don’t really believe in (and I could be wrong mind you!), I think just about everyone has a line in the sand, that once stepped over will force someone to become pro-active, trouble is, you need to find out where that line is. Someone says they’re a pacifist — you put a gun to their daughter’s forehead, you’ll see someone coming to end you. It’s all in recognising where our battle line is, and we all decide for ourselves where to place this line and how to act once we cross it.

Final point — you’re an introvert, you’re quiet, you prefer your own company and you’re happiest being when you’re alone and arting.

Me too buddy, but that hasn’t stopped me from speaking in front of large audiences, teaching art at university with passion, it hasn’t stopped me from writing in my blog and getting my opinon out there, nor has it stopped me from writing for some of the most well known digital creative magazines on the shelves, it hasn’t stopped me from wanting to drive my art beyond the pale of the common artist and it hasn’t stopped me from knowing that I matter and that I can cause a difference in people’s lives…just as you can. That introversion of yours shouldn’t stop you from doing any of those things either, all you need to do is to believe that you can do them all and much much more.

If you have no firm goal or direction for yourself, anything outside your comfort zone is scary and unreachable. When you are able to train yourself to look beyond all that, to the dream you have for your life, and when you want to achieve that dream with all your heart, obstacles will crumble, you’ll become competitive, you’ll become extroverted, you’ll push past limits you didn’t even realise were limits.

But you have to start by knowing what you want, and doing everything to make that the sole driving force behind your life.

Okay, real final point this time — read some books on extraordinary people, I do all the time, revs me up, pushing me on, makes me feel like I can do it all despite people’s assertions to be realistic. You and I have grand goals for our lives, screw being realistic.

Daz

Final Note from Marcus…

Hi Darren,

Thanks for that, I am so grateful for your detailed response, I see you care deeply for your art. I don’t really have much to say now, just taking it all in. I feel like shaking your hand lol. I’m going to do some drawing.

Thanks again, Marcus.

Well, that wraps up the advice I had for Marcus. Just keep in mind, this is my own point of view, there are plenty of others, so seek them out and continue to grow.

I sincerely hope this has helped some of you out there and answered some questions for you.

If you guys or girls care to share any of your own experiences or point of view about this topic, please do so beneath, I’m sure many people would benefit from it

Catch you on the upside!

Daz

Facing (Some) Freelancing Fears — Part 1

Darren Yeow — Thu, 05 May 2011 01:57:35 +0000

Frequently, when I am asked questions about illustration or freelancing, I have already blogged about it or answered it in my FAQ, so I generally direct people to those resources whenever I can.

There are of course still plenty of questions that I have not answered and when one of these pops up, I will usually take the time to write a detailed answer from my perspective. Then with the permission of the questioner, I will post the response for my readers, because sharing is caring and makes us collectively, a more well informed segment of the workforce, thus increasing our cumulative sway in business.

Marcus got in touch with me through my Facebook account (add me here) and has been following my work and blog. He asked me some things that touched me on a personal level and I felt that I needed to answer them, mostly for Marcus, but a little for me as well.

The post primarily delves into certain aspects of the mentality needed for freelancing, how to face fears, feeling like a fraud, style, things of that nature, not so much on the business side of things — hence the “Some” in the title.

As the second part of my response is long, I have decided to break this into two separate blog posts.

I sincerely hope you get something out of it, enjoy…

The Question

Hi Darren,

I realise we have never spoken before, so firstly I must say that I admire your passion for art, and how much drive you obviously have. Your art and words inspire me. So if I may, I feel the need to ask you a few things if you had the time? If you don’t reply that’s fine as I understand you must be busy, but I would greatly appreciate some advice.

My background is that for the past 3 years I have been paid for creative work such as illustration and graphic design. Currently I am a part-time graphic artist at a magazine. This new job is almost perfect for me at this point in time because my future goal is to freelance solely in illustration. The part-time work gives me steady income as well as time to work on my own art and whatever freelance work I pick up.

I feel that I have things holding me back from jumping into the illustration world completely.

Being a graphic artist comes easy to me but it is not my passion. I love drawing but I feel I keep sabotaging myself. It’s like I’m afraid to compete, I’m not really a very competitive person…I feel that I lack the game-face that many illustrators/commercial artists seem to have. I think the lack of confidence in myself is obvious. It’s so annoying.

I know im still at the very start of my artistic journey and perhaps I will probably learn this eventually, but I was wondering if you had any insights? Perhaps you have covered something similar to this in previous blogs so feel free to just direct me to it.

Thanks in advance.

Marcus

My Response

Hi Marcus,

Thanks for getting in touch and the kind words! Yep, art is definitely a large part of my life, I’m glad it’s the same for you also.

It sounds like you’re in a good place right now, part time work is a great stepping stone that is often the basis for most illustrators/freelancers, but I also feel it is important at some stage, to plan your exit once you have enough experience and an income reserve — typically 3–6 months to cover costs, I prefer 6 months myself as I am a cautious person.

The main problem you have to be mindful of when you’re working part time, is that it’s very easy to get into a comfort trap, where you always have an “out” with your part time job “Oh, it’s okay that I’m not getting much work, I have my part time job to fall back on.”

This mindset reduces the immediacy of the problem of finding more work, which means you’ll always be sailing at half mast. Your senses simply aren’t tuned into a fight for survival mode.

When we are in this mental space of surviving, we are capable of drastic changes and we will either do what is necessary to survive and live or we will crash and find out we didn’t have what it took this time around. We feel alive when we are doing this, because we are acting as captains of our own destiny, at the same time it can be scary because we’re not sure we can sail the ship.

This is a necessary mindset for freelancing successfully, and it is very difficult to embrace if you’re still being paid consistently by someone else as an employee.

Before I advise you on the rest of your email…what do you fear? Why don’t you like to compete? Why do you feel you lack confidence? Get back to me with these answers and we can keep chatting…

To be Continued…

That’s all for now, short and sweet!

As usual, if you have any feedback, comments or advice you feel is pertinent to this topic, please leave it in the comments section below. And if you think that this information will help any aspiring freelancers, please share the link…sharing is caring, help spread the knowledge.

Stay tuned for part 2 in a couple of days…until then, stay hungry.

D-Man

Recovery from failure…

Darren Yeow — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 03:28:16 +0000

Despite my relative youth (yeah…I’m still clinging tenaciously to the final year of my twenties…), I’ve faced and tasted failure many times in my life, sometimes by my own hand, sometimes at the hand of others. I’m better off for it.

Don’t get me wrong — it is never pleasant, it takes the shine off your day, it brings you face to face with your limitations and crashes you into the dirt with disappointment, the danger being that if you stay there long enough, you’ll never fly again. I’ve seen it time and time again, in friends, in family, people who have traded in lofty dreams for mediocrity. That type of existence is not for me and chances are it’s not for you either.

The encouraging thing is that if you face failure well, it is only a toilet break on the long ass road trip we call life.

This post is a record on how I face failure. If you’re feeling discouraged, I sincerely hope this post helps to put you back on track.

Have I done okay? By who’s standard?

Before I talk about recovering from failure and then going in the opposite direction — success, I suppose it would be useful to figure out if I am successful or not. Hmm.

So, thinking back to when I was growing up, I recall I was a solitary creature who loved being alone and the thing I loved doing the most while I was alone was drawing stuff — monsters, cars, robots, babes, etc. I loved the fumes of my mediums, the silence, the lack of interruptions, just me and my imagination.

Looking back, I think it was pretty clear what my life’s direction was and deep down, I guess I just knew I wanted to make art and to create a life that supported this endeavour. I know I didn’t want to work a day job to fund my art life, I wanted it to pay for itself.

Lets snap forward to the present — my day typically consists of getting paid well to draw and paint in my pajamas while listening to music, engaging in afternoon naps, playing video games, reading cool books and blogging.

Judging from my personal checklist of what I’ve wanted out of life, I’ve guess I’ve done okay for myself. If I judged my life on the criteria of a successful patent lawyer however, this may be another story. On this basis, I’m sure you can determine how much you want to trust my advice or ignore it.

Failure…what the heck is it?

For me, the definition of failure is when you look to achieve an outcome and you (or you and your team) come up short.

Where I’ve failed.

I’ve studied the wrong things and spent a buttload of my working years climbing a ladder resting on the wrong wall.
I haven’t followed through on my bold promise to deliver an art team’s vision and workload on time and at the quality level promised.
I’ve failed time and time again to make my voice heard when it could have made a difference.
I’ve alienated friends and created enemies when there was no need to.
I’ve under delivered to clients because of a failure to take everything into account.
I’ve given up when the final leg of the marathon was in striking distance because I feared the inevitable judgement at the end.
I’ve placed trust in people my gut instinct told me not to.
I’ve compromised my own morals.
I’ve allowed relationships to carry on for longer than their expiry date.
I’ve placed being liked ahead of being effective.
I’ve wasted time and opportunities looking for alternatives when I had what I was looking for all along, right in front of me.
I’ve missed on deadlines, styles and execution.
I’ve blamed circumstances and I’ve blamed other people for things that didn’t go right.
I’ve over committed to projects.
I’ve cared too much.
I’ve cared too little.
I failed to inspire.
I’ve been too harsh.
I’ve been too soft.

These are just some of the things I have failed at and regretted. I’ve felt low because of them, I’ve wanted to run away, to hide in dark corners, allow the world to turn on without me. It’s no understatement that I am not perfect, where I’ve faulted in the past was either absolving myself of blame or beating myself up mentally to the point of being an extra on a Romero zombie flick.

I think this is how a lot of other people also deal with failure.

Part of the solution for moving on, is to recognise that most things are not forever, they don’t necessarily need to stay “failed”. Always aim for that elusive perfection, with the full knowledge that you will seldom achieve it. And don’t beat yourself up over it.

How does it make you feel?

Failure in any endeavor, will usually do one of three things to you — it will either make you feel nothing; it will make you feel pissed off; or it will make you feel like tucking your tail between your legs and whimpering in the corner.

I know because I’ve felt all three at different times, so lets talk about picking up and moving on.

Getting past it…

Feeling indifferent and apathetic towards failure means that you will neither learn or grow from it. It signals that you have lost the passion for something or never had it in the first place. It always strikes me as absolutely batshit insane that the majority of people I meet tolerate a mediocre career, marriage and existence without a plan on how they are going to improve things.

The solution is to find something or someone else to care about or to discover a way to reignite the passion lost. Where there is no emotion, you can never hope to achieve great things. As Elie Weisel once said:

Because of indifference, one dies before one actually dies.

The second feeling, where you feel pissed off, for me at least has always shifted me into over-drive. If someone proclaims I’m not good at something I want to be good at, DAMN them to hell, I’ll show that they’re wrong. I won’t argue or bitch or moan, I will simply clam up in my fortress of solitude and push past my boundaries so that at some point I will be able to say “In Your FACE!”

I’ve found that if it is harnessed the right way, angry energy is an extremely powerful driver for me. Part of my competitive nature I guess. The trick is not to let it overtake you, being a perpetually angry person sucks.

The final feeling you may experience when you fail, is one of shame, you can’t believe it happened and you go over it in your mind, turning the past over and over again — how could something go so wrong?

Self blame is typical at this stage, and if left to fester, it can really hamper progress in your life. You need to have a heart to heart with your inner self, figure out how much was your fault, how much was beyond your control and how to not only avoid the same pitfalls in the future, but how to come out on top.

Reading the book The Monk and the Riddle by Randy Komisar, an incumbent old hand in silicon valley, brought into focus the fact that failure rates are high in his cutting edge game changer world, but that it has been past failures that have allowed him and others like him the most growth opportunities.

I played the self blame game for a looong time after I left Interzone games, it damn near made me quit art altogether, down in the dumps, no one to turn to for help, I had to rebuild myself from ground zero, go back to my roots, my driving factors to see if they were still there. They were, but I had to do some serious soul-searching and re-configure my mind before I even picked up a pencil again.

It can take time…a lot of it, but this introspection is worth it, and in my opinion, absolutely critical in not having those same issues speed bump you in future endeavours. Once I put my demons to rest and plotted my new direction, exciting things happened so quickly within those next 6 months it was breathtaking, but I would not have gone there if I hadn’t been through that prior failure and learned their lessons well.

Where to now?

Whichever reaction you initially experience, there will be a point at which you reach a convergence — as in each of these paths will lead to a singular point. At this singular meeting point is where you decide what happens next, do you boldly try again? Do you retreat temporarily and then try a different path? Do you surrender? Or do you stand still while the weeds grow all around you?

Only you can answer this one, so dig deep but remember this: make your next way-point meaningful, or your failure will have been for naught.

Aude Aliquid Dignum — Dare Something Worthy

Although I enjoy and appreciate what I have, in keeping with the personal dictum that human potential is near limitless, I will always endeavor to push on to greater heights as I believe most people should. In doing so however, in pushing boundaries and frontiers, part of the bargain is that at any moment, whether from lack of calculation or circumstances outside our controls, we can fail at the things we set out to do. The less defined the path, the higher the risk potential for failure and only you can decide if the downside is worth it.

I personally think it is tragic when dreams are subjugated to the fear of possible failure. We as a species have the unique ability to manifest abstract thought and to bring about its physical equivalent through concerted effort. Using our mental capacity to accept, learn from and move past failure is a big part of this whole business of defining a life rather than living by default.

As I leave you, let this great quote by Abraham Lincoln underpin your actions today:

You can have anything you want if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish, if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose. — Abraham Lincoln

Catch you on the flipside.

Daz

Ignore the problem…focus on the solution.

Darren Yeow — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 01:31:40 +0000

The title of this post is obvious as hell. No shiz, thanks for telling me…but you know what? Obviousity (new word I made up) means nada without constant repetition and acting in accordance with “widely accepted truths”.

Reading is good for your brains, spend less than you earn and invest the rest is smart, eating a box of chocolates ain’t the best for your waistline — these things are all obvious, but seldom practiced by the majority of people. These are some of the reasons why first world country trends means we’re becoming fatter, poorer in savings and stupider in general.

Why did I just mention all that? Maybe to placate the inevitable “Well that seems obvious, I don’t know why it needs mention”. The answer, is because sometimes we all need to be reminded of simple truths to reignite good intentions we have allowed to atrophy.

First, you need to ignore the bloody problem…

The way we have been conditioned to think in this day and age (through mass media) is that the problem is the be-all end all, it is the point to be focused upon, it is in vogue to bitch and moan and tell everyone how much things suck.

Whoa is me!!! If I complain to enough people, maybe someone else will join in with me and we can engage in a pity party hug puddle.

Tut tut, pity is the province of those who think the world owes them a living. The world owes you, me and everyone else, nothing.

What is the outcome? You fuck yourself in the ass, that’s what.

The end result of focusing exclusively on the problem will be this — you surround yourself with equally unhappy individuals, the problem is placed on a pedestal before which you all worship and before long it becomes the all consuming thing at the forefront of your mind and you’re not a single step closer to alleviating it.

It’s poisonous and you need to stop it in it’s tracks the minute you become aware of it.

No if’s or buts, if you want to achieve great things in your life, you need to overcome this monumental yet largely invisible problem.

Defeat those mental naysayers. Develop your own personal mind guard.

We moan and bitch because we allow the negative part of our brain to take over, it’s like the little negative devil that sits on your shoulder telling you that you’re no good, or that you’ll never amount to anything, etc.

What you need is your own personal mind guard, a protector shrouded in titanium armour forged in the blood of a thousand Viking men and inscribed with powerful ancient ass kicking Sanscrit from the fourth apocalypse.

The following used to be the conversation I’d have in my head that I’d have with myself, my devil naysayer is called Demon Face and my kick ass protector is called Charlie Sheen:

Demon Face: Jesus Christ, I can’t draw for shit. I’ve been at this for over 2 hours and all I’ve got to show for it is a half assed mess on the screen, oily hand marks on my Cintiq and an ass callus from hell. Why can’t you get your finger out of your puckered asshole and get some real work done?

Charlie Sheen: Because you filthy son-of-a-bitch, this is what the initial stages of artwork look like, and if you don’t like it, you can go sit in the corner and suck on your thumb for a while and cry me a river. If you’d rather stay, shut your mouth and stop your sissy ass whining, or I will curb stomp you, then kick you in the balls.

These days, Demon Face don’t utter much, ’cause he’s in the gutter, puking up blood while Charlie wails on him with a broken champagne bottle.

You must protect your psyche, your drive and your direction because if you don’t, it will be fragile and your resolve will shatter at the slightest of provocations.

It can be the difference between a life squandered and one that is not.

Ignoring the problem is only one half of the equation. Now, you have to think about the solution.

You can’t just empty your mind of problems, it doesn’t work that way. You can’t be not-troubled any more than you can’t be not-hungry…unless you’re dead or delaying the inevitable that it will come back to bite you squarely in the ass.

You must fill the new void.

If you do not focus your mind on something more productive, it will naturally lapse back into negative thought patterns. Nope, you have to pre-occupy your mental gymnastics with how you will tackle the problem, aka The Solution. That is where your focus and energies should be channeled.

So the next time you’re landed with a problem, remember to stop the bitchin’ and start the solvin’.

If you’re keen on seeing how I typically solve problems, check out this prior series of posts:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Keep whippin’ Demon Face’s ass, and I’ll catch you on the flip side.

D-Man

Powernaps and productivity.

Darren Yeow — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:46:23 +0000

Running a business means that you always have an endless amount of work to do, if it’s not replying to client emails, it’s balancing the books or working on new designs, and if it’s not that then it’s planning the days ahead or doing marketing.

It can sometimes seem overwhelming, but I’ve grown accustomed to it and I thank God that I love doing most of it or else I would have gone postal a long time ago and buried myself in a tub of cookies and cream.

Why does productivity matter?

Despite that, love for my work doesn’t change the fact that there is always a load to do, therefore being effective while I’m doing it makes sense — you get the work done quicker, more accurately or creatively which allows you to either move onto another task, or simply have more free time.

Why does everyone need to work from 9–5?!

Enter the typical work day for most people, the 9–5 monster…I just don’t think it works that well. It’s a dated, blunt force, dinosaur of a tool imposed on a highly non-homogeneous populace. Each of us have our individual body cycles, some prefer to work early in the day, others later in the day, some of us late at night while everyone else is asleep.

You don’t work at a constant rate unless you’re dead…

Personally, I have always found it extraordinarily difficult to remain at near full productive capacity for the duration of the 8 hour work day, it simply stretches far too long without a chance to recharge somewhere in the middle.

My productivity cycle dictates that for the first 4 hours of the day, from 9am-1pm, I am generally awake, firing on all cylinders and burning through my work. Come lunch time however and this slows to a crawl as my stomach is busy digesting food and I am working at half mast. My eyes are droopy, I’m on autopilot trying to stay awake and hoping my slurred speech doesn’t make people don’t think I’m high on drugs. Later on in the afternoon though, I get a second wind and I am often working up to 12am or later the next morning.

Lots of people follow a similar pattern, but due to their salaried employee status, sustained productivity isn’t a huge concern for them. As a freelancer who gets paid per hour however, this is a huge concern because ineffective time really is very costly.

This is where powernaps come into the picture…

Being fully aware of this surge-lull-surge in productivity during the day, rather that fight it, I’d prefer to flow with it. I’ve adopted somewhat of a bi/polyphasic sleeping pattern (as opposed to a monophasic sleeping pattern that most adhere to) now that I also live with a partner who has a different work schedule from myself.

I go to sleep relatively late as I enjoy the peace and quiet and can get a lot of my art done during the night / early morning. Then I usually awake around the same time as my partner, which would mean I don’t get the regular 8 hours sleep. I work till around lunch time when I will either go to the gym first, or have lunch and an afternoon powernap for about 25 minutes.

After the power nap, it almost feels like a second morning and this will help to fuel me through to another 6+ hours of work if I need to. On particularly long days, I will sometimes take two power naps spaced about 6 hours apart, and I judge the necessity to do so based on my clarity of thought.

This simple addition of power napping during the day helps me immensely, I’m able to learn more, be more productive around the clock and achieve more during my waking hours. If you’re a uni student or someone who simply has a lot of activities outside of the 9–5 day, try giving powernaps a go, they may just be what you need to get more out of each day.

If you try it out, let me know how you go with it in the comments

Keep kickin’ ass.

Daz

My Review: Kindle 3G

Darren Yeow — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 04:27:40 +0000

I’ve been using my Kindle 3G now for close to 4 months, it’s a great little revolutionary device that a lot of people have interest in but are still a little reticent to purchase because of it’s seemingly steep price and percieved draw-backs.

Hopefully, by sharing my thoughts on the device, I can help some of my readers to figure out if it’s really worth their hard earned dosh or if they would prefer the butchered tree variety of informational transfer.

I’ll keep the technical jargon to a minimum and write from the perspective of the general layperson, since that’s what I am.

Also, as a note, the Kindle comes in 3 distinct flavours: Kindle Wi-Fi, a Kindle 3G + Wifi and a Kindle DX.

I will mainly be discussing the 3G version since that is the product I own.

Perfunctory Introductory Background

Books are my drugs! I’m not kidding, I’ve spent close to $20k on physical books and they are the primary source of learning and inspiration for me. I love the smell, their feel, their texture, I like the sound a page makes when it’s flipped, but most of all I like that they make me smarter.

I suppose you could say that purchasing an e-book reader was a logical step for me? Well, not quite, and I’ll explain some of the reasons for my delayed uptake of this device.

My Reservations

Back in 2007, the Kindle 1st gen was released on Nov 19 for about US$400…and was sold out in five and a half hours.

It really wasn’t even a blip on my radar back then since most of the books I was purchasing were art books as opposed to text books like I purchase now. Art books by their very nature, generally require real estate only afforded by large page size, and more importantly good colour reproduction — this clearly wasn’t the market the Kindle was targeted at, but it was the sole demographic I was part of.

Because of my narrow view on books, I couldn’t really understand why they were so popular to be honest, it was an ugly device, I was reading documents on my laptop anyway, it just seemed like a filler device with overlapping functionality to existing devices. I’ve never been a big gadgets kinda guy, so it didn’t really have the features to justify the price tag to me at the time.

Also, having never used one, I assumed that not having the tactile feel of turning would impact me greatly, and there is a certain part of me that actually LIKES a wall of books in my living room.

The third generation Kindle came out mid last year on July 28 2010, it was a much sleeker looking device and boasted a range of improvements that really made me sit up, take notice and I finally caved in for one.

The benefits, for me, now definitely outweigh the cons and I’ll go through the greatest impact features now in no particular order.

The Good

Good looking: This made the designer in me scream with joy. Yes. Scream. Easily the sleekest generation to date. Sure the look isn’t a huge thing, but it helps to actually want to use it out in public and not hide it in a brown paper.
Amazing battery life: If you turn off wireless connections, this baby lasts for a month or more depending on how much reading you do. The only comparable device I own for reading are my iPhone which will last a few hours and my laptop which struggles to get to an hour. So a month seems like a bloody eternity! The reason it is able to last such a long time, is because of the E-Ink display technology, which basically only uses power when it is refreshing the E-Ink particles. If you’re not actually turning the page, it’s not actually using any power (assuming you have wireless functionality turned off).
Direct sunlight reading: I don’t always want to read in a slightly darkened room with no light source behind me, but that’s what you kinda need to do with today’s highly reflective LCD screens. Not so with the matte finished E-Ink screen of the Kindle. Because E-Ink displays actually use electronically charged ink particles, as opposed to light to display graphics and text, you can read the kindle anywhere you can read a physical book. If you purchase the Kindle leather cover with inbuilt light (and I highly suggest you do spend the extra $50), you can read it anywhere.
Inbuilt dictionary: At times, we all read books which like to use more than it’s fair share of jargon or words outside the regular conversational sphere…such as discombobulate (I LOVE that word!). When this is done in a book, it can be pretty frustrating to have to check a dictionary every few minutes in order to fully understand what the heck the author is babbling on about. The Kindle solves this with an inbuilt dictionary function that is easy to access — simply use the directional pad to put the cursor next to the offending word, and you’re presented with a short snippet of the word’s meaning. Click another button and the cursor disappears for you to keep reading, it’s simple, fast and unobtrusive. When you get used to this function, it becomes an automatic reaction and is a HUGE advantage over paperbooks. Definitely a game changer feature.
Free 3G globally: You just read that right. Free Internet access anywhere you can get a 3G signal. Absolutely no ongoing fees and relatively fast. How does this help? Okay, so I was browsing a Lonely Planet guidebook on Cambodia with my girlfriend, we’re reading some information on the country and we’re not really sure about the currency they use. One button click later, I’m on the web on Wikipedia looking at the information on Cambodia and the currency is called the Riel. How much is a Riel in USd? Hop over to XE.com and it’s approximately 4000r = US$1. A button click later, I’m back on the Lonely Planet guide continuing my reading. How. Fucking. Awesome. Is. That? And I did it bare-assed in bed without moving. I don’t know how Amazon offer free global 3G coverage…but it rocks hard. Game changing feature.
Free book samples: I’ve been purchasing books online for a while now, and one of the things I do to reduce the likelihood of buying a dud is that I like to read samples, just to make sure I enjoy the author’s writing style and personality. With the Kindle, every book you can find on the Amazon Kindle store, which is just about all the books available for physical purchase, you can download the first chapter free of charge. It centralises the place I need to go to browse, sample and purchase. Efficiency +100xp.
Simple purchase and download: Amazon has always understood that the less hassle and barriers to getting their products into your hands, the less hassle it is for you, and the better their bottom line will look. The Kindle has taken a lot of the lessons they have learnt from their site and integrated it into the Kindle. 1-Click purchases are even more streamlined on this product since it is directly links to your amazon account, no tedious entering of credit card or personal details, just click buy, and approximately a minute later, the product is there for you to read. Instant knowledge gratification. A nice feature is that if you accidentally purchase an e-book (easy to do on the Kindle), you can return it and get a refund rather painlessly, nice.
Cheaper books: The books you purchase on the Kindle are generally 20%+ cheaper than the physical equivalent on the Amazon store which is great, plus there is no shipping cost. In some books, they are even cheaper, I was looking at a tome of a book, it cost $100+ physically, while the Kindle version cost $30 since there was no associated printing costs involved for the product. If you buy from Amazon a lot, they is a real cost saver.
Simple PDF loading: Loading PDFs on you Kindle is easy, it connects via the USB and it effectively becomes a USB memory stick. Drop your PDF in the PDF folder, and you’re ready to read it. Simple.
Good annotation: The annotation process is painless and straight forward to use. You place the cursor in the text where you want to add an annotation, and begin typing. Once you’re done, you press save and the Kindle will insert a reference mark. When you want to read what the note says, you can either access it by placing the cursor over the reference mark, or you can view all your notes and their locations in the “My Clippings Folder” or you can view a links page of notes and books marks through the menu button.
Instant Download: With the 3G version of the Kindle, you have the amazon store connected to your account details which allows one click purchasing and in most cases, if the e-book does not have a lot of images, it will be downloaded next to instantaneously wherever you can find 3G coverage. Instant gratification!
Large capacity: 3500 books! Whoo! Obviously it depends on the types of books, graphic heavy e-books will obviously take up more space, but seriously, that is a lot of books.
Cross Platform Reading: The Kindle has cross platform reading, meaning that you can load your purchased books onto your iPhone, your laptop, your iPad, your Android and a bunch of other places. The cool thing is, that if you have an Internet connection, it will update the “last page read” bookmarking, and when you load up the same book on another device, it will take you straight to that page. Simple, but awesome feature.
Lightweight: It weights next to nothing, but still has a nice robust feel. It means I can travel with a crapload of reading material without needing to feel the impact of lots of dead trees.
Good image reproduction: The greyscale images look gorgeous, and this is coming from a trained eye. The tonal gradations are fantastic and highly detailed. I loaded a few Loomis art books onto the device, and even at the smaller reading size, you could still pick out everything and still read the words too.
Free books: You get free downloads of a large selection of classics that are not part of public domain, like Frankenstein, Wealth of Nations, Sherlock Holmes, etc. Cool feature, but my personal reading tastes don’t really coincide with this collection. A nice to have, but I wouldn’t miss it.
Book lending: You can purchase books and you can also lend them to a kindle ladden buddy for a limited amount of time. Cool feature, but I don’t use it much since most of my friends don’t have kindles. Evolve dammit!
Wi-fi: Yeah, you get wi-fi but since I prefer to transfer files via usb cable, or download stuff via 3G, I don’t find I use the wi-fi functionality at all.
Social network integration: Easy to use and rather unexpectedly cool since I’ve been engaging the social web a heck of a lot these days. It allows me to annoy people with even more awesome quotes. Click a button to engage highlight mode, highlight the word, press the key combination require to tweet (there is an onscreen context sensitive display that pops up to aid you) and click share…simple! Only caveat is that this only works for Amazon formatted e-books and not PDFs as well.
Good price point: As of this writing, the Kindle retails from the Amazon store for $189 and in my opinion, a fantastic price for what you are getting. Just make sure you pick up a cool leather cover with built in light as well for an extra $50, well worth it to save your device from being mangled, plus the inbuild light-source links up to the kindle battery. No extra batteries for the reading light makes me very happy.
Speedy Postage: Everyone I know, including me, who ordered their Kindle received it within a week of placing the order. Nice!

The Not So Good

Buying books is a little too easy: As I mentioned before, I’ve accidentally purchased a couple of books before, simply because it is so easy. The good news is that these accidental purchases are instantly reversible.
Some books are region blocked: I really don’t understand why, seriously, this would be one of my pet peeves, why on earth would you have a global company release a global reading device, only to lock you out from certain books because of your account registration location? Makes no sense whatsover. The upside is that there aren’t too many books that are region locked.
Buttons too small and clacky: One of my major purchase drivers was “I can update my blog on the go!” and if we’re talking technically, I am actually able to do so, all the tools are there for me to do this. However, the biggest factor stopping this from happening is that the keys are absolutely useless for doing so, they are awful for typing, so they are thankfully only used to search for book titles and make short notes. The other annoying thing is that numbers are not represented by tactile buttons, instead, they are relegated to a secondary function which requires you to access another menu. It’s a minor gripe, but it is annoying and unintuitive.
No color: This really wasn’t a major factor for me to be honest, I knew full well that this device does not support color, and because of the inherent e-ink technology limitations, it likely won’t for a long time, or at least support it in any way that resembles the rich colors of glossy magazines. The nature of the books I read — mainly business books with little or no graphics, means I don’t really miss it in any way.
PDF reading isn’t that fantastic: A majority of the PDFs I come across are not created with the small screen of the 6″ Kindle in mind. The screen size isn’t a problem with Amazon kindle e-books as they have text that scales, however, PDFs don’t — they are of a fixed size, which means that if you have terrible eyesight for close up reading, you’re going to struggle as the pages are displayed at a small size. The Kindle solution is to magnify the page as-is, which would probably be okay, except that the side-to-side and up-to-down page scrolling isn’t smooth and is instead discreet shifts which can be jarring. If your eyesight can read tiny text though, it shouldn’t bother you too much.
The robo-voice reader sucks: The electronic voice isn’t especially listenable. I spent more time thinking “the cadence and pronounciation is all wrong!” than listening to what it was actually saying. I’m sure if I spent enough time with it, I would soon forget it, but if I really wanted an audio-book, I’d buy an audio book read by a real human, not Robby the Robot.
UI takes some getting used to: Seeing as I am often heavily involved with user interface design and user experience in games, there are just a bunch of things that make me say “What the fuck were they thinking?!” For instance, the aforementioned numbers relegated to a secondary function, page scrolling on the homepage navigation can be a bit confusing, and functions that should probably be logically grouped are sometimes separated.
Lack of tactile feel: Since we’ve been Pavlov’s-dog-trained to flick our fingers across hand held device screens, we naturally want to get our grubby fingers all over the Kindle to flick the page over. Or flick a bunch of pages over back to the start of the chapter. Unfortunately, because of the inherent limitations of the technology, this will likely be an impossibility. For now.
Angry stares from atheists: If you purchased the black leather case with in-built reading light, people think you’re a church minister.

Conclusion

Despite my gripes, this device has really proven itself to be insanely awesome, a real game changer if you will. It makes my reading (if not my blogging) experience better than it is with physical books for the most part and it becomes obvious that this is the future of the printed word and a big stake through the heart of physical bookstores down the line.

My verdict, is that this is a fantastic product and within a few days of purchasing one and showing it around to people at a previous workplace, a number of folks sprang for it immediately who had been considering it for a while, it really is that good. If you’re into reading, get it.

Keep kicking ass,

D-Diggity

Buy the Kindle:

New site…

Darren Yeow — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 01:21:29 +0000

Hey guys, a quick update, you may have noticed a lack of blog updates lately and the reason is that I’ve been busy learning how to build my own site in WordPress with help from Lynda.com training.

It’s been years since I’ve tried to create my own page, but I thought it was time I learnt how to, and with WordPress and other CMS software it’s never been easier, especially for someone like myself who is primarily a creative content developer. Having a CMS is a big departure from my Computer Science days when we were coding crappy sites from notepad. WordPress is a fantastic framework that lets people like me concentrate on using my core skills — ie. creating artwork and writing, rather than half assing code and markup.

My previous site was fine for my first professional website and WeCanCreate did a great job, but it did have limitations that I wasn’t happy with. Creating my own site was the only way I could have the functionality and flexibility I required / wanted.

If you’re thinking about going this route with your own site / blog, I recommend signing up to Lynda.com and going through the WordPress 3 Essential Training with Morten Rand-Hendriksen, he takes his time to explain things to noobs such as myself and there is a lot of welcome hand holding.

I’m still in the process of getting content up-to-date, especially the gallery which has a slightly different format, focusing on projects, allowing me more space to explain the processes I have gone through to arrive at a final design / illustration choice. I’m leaning towards also incorporating lightbox functionality for those who are only interested in flicking through the images. Please excuse the broken image links, I’m still updating them

One big addition, is that I have added a FAQ section, this part of the site holds a bunch of information from my personal experience. It contains excerpts from blog posts, interviews I have done with magazines, and some have been written from scratch. I created this section primarily because these questions seem to crop up pretty often. Check it out and let me know what you think or let me know if there are errors I need to fix.

In other news my little sister is getting married at the end of the year! Very exciting news! I’ve volunteered to be her wedding photographer in return for a new lens to shoot with, and I’m really excited to do it. I’ll be getting the lens shortly, a Canon f/2.8L 70-200mm with no IS, an awesome zoom lens for those photojournalist shots. I’ll be taking it through it’s paces when I get it, and when I visit Cambobia’s Angkor Wat later in the year with Kellie.

One other quick blip, I just registered a new business domain. Exciting times ahead.

Hope your times have been productive, peace out.

D-giggidy.

Corporate Hindenberg No.7…or is it No.8?

Darren Yeow — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 08:11:13 +0000

In the last seven years of my creative career, I have witnessed first hand the imploding of just about every single company I have worked for, so that makes it about seven or eight companies in the span of those seven years.

Is it because I have some kind of corporate death touch? Well, I have no idea, but it sure sounds like a good basis for a Bruckheimer movie with lots of explosions and nonsensical dialogue.

The reasons behind business failure are numerous…in fact, far more numerous than I have the space or mental reserve for in this blog post, so I’m just going to give that topic a wide berth.

Job Loss & Ingenuity

Instead, I wanted to blog about something a little more simple and just lay down some quick thoughts and observations about a more personal side of the fallout of failed commerce, namely people losing their jobs.

Being even more specific, I wanted to muse about the ingenuity and human spirit during such an occurrence. Yes, an occurrence. No, I’m not going to be melodramatic about it nor soppy.

The rise and fall of business is part of contemporary life and I’m of the breed that says a business closure is a valuable pile of lessons and seeds of a glorious, fractured rebirth for those involved and intelligent enough to take those lessons and learn from them.

Effects of Job Loss…Positive?!

That aside, it is always an interesting learning experience to observe what happens to the mindsets of individuals when such an occurrence comes to pass.

With the closing of the seventh (or is it the eighth…I lose count) studio I have worked for, the thing that always intrigues me is the level (or lack) of entrepreneurship and drive on display when people are shoved into a circumstance beyond their control.

Despite initial reactions, which can be varied to say the least, the eventual action is that people pick themselves up and re-enter the fray, not because they want to, but because necessity requires them to…unless they have solved the age old requirements to eat and drink in which case those people are immortal Gods worthy of sullen and unthinking worship.

The sudden loss of a primary income stream is a circumstance a few of us reading this have been a part of and it’s generally not a comfortable position to be in…well, the first few times anyway. After the first four or five closures, you start to get a sense of “Oh hey, it really isn’t the end of the world!”.

Humans are Resilient Beasts

What is most interesting to note, for me anyway, is that on a scale of 1–10, job loss for most people is towards the upper end of stress factors. But the real interest is not that it is stressful, but that after being exposed to this stimulus repeatedly, effectively reduces the impact upon the individual in most cases. It is our body’s mechanism to get us moving again after being temporarily floored.

Yes, we are resilient beasts, and the important thing to note and apply to other stressful experiences in our lives is that for most of the “Oh my God, my life is over…” type moments, they really aren’t that terrible.

Job Loss in Perspective

Losing a house, losing a car, these things are recoverable.

Stepping on a land mine, being poisoned with mercury in the water that we drink, having your family massacred by AK-47 weilding maniacs, these things aren’t.

Chances are, you’ll either go on to get another job, you’ll start up your own business and fail then get another job, or you’ll go on and actually be able to make a living running your own venture. You typically will not die.

Effects of Job Loss Up Close

During this last closure, it has been particulary interesting for me. In most cases when a studios shut down, you’re told to go home that very day and at least in Australia, the government is landed with the financial burden of paying your unpaid wages.

After you break physical contact with your co-workers, you generally get no inkling other than the echo through social networks of how other people are doing.

This particular time however, the studio closure was not because of voluntary recievership, but rather because the higher ups did not have the studio I was working in, as part of their long term business strategy.

It means that my co-workers and I are being kept around physically in the office till the end of our pay period. This is perfectly legal and there isn’t anything inherently wrong with this, indeed one of my co-workers mentioned he rather found the camaraderie of people in the same boat comforting. From my perspective, being within physically proximity to others during this period has been really interesting.

The announcement of the studio closure produced (as expected) quite a bit of disbelief, sub-dermal anger, then disdain for upper management. Once the dust had settled, there then came a period of a high degree of initiative to wrest emotional control back into the self, co-workers gathered in groups and started to work on personal project, others dreamed about future possibilities. Heartening to see

Tragedy or Opportunity?

Not to get dramatic, but when something as seemingly integral to your life as a job is taken away, for me at least, I don’t see tradgedy, but opportunity, and it is exciting as hell.

The level of enthusiasm, especially in the art department where I was/am situated was/is palpable, it’s intoxicating and reminded me of the energy when I first began putting together a business plan for Stylus Monkey Design (note to self…update business plan…).

It is the sweetest, right at the moment when you realise that if you undertake the right mix of business development activities and paid work, you will be able to sustain your lifestyle free of any single employer, thus diversifying your risk.

Enthusiasm Ain’t Enough

Despite this perking up in such a situation however, the truth of the matter is — and I am not making a value judgement on anyone here as I consider many of these people my friends, it’s merely an observation, that this initial adrenhalin shot of enthusiam generally does not last beyond 3 months and is generally economically unsustainable — statistics and empirical experience tell me that.

It often strikes me as a great waste of opportunity and intensely focused effort.

Then I usually wonder why people don’t act like that MOST of the time? Being intensely driven with a high degree of initiative unfortunately is not the province of the many, I suppose when you’re in the comfort of a recurring pay check and an employment system that often ill-rewards true ingenuity, the outcome of sub-par operational tempo is to be expected.

Still, I can’t help but hope that some of them will go onto self-run greatness.

You Gotta Love the Hunt!

On a personal level, I think that is what I find so enjoyable about being a free agent. If you truly want to make a good living doing this, you need to be on your A-game most of the time. Being mediocre is never part of anybody’s plans, but it does seem to pan out that way for a lot of folks, doesn’t it? It’s sounds funny, but not being mediocre requires serious sustained effort.

Wasted potential sure sucks the big rubbery one.

Adios Muchachos

Whatever it is though, I’ve actually had a great time at this studio, it’s opened up the realities of another market for my business, I’ve been able to exercise my communication skills and learnt from a bunch of great people. I’ll miss em.

Always take the good with the bad, learn from other people’s mistakes and kick ass!

Peace out,

Dazalingus

Return to blogging.

Darren Yeow — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 06:46:45 +0000

Y’know, I love writing and I love my blog. I really do, I find blogging to be cathartic and it allows me to indulge in one of the more intellectual pleasures in my life…but dammit if life doesn’t have a way of forcefully interjecting itself between you and your best intentions of keeping it updated!

Thankfully though, the interjection of life in this instance, has been a positive occurrence full of learning, love, growing and a cementing of prior experiences and ways of thinking…which means a great deal of writing fodder.

Blogging is like anything that requires dedication and habit, once you break the chain, it is easy to careen seriously off course into a ditch until you make a concerted effort to pull yourself out and get back on track.

Well, I guess this little post is that concerted effort, not much to look at, but I suppose it is a tangible action to pierce the puss filled skin sack that has grown over my keyboard preventing me from bashing out lines of nonsensical jibberish and sentences masquerading as intellectual teeter-tottering.

A thought just entered my head — I think one of the big traps to blogging…or indeed going back to anything that you previously spent a lot of time engaged in, is to come back in a huge way, go back to the gym and hit the weights TWICE as hard, swim THRICE as far or come back to blogging and post TETRICE (…is that even right?!) as much!

In other words, make a grand re-entrance into the foray, which in itself can seem like a huge barrier to coming back to it.

Ah, I say screw it, just get the first one outta the way in whatever haphazard way you can and take it from there.

I hope you out there in Internet land have been kicking ass and taking names. And thanks to all the people who have asked when I’ll be back on the blog, I guess now I can say I am

Sharing is caring.

Peace, Deeman.