So it's 3:40AM right now and I just woke up from a 6+ hour long sleep. I had one of the strangest dreams in a decent while. The dream consisted of traveling with a bunch of my friends, including my girlfriend, getting lost, and fighting our way through illogical and fantastical obstacles.

Mall layouts that made less sense than a mirror house, rooms of pure darkness, gigantic elevator doors, and infinitely looping escalators. The entire dream was a mish-mash of chaos, trying to find a way home, anxiety, excitement, and a whole lot of WTF. I would find myself running through these places aimlessly, even though I knew we had to find a way home. Colors were absolutely amazing. A mix of amazing blues, reds, yellows and greens.

At some point when trying to make it to our airplane, my friend Paul and I ended up in a "soccer field" that was 10x the regular size. Filled with famous soccer players kicking the ball to us, wanting to play, but us failing in shame. What's funny is that as we finally made it across the field (in a rush to get to our plane, still), I ran and jumped over a 7 foot tall thing. Why? I dunno.

Last thing I remember is every single one of us ending up jammed in a twisted and dismantled Mirror House, crushed under snow in the middle of nowhere (probably somewhere in Greenland). Every inch we moved, we morphed into different odd shapes and sizes, while trying to squeeze our way out of this madness. It then turned into a game where the more "witches" we found, the better we scored - but that seemed to lead us nowhere.

And then I woke up.

Yesterday at 11:10AM, I took a seat in the Dentist's chair, prepared to finally have my wisdom teeth removed after months of delays and dreading. I know you're probably wondering why I had all 4 removed... Call me crazy, but there was no way I would've returned for seconds if I removed half now, half later. Lower 2 were impacted, and the top 2 grew in sideways (what luck, eh?).

To my pleasant surprised, the whole process didn't take very long (about 20 minutes). Yes, I was awake throughout whole thing. They didn't wanna sedate me. I felt no pain, except the pinching of the needles at first (for local anesthesia). After that, it was just pressure being applied on 4 sides of my mouth. When I got home shortly after, I had to change the gauze/pads every 30 minutes for around 3 hours until the bleeding stopped.

Once the bleeding stopped, it was time to take the Antibiotics and Painkillers, along with my nail-sized bites of mashed potatoes. I just had to be really careful to not loosen/lose the blood clots when eating. So, a whole 30 hours later, the recovery process is going well. There's swelling where the complex side was, but I'm told if I keep applying ice every other 30 minutes, I should be fine by tomorrow. There's really not much pain, to be honest - it's just uncomfortable knowing what it's like in your mouth.

I have an interview tomorrow, and I hope the swelling goes down by then! If I don't feel well enough to go, they told me I can reschedule for next week. Wish me luck! 🙂

It's not perfect. I absolutely love Apple products, and I buy them because in my eyes, they're perfect for me. I was really looking forward to the iPhone 4, but the stupid antenna problem makes it not perfect. It's disappointing for a company like Apple to have overlooked something like this. To be honest, it kinda puts a dent in their reputation in my eyes.

I doubt Apple would fix this problem with their manufacturing process and offer replacements to the current iPhone 4 users. They might pull it off with the white iPhone 4, but I don't know if I'd like the color. I could really use the extended battery life of the iPhone 4, and the awesome camera, too.

It's cool that Apple is offering free cases to all iPhone 4 users, but I don't want to get one because I HAVE to! Oh well, I guess I'm gonna have to wait until the following generation iPhone 4S.

What's your reason? If you own one, why? Respond in the comments below. 🙂

The other day I got a phone call from an unknown number. I picked up and heard nothing but silly threats and "tough talk" by a young boy. I ignored it all at first, but when I kept getting called back, it started to get annoying. This is when I decided to see what the heck was really going on, and try to talk some sense into this kid trying to have fun.

I started to ask who the hell this kid thought he was, and for him to come to my face and tell me the things he was saying. At first, I had no idea if he lived down the block or somewhere else. I looked up the number he was calling with, and saw that it was a NYC number - started making threats of my own saying I was tracking him down. He got a little scared and told me to chill, and asked why I was taking it so seriously.

I told the kid it was because his behavior was disgusting and I didn't want my kids growing up around horrible influences like him. I also said it was people like him that drop out of school, and people always look down upon. Then he was a little more serious and apologetic. I asked why he wasn't playing in the park with his friends, and said he wasn't allowed to. This lead me to believe he didn't live in such a great neighborhood, but I told him not to worry; I come from a country where guns were fired every other night outside my window for reasons nobody could explain, and tanks driving down the street going anywhere....

Being considerate shows respect, understanding, appreciation, and care towards whoever is involved. It effects our overall image - how people perceive us, which, in the end, is more positive. The more we realize and acknowledge things about people, the more we learn about ourselves (read: self discovery), and about everyone around us. This helps us become socially well-rounded, which is important to all of us when we're around friends, family, coworkers, strangers at a bar, and so forth.

So, let's get down to the nitty gritty. Being considerate involves compromise. You need to be observant of people's behaviors and feelings so you can determine what needs to be done. If someone you know is having a bad day, you probably shouldn't do/say anything inappropriate that would hurt their feelings. If you see a friend or colleague drowning in work, and you happen to have free time, lend a hand. These types of things are hard to forget. More after the jump...

The birds are angry, and they're out to get the pigs! Angry Birds is the latest and greatest the iPhone OS has to offer in the gaming department. There are tons of levels, each offering a unique composition of walls, barriers, pigs, and ornaments like jewels and trophies.

Playing this game is very simple! You use a slingshot to launch a variety of birds into the air, aiming for huge amounts of [pig] destruction. The more birds you have left in the end of the round, the bigger your score. There's a star rating system (1 to 3 stars) which gives you a good idea of how talented you've become. More after the jump...

Three weeks from today, my college career will be complete. I will have fulfilled the requirements of a rigorous 120-credit design program, met tons of amazing people, and built lasting relationships with my colleagues. This will mark a major milestone, and I will be headed towards greater things.

A strong network is important because you will take it with you wherever your career takes you. The amount of opportunities you are presented often depends on who you know. Your former professor may recommend you for a job, or a former classmate may need your expertise in some project. In contrast, if you ever need a hand somewhere down the line, who do you ask?

Say a former colleague of yours becomes an Art Director and is building a team of professionals, who will he go to? Most likely the people he knows and trusts, which could be you. I have been referred to clients by my friends and colleagues simply because they knew I did design work. People often make recommendations based on good experiences. The more people you meet and impress, the more likely you are to be recommended. More after the jump...

Be amazing in your schoolwork, regardless of what it is you do. Always do more than you're asked for. Beat out the competition. Blow them away with your work. Come up with fantastic concepts and ideas - something you know others wouldn't think of. Always go for something that would make people think "dang, now that's clever!" These are the teachings of my former Advertising professor, Douglas Davis.

In his class, I learned how to truly work as a team with partners, how be actively productive, and how to go above and beyond what I thought I was capable of. These are the types of professors that shape and mold us into who we are as professionals.

When you're just entering the working world, you don't have much experience under your belt. Your schoolwork is pretty much the only thing you have to show for yourself. For designers, this means that your portfolio does most of the talking. For those with careers that don't involve portfolios, your resume should list your accomplishments, activities, and so forth that define who you are and what you're capable of.

By mid-May, I will be launching a portfolio that will highlight a lot of my schoolwork. It will including some great advertising campaigns I worked on in Douglas Davis' class. I can't wait until it's up an running!

Some people say they are always behind everyone else, but that is not the case. Everyone is always a step behind someone, including the best out there. It takes a special skill to be able to discover things and learn whenever you wish. Self discovery is important because it's what allows us to take control of ourselves and our future.

Knowing what you want is one of the greatest challenges in life, even though the list always changes. We may not always have the answers in front of us, but if we learn to look for answers in the right places, many problems can be eliminated. We all have the ability to research, try and experiment with anything that interests us, whether it's music, the arts, programming, sports, and so forth.

Self discovery is a life-long process. Even when we reach the point in life where everything is going our way, it's no reason to stop growing as a person. There is too much to see and learn about in this world to be fooled by some success. Success, after all, is a state of mind, and must be actively sought after.

Remember: Not knowing isn't the problem. Not knowing how to get what you want is the problem.

This morning, I read a great post by Andy Rutledge about Risk. Things haven't been too smooth lately, but this bit of encouragement set me on the right track again. It helped me realize once again that, without risk, there is no greatness. Those who set out to build empires and succeed take risks. Those who aim for the very best take risks. Those who set out to make a difference take risks.

"For designers, for business, just as for nations, risk is the essential component to great success." - Andy Rutledge.

Andy created a series of Desktop Wallpapers based on the article. Risktakers stand out and achieve great success. Take a look at every successful company that has shaped our world today (Google, Apple, Microsoft, YouTube, Facebook, etc.). The question you should be asking is: What do you want to be noticed for?