The Brilliance and Creativity of Michael Jackson

I was shocked to hear the news of Michael Jackson's death.
Watching old videos on tv today, it reminded me of when I was young, mimicking Michael's every move from his Moonwalker movie. The talent and brilliance he was as an artist, amazing.

Smooth Criminal, my favorite music video.




Here's a dancing clip from his Black or White video.

Everyone Needs a Mentor/Coach

Whether you're a graphic designer, a singer, an athlete, a teacher, or a stay-at-home mom, I believe everyone needs a mentor or a coach.

Now when I say 'mentor', I don't mean someone to do the hard work for you or someone that tells you what to do and when. I mean someone who can help you find your own way to success. Someone that allows you to develop and hone the skills you were born with because a lot of the time we can't see what we're doing wrong until someone can observe us with knowledge and say 'what would happen if you did it this way?'

My recent experience has taught me that to become great at what you do and be successful at it, you need a little help; Someone to follow, to look up to, and to teach you the ins-and-outs of the industry. Then again, you can learn for yourself but why make things harder for yourself than it needs to be?

Up until last year, I never even thought I needed anyone to help me. I could do it all my own, that way no one can take credit for my success but me. (My wiser-self looks back now and says "ok, if you think so".)

Of course since I never thought I needed one I never sought one and things were quite the struggle for me. I couldn't see what I was doing wrong or right! I also thought that getting a mentor meant that it would be a failure of sorts but came to find out, it was the exact opposite.

Thankfully two of them found me through interesting circumstances and now I couldn't imagine going without them, knowing how much they can benefit my life and career. Not only do they act as a great support system and motivators, they are knowledgeable and are graciously passing on that knowledge so I can learn. What a gift!

Now to prove this mentor thing isn't just a load of crap, let's take a look at the evidence of all the "great ones" and their mentors.

50cent = Eminem
Tiger Woods = Earl Woods/Hank Haney
Britney Spears = Madonna
Wayne Gretzky = Walter Gretzky

... to name a few.

The bottom line is there are some things we just can't do on our own even though we would like to. Sometimes you have to swallow that pride so you can open up and learn what you need to learn in order to grow and be successful.

Mac vs. PC : More proof PC sucks

Last night I went to Best Buy to purchase "He's Just Not That Into You" coincidentally featuring the Mac guy :)

...ok I don't love Mac THAT much...

Walking around the store I took a peek at some other things and asked about the price for Leopard, thinking I would have to save for months to buy it so I better find out how much it's worth so I can start now.

Surprisingly, at $129 (compared to Windows' $259) I had to laugh at how affordable Apple makes it to upgrade. Needless to say, instead of walking out with a DVD, I ended up walking out with a brand new OS instead.

After I got home I spent an hour backing up all my important design files.

In the meanwhile, my boyfriend who has a PC on a desk right beside me had an unfortunate run-in with a virus that enabled all of his programs useless. He wasn't even able to burn a CD to backup his stuff before wiping it clean and his web browser was defaulting him to a suspicious location that looked like Google...but wasn't.

*Cue the scary music*

So he surrendered to the fact he had to do a clean sweep of his computer and start fresh. In the meanwhile I was ready to wipe my own hard disk clean for a fresh new OS. We pop our discs in and pretty much finished at the same time. The only difference was he had some more setting up to do.

Out comes the box full of discs, manuals, and help guides for the drivers he needed to get things properly setup. He currently had no sound, no driver for his modem, no internet connection, and his video card had some serious lag issues.

Over at the Mac, I'm installing Microsoft Office.

Back at the PC, discs are being strewn about since none of them really tell you...this disc is for your video card, this disc is for your sound, this disc connects you to the internet.

Over at the Mac, serenity and peace as the dinging sound of the installer tells me it's finished installing Microsoft Office.

Back at the PC, multiple restarts have commenced as each driver is installed.

Over at the Mac, backup files are being placed back on my hard drive while I surf the internet.

Back at the PC, the frustration continues...

In the time it took to backup, format my hard drive, install a fresh new OS, and getting 90% back up and running with all backup files saved back on my hard drive...the PC was still having drivers installed. Eek!

Hey Apple! This would be great story for your next commercial!

Desktop Wallpapers : June

This month Smashing Magazine has some pretty colourful desktop wallpapers for you.

My choice is the World Environment Day design. It reminds me of a dream I once had...