Here’s the first one.

What is the first creative moment you remember?

I had a ridiculously vivid imagination when I was 7. Grade 2, right? Yeah, there was a section in the classroom with paints and large paper. I drew me a ship. With wings. It had full sails and everything. Always wanted to be an engineer. So much for that though.

Was anyone there to witness or appreciate it?

My teacher. Most kids drew flowers or scenery with trees and the sun. She raised an eyebrow when she came to mine.

What is the best idea you’ve ever had?

Probably my WoW blog. I never thought it’d become that popular or that’d I meet the people I’ve met over the years (at the convention and otherwise).

What made it a great idea?

It’s opened up a lot of door and opportunities.

What’s the dumbest idea?

Investing in new projects and overextending myself.

What made it stupid?

Because I will never learn that there just isn’t enough of me to go around and that I continually stretch myself too thin.

Can you connect the dots that led you this idea?

The blog came as a result of a need for an outlet. Lots of cool WoW writers out there but there was a niche that wasn’t being satisfied. There was a gap out there and that it had to be filled. (That’s what she said).

What is your creative ambition?

To write stuff that people will find beneficial and worthwhile to them. Bonus points if it’s appealing.

What are the obstacles to this ambition?

It’s not an easy profession to break into. It’s too late for me now to pursue a degree in a related field. It’s not widely accepted as a real job either (even among friends), and it won’t be unless I can somehow make it work. Freelancing is tough especially the way things are right now. Income is dependent on what comes out the other end of your pen.

What are the vital steps to achieving this ambition?

I honestly don’t know. Catch the attention of someone who is well connected, I suppose. Definitely continue working on my craft. Develop a sustained and consistent writing schedule. I’m way all over the place. I seem to be at my best in the ours past 9 PM until 1 AM. I also appear to be on form during the mornings.

How do you begin your day?

Rolling around in bed for about 10 minutes before finally getting up and making myself coffee. I used to rely on caffeine pills but, certain people vehemently insisted that I stop. Fire up the computer, check my EMail, and then pop open up my word processor of choice.

What are your habits? What patterns do you repeat?

Coffee or some other warm beverage. There’s a tendency to read a lot. Anything I can get my hands on, I’ll spend at least an hour reading per day.

Describe your first successful creative act.

One of my earliest posts on what made certain people good in the game at what they do. They each had distinct traits about them that were shared with other people doing the same thing.

Describe your second successful creative act.

I started delving into guild leadership stuff. How to organize players in an online video game and why the stick and carrot weren’t as useful in this arena.

Compare them

I think what made them both successful to me was the positive feedback I received on both. To me there were two messages: People were actually reading my stuff and people liked reading my stuff.

What are your attitudes toward: Money, power, praise, rivals, work, play?

Money: Need it. Wish I had more of it.
Power: Must be used intelligently and wisely.
Praise: Only when it’s earned. False praise does nothing.
Rivals: You run faster knowing there’s someone chasing after you. I study what my “competition” (other blogs) do. When they do one thing, I do something else. I take care to never follow in the footsteps of my rivals. Instead, I make my own footprints so others can follow me.
Work: Mentally stimulating. Sometimes it takes me a while to get in gear. Procrastinate too much.
Play: Don’t seem to have as much time for that nowadays.

Who do you admire most?

Brian Clark. Seth Godin. Garr Reynolds. Darren Rowse.

Why are they your role models?

Because they’re brilliant people who know their stuff and they have their own writing style which benefits their audience.

What do you and your role models have in common?

I’d say we’re all geeks who like to write.

Does anyone in your life regularly inspire you?

Nope. In my life, not that many people give a crap really.

Who is your muse?

I have none.

Define muse.

I think it means someone who helps generate ideas or inspiration. I don’t know anyone like that. Most of my ideas come from a wide variety of sources.

When confronted with superior intelligence or talent, how do you respond?

An acknowledgment of their ability followed by the innate desired to match or exceed their talents. I’m fairly competitive when it comes to stuff like this. It’s all in good fun though. It helps me get better at what I do when I notice someone superior.

When faced with stupidity, hostility, intransigence, laziness or indifferent in others, how do you respond?

Stupidity: Inwardly, I want to slap them behind their head. I end up trying to correct them if it’s something simple but I move on if I can sense there’s no hope.
Hostility: I don’t even bother working with them and just move on.
Intransigence (Refusing to moderate a position, especially an extreme position; uncompromising): Sometimes I’ll give in just so we can go forward. If I feel strongly enough about it, I’ll abandon it altogether and go my own way instead.
Laziness: Either try to motivate them out of it or find someone else who can do the job with the necessary enthusiasm.
Indifference: Generally a good sign if they’re okay with anything. It’s like they have no opinion and you retain executive control of everything no matter what you say. After a while it gets dull because you want to know what position they take and why. It gets boring if there’s no thought behind it.

When faced with impending success or the threat of failure, how do you respond?

Success: Sigh of relief. That something I’ve worked on for a while gets accepted. Means I can move on to the next thing.
Failure: Generally, I shut down for a bit and reflect on why something went sour so that I don’t do it again next time. Depending on the severity, I can shut down for a long time.

When you work, do you love the process or the result?

Oh god, I love the process. The writing process is great, but the editing and polishing process does it for me the most. How can I spice up my writing more? How can I convey my message more effectively? Just going through that and experiencing the *click* That’s IT! moment is what does it for me.

At what moments do you feel your reach exceeds your grasp?

Always in the beginning of something. Sometimes I don’t think I’ll ever meet the end goal but I know I have to try and see what I can do with a certain topic. I usually end up getting lucky.

What is your ideal creative activity?

Brainstorming ideas. I’ll change my environments frequently to try and spark an idea.

What is your greatest fear?

Sucking. I am terrified of failing. It’s curious though. When it comes to my creative work, I’m scared about pushing something through that’s not going to be received well, but I’ll do it anyway just to see what happens. I take a lot of risks by writing about stuff that’s never been written about or writing things in ways that have never been done before. But, try as I might, I cannot translate that hardened “I don’t give a crap” writing approach to life. I can’t remember the last time I asked someone out :\.

What is the likelihood of either of the answers to the previous two questions happening?

The first one happens pretty often. I’d say it’s a weekly routine. The second one’s rarer but it does happen.

Which of your answers would you most likely to change?

The second one. I wish I weren’t so afraid of failing. I think it’s held me back more often than I can count.

What is your idea of mastery?

Being able to do something without thinking. Mastery can be attained after working on skills for such a long time that they’re just ingrained in your system. You don’t even have to consciously think about something. You can just react. Being a master feels like there is nothing you can’t do, yet you continue to learn new things and add them your arsenal. At the same time, I think it holds you back. Ever wonder why ninjas don’t have a favourite weapon? It’s so that don’t become dependent on them.

What is your greatest dream?

To get a position somewhere where I can get paid well for what I write about (and quit school!) and where what I write about has a positive impact for some reader out there.

Random Posts

I was originally in the Crim program. But I made a mistake. I took two distance education courses that I had no business taking. The courses themselves were fine. It’s the fact that they were distance that screwed me over because I know now that I simply do not have that level of discipline that others do.

As a result of this, my GPA tanked and I had to forfeit my major declaration. I’ve taken all of my electives. I’ve taken all lower division CRIM requirements (and all of the non-required ones like Youth and Law, Introduction to Policing, etc). But my GPA is still too low and I won’t be able to get into the upper division ones that I need.

To make a headache worse, my course registration was fairly early. Again, all the courses I want have several GPA pre-requisites involved. They don’t factor in the grades from this semester until well after exams are over. Because of this, chances are I won’t be able to get a seat in the courses since they’ll already be full.

This means I have to take a few meaningless courses for fun or for interest. Naturally, there is the threat that it could drop my GPA. I don’t have much choice in that matter. I suppose I could take some time off and try and find a job somewhere. Don’t think that would fly very well here either.

You see, I’ve also reached the point where my cash reserves are dry. I’ll need to apply for a student loan to continue financing for school. The problem with that is that one of the criteria be that I remain a full time student.

During the summer, one of the distance education courses I took required me to head down to BC’s supreme court and make several court observations. After being there for several hours, I observed that this might not be the field I wanted to get involved in. I witnessed defense lawyers using every trick in the book to prevent gangsters and rapists. I watched innocent people get caught by prosecutors. Sure it pays well, but I started to wonder if this is an occupation where I’d be able to go to sleep at night. And I slowly came to the realization that no, this isn’t what I wanted.

Summary

I have to take courses I don’t need, to qualify for money I don’t have, to pay for a discipline that I don’t know if I’m even interested in anymore.

What do I do?

I’m a little depressed about it (not medically or anything). Right now, it just feels like my life sucks. It’d be reassuring to hear someone say “don’t worry, everything’s going to turn out okay”. But House would say “you don’t know that. Things might not turn okay. They might get worse.” And he’d be right.

When I kill large scale Dragons in WoW or oversized yeti’s and armies of Dwarves, if my team failed that night, we’d talk it over and identify what went wrong. Who wasn’t doing their job? Who was caught out of position? What were we doing wrong? We’d identify problems and come up with solutions. If it didn’t work, it was back to the drawing board. And we’d keep going until the Dragon was nothing more than a carcass at our feet with his treasures in our possession.

I don’t know what to do. I don’t have any answers. I don’t have any solutions. If there’s one thing that drives me up the wall, it’s being placed in a situation where I’m not sure if I can directly influence an outcome.

If not Crim, then what?

If there’s one hobby I really enjoyed, it’s always been writing. It’s awesome to get paid to write about video games. It just doesn’t feel like work at all. I wish I had gone into communications or journalism instead. In order to get in, the GPA requirement is 2.75. I’m barely floating above 2.1. That course of action is then ruled out.

In an effort to help myself, I’ve turned to caffeine to help boost my energy and awakeness. The past few weeks I’ve been extremely tired and sleepy. Sometimes, I wouldn’t have any coffee at home. Or I’d be late getting to school and wouldn’t be able to get coffee.

Caffeine pills

So I resorted to caffeine pills again. They don’t have the calories that coffee does and it has a caffeine that’s equivalent to 1 cup of coffee. Of course, some of my friends happen to take objection. I don’t get it. It’s not like I’m abusing it by taking more than the recommended amount. It was just one pill when I woke up, and one pill later on in the evening. I needed the energy to sustain the level of reading and studying I was doing. I had a paper due last Tuesday and of all the academic papers I’ve written in the past, this was one where I was most proud of. I have an exam coming up on Monday. I studied with my group for 4 hours on Wednesday and an additional 5 hours today. I’ve never felt more prepared.

In any case, I’ve decided to stop using them for now at her request. I cave in too easily to friends at times.

If I don’t do well in this next exam, I don’t know what I’m going to do. The prof made a deal with us where if the class average increased by at least 2%, she’d award us an additional 2% on top of that. That’s almost a full letter grade of an increase when combined.

Time to go back to studying.

Oh wait. I won’t be able to stay awake anymore.

Random Posts

It’s a fairly well known fact that most guys are opposed to shopping. No guy wants to go shuffling from store to store with a woman who isn’t sure of herself. You can call it “window shopping” or whatever. But in my mind, I’m busy plotting the 435th way to kill that virtual dragon and looting the chest of gold it’s guarding (which, by the way, is caving in the entire dungeon).

Now let’s get something straight. Geek guys shop too. There isn’t really a time where I stop shopping. Whether I’m playing Warcraft, doing some homework or reading, I might stumble across a product I want.

When that happens, I resort to looking online. Books are a great example. I’ll read a blog post about a movie or a book and I just might decide to pick it up. The first step is knowing what you want. The second step is to fire up Google and look for the cheapest places to pick it up. The third step is isolating what the closest and convenient destinations are.

Once all that information is in place, it’s cost-benefit analysis time. Every geek has this mentality ingrained in their system. For example, the cost of buying a game isn’t 50 bucks. It’s the 30 minutes it takes to go to the mall, lineup, deal with annoying mothers asking about whether or not Grand Theft Auto is appropriate for their kids, and then shelling out the 50 bucks.

All for the sole benefit of completely kicking the crap out of other players on the internet. The benefit is absolutely worth the cost. It is even more so when your greatest rival is bragging about his e-prowess and you just have to shut him the only way you know how: Beating him at his own game.

But that’s another topic entirely.

Here is the ideal shopping scenario for guys.

Yesterday afternoon, I went shopping with a friend. She’s got shopping down to a science. We went to a shoe store and she simply went up to an assistant, asked for a pair of boots of a certain size, and paid for it right there. Turns out she tried them out before twice and had her mind firmly made up.

Later on, we found out that one of the retail prescription glasses stores were having a renovation sale with everything nearly 50% off. We decided to go take a look. The sunglasses she was thinking about getting were a pair of Ray-Bans. At first she wanted to know if they had them in stock.

But here’s the kicker.

She knew the exact item number of the sunglasses in question.

Right away, the guy picked out the exact glasses from the display counter and presented her with the only pair remaining. Didn’t have to stand there trying on pair after pair after pair while looking for the perfect set.

And yes, she looked awesome in said Ray-Bans.

By the way, here’s pro tip: If you’ve unconsciously memorized the catalogue number of an item, chances are, you really want it.

Anyway, if you’re having a hard time getting a guy to go shopping with you, keep the following in mind:

• Out of supplies. There’s no more Mountain Dew/Red Bull/Coke/Pepsi/Pizza Pops/Beer. Any guy will go out on a resupply run and stock up accordingly. Playing games like Starcraft and Command and Conquer have taught us to never run too low on resources in case you need them. While he’s stocking up on gaming essentials, you can disappear quickly enough to get your items of interest.
• Need an escort. What’s that? Going into hostile territory with aggressive shopping moms and you need protection? He’ll be there. Every guy loves to feel important. Tell him you need a body guard in case you get attacked by zombies or giant, mutated bugs. By the time you’re ready to go, he’ll have a map of the whole mall. Probably knows where all the crowbars are, too.
• Be organized. Know what you want, know how to get there, know the ideal times to go. The single most important thing is to not waste time. Zero in on your purchase and get it. If you have to try on clothes to make sure it fits, by all means do so. Just keep in mind that you’re on the internal timer.
• Buy him a treat. You can sweeten the deal if you pick him up a copy of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown for his DS. Of course, coffee or iced tea will work. Bonus points: Copy of this months Wired magazine.

Personally, I don’t mind going out. It does get me away from the computer once in a while. And even I can certainly appreciate that.

Random Posts

Anyway, I’m chillin’ there with my friends and we’re watching the game that’s going on. I wolf down a massive burger along with 20 chicken wings (I have a weakness for wings and they’re cajun to boot).

Couple of hours later, the game ends and Vancouver loses in a shoot out. The pub manager grabs his microphone and starts heading out in front of everyone and signals that its time for the draw. He grabs the box, hands it to some patron and tells him to stick his hand in there and pull a name out.

“Matty Low! Come onnn dowwwwn!”

Realizing that it’s me, I stand up and start heading towards him amidst the numerous amounts of boos (they’re all jealous!)

I pick a random key off the table. I hurry and pull the other names out of the box and 2 other pub patrons join me. I go ahead and open the first locker but the manager tells me to wait.

He wants to make me a deal. He reminds everyone that one of these three lockers has a pair of Canucks tickets to an upcoming game.

“I will give you two free beers in exchange for whatever’s in that locker.” *pulls out 2 plastic cups*

“Nah.”

“Okay, well how about three free beers? For you and your friends over there!” *pulls out another plastic cup*

“No thanks, the locker for me!”

“Hold on, hold on! I’ll add 10 free wings. I know you love wings. You must’ve devoured like 80 tonight!” *pulls out a small basket*

I laughed and shook my head again.

“How about a box of Kraft Dinner? Can’t argue with macaroni!”

I raised my eyebrow and said no.

“THREE boxes of KD! Three times the cheesiness!” *pulls out 2 more KD boxes*

“No man, I’m goin’ for that locker!”

“What about some Vodka? Do you like Vodka? And a Kindersurprise egg!” *whips out one of those small, dinkey tourist sized bottles of Polar Ice along with an egg*

“No dice.”

“Okay, go ahead and check out that locker.”

I look inside and sigh. I extend my arm out and grab…

…a box of Kraft dinner and a plastic cup for a free beer!

I am a winnar!

Random Posts

Here we have a jello cup from Taiwan. It is plum flavored. Still perfectly sealed.

No flaws, no cracks, no nothing. But there is a problem.

In order to eat jello out of a cup, you need a spoon. But what if you don’t have a spoon handy? You could be out in the mall and you have a craving for jello. Are you going to buy a spoon? No. No you’re not. It’d be a waste. And plastic spoons come in bulk.

Ah, but what’s this? Unlike the Matrix, there is a spoon. It’s attached directly to the lid. The designers of this product must have thought the very same thing. They included a spoon as a part of the lid knowing that there would be occasions where there is no spoon around. An example of brilliant product design!

And now our hero can enjoy his cup of Plum Jello without having to worry about finding an eating utensil.

The end.

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It Was Not To Be

Sometimes, all it takes is one class to completely derail your future. Ever since I took that fated distance education course on Java and programming, I knew that this was not an avenue that I wanted to pursue. It gave me a glimpse on what future University courses were like that involved programming. And they all involved math. Matt is not a mathematics man.

It was too late for me to change my SFU application faculties. When I signed up early, it was under the computing science or science faculties. Naturally, I was rejected from SFU. Talk about stupid mistakes. No one told me I could apply to SFU general as a fail safe. My parents didn’t know much. The friends I had were in the same boat as I was and had no clue either. Off I went to Kwantlen in my first year.

The first week I was there, I swallowed my pride and spoke to a counselor. Half my friends will tell you I’m stubborn. The other half are too nice and will say that I’m firm.

Mistake 1

I had to decide on a specific set of subjects. Specifically, I had to think about what I wanted to do as a career. What the hell, I thought. I decided I’d take a shot at business. All my friends were doing it and I did not want to get left behind either. I tried an accounting course and an economics course to get my feet wet.

At the end of the semester, I did an average job on the grades. More importantly I wasn’t happy. That’s when it hit me like Chris Pronger on Kesler after a goal. It dawned on me that I was going about school all wrong. My parents wanted me to go into business. My friends also encouraged me to go into business. Everyone saw a lot of opportunities in it for me. Yet I didn’t really care about functions, aggregates, supply, demand or any of that stuff. If you don’t care about what it is that you’re studying, you will never do well in life. Thankfully, it only took me a semester before I realized what I was doing wrong. I was taking business courses for all the wrong reasons. I was doing things that other people wanted me to do and that didn’t fly at all. It’s my life, I only have one shot at it, and I’m going to do things my way.

Redemption

In the spring semester, a dear friend of mine recommended me to try a Criminology course with him. On a side note, I encourage all of you to try this. The next time a friend asks you to try something, don’t ask why.

Ask why not?

I took courses: a History class and that Criminology class. I had not yet decided what I really wanted to do and I didn’t want to spend unnecessary amounts of money. Right away, there were some subtle changes that happened:

• I actually read the textbook
• Looked up crime stories on the web
• Actively participated in discussion
• Putting in a ton of effort
• Did not skip any classes
• More importantly, I was interested in what I was learning about

There are people I know right now who are in school being miserable because they hate what they’re doing. They’re learning what they don’t care about because it’s what others want them to do, not what they themselves want to do. I don’t believe in that. I’m not talking about breadth requirement courses. I have to take STATS and I hate it, but it’s a requirement. I’m talking about people going into majors and minors into subjects that they’re better off not being in. It’s a waste of money on courses. More importantly, it’s a waste of time.

The Bottom Line

If I could finalize everything in this post to one line, it’s to choose your own path in life. I don’t believe in fate or predetermined futures. To that end, don’t let others dictate or tell you what to do. If you want to be an engineer, go build bridges. If you want to be in the military, go blow them up. If you want to make money, be a stock broker or a businessman. You’re not 5 years old anymore. You’re old enough to make decisions and it’s time you did.

Me? I want to practice law (or enforce it).

How do you know your purpose in life?

Simple answer: You don’t! It’s a gut feeling that can happen like a premonition or it could take time to cultivate. You don’t have to follow in the footsteps of your parents or your friends. I tried my hand at business and had no business being in it. Don’t expect to keep up with high school friends in University. It’s impossible. I’m lucky if I even see them once a month. Your life is yours to live and it may as well be satisfying.

Random Posts

Throughout life, there will be doors that open in front and doors that close behind. Sometimes you step through them without realizing it. Other times you may look and miss it. Recognizing opportunity is an important life skill regardless of what trade you’re in.

The Story

Let me tell you a story that happened today.

I was heading home on the way from school. After showing the bus driver my fare, I promptly sat down near the back of the bus. To my surprise, a classmate of mine was also on that same bus. She is in my CRIM 104 tutorial and I couldn’t remember her name. We exchanged pleasantries but I decided to get up and sit next to her so we could talk comfortably.We started talking a bit more and I discovered that she was in her first year at SFU. No, she wasn’t majoring in Criminology but was considering minoring in it. Yes, she started on her term paper but encountered some difficulty with it because she has never written a paper like this before (further affirming my believe in this blog and what I’m trying to do). She said kind words about the presentation I gave two months ago and even remembered the questions that I asked the class for discussionary purposes.

At this point, transit cops showed up. Today was the first time I’ve ever seen them board a bus and checking fares. I usually see them on the sky train. My friend started to panic. She misplaced her U-Pass and it was still being mailed to her. She thought her student ID would be enough to hold up, and I assume the bus driver let her through. But I know the transit police would not be as kind. Turns out all she had to do was purchase a fare ticket. But she didn’t have any change! I checked my wallet, and all I had was 75 cents. Not enough to cover the rising costs of Translink. Curse me for not bringing enough change! At this point, I was already several stops past my bus stop and she decided to step off and call for a ride home rather than deal with the hassles of Translink.

But she didn’t have her phone with her!

Being the tech savvy geek I am, I offered her the use of my phone which she gladly accepted. Success! Parents on the way! We talked a bit more about school before we parted ways.

I took ten steps before I realized that I lost out on a key opportunity here. I missed out on a chance to partner up with a study buddy. I missed out on a chance to get to know someone. I missed out on a chance to offer direction in school where it can often be a scary place for first years. I missed out on a chance to explore a new friendship or a relationship even, but I know I’m not ready for that yet.

Sigh

So now you see. Here I had a classmate from school. I don’t have any idea what her name is and I completely missed a potential opportunity. With this week being the last day of classes and tutorials, it is very likely that I will never see her again. I failed to recognize this opportunity and capitalize on it.

But it’s not over yet…

You see, when she made the call on my phone, she didn’t wipe her number from my dialed calls list…

Remember, as one door closes another opens up. It’s up to you to walk through it.

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