Surprise me

These last 10 days have been full of surprises. It feels like happened. I've gone from excited to bored, stressed to relieved, well to sick and frustrated to inspired.

I came across a website talking about magic and mentioned a letter from the famous Teller from the dynamic due Penn and Teller. The main thing that really struck me was the simple phrase Surprise me. I suppose that applies to all the greatest things we come across, when we're surprised it's great, but when we're expecting to be surprised and surprised, that's gold. I was watching some Beastie Boys music videos and that brought back a tonne of memories. I was watching a bunch of videos of Mix Master Mike, and man, I was blown away. I mean, there's something about that guy's music that is not just entertaining but !

Speaking of entertaining, I came across a web page showcasing a bunch of movie poster rip-offs that China has been doing and I'll be honest, I was . It's like people aren't even trying to . Check this out: http://offbeatchina.com/?p=1501

As a designer myself, it really annoys me when I see something like this. I'll be honest, I've had my fair share of clients say "make my site just like this one"...but no matter how hard I try I just have to make it different, it's like there's a switch in me that just cannot be changed when it comes to copying someone else's creative work. Actually, I've come across some "teachers" who do nothing more than copy/paste content from somewhere else and teach it in class, I wonder if this develops the bad habit in their students. Sigh. Personally, I think that design is a process of being able to create something that is your own rather than something that is...something.

Another thing that happened was I attended the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund 25th Anniversary Dinner last night. It's one of the super duper rare occasions I was in a full suit :) There were a lot of cool people and I even got to meet Corinna Chamberlain there. Turns out we were both recipients of this scholarship! :P

All in all a great 10 days. But the next 10 days are going to be brutal. I literally know I'm overloaded with work....and I think I'm starting to get a hint of the flu....damn. Oh well, let's see what adventures await me! :)