Motivation, eh?

What motivates us? I was recently viewing random inspirational talks on Youtube, and I stumbled upon this little gem of a video. I don't know, I just feel like I had to share it. This is how all motivational talks should look like, with visual aids, I think it makes it easier to understand. At first, I was only focusing on the drawings (I still am a kid, low attention span and whatnot), but I decided to just listen to it. It does make sense, that different people have different motivations. My motivation, for example, is to get better at what I do. I don't look for prizes, although the occasional recognition is a prize on its own. I do, however, appreciate it when people compliment on my output. It makes me feel good about my work, I guess. I want to learn new things, to try more styles, to develop what little talent I have. Simple as that.

Wait, wasn't I just here?..

By now, maybe you've established that I'm quite an animation fanatic. So, yeah... Knock yourselves out with this cool video. Mind-blowing, and not only because of the science aspect of the video, but also because of how it was animated. I'm thinking about doing one of these in the future, I plan to learn how this was made. Rotoscope, I presume. (Ha, I'm talking like I'm an expert on these things.) Anyways, check it out peeps.

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

I recently read John Maxwell’s blog post about fear, and I was inspired.

Discover the foundation of fear

-Has anyone ever asked you “Bakit ka natatakot?” (Why are you afraid?), and you could only say, “Basta” (just because) or, “Nakakatakot e” (it’s scary) ? Well, it’s not really a good answer, it’s barely an answer at all. Who would be afraid of nothing? Some people could be afraid of nothingness, but that’s a different story altogether. People just can’t be afraid of nothing. Maybe you’re afraid of spiders, but you’re not afraid of the spider itself, but afraid of the feeling of it crawling on you. There might be very brave people out there, seemingly fearless, but everyone has a weak point. My point is, everyone has a fear, and to overcome it, you must first know where the fear comes from.

Admit your fears

-“Natatakot ako.” It’s pretty simple to say, easy actually, but some people won’t (or can’t admit this), and I actually feel sorry for people who don’t let their emotions out. If a person is trying to keep up an image of the “strong guy/girl who’s not afraid of anything,” I suggest that they give it up. As I said before, everybody gets scared sometimes, and it’s only natural. A person who can’t admit that they’re scared to themselves, then how on earth do they expect to defeat their fears? How can you battle something that you can’t even confess is within you?

Accept the frailty and brevity of life

-There are simply some things in life that we can’t stop from happening, but that doesn’t mean that we should just curl up in a corner and wait for the disasters to come roaring at us, it means that we have to find a way to avoid having to deal with these unstoppable events alone, or unprepared. Come on, people! Wake up!

Accept fear as the price of progress

-We’ve heard it before, “it’s a scary world out there.” Ask any adult, ask your parents, ask your older friends…. I doubt anybody can say that their life is easy, no matter how privileged they are. It’s a risk to live every day, and it’s hard sometimes, but after all the rain, out comes the sun, right? It’s progress, to learn new things every day.

Develop a burning desire that overcomes fear

-You ought to find something worth fighting for while you’re at it. If you have an ulterior, positive motivation to fight your fear, I bet you’re gonna overcome it that much sooner. If you ask me, finding a goal or an inspiration, makes working hard easier.

Focus on what you can control

-John Maxwell said:

I can control my attitude, but not others’ actions.

I can control my calendar, but not others’ circumstances.

And it’s not what happens to me, but what happens in me.

What he said is true. You can’t control everything, but then again, you don’t have to. Simply doing what you can is good enough. Being the best at what you do may not be what some people look for, but you don’t have to please everyone. Seriously, chill.

Focus on today

-You can’t go back to yesterday, neither can you fast forward to tomorrow. You can’t make everything work for you, it’s impossible, no matter how many connections you have out there. Don’t you think it’s scary thinking about the future? What? You’re not? Why, aren’t you brave.

Put some wins under your belt

-As I write about it now, I realize that the more pain you go through, the stronger you become. It’s as if all the fears you defeat melt together and become an invisible shield that makes you stronger. I don’t know, ha ha ha. If you face one thing, then the next challenge won’t seem as hard. Somehow, the more obstacles you pass, the better you get at overcoming them. It seems that “practice makes perfect” applies to fears.

Do it now

-The more you think about what you’re afraid of, the more stressed you become about it. If you try to actually overcome them, maybe you won’t keep on fretting about them. Nothing comes from simply worrying about things. Sure, you can just wait for your fears to go away, but I doubt that doing that will work. What you need to do is move, take action, make decisions.

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It took me time to make this blog post, and now, as I proofread it, it occurs to me that I am essentially making one point: to overcome your fears take a lot of effort, but these efforts make all the hard work worth it. Facing your fears is hard, scary, even impossible for some, but still, you have to conquer it. No cowering about. Just do it.

Game of the year.

COGS
Developed by Lazy 8 Studios.

Cogs is an award-winning puzzle game where players build an incredible variety of machines from sliding tiles. Immersed in a steampunk world with stunning visual design, Cogs is beautifully made. It has 50 levels and 3 gameplay modes. Pretty addicting, if you ask me. Developed by Lazy 8 Studios for PC, Apple's iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.

We've all agonized over the solution to a sliding tile puzzle at some point. There's always a couple of pieces that just don't want to co-operate, and then once you've got those in the right position, now others have moved out of place. Really frustrating for people like me who rarely have the kind of patience for this type of game.

All elements of play are in full 3D, although only on specific levels can the user rotate the playfield through a whole 360 degrees. With this kind of game the graphical style isn't exactly the most important element, so it's reassuring to see so much effort being put into looks.

Of course, with this kind of setup, the material is bound to be limited and later puzzles less varied, but Lazy 8 have managed to squeeze every idea possible out of the genre and then shadow any acts of repetition with clever objectives and outcomes. Not every puzzle features cogs, with some using pipes and the like.

Cogs is also rather difficult. As much as I love puzzle games like this one, I was actually frustrated by Cogs. I had to unlock stars by finishing the puzzle with the shortest time possible, with the least number of moves I could.

All in all, Cogs is a great game. I highly recommend it, and at a price of $9.99, I think it's a steal. Then again, if you aren't that sure about buying it, you could always try the demo version.

"Ooooh, What's that?" of the month

Crayola's Crayon Maker

The Crayola Crayon Maker is basically a melting pot for colors. You just put in bits of wax crayons and melt them to make new color combinations, then pour the mixture into a mold, and there you go, new crayons.

How can I explain to my mother that 15-year-olds need this in their lives?

youtube treasure of the.. er, week, I suppose.

Here it is, Sam and Niko (AKA Corridor Digital) unleash their latest VFX showreel, Graphic Violence.

"You ruined my painting, you jerk!"

mind-melting video series of the month.

ASDFMOVIE

"Welcome to Stupid"

Films by Tom "TomSka" Ridgewell and his ragtag bunch. You can visit their site here. (though right now the site is down for maintenance/addition of cool new widgets.)

The animated series came from the original asdfcomics, a bunch of funny, random, and sometimes senseless comic strips.


Here they are, wait 'til your mind is blown.


ASDFMOVIE 1



ass-duff-moo-vee 1


ASDFMOVIE2



ass-duff-moo-vee-too



ASDFMOVIE3



ass-duff-moo-vee-three

To infinity, and beyond.

I’m currently a third year student, but I’m already thinking about COLLEGE. Unlike other people who only think about what course they’re going to study when they’re filling up the application form, I’m already checking out colleges. I’ve been going online and viewing their websites, and this summer I plan to visit a few schools.

I want to study either BA Animation or BA Multimedia Arts at DLS-CSB School of Design and Arts. It’s my first choice. I only found out about this course a few weeks back, and I’m already pining to go here. Of course, I have no idea about how hard it will be to live in Manila; I’m not exactly a free bird, but I really want to try my hand at studying what I love to do. For once, I can draw non-stop in class and not get reprimanded. And because the school is in another city, I’ll have the chance to make new friends, and to try living more independently.

If I don't get accepted there, my second choice is BA Visual Communication or BA Fine Arts (Painting) at UP Diliman College of Fine Arts...... The Department of English and Comparative Literature at UP Diliman College of Arts and Letters is supposedly good, so maybe I could take up BA English Studies or BA Creative Writing if I don’t get into the College of Fine Arts. Then again, UP Diliman's College of Mass Communication seems alright. I could study BA Journalism or BA Broadcast Communication. Diliman is far from here, no doubt, and I’m kinda scared to go there. When I was younger, it was my dream to study Law at UP Diliman, but I’ve changed. I’ve found an interest, and my talents, and now I want to develop it.

If I still don't get accepted to any of these (which would really be depressing), I'll study BA Fine Arts or BA Communication at UP Baguio College of Arts and Communication. The good thing is that I can stay here in Baguio. I won’t be far from my family, I’m used to the city now, and I can still see my high school friends. Most of them will probably go to SLU, but who says we can’t be friends? Won’t see them very often, but at least we’ll still be in the same city right?

If all else fails, I will go to SLU. Either BS Information Technology at the School of Computing Sciences, or BS Civil Engineering at the School of Engineering and Architecture, though I doubt that I can put my heart into a course I don't really like that much. As much as I love SLU, I just can't find a college/course that I want to pursue. They say that you have to follow your dream, and I don't think I can achieve my dream at SLU. Then again, I will always behave like the Louisian I am, ever faithful to the four core values. I am a Louisian, and I always will be.