100th Post; Wish-to-Do List

Every night, as I lay in bed waiting to fall asleep, a million things speed through my mind. I think about what I’ve completed that day and what I have yet to accomplish the next. It never stops until I am asleep. When I wake up, I already feel behind.

This is a problem. Even though I take pride in being someone who is constantly generating ideas, I inevitably have more ideas than I can execute. Yes, a lot of those ideas are probably not that good and practically trivial, but ideas are ideas, and until they are executed, they all weigh relatively equally as valid solutions.

So, to ease the pressure off my brain just a little bit, and to celebrate the 100^th post of Flush, I would like to share 100 things I have brewing in my head. (I have a lot more, as I’m sure you do as well.) Some are very realistic and executable, while others are more ideal and fantastic.

Site

1. Get all areas of the experiments section opened and working.
2. Have a creative About section.
3. Redesign Flush to fit with transparency theme.
4. Have the entire site be mobile and screen-reader friendly (in other words, accessible).
5. Have the site completely done by sometime next year, before I realize I need a redesign.

   Career

6. Continue with learning ActionScript 3.0.
7. Learn MySQL.
8. Learn Processing, whatever benefit I may get from it.
9. Learn AfterEffects.
10. Learn podcasting.
11. Learn a printing press.
12. Learn to hand-assemble a book.
13. Learn to use a type design program.
14. Learn to write a form that will update an XML file.
15. Finish my print portfolio.
16. Create a multi-functional business card.
17. Design a body font family, including ligatures and special characters.
18. Attend AIGA Design Conference 2009 in Memphis, TN.
19. Be a part of the Olympic branding committee of a Summer Games.
20. Buy a copy of CS4 (unless I wait too long and CS5 comes out).
21. Meet well-known design figures with mutual respect.
22. Design a self-promotional holiday souvenir.
23. Be part of an “awesome” project.
24. Own a copy of Sagmeister’s “Things I Have Learned From My Life So Far”.
25. Volunteer with whatever AIGA SF needs volunteers for.
26. Start a career portfolio archive.

    Experiments

27. Design and screen print shirt graphics with geeky design-related topics.
28. Make a poster/series with writing with light.
29. Make an info-graphic poster of the bodies of the solar system.
30. Print an image on the same sheet multiple times.
31. Print an image on separate transparency sheets and align the images in the light, then photograph it.
32. Create a poster series of the sun’s actual visible electromagnetic spectrum.
33. Design a reusable calendar.
34. Do a time lapse series of one location at the same time each day for a long period of time (e.g. a year).
35. Invert night sky photographs.
36. Overlay a high-resolution photo onto a low resolution version of the same photo.
37. Align panoramic Photomerge photos but don’t blend the edges.
38. Put supposedly-panoramic Photomerge photos in a grid in relation to one another.
39. Create a new typeface by overlapping two typefaces, then take the overlapping areas or dissimilar areas.
40. Use enlarged small type on screen as regular type.
41. Use Flash/ActionScript to write a visualization of two bodies orbiting.
42. Create a motion graphic piece that will show a writing with light, but the light moves with time, so the writing cannot be seen at any one time, but collectively.

    Life

43. Continue with learning either/both French or/and Japanese.
44. Learn Morse code, just because.
45. Learn Braille, just because.
46. Learn American Sign Language, just because.
47. Learn more about astronomy.
48. Learn more about physics.
49. Learn to surf.
50. Learn to ski and/or snowboard.
51. Learn to ballroom dance, for whatever future occasion.
52. Start life blogging again.
53. Get my life completely GTD’d.
54. Pay off my student loans and start being in the black.
55. Get a green job.
56. Live in a studio apartment.
57. Have a road trip of some sort across the country.
58. Go to an amusement park one of these days. It’s been too long.
59. Go mini-golf with friends.
60. Go on a road trip with friends.
61. Go on a cruise with friends.
62. Go to a beach where the water and the weather is not cold.
63. Be part of the excitement in Washington D.C. on January 20, 2009.
64. Attend an American/Western wedding. (I’ve only been to Chinese style weddings).
65. Attend a baseball game.
66. Attend an indoor concert with die-hard fans who sing along to all the songs.
67. Play more Wii.
68. Become a space tourist.
69. Experience Zero G in one of those planes.
70. Fly first class.
71. Ride in a Rock-Star-Style Tour Bus.
72. Spend a week in a cabin with friends.
73. Get into a habit of exercising and eating right (for the most part) for the rest of my life.
74. Return to a routine of swimming.
75. Get shampoo/body wash that takes out the smell of chlorine.
76. Have a crazy adventure night like in the movies, but with no one dying.
77. Buy myself things for the holidays that I’ve been longing for all year but have been really conservative with money. Or when I get a full-time design job.
78. Go on a “vision quest,” whatever that is.
79. Re-watch the Matrix Trilogy.
80. Watch something in IMAX.
81. Re-watch Motorcycle Diaries.
82. Re-watch the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony.
83. Have a movie marathon of Planet Earth.
84. Be an awesome and cool uncle when my niece or nephew is born.
85. Help build houses for families who need and deserve it.
86. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or something similar during Thanksgiving and Christmas.
87. Convince my friends that it’s “should have” and not “should of”, among other things.
88. Build something useful with wood.

    World

89. Visit New York City and live there for a month.
90. Visit Japan and live there for a month.
91. Visit Beijing and the Olympic area.
92. Visit Vancouver during the Olympics in 2010.
93. Visit London during the Olympics in 2012.
94. Volunteer to do something in Africa.
95. Visit Australia.
96. Visit Machu Picchu.
97. Visit France and try to live there for a month.
98. Visit Italy.
99. Visit Dubai and sight-see all the cool architecture.

100. Learn to live, and live to learn.

Let’s see how many of these I can accomplish by the 200^th post. I know I won’t be able to do all of it, but it’s still good to try.

Flush.

What Have I Done? (Anniversary Review 2008)

Today marks the first anniversary of Flush. A year ago, I “soft opened” this blog, and believe it or not, I still haven’t “grand opened” it, although I’m not sure if I really need to anyway.

Flash Review

The past year has been a bumpy ride. I finished my last undergrad class, got sucked into the world of Sim City 3000 and Sims 2 as I prepped for my job search, started my beta site, got a job at Peet’s, went to see Sagmeister speak, skipped out on Alumni Day (I’m sorry!), worked on a freelance project for my aunt’s business, bought a new printer, watched the impressive production of the Beijing Olympics, resumed working on my portfolio and site, and rekindled my passion for web developing.

My attitude on design has changed, and that has helped me narrow down the types of careers that I would like to pursue. And every day, I’m getting closer to that job and that career. Working on my site almost every day excites me and motivates me because 1) I’ve grown to enjoy coding and designing, and 2) I can’t wait to share with the world what I’ve done.

Prediction for the Next Twelve Months

I don’t know.

Nobody does, and I’ve been wrong enough times about where I would be right now to not make any more general predictions. But I will always have hope, I will always have my expectations, and I will always believe in the future.

A year from now, I may or may not be a designer, and I may or may not enjoy coding still/anymore, and I may completely change my mind about this site and start a brand new one, or career. And that’s perfectly okay, as long as I am okay with it and it’s for the better. I may not reach my current desired destination, but that may or may not be as important as the journey to get there. I mean, I totally wish I were rich already and not have to work but become a philanthropist and help starving children in Africa or save the rain forest in South America, but it would probably mean more to me if I actually pay my dues, work my way up, meet interesting people, and learn about the issues to get there.

Flush.

Six Months of Flushing

Today is the six-month anniversary of Flush.

Six months ago, I “soft opened” this blog. And if you can look at it at a specific and narrow way, the blog still hasn’t officially “grand opened,” but I guess it doesn’t really matter. Still, I will let you know when everything’s all ready to go.

Flush.

About Flush

(Hide/Show omitted text.)

“Number One”/Quick Overview

Flush is a dumping ground for notes, thoughts, and ideas related to design. The point is to get everything worth consideration pondering about out of the head and down onto the literal and metaphorical paper. Put in perspective, these ideas can either marinate and brew to deliciousness or shrivel up and die ironically in the recycling bin. This way, the mind is always fresh and never stale, and creativity can stream out without hesitation. Ivan W. Lam writes this design blog as a way for him to think, explore, and learn about everything design without feeling like he has to constantly be correct and perfect about his design decisions. In other words, this blog prevents Ivan from going crazy ca-ca.

Origin of Concept

While it was not the spark that motivated the birth of this blog, The original idea of unloading the mind of static data was conceived arrived a year before the birth of Flush this blog, in Fall 2006. Ivan had probably heard or read something from some well-known designer’s lecture online, that ideas are not good staying in the head, because 1) ideas in the head only are useless without execution, and 2) they may be perceived as the “greatest” or “perfect” “the most awesome” solution, when in fact, they may be are darn right straight up crappy, usually realized when those ideas they materialize into actions the world of real people where that follows laws of practicality are followed. This concept quickly became the subtitle of Ivan’s previous design blog, IWIL Blog on Design: Get Those Crappy Ideas Out of Your Head (with “IWIL” being Ivan’s full name initials).

Fast forward to Summer of 2007, when Ivan had heard a SXSW 2007 podcast (more about this in a later entry) where a panelist mentioned the book Getting Things Done by David Allen. In a desperate need for life organization at the time, Ivan actually spent money on a book, a medium where their which the appearance extremely fascinated him while the content usually did not. However, this book was the opposite. A concept that Allen mentioned in the book was very similar to the advice Ivan had heard the previous fall. Allen further explained that the mind can only hold so many thoughts at once, and we’re bound to forget something sooner or later, leaving us that “Something's missing” feeling. So in an attempt to capture all worthwhile thoughts, Ivan has begun to implement the “GTD” method and applied it to this blog Flush.

The Motivation

Then, in early October 2007, Ivan had come across an entry on the design blog SpeakUp by Armin Vit (More about this entry in a later post). As this incident will be extrapolated in a later post, Ivan had become inspired by Armin’s story anecdote about his current place in his life and his career right before his announcement of starting a design service through his now-company UnderConsideration LLC. Seeing it as a sign, Ivan felt that he needed to carpe diem and do something to start his career, in hopes that he could at least be as accomplished as Armin someday. Besides completing the portfolio on which he was three months late on completing, he decides that he needs to get out there and be heard. What more appropriate way to express for personality and stability project demonstrate determination on an ongoing project than a blog?

A Little Warning

As mentioned above, Flush is basically stuff (both good and crappy) that comes out of Ivan’s head. So most of what he says on here are opinions. Do not eat them up as facts, because 1) they’re opinions, and 2) he doesn’t know everything and he may be wrong. In which case, corrections to any of the few factual statements, as well as all grammar, typos, and punctuation mistakes, put on here this blog are always encouraged.

Shortage of Fiber

While Ivan may not be swamped by a sh*tload endless amount of design work or have a family to support, he may take a while to crap pump out these posts. Even though he had already admitted it was already mentioned that this blog will have a lot of opinions, and crap, and opinionated crap, Ivan is still striving to put together well-composed, thoughtful entries that may be of use for the readers. And for a non-professional writer, that takes time. As you can probably tell, he’s not that good at writing, but he’s trying to improve that, by constantly practicing, because he also believes that designers still need to know how to writeverbally communicate well. And to make something good will require more editing than the typical writer. So please excuse him if he doesn’t get out posts as quickly as other design blogs. The best way to know when he has a new post is to subscribe to this blog.

Why “Flush”?

• Flush it down.
• Flush it out.
• Flush left.
• Flushed.
• Because it's sanitary.

Pick your favorite reason(s).

About Ivan

A newbie graphic designer (if you let him call himself that a graphic designer), Ivan W. Lam had studied graphic design at UC Davis in California. He is/will be a graduate of UCD and is considering a grad program in graphic design or design with a business curriculum in a few years. Currently in his early twenties, he has been an AIGA member, SF Chapter since June 2006 and currently lives in the Bay Area, and enjoys naps. His favorite design blogs at the moment (October 2007) are swissmiss and Balla Dóra Typo-Graphika, followed by the classics SpeakUp and Design Observer.

Last edited 31 October 2007.

Flush.