How to be a Successful Evil Overlord

It gets hard to read, but is priceless in content.

http://www.proft.org/tips/evil.html

The “Aha!” Moment

Only recently am I making connections between my personality and what I chose as my career. It seems strange because one would think that you should be obviously aware of yourself and know yourself enough to pick a career based on that knowledge.

In a sense, I know myself and the tendencies I have more than anyone. However, after attending more and more lectures by world-class designers, I am becoming increasingly convinced that my role as a designer is more of a problem-solver than simply a “maker of things”. I suppose this realization might seem obvious to others, but when I think about it, it fits. Where architects, engineers, mathematicians, and scientists solve problems of structure and all things technical, the designers of the world do the same thing to a certain extent, but with more of a business/marketing, psychological/sociological, and cultural perspective.

Think about it, designers communicate. Designers simplify. They have to have certain knowledge of their audience, clients, etc. in order to make an effective product. One story I heard at a recent lecture was about a woman whose grandmother almost killed herself by taking the wrong medication on accident. The grandmother couldn’t read the labels well and therefore used the wrong bottle. As a result, the woman saw an obvious problem with the way the labeling system was organized, designed a system of her own, and ended up selling the product to Target (see the images below). That is entrepreneurship in design.

I used to want to be a doctor or a physician’s assistant when I was in high school right up until I started college. I wanted to help people and that was the most tangible way at that point—at least in my mind. Then I moved on to marketing, always knowing that I wanted to use it as an aid to art. You see, art moves people emotionally, it evokes a response (whether a static one, a subtle one, an eccentric one, etc.), and it asks questions; it challenges the way things are—specifically design. It takes an understanding of people and their responses, their habits, their concerns and their culture to design well.

I am a problem-solver; I always have been. Not in the mathematical sense but in the social sense. It’s almost a responsibility that some might view as indirect, but I see it as a positive correlation. This is it. This is how I do big things—all to the glory of God. Granted, if He sends me to Wisconsin or St. Petersburg, I’ll go; it’s just a different venue of serving Him. Whatever it takes. Whether it’s a painting, a packaging project for a company, a corporate identity, non-profit work, etc. I want to help people in this way. Not all designers view design with this sort of responsibility; most think that they just pop out a poster and some business cards and that’s it. There’s so much more to it though—and that excites me; it challenges me to do better, to be the best I can, to think critically about my work and the work around me. By this dialogue among designers and everyone else, we can further and challenge design itself.

Today in Church

Church was amazing today. God was just…there. I mean, He always is, but today you could tell that everyone knew…and they were excited about it. They were excited about it from the first song. They were excited about it when the power suddenly went off and there weren’t any lights, video, or audio…yet we kept singing with ever-increasing volume:

Savior, He can move the mountains, our God is mighty to save, mighty to save. Forever, author of salvation, He rose and conquered the grave, Jesus conquered the grave. Shine a light and let the whole world see; we’re singing for the glory of the Risen King!

Phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal.

At the end, we all read Psalm 136 aloud. His steadfast love DOES endure forever. It doesn’t matter the small or big things that come about in our lives, God is the same; He loves his people. His desire is that we come to know him and make His name great among the earth. No matter who is elected on Tuesday, no matter if our lives don’t turn out like we planned, no matter if God blesses us immensely…it doesn’t matter compared to the fact that God is, quite simply, good.

If God uses leaders to harden their hearts against him (see Exodus 7:3), that’s his choice. Things are bound to get worse for Christians in the future; I say bring it on. Maybe that’s what it will take to bring out “the fight” in us; to finally become consumed with declaring the glory of the Lord. It could sound lame, but in church today, I never felt more prepared.

I used to think that when God told me he had huge plans for my life; it meant something tangible like an amazing career or whatever. Yeah. Now…whatever! My life is not my own; since I came to know Jesus, my life has been meant to make Him huge – only I wasn’t doing it to the best of my ability until now. It’s a humbling thing to think that your life is forfeit (and so it should be for what we all owe to Jesus and his grace).

Interesting Site

http://www.buzzdash.com/index.php?page=category&C_id=30

Peace.

I’m Going Beyond Happy

That’s right. No more madness! Things are going the way they should be and I’m so relieved! Whew. Hello again, MY life!

I’m Going Slightly Mad

You know yourself and your tendencies, but why do you have to freaking feel the need to have everything planned out? Why can’t you just chill like the rest of us and enjoy it? God is trying to bless you and you are about to ruin it because of your neurotic tendencies. I know you have a lot on your plate, I know you want to do what’s right, but you just need to keep on going. Just do what you have to do and get it done on time. Don’t initiate so much; that’s what crazy people do…but you are a bit crazy after all, eh? You want everyone and everything to just leave you the heck alone. Or do you? I don’t think you really do. I think it’s a conditioned response; a defense mechanism that is running on automatic. When you find something that might be good, you freak out because it shouldn’t be happening, it wasn’t planned, it’s uncomfortable; IT’S CHANGE. And God knows you hate change above everything else.

September 11, 2008

I think we have become immune to this date.  We have become disconnected to it over time – which seems to be a running theme among human beings over time.  Or maybe we just try to block out things that we want to forget.

Either way, September 11, 2001 was a day that affected millions of people, but now if you think about it, we only recognize it as a sad day in our history.  Have you ever stopped to think that every time this date has come around in the past seven years (wow), hundreds of people grieve over loved ones who were on one of the planes, in one of the buildings, or were attempting to get involved in the rescue process?

I watched a collective documentary from seven different people on the History Channel tonight and it made me sick.  I watched as people without hope flung themselves like rag dolls off of buildings a hundred stories tall.  I watched as a second plane flew straight into the second tower.  It was complete chaos; a complete nightmare.  I watched as people on the streets cursed the terrorists responsible, “We should go over there and kill those mother (insert word here)!” It was amazing to see the reaction of people so shocked and confused and horrified; basic human survival instincts kicked in.

Anyway, if you think about it, maybe it’d be good just to say a little prayer for those families who lost someone on this day, seven years ago.

I’m Just Happy

That’s all!

Why So Serious?

Why so serious?

Franzzzzz

I found a Franz Ferdinand album in my car this morning and listened to it on the way to school.

 

This was quite possibly the worst mistake I have made all week.