cyberSurrealism, animation, career shiftage, Maceo and our family life, The Twilight Zone and comedy ... all of these things impacted my year in 2009

founding the new school of cyberSurrealism
it took a year of working with the amazing faculty at The Dynamic Media Institute for me to finally give myself permission to really, finally pursue something near and dear to me ... hours and hours of drawing and analyzing mindmaps ... research and writing and discussion with colleagues in the program ... a bit of performance, poetry and serious thought finally led me to presenting the idea of cyberSurrealism ... or at least the journey that led me to this concept ... and maybe even an entirely new movement in art, technology and life

Carol graduated Animation Mentor
a very momentous year as my beautiful wife worked diligently to pitch her idea for a movie short and pour so many hours of dedication to bringing her concept to life ... 'Imperfections' is still in the works, but Carol graduated from Animation Mentor and will soon fly out to San Francisco to celebrate her amazing success and completion of the program with her cousins ... I'm so proud of her and I think that we definitely helped each other out in our own ways through our studies, research and work for both academic programs ...

huge career moves
back in July of 2009 i was part of a layoff at Monster as they transitioned a lot of their UX Design and Development energies from Maynard to Cambridge ... a huge weight lifted off my shoulders, and while my original plan was to go full out as an independent design consultant in the user experience designSpace ... i was fortunate to land a full-time design role at Dimdim in a little under a month from my departure date from my previous employ ... some interesting bumps in the road along the journey in between ( i thankfully avoided some serious legal threats in a very interesting and unique way, using my core personality and sense of playfulness as well as a healthy burst of self-restraint ... and i'm also dealing with a horrible previous client using concepts from my thesis work, eventually using both of these seemingly negative experiences as case studies in my work ) and some challenging new transitional adjustments really add to the depth of my storyBase as a designer and public speaker on a myriad of professional topics

during my unemployed month between Monster and Dimdim i had the amazing opportunity to concentrate on reconnection and networking ... one particular conversation proved to be invaluable and helped me shape my personal brand in an entirely new way ... i think i still have a ways to go ( we can always improve and optimize our self-concept, the way we talk about what we do ), but i am proud to say that my design work now focuses on collaboration, innovation and fun ... i am going to use these 3 words to drive my career and shape a brand new life

Maceo and the piano
our son Maceo is 6 years old and this year he started taking interest in playing the piano ... we've been to 2 recitals already and he seems very natural being in front of a small crowd and performing ... Carol and i are also very blessed to have him enrolled at an area Montessori school that truly implements a user-centered design methodology to learning ... we're absolutely delighted with the community there and can't believe how much he's progressed since last year ... he's really blossomed and come out of his shell and always talking up a storm or drawing ... too cute

The Rod Serling Conference
this year was the 50th anniversary of the first Twilight Zone episode's broadcast and i was lucky enough to bump across the info just in time to sign up and drive out to Ithaca, New York to attend The Rod Serling Conference ... all the talks brought amazing academic and social insight to the oeuvre of Serling's life work ... his cathartic pursuit of writing as a means to express his unrest from his wartime military experience ... pieces of his personal life as presented by his surviving wife and daughters ... a trip to Binghamton, the town that Serling grew up in and a setting that came to symbolize a certain metaphorical place of innocence ... and a spirited, ecclectic keynote talk from George Clayton Johnson ( writer of many episodes of The Twilight Zone, such an amazing mind and voice ... very important and inspiring to hear his words and discourse )

overall the rather solitary trip out to this beautiful upperState NY region in midOctober, the conference and the talks i had with the owner of the bed and breakfast i stayed at really had an impact on my thoughtStream for 2009 and beyond

Comedy Soapbox Workshop
the serious business behind laughter ... behind 'the funny' ... that was the topic of a workshop i attended in NYC this fall ... it was great to meet up with Mike Fritz and hang out in The Big Apple, but i have to say, Steve Hofstetter's lesson in the profession of comedy really impressed me ... i casually perform here and there in comedic performances, sometimes music presentations that have comedic undernotes or performance art pieces cleverly disguised as comedy ( that sometimes totally bomb ) and to come out to Comedy Soapbox and hear what Steve had to say ... basically some of the same advice i think any business professional might get ... hardhitting 'tough love' concepts that you might not think about as a casual peripheral comic ... very valuable sessions throughout that fateful Sunday afternoon