38 Days

Kudos to Eleni, for putting together another awesome movie. It's a timelapsed video of our last photoshoot (with crazy antics in between). Do watch it!


Come see all these crazy designers at the show.

Seeing how this related to photography, I'll mention that I've landed my first wedding photography gig for later this month. I've ordered a studio lighting kit from Henry's which is now ready for pick-up.


On the same topic, I was contacted by Awakening.org and a volunteer for the group, Aashiq-al-Rasul. They saw my RIS photos on my Flickr stream and photoblog and asked to use the photos on their websites. Awakening wants to put them on nazeelazami.com and hamzarobertson.com.

Mark your calendars

York/Sheridan Design Gradshow



April 15-19, 2007
at The Fermenting Cellar
(in the Distillery District)
55 Mill Street, Building 58, Suite 200
Toronto

Come see what the heck we've been doing for the past four years.

where'd the time go?

Less than 2 months to go until school is over!

Oh yeah...

I never got around to talking about the RGD's student seat on the Board of Directors.

A few weeks ago, we were asked to apply. I really wanted to get this position, since it would mean more involvement with the RGD. It also meant working with Owners, Creative Directors and Designers from some of the best design firms in Toronto.

Sadly, I wasn't selected... but luckily I was appointed to the advisory committee. It still lets me achieve what I wanted, so I'm happy.

This week will be the first meeting.

One down, another one to go.
...exams I mean. I still have 2 projects to churn out by next week.

Maybe it's the fact that I've been up since 3am, but today's Islamic Art & Architecture exam was brutal. There were two parts: slide identification and essay question. I'm almost certain I didn't get more than 50% of the slides right. The essay seemed to go a bit smoother.

I've pretty much gone through school being taught that names and dates aren't important as much as the actual content. Even in most of my other University classes, the profs used the same teaching method. You can understand, then, how annoying it is to have to memorize a name, date, location, and patron/dynasty the piece was found in. Now try doing that for 44 different buildings spanning 5 centuries. Add to that mix another 40-50 art objects.

What I'm looking forward to is not having this class for a month. What I'm not looking forward to is catching up on readings for my Thursday exam for Muslim Diasporas and the West. Thankfully, the prof is a nice lady and promised us that if we write more than a paragraph for each answer, she'll take marks off.

If you really want to say something, you can say it in a few sentences.

Just another week... then I'll be free for a month... no exams.

Two weeks ago, I promised myself it wouldn't come down to this...
cramming for an exam the night before I have to write it.

Hurray for bell curves!

(On closer review, turns out I actually did pass on my own... averaging all the results myself, I didn't fail)
Scratch that (again). On a second closer review, the grades were adjusted. I compared the grades posted online to the ones I had written down before the final exam, and they adjusted them.

Who'd have thunk I'd be so happy to see a nice, big fat D on my report card?
I KNEW I had failed the course (because I already failed 45% of the class, going into an exam worth 30%, most of the questions of which I had no clue what the answer was).

D (50-54.99%) = 2 (York's point system value)
Barely Passing: Minimum knowledge of concepts and/or techniques needed to satisfy the requirements of an assignment (or course).

Seems too many people failed for it to be acceptable, so they had to curve up the grades.

And I was beginning to formulate in my mind, a letter to the department begging them to give me the credits even though I didn't pass because it would force me to add another year to my studies. I was going to explain how the course was described as being and introductory course for non-majors but instead turned out to be a nightmare. What benefit would it serve a Design major (or other non-majors) like myself to know the name of the disease that would develop if the X chromosome duplicated while in the pre-embryonic stage? Or to know the exact sequence of chemical events that take place inorder for a muscle to contract (including the release of ATP, and other chemicals). What am I supposed to gain out of knowing that nerve impulses travel through a synaptic cleft before reaching the post-synaptic knob only AFTER the iron channels have been opened up? Or... (you get the point).

My GPA hasn't suffered all too much either, Alhumdullilah. The required minimum is 5.0 in both Overall and Major GPA and my GPA is above that. Besides, the grade for my Internship course from last year is still deferred since the instructor hasn't submitted the grades yet. The wait is for all the student reviews to come back from the Design Studios, and I know I did great in the course and during the internship. (InshaAllah). Once that grade comes in, my GPA should be boosted a bit higher.

Now I can complete my program in four and not five years, can keep my schedule for this year the way I have it already, can participate in the design show at the end of this year, AND can graduate with the rest of my friends.

So, as it stands, my transcript reads:
SU06 SC NATS 1610 6.00 The Living Body D

Credits Taken: 6.00
Credits Passed: 6.00
Credits Failed: 0.00

Alhumdullilah. I couldn't be happier.

It's that time of year again

Time to empty out your bank account, pockets, and even the change under the sofa seats.
Got my first "little" pinch of back-to-school after I paid for my parking permit today. (my OSAP loan alone barely covers the cost of parking for 4 months).
In a few days, I'll feel a bigger pinch when (my parents) shell out several grand for tuition. Stupid thing is that unlike other programs, where you might pay on a course-by-course basis, my program wants the money in one lump sum.

Another bummer is that this might not be my fourth and final year as was originally planned. I may have to end up taking a supplementary year to finish my program. All this is thanks to the stupid biology course I took this summer which I'm pretty sure I failed. That means I'll have to take another course to make up for it in the fall/winter term... which pushes my courseload above the maximum 36 credits... which in turn means I'll have to take that fifth year. Excellent. (On the bright side, the fifth year does mean I can take a few more praciticum courses I really wanted to take this year but couldn't because of the credit limit).

Oh, and apologies once again for no update in however long.
It's not that there was nothing to write about... it's just that I got lazy.

pleasantly surprised

Remember this conversation?

Me: Taufiq, here's my story: I have my essay here. I'm ready to hand it in and accept whatever mark you give me. BUT, I'm not happy with it. I've only done two pages and it's not great but if you want me to hand it in, I will. If you give me some extra time, I'd really appreciate it though.
Taufiq: How much time do you need?
Me: uh... Friday?
Taufiq: Sure, just email it to me. Don't forget.

So, we got our essays returned to us today after the Islamic Civilization exam. It went pretty ok... I totally bombed the first half of the exam, but think I did really good on the second, essay section. I chose the question about Islamic mysticism, since I did my essay on it a short while ago... and it was basically the same thing.

Back to the essay: We received it back today and I was expecting a very low mark for the following reasons:
1) I didn't have the required number of pages. We were supposed to have 6 to 8 and I think I had 4.5
2) I was already late, since I didn't hand it in during class (see above) and on top of that, I was late even more, since I still didn't finish on Friday and instead emailed it in on Sunday.
3) By Saturday night, I still hadn't finished reading the book. I only finished it Sunday evening and quickly wrote my essay while it was still fresh in my mind.
4) Despite being fresh in my mind, I still had very little to talk about, since I didn't know exactly what to write about.
5) The last essay I did for this class, I thought I did really well. When the marks came, I only received a B (75%) (...if I remember correctly)

So you can imagine my surprise when I turned the pages and saw a

BIG
FAT
A

Turns out I received a B+, but taking "my good performance during the course" into consideration, the T.A. bumped it up to an A. Like I said, I have the best luck with T.As. Oh yeah.

If you're interested in the somewhat-sense-making stuff I wrote about, click [+] Expand. There are a bunch of endnotes, so if you see a number in bold at the end of a word, it's not a typo, it's an endnote.

Historians have had a difficult time analyzing ibn Tufayl’s story Hayy ibn Yaqzan. Some have argued that it is essentially a mystical tale while others hold that its main argument is the need to abide by revealed scripture. What, in your view, is the proper relationship between this story and the Islamic Sharia?

Hayy ibn Yaqzan is a very interesting story about the intellectual and spiritual journey of a man reaching enlightenment despite living in isolation for much of his life. It is also a story that sparks discussion and conflicts between two sides; one arguing that it is a mystical story while the other condemns it as innovative and contradictory to Islamic beliefs. Upon reading the story, it seems to me that it is written as a comparison of life bound by materialism and one that is free because of mysticism. There are also a few other ideas that are covered, such as the notion of Man’s basic instinct, or nature, to recognize a Higher Power, as well as the ability of Man to develop a firm intellect even though he has nothing to assist him but his own senses.

It should first be borne in mind that this is a fictional work by Ibn Tufayl, written as a method of commenting about the society that he saw around himself. The argument about whether this story contradicts or conforms to the Sharia is irrelevant, as that is not required of an imaginary tale.

However, despite the fictional nature of the events, some are still hard to comprehend such as the method of Hayy’s arrival on the island 1 . Another difficult concept to grasp is the apparent ease with which Hayy explained the world around him. In addition, his recognition of the Necessarily Existent Being also seems to be heavily based on ideas revealed through various Scriptures. Perhaps it is a result of confusing the narrator with the narration, but the results of Hayy’s deductions bear more resemblance to that of a person who has received formal education. However, I may be wrong and the Hadith of the Prophet may explain Hayy’s intelligence:

“Every child is born with a true faith of Islam (to worship none but God Alone) but his parents convert him to Judaism, Christianity or Magainism, as an animal delivers a perfect baby animal. Do you find it mutilated?” 2

Therefore, it may be that Hayy is an example of this child, born with a true faith. Living in isolation has kept him free from various other thoughts and allowed him to grow with recognition of God.

Still troublesome, however, is the idea that simple reasoning—as seen in the case of Hayy—is enough for a person to reach the highest state of enlightenment. I feel this is an incorrect approach and one that is somewhat contradictory to the Sharia. Although we are able to provide an explanation for many things, at some point reasoning reaches it’s limit and we are strained to say that we believe something simply because we have faith in it. Contradictory to al-Kindi’s belief 3, Revelation is necessary for without it, certain types of knowledge would be unknown.

Those who reject our revelations are deaf, dumb, and in total darkness.
God leaves whoever He will to stray, and sets whoever He will on a straight path. 4

Assuming Hayy was an actual person and his story a true one, then the question is raised about why he did not accept and live with the new society after having encountered it. Surely, he agreed with the religion that the people followed and even bore witness to the truthfulness of the messenger of God 5. Was his rejection of the people’s method of following the religion and his subsequent withdrawal from their society a form of apostasy? This is an important part of the story and probably the one that causes the most conflict. The comparison of Hayy to the society is similar to that of a Sufi and the regular mass of Muslims. The former prefer to reach God through isolation, meditation and perfect obedience to the Will of God. The latter, as a whole, follow a more relaxed form of Islam and in most cases, do not even adhere to it properly. Hayy felt that he was capable of bringing the Truth to these people and that they would accept and follow it. What he found instead was that people were hesitant to adopt his teachings, although they still showed respect to him. To say that he became an apostate by retracting back to his place of origin is incorrect. He still agreed with the same concepts with regards to God, but the manner he adopted to gain nearness to him was different. Besides, while it is strongly suggested that the religion of the mass was Islam, it is not stated explicitly and Islam’s definition of an apostate may differ greatly from another faith.

What may have appalled Hayy is that more emphasis was placed on the Law—that is to say, people cared more about following the “dos and don’ts” rather than strengthening their spiritual connection with God and finding Him the way that he had found Him. The result is that the sole benefit most people could derive from religion was for this world, in that it helped them lead decent lives without others encroaching on what belonged to them. 6


It is unfair, however, to expect the general mass of people to attain the same spiritual level as Hayy. While they should all aspire to the same goal, each person is different in their approach of getting there. The “Law” that the people adhere to is necessary for a society, because without it the society cannot function. Because of the very nature of society (interaction between people, need for punishment and reward) it is necessary for a written Law to be followed.

In the case of Absal and Salaman, the former prefers following the Law that favors isolation and the latter prefers that part which favors societal living. In the same way, Islam also consists of these two parts-—an individual’s personal relationship with God, as well as his relationship with God through the service of His creation (i.e. the society). Both are necessary in attaining the pleasure of God. Therefore, Hayy’s practices and those of the society’s can—and must—exist together and one cannot extremely outweigh the other. The written Law is meaningless if it does not help an individual attain nearness to God. Likewise, exceeding in spiritual exercises is also detrimental if it transgresses the limits set out by God. As al-Ghazali said, the two concepts are intertwined from the beginning and we cannot understand one without the other. 7


Hayy ibn Yaqzan is a difficult story to deal with, as certain parts are in contradiction with Sharia, while other parts are not. It is understandable why it receives criticism, since notions of becoming “one with God” 8 and every creation having a part of God in them border on disbelief. Clearly, the Islamic concept of worshipping God is outlined through the Prophet’s example of prayer, fasting, meditation and so on. Therefore, when Hayy chooses to return to his previous way of life and thereby also his previous methods of prayer and meditation, it does conflict with the method that the Sharia has outlined. It was interesting, however, to observe the parallel between Hayy’s spinning and circulations and those of modern Sufis and their Whirling Dervishes. Also, Hayy’s meditations in the cave bear resemblance to those the Prophet undertook prior to his prophethood.

Another point of conflict with the Sharia is also when Hayy undertakes meditation in his cave. At that point, he begins to neglect his body and deprive it of nourishment to the point where it becomes “wasted away”. The Sharia’s view on this is explained through the Hadith of the Prophet:

“[…] Fast (for some days) and give up fasting (for some days); pray and sleep, for your eyes have a right on you, and your body and your family have a right on you. […]” 9

There is no easy answer as to whether or not the story of Hayy ibn Yaqzan is contradictory or consistent with Islamic beliefs; parts of the story agree while other parts disagree. The entire purpose of Sharia Law is to assist an individual on their path to becoming a better individual with their personal relationship with God and through their interaction with society. Through these codified Laws, a person can then hope to achieve nearness to God. In the case of Hayy ibn Yaqzan, it appears that he prefers finding God on his own.
____________________________
1 Hayy ibn Yaqzan, p13-14
2 Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 23, Number 441
3 Prof. Abdullah, Lecture: Philosophy & Science, March 28th
4 The Quran, 6:39
5 Hayy ibn Yaqzan, p68
6 Hayy ibn Yaqzan, p71
7 Prof. Abdullah, Lecture: Sufism, March 21st
8 Hayy ibn Yaqzan, p57
9 Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 31, Number 198

Standard Arabic - an elementary-intermediate course

March 30th: school was winding down and we just finished our oral exam for Arabic. So, after lunch a bunch of us decided to hang out outside at the Commons (weather was awesome). I don't know how, but I spotted a guy walking by who was wearing a red and black striped shirt. Ivy, being completely random (as usual) called out to him and got him to pose with our textbook:

done... and DONE.

(well, not counting my exam next Friday, and the fact that I start summer school May 1st)
...but still... being done my Design courses feels really good.

So apparently, I wasn't kidding when I said at the end of this post that I'd only start looking at the project outline on Tuesday night.

After a busy day Tuesday, I remembered that the YSDN Gradshow was going on and that I still hadn't gone to seen it. It was the second last day of the show, and "Industry Night" too... so a lot of Design professionals were there. It was one heck of a show... completely amazing student work and the overall organization was awesome. I got a chance to speak to a few people in two design firms about the possibility of an internship... so now I need to follow up on that.

So I left downtown at about 9pm and was quickly reminded about why I hate driving downtown. I made one wrong turn and didn't know where I was. Luckily, I had some sense of direction to get back on the Gardiner.

And then I was home. The project was due today at 1:30... so I had 12 or so hours to get it from my head (where it still was at the time) to the screen, and finally to a finished prototype. I must say, I was quite surprised at how calm I was all night. I even had enough time leftover before class to waste by lounging around at home AND get to class (Sheridan in Oakville) before the Prof showed up.

I was going to stay for Design Internship and watch some of the remaining presentations... but we finished Packaging at 3, and Internship wasn't until 6. Running on little food and no sleep, I opted to head home and get some rest.

So, without further ado, I present my last YSDN project for 05-06:
(a redesign of two Compliments brand packages)




Originals here:


P.S. This might sound stupid, but from my experiences, getting 3 hours of sleep after an all-nighter is much more blissful than getting 8 hours of sleep on a regular day.

peace at last... (for a little while)

(note1: this post took me much longer than I thought it would... a whole hour)
(note2: it's a long read. but there are some visuals so scroll down)

First off, thanks to all the people who commented on my last post.
I felt like I was recovering from surgery...
"Get well soon, Umar"
but yeah, thanks for the support :)



Arabic course = done.
Info Des 2 = done.
Design Internship = done.
Islamic Civilizations = almost done.
Package Design = far from done.


This week has been by far the busiest week ever. I've had my Info Design 2 project which was worth 45%, my Arabic exam which was worth 15% (I think), and I just finished my Design Internship presentation tonight (another... 10-15%?).

First, the design project kept me awake all night. Then on Tuesday I had an exam and essay due, so that kept me up all night on Monday. By Tuesday, I had gone for about three days on only 2 and a half hours of sleep. (I got a half hour in on Monday after class, when I crashed on the couch and got late for work, and another two hours on Tuesday when I gave up studying and called it a night).
Says my MSN nickname: You know something's wrong when getting atleast two hours of sleep is a GOOD thing

Info 2 is taught by the prof I so greatly complimented below. Once again, I'd like to reiterate how amazingly good he is. By 12:30 on Monday, (when class starts), I still wasn't 100% done my project. I had to rush to Staples to print it out, bind it, mount it, and then drive to school to hand it in. (by the way, one of the great benefits of working at Staples is I could go in, sit on a computer, print my stuff out and everything, while a line of 20 people waited outside) So, I thought it wouldn't take me too long to do all that. Then it was 3:00pm. Class ends at 4:30. Since it was the last class, I had assumed everyone came in, handed their stuff in and left early... so I wasn't sure if the Prof would still be there when I arrived. He was; along with a handful of other students. I knew I was probably the last person to submit my stuff (I found out the next day that I was actually the second person... no one else showed up to class, and those who did weren't done.) So yeah, Albert being the awesome professor he is, absolutely loved my project. Even gave me a pat on the back for an "excellent job".... (despite having some minor problems which he said he wouldn't penalize me for). So I think I can expect to receive a pretty good grade for that class.

For those of you who are interested, my project was to redesign York University's signage and wayfinding system. The following is a few examples of the solutions I came up with. (There's many other components to this project, but this is the interesting stuff...)

Main entry sign at entrance of campus

Building Identification sign

Directory pylon sign

Map Directory sign

Post sign

Room Identification sign

So yeah, I got home from school and put a slice of pizza in the oven to warm up. Went to the family room and thought I'd lay down while it warms up. I wake up 30 minutes later, with the pizza burnt and me being late for work. At work, this customer comes in and her order isn't done. She gets so ticked off, demands 10% off and that I drop it off to the hotel she's at. Get home at 10:30, and everyone's watching Indian Idol.

Mom: Now that you're done, go to sleep.
Me: Sleep? I have to stay up again to study and finish an essay.
At this point, my dad says he'll drive me to school because they don't want me driving without any sleep. It's a good offer, because I don't know how I made it home on Monday. It was a complete blur; one moment I was at York, an hour later I was at home. I vaguely recall me being on the highway, and one point where a truck honked at me because the light had turned green.

So now it's Tuesday night, I've had half an hour of sleep so far and I'm just sitting down to start my essay. I have no clue what to do, since I haven't read the book yet. (It arrived only a few days ago in the mail... damn Amazon.ca) I do the best I can with whatever summaries I've read about the story, but that still only gets me 2 pages out of the required 6-8. By this time, I'm so out of it, that I start typing random stuff that has nothing to do with anything about my essay. (example, without exaggeration: "A person cannot be expected to follow Shari`ah if they have not even come into photography") I say, screw it, write a conclusion and move onto studying for Arabic. At 4am, I give up and hit the sack. I leave a note for my mom to wake me up at 6.

So now my dad's driving me to school and I think it's great because it gives me a chance to do look at the Arabic book once more. This is the first time since I can remember that my dad has dropped me off anywhere. I've almost always drove myself.

The Arabic exam goes pretty ok. I seem to have an easier time with the oral part than the written part. We have these skits at the end that a few of the people did for extra marks. I think it's hilarious listening to white people speak arabic.

10:30. Falafel Hut. The last meeting we'll be having there until September. I wait until Popeyes opens next door. These people I've come to know through Arabic class are probably the first people I've gotten so close to in such a short amount of time. They're simply awesome. Ify gives us all presents. (Thanks!)

Now it's 12:30 and time for Islamic Civ. I can hardly keep my head up and my eyes open during the lecture, even though he's talking about Islamic art & architecture... things I find really interesting. What makes it worse is that I'm in the second-row-from-the-front and I'm sure he's seen me nodding off a few times.
Time to hand in the essays. I go speak with my T.A:

Me: Taufiq, here's my story: I have my essay here. I'm ready to hand it in and accept whatever mark you give me. BUT, I'm not happy with it. I've only done two pages and it's not great but if you want me to hand it in, I will. If you give me some extra time, I'd really appreciate it though.
Taufiq: How much time do you need?
Me: uh... Friday?
Taufiq: Sure, just email it to me. Don't forget.

Awesome. I have the best luck with T.As, Profs and assignments. It's not a good thing though, because it only reinforces the idea I have that no matter how much I screw up or slack off, it'll all work out in the end.

I take the subway home. It gave me a chance to catch some Zs. Too much Zs though. I missed the subway interchange and had to catch the other subway back and then get the interchange. It was good though... those 30mins of sleep got me pretty refreshed.

blah blah blah, skip ahead to Wednesday morning. I'm supposed to be in Packaging Design class for our final critique before class ends and we hand in our project (which I still haven't touched... but hey, it'll all work out in the end). I say screw it and decide to sleep in. So I wake up at 3pm and start getting ready for Design Internship. We had a presentation to do, otherwise I probably wouldn't have driven to Oakville for just that class. The presentation goes pretty ok. The prof was sitting one row infront of me, so I saw the mark she gave our group. (Seemed like an 80ish% average). Fine with me.

Now it's Wednesday night. I'm pretty much done all my York classes (except for the essay I gotta hand in on Friday and one exam on the 21st) What I really have to worry about is Packaging which is due next week. But for now, I must relax. There's plenty of time. I'll start reading the project guidelines Tuesday night...

To my readers:

sorry for my absence.
busy with exams/essays/final projects.

now i'm preparing for my second all-nighter in a row, with an exam tomorrow morning and an essay due at noon.

on the brighter side of things, all my hard work from the past 48 hours paid off... my prof loved my project.

...but more details on that later.
time to hit the books.

Hats off to Albert Ng

Aside from being one of the founding members of the RGD, he's also my Information Design 2 prof.
This guy is by far one of the best professors I've had in the three years so far of the Design Program. Every week he has the same caring, friendly attitude towards the class which drives us even more to explore the material, get involved in class and just have fun. He's changed the way I see design as a profession and myself as a designer.

For the past three classes in a row (ie. three weeks in a row) I didn't go to my Info Des 2 class. The first time, I just sorta missed it for no reason. Then I fell a little behind and so I didn't go to the next class and so on. So when I finally went to class today, I was naturally expecting a serious lecture from him, "Umar, there's only two weeks of class left, you've missed three classes, and the final project is due next week. I don't know how you're going to pass the course."

But what happens instead? (note: not actual conversation, but close enough)
Albert: So, how are you?
Me: Uh, ok, I guess. I'm really sorry, I just missed the first class, and then I didn't come for the next one either or the one after that.
Albert: (pats me on the shoulder) Don't worry about it. I just want to make sure everything's ok with your project and you're on track.
Me: oh, yeah, I'm getting there. (running on 24+ hrs without sleep b/c I was up all night getting up to speed with the project)
Albert: Ok, no problem. Just let me know if you have any questions.

Wow. I was dreading going back to class, but he made me feel like I didn't even miss a single class. And it's not like he's one of the "I don't give a cr@p" professors either... he genuinely cares about the progress of his students. There's only one other guy I'd compare him to in terms of caring about Design education... and that's David Scadding. But Scadding is on the extremely intimidating side of the scale, while Albert almost tries to be a father-like figure (design-wise).

(ok, now I must get off blogger and start on that assignment due next week)

update: btw, he's working on a new publication/book about Design Accreditation and apparently is going to quote me in it.

Strike!

Ontario college teachers are now on strike.
Being in a joint university/college program, I'll still be going to my classes at York, but my Wednesdays just opened up.

“Ontario college students are frustrated and furious... that their post-secondary education is being disrupted by a provincewide faculty strike,” Matt Jackson, president of the College Student Alliance, said in a news release. (Toronto Star)

Judging by the nicknames on my MSN list though, everyone's pretty happy.
I know I am... I was supposed to have a group presentation next week, but that obviously won't be happening.

Arabic exam tomorrow...

...and I have to listen to this (amongst others) online audio lesson:

AD-DARS UL-AWWAL: AL-MUDARRIS MIN LUBNAAN

1st man: Hal anta `arabiyy?
2nd man: na`am.
1st man: Min ayy balad?
2nd man: Min Lubnaan.
1st man: Hal anta rajul `amaal?
2nd man: Laa. Ana mudarris. Wa anta?
1st man: Ana talib.
2nd man: Hal anta min Misr?
1st man: Laa. Ana min Suriyya.

(I just spent 15 minutes writing and formatting this post. I need to get back to the lessons.)

The "Glass Wall"

Well, that's what I call it anyways.
It's when you have this idea or concept that you envision so perfectly in your head, but are never able to bring it to fruition. It's like looking at the solution right infront of you, but being unable to reach it. (thus the term, "glass wall")
For example, you're given a class project and right away you know exactly what kind of end result you want to achieve. You can have all the details.. the color, the typeface, the imagery involved, layout, etc etc (I am a design student, therefore the design example, but you get the idea) but you can never get the actual result to look like that.
You can achieve this "Glass Wall" state because of your own laziness, lack of resources, skill, or motivation/inspiration.
It's kinda like those video games where the character goes to the limit of the playing field and no matter how far out you can see, you can't go any further.
make sense?

Then there's these two other states which I've come to discover from personal experience. (with the several all-nighters and double-all-nighters I've pulled)
One is when you're working so tirelessly and concentrating so hard that you break a barrier of "tiredness"... meaning even if you've been up since 8am the previous day, and it's now 6am... and you've gone without (proper) food or rest for almost 22 hours (or more, as has been sometimes the case with me) you can still keep going and going... basically running an car on an empty tank but with no signs of stopping.
Ofcourse, as in the case of school, when you do find yourself in such the above situation, it is usually followed by being totally knocked out. You've just spent 30 hours awake, trying to finish that 15-page essay, you get to class an hour late (b/c you were still not done) and after class, when you get home, you go to sleep. For the next two days.

The other state I've found myself in sometimes is the opposite...
You're trying your hardest to concentrate and get your work done, but you get an uncontrollable desire to sleep. I've ended up falling asleep (with my head tilted back and snoring) on the chair infront of my computer while I'm working on a 30% project which is due the next morning.

Surprisingly though (and somewhat sad), is that I find I produce some of my best work under the last to situations. Remember this? I think I received an A on it, and I had only begun to render it on computer at 2am the night before it was due.





In other news, I really need to clean out my hard drive. I started backing up my computer to an external HD almost 24 hours ago, and it's still only 75% done.
:S

In other, other news, Monday nights have become Idol-night. (no we're not involved in pagan rituals). Two hours of American Idol (audition rounds), followed by an hour of Indian Idol (which is in it's final stages). I never really cared for this whole series until I began watching the Indian version (almost by accident).

ratemyprofessor

Haha... so this is what people have to say about the instructors in our Design program...some positive, some negative:

(in no particular order whatsoever)
Val Fullard
Richard Hunt
Doug Whitton
Doug Whitton (again)
Aviva Furman
Jan Hadlaw
Wojtek Janczak
Gary Leroux
Ronni Rosenberg
David Scadding


..and... some non-Design profs I've had:
Thabit Abdullah
Ghada Jayyusi-Lehn
Leslie Korrick


Find your own school here. (Canada only)

Futurist Manifesto

This is an old project, from my Typography 3 class last year.
I've turned the pages into a PDF format, and you can download & view it by clicking on the link below.

(Bear in mind, the PDF version is nothing compared to looking at the physical book. Pictures of the physical book can be seen by clicking the thumbnail in the "Artwork Galore..." post.)

The Founding & Manifesto of Futurism (1.4 MB)

Artwork galore...

I was bored, and had some time on my hands, so I thought I'd put up a bunch of things I did. (Although, you can see it all here too).

The Futurist Manifesto.

Expressive Word.

Fictional new product line for MAC Cosmetics.

Logo for Namtex. I did their website as well.

Logo for Yusra International Inc.

Logo for Sabirz, a clothing importer.

Logo for Maximum Vision... they sell glasses.