Had a great hike

I got up at around 3am and started hiking with the new moon last week. Went up the mountain in Spanish Fork Canyon above the windmills. The trail above the Cross was pretty good until I got up a long way and in the shadow I could not see very good anymore. So in brave stupidity I decided to bushwack strait up the mountain. Needless to say I learned how hard it is to go through dense brush that never really opened back up until I got really near the top. However tough it was, it became worth it as I saw the best sunrise I have ever seen as you can look a long way from that vantage point and it was awsome. Going down was absolutley crazy as there was no trail and I ended up in a snowy ravine. It reminded me of Romancing the Stone when they slide through the dense jungle mud, except in my case I was sliding down the steep snow filled ravine barely under control. It was really fun and reminded me of being a kid.

Got Laid Off Today

Not sure how to describe the feeling of loosing your job. I felt a bit of heartache like I lost a part of me. 10 years is a long time to work somewhere and then leave it behind. I'm pretty sure it's all for the best, yet its definatly a big change. I feel free, yet to do what I'm not sure. Should I chase my dreams or find the quickest way to another job? Friends are telling me "I'm sorry", which makes me feel I'm sorry. Most of all I think it must take some time to sink in, as it's too much all at once.

Helvetica Documentry Review

I've always wanted to know more about fonts but I never took the time to really figure anything out about them until tonight. My goal was to pick a show that was not super exciting so I could do some homework on my laptop, but instead I ended up turning the laptop off and watching the documentary intently. It's on the Netflix instant queue and the director is Gary Hustwit.

You can really modify a message by changing the font, which I'm very happy to learn. I already knew how great it was to use colors, but did not have any font knowledge in my tool set on how fonts can be used to add character and expression to words.

Here is the gist of what I learned:

• Helvetica is a classic swiss made type which the later Arial type has much in common with.
• Like music, its the space between the notes that makes the music great, space between the letters makes the type great. My recent experiments with music tell me that paying attention to the spaces/quiet is as valuable as filling it up with noise.
  
• Coming out in the 50's and 60's and used heavily by corporations it was the default for a long time and people are used to seeing it everywhere.
• The 70's and 80's had a lot of experimental types to counteract the Helvetica and I guess that was the balancing Yin/Yang effect to come to more of a balanced use of different types.
• You probably can't go wrong if you use Helvetica except it does come across as boring to people who pay attention to type choice.
• I really liked the guy who had some super boring article about a singer and since the content was not good, he chose a font that was undecipherable. It had not occurred to me that this also is a choice and I already want to play around with that notion.
  

I also found a nice explanation of Arial vs Helvetica
http://ilovetypography.com/2007/10/06/arial-versus-helvetica

I'm going to experiment with blogs using different fonts to get better at understanding how and when to use them (too bad I get so few choices in the editor here). I'd also like to make my own font someday just for fun.

ENFP - things to watch out for

This article was very interesting. As an ENFP I am surprised to find out so much about myself that I take for granted. I especially like the insights that help me understand better my weaknesses:

" At times, ENFPs find themselves interpreting events in terms of another's "hidden motive," giving special meaning to words or actions. This interpretation tends to be negative and, more often than not, inaccurately negative. In the process, an ENFP may find that he or she has introduced an unnecessary, toxic element into the relationship."

I think I have tried to give too much credit to "hidden motives and made mistakes that way.

Also I liked:
"They need also to discipline themselves against beginning too many projects and making commitments to too many people."

My lesson in making commitments last week was running a 6 hour marathon I was unprepared for to teach myself a lesson in not making commitments if at all possible. I hope that effort will pay off.

in reference to:

"They need also to
discipline themselves against beginning too many projects and
making commitments to too many people."
- ENFP - The Visionary (view on Google Sidewiki)

Watched an amazing video on Music last night

Music Instinct: Science and Song

Average rating: 3.836

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I did not understand it all for sure, it's going to take a few more times, but it was great I thought.
Nice to be able to see it on NetFlix - Instant watch whenever you want to. What a great program on my XBox!