From a no good, wasted talent designer who will amount to nothing in life, TO a working, motivated, passionate designer who is loving every minute of my life. Why?

Everyone has a turning point in their careers. Now that I’ve got the proper attitude, the right motivation, the positive demeanor, I can’t look back and be lazy. I’m so enthusiastic to help others and help SO MUCH that I’m starting a show devoted to just that. The pieces are in place, the resources are there, and I’m dedicated to creating content for YOU! The user. There is no better feeling than teaching someone how to create something that is both visually stunning, and marketed towards their target market. Well… After eating cake, there is nothing better. Cake is #1.

I feel really motivated as of late from finding some amazing videos from Carsonified that are helping me use what valuable internet resources there are to create a solid, motivating, and emotionally engaging series of shows that will both teach, and interact with you, the user, on a level very few achieve in the web video business. No “Pirillo” videos that can be crapped out in minutes with no attention to the people who watch. I’m talking COMPLETE social interaction in and outside of the video series.

If you are a designer, and would like to help contribute ideas to the upcoming show, PLEASE leave a comment, and I’ll get to you ASAP!

Excited? I know I am. Here’s one video that I love in particular. *strong language*

Utah is absolutely FREEZING right now. From freezing rain, to overcasts all day, I’m pretty much screwed when it comes to transportation. Reason? The car has a broken clutch which I cannot fix till probably next week. Yes, life sucks, but hey! What can you do.

Apart from my life of lament and solitude, (yes, I’m being ironic) I’ve officially said bye to Summer. I stood by it’s side as it gasped it’s last breath while Fall held a pillow over its face. And now that Fall is here, we are trying to get along. Fall keeps putting my hair where it wants it, doesn’t agree with me wanting to ride my scooter, and doesn’t keep me warm at night. I mean, sure Fall is a pretty face, with all its beautiful reds and oranges, but at one extent is it worth keeping Fall around?

I’m still scootering though. There’s one last ride before I retire The Albatross back to her fortress of Justice. Once she is laid to rest for the Fall/Winter, I’ll finally have time to work on those side projects. I wish there was more going on in my life, but I guess at this time, I’m quite predictable. I guess during the Fall and Winter season, I just kinda hibernate socially! Strange, I know. But, I can tell you that the start of January will probably be the best month I foresee coming. To all my East Coast buddies, I’ll be there with my scooter soon enough. To all my West coast friends, party on garth. I’ll be there to hang and party! Here’s to next years adventures!

Alright. So I feel like I can talk about this now that it’s mostly behind me, but I still have trouble even typing this. But, I feel that it could help others in my situation that I was in. I received my first paycheck last week, but I wasn’t able to spend a dime of it on anything. Why? Because of all the months where I didn’t work. I had to pay off all the overdrafts and late bills. If you couldn’t tell yet, this is about how poor I was.

What can I say? I’m being honest with myself. I’m a little bit egotistical when it comes to financial situations. To confirm that I am/was, I would rather make an appearance to a party and buy drinks for everyone and spend money going to lunch with friends rather than use that money to get home with the 6 ounces of gas I had left in my scooter. And as tough as it was to live, I still was irresponsible, and spent my money very unwisely. Let’s go back a few steps though.

I worked at a company in Springville that was quite fantastic morally. I came and went as I pleased, my workload was moderate, but eventually, I became bored. Burned out. Tired of dealing with a company that was going in too many directions and a boss that was never clear with where he was going. It left me frustrated and tired. I was eventually put down as “A contractor”. An easy way of getting me out of not having unemployment.

So I suffered. I was just done with working, and trying to make it in “the real world”. Even though I had Candice (My girlfriend) to keeps hopes up and that… REALLY well paying job, I still lost all motivation to be successful. But my aspect on life and the “working mans world” changed when I was on my scooter. I was broken down on the side of the road and on the edge of tears. I was so distraught about being broke that I realized, “Damnit, I gotta do something that makes me motivated to love what I do.”

I love doing graphic design. It makes me feel quite awesome. The fact that I have a job trait doing something that is 1st nature to me and allows others to see and adore my work, makes me feel blessed. So I started to redesign my website and look for jobs. I came across some companies offering ridiculously high paying jobs in the graphic design field in Utah, and I thought at first, “No… There’s no way I can get a job like that.” But then I immediately changed my aspect on my own self image. I figured, “Alright. I have a kick ass website, a strong portfolio, and an OK background on programming. Why not?” I then realized that I, Sean Blake, am awesome. I went in for an interview with the confidence I haven’t had in years. I got a call back after a “design test” and they hired me. I got off the phone after the good news and just cried with joy.

I finally realized what made me function in this life of “the working man” Pure, innocent, and awesome motivation to do something I love. And I’m going to do everything I can to keep that motivation alive as long as I can. And with a cool company that I’m working with right now? I don’t see that motivation fading away anytime soon. I would love to talk about it more, but I don’t wanna make this blog post longer than it already is. What I can say is that I’ve finally realized my place in this world of careers. Find yours. It will always be the fuel to your happy and successful life.

I feel sad! I’ve had so many awesome adventures this summer that it’s really hard to tear myself away from it. I’ve been all over the west coast this year. And each time, it was my scooter that took me there. I really feel a special bond on “The Albatross” (my scooter) and with two more events coming up on the list of scooter rides this year, I’m cherishing what’s left of this scooter year.

But with scooter season almost over, I am now making the time to start on my own personal projects such as a mini show I want to do for beginning designers out there. I also want to start a small site to get honest reviews for games. From the casual gamer, to the most hardcore of hardcore. I know, you are thinking, “not another review site. There’s Digg, Kotaku, Giant Bomb, 1up, Coop, etc. etc.” But, I will be making my own nich for a target market: The people who ask “Is it worth buying?” It will be awesome. you’ll see.

So as I figured, not alot of people are visiting my blog as much as they used to, so I think its safe to say, that I’m off the radar from the web 2.0 scene. Sad, but I’m still quite ok with that. Why? Everyone either burns out of fades away. In this case, I guess I faded away. And I don’t think that’s awesome at all. So, I do want to make something of myself in the web world. Not as the best designer in the world. But the awesomest. The difference? I don’t wear stupid berets and drink lattes in a half an ounce cup. I mean, look at me!

I’ve started a new job. Yes, it’s awesome. No, I’m not gonna tell you all about it. Just a little. But I will talk about what’s in the future!

So far, life is awesome. I won’t lie. Life was pretty bad. In fact, it just plain sucked ass. Dealing with a job that kept giving me less hours to the point of converting me to a contract designer. I was broke. It hurt my pocket intensely. So I spent the next couple of weeks perfecting and coding my designed site in hopes that my prayers would be answered in the form of a new job. I got more than I asked for. And best of all, everyone there is way chill. I’m very thankful that I was able to score an awesome job like this.

Outside of that, I’ve been having fun scootering with friends on club rides. But The best part of my week was something I’ll remember forever. The day before I got the call for the job, I was able to do something I’ve never done before: I rode through a cloud.
It was probably the coolest feeling on my scooter since Scooter Quest. The cloud left my face lightly coated in rain mist, and I wasn’t able to see 20 feet in front of me. I drove into the middle of it and pulled to the shoulder and just took it in. I may be a simple minded man, but I don’t think anyone ever takes the chance to experience awesome things like scooting in a cloud! What I’m trying to say is simple.

I want to challenge you all to enjoy something that you take for granted. Sunsets, clouds, sitting on the grass, etc. And tell me about it! Leave a comment and tell me about what you did. I can’t wait to hear about it!