Nelson Caetano | Playing with People’s Attention

Last updated on April 21st, 2021 at 09:34 pm

Whenever I worry I’m giving my boys a little too much screen time, I remember growing up on a generous diet of cartoons, comic books and video games—and I think everything turned out fine.

It Feels Like a Lifetime Ago….

You see, way back when, I was the archetype of what you’d call a nerd—oversized glasses on my face and curled up with a good book in most social settings—and at a time long before the things that made me a nerd were ever cool.

Piles of comic books before their movies became the force they are today. Video game fan clubs before we had reddit to bring us together. But all these things were fundamental parts of my life for many years to come, especially as I drew comics of my own well into my twenties.

Though life took me down a different path than I expected (you can thank my Dad’s sage advice to get a job that pays the bills, as painful a pill it was to swallow at the time), I understand what it’s like to put your all into your creation, trying to create something truly reflecting your vision.

The 2017 100

Last updated on April 1st, 2021 at 01:08 am

Unless my life sees some major changes this year, 2017 may mark the last list of 100!

It’s January 13th—I’ve spent nearly two weeks of my new year agonising over 100 items that matter enough to hit a list of goals and aspirations for the year ahead. And that’s a key difference from the lists that came before it.

Before it was a task list—I’d look around at everything that needed doing and jot it down, because my life would obviously be better with them out of the way.

But task lists aren’t inspiring. They’re not motivational. As a creative, that’s like dropping a pile of 100 things I dread on my lap and nagging myself to get ’em done by the year’s end.

Once I realised what I was doing to myself, so much so that I just went through my least successful year yet for my list, I knew I needed to make a change for 2017.

I’m particularly proud of the list I’ve put together for The 2017 100. I didn’t take any shortcuts—I wrote out 100 things that’d help me live the life I’d like to lead and prove instrumental along the path there. Rather than hurriedly scrawl out a list I’d likely ignore ’til December, I wrote one that I’d happily check off, knowing that each accomplishment would take me a step closer to a far better 2018. I feel like I’m finally getting it right this time, and I hope that shines through as you give it a look for yourself!

But that’s enough of my chatter—I’ve already made you wait long enough. Here for your consideration is The 2017 100—because it’s not what you do… it’s how you do it!

Sketchdump 03-08-2010

Last updated on January 8th, 2021 at 01:23 am

Last Updated: January 8, 2021


So this is what you’re getting for today—a sketchdump ???? Lots of logo, site and graphing work going on over here—I’ll make sure to share whenever anything gets done. I was going to do a quick one related to the Tim Hortons Roll Up the Rim to Win contest, but after reading David McCandless’ blog Information is Beautiful, I’ve been rethinking my approach to infographics. You’ll still see something, but it’ll probably be far more imaginative than what I’d originally envisioned ????

Anyway, hope you enjoy another little glimpse into my world. The PHP. It calls my name!

The Days Off, Day 1 of 4

Last updated on April 3rd, 2021 at 11:21 pm

Hey all,

So I cashed in a couple of lieu days, and here I am—it’s been a day of relaxation, sketching and coin counting.

Coin counting? Oh yes. You didn’t think that my local bank branch could have a coin counting machine and that I wouldn’t want to try it out, no? There was about $100 worth of change in the bin—it went to a good cause. (Paying bills quicker—the ones I’d much prefer to never see again.)

But seriously, I can’t say there’s much I can offer in the money-saving tips world today—discussed the merits of using WordPress to power my sites-to-be with Kevin, thought about the option of finding Canadian game shows where I could be a contestant after completely obliterating the Wheel of Fortune contestants on their puzzles (I estimate that I could’ve raked in $80-$90K easy if I never hit bankrupt with the luck that they were getting) and just did a lot of sketching. Please refer to below for today’s sketchdump:

Also, I just went to town on this piece of paper (with more punishment to come!):

Which resulted in these poor victims of my hate crime against art tools:

Anyhoo—if there’s something you want to see in the next few days, feel free to suggest. I’ll be here! All day! Just working on stuff!

Los Numeros:

  • The 2010 20K Running Total = $108.14

All the best,

“Missed Opportunities…” — Hall & Oates

Last updated on April 13th, 2021 at 10:43 pm

It’s not all about the money. This is something I know and would like to stress. Money is good to have and can be quite useful, but should never be the be-all and end-all tool behind any motivation.

Donations:

I have a couple of old jackets to get rid of that’re taking up space in the closet. With the tempatures getting as low as they have, I think there’re many others who would benefit from them more than the seldom-used space in the house!

And it’s so convenient!

https://www.diabetes.ca/get-involved/supporting-us/clothesline/—picks up from home, also accepts PDAs, cell phones and printer cartridges
https://www.clothingbank.ca/—picks up from home

Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m going to be able to get my piece for the Threadless 10K contest done to the quality I’d like by tomorrow. Trevor already pointed this out, that I need to stop leaving things to the last minute—I know it can be hard to balance all of life’s commitments—maybe it’s just about better time management?

Here’s a look at it, anyway—the theme was to “create the next trend”—I decided to look at trends instead, and show what the next trend might be in tech—maybe with a glow in the dark effect. What I was aiming to show was all the different tech all branching into one device which is like a roll-up of them all—something like what the iPhone would be like in its next generation (not yet pictured):

This won’t stop me—minor bump in the road. There’s another contest at https://shirt.woot.com due Wednesday—they have weekly derbies with $1,500 top prizes—this time around, the theme is “Heart”, and I have an idea 😊 Hopefully I can actually get it in on time 😕 There’s a good idea rolling around in my head, and I hope to bust it out in style.

So time to wrap it up, pop in a DVD and make my way to eventual sleep.

The Math:

  • The 2010 20K Running Total = $88.04

Keep it warm, y’all.

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