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Tonight I continue my quest for knowledge, fame and fortune, or at the very least one of those. After an almost 3-year hiatus and 60 credits later, I’ve decided to go back to college to obtain my bachelors degree in Visual Communications and Graphic Design.

An odd sense of dejavu overcame me last night when I was loading up a shopping cart with peechee folders, pencils and notebooks. It made me think back to when I’d daydream in class, wondering if I’d ever reach my professional goal in life and if I’d be happy with my decisions.

My goal several years ago was to work in the field of graphic design and web development. After moving to New York in 2002, I got a job at KBToys, working there for 5 months and barely making ends meat. Eventually I answered an ad for “data entry” at a local tech company and mentioned my background (both self-taught and educated) in web development and design. After a year working under the title, sub-contractor, the company I work for officially hired me, with benefits, on their full time staff.

I’ve heard of people taking a break from education, promising they’ll return and never do. Many times it’s due to increased responsibilities or distractions and in this case you can’t blame a person. However, I see this as another stepping stone in my life and something I need to do in order to feel satisfied about my career. Not only that, but it’s guaranteed that this will open other avenues in my life; personally, professionally and spiritually.

Last night my 8-month old daughter and I sat down to watch Charlotte’s Web on DVD. She sat through the entire movie, resting her head on my leg and sipping on her bottle. During the film, Charlotte reminds Wilbur the pig to keep his chin up. It’s a message for everyone, to keep our chins up and make our way through life, worry less about frustrations and focus more on bettering ourselves. It’s something I’ve reiterated before, but it’s true and something to remember in order to keep yourself on track with your goals and desires. Remember that there will always be a reward for hard work and perseverance and it’s only up to you and the support of your friends and family to reach your goals.

My daughter, still an infant, may not be able to understand “keeping her chin up”, but someday she’ll figure it out and when she does, I’ll be there to support her 100 percent.

Lately I’ve been checking my server logs on a frequent basis. In the past month or so I’ve been receiving a plethora of referral spam, ironically most of the spam is from sites selling “referral spam” software. One such place, which I won’t repeat the URL to prevent any additional ranking, explains on their site that they “[are] a producer and seller of scripts and applications written exclusively for webmasters and their needs.”

It’s almost laughable to even consider these so-called scripts and applications “tools” to help a webmaster “and their needs”. What needs exactly? To place higher in search results by comment or referrel spam, no thank you. I’d much rather see legitimate sites come up using legal, tried and true methods rather than shady “SEO” tactics.

The site in question sells a “Windows-based mass referrer spammer” for $75.00 and claims how easy it is to spam several thousand sites in one session, including the ultimate payload; blog sites. The description reads ” [the software] operates on textfiles with URL-lists” and get this, supposedly a text file is included which includes a list of over 3,047 active blog websites “which you can use to start getting free traffic and PR.” It’s also fast, at least according to the creator, who states that the program sends a customized HTTP header instead of actually downloading the entire website.

It’s this kind of thing that boils my blood to the extent where I’m deeply sorry for the stupidity of some human beings.

6 years ago my brother and I created a website (utilizing storage at Geocities) for our independent game development. The site, EMWare Productions, remained on Geocities until 2002 when they finally removed the site due to its inactive state.

The following is an official Fed-ex’d cease and desist order that I received in the mail in November 2000 from emWare Inc, a tech company in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Needless to say, it provided a few good laughs, especially when we explained to them via email correspondence that “EMWare Productions” was an imaginary company started by two brothers with a lot of time on their hands.

My initial fascination with wanting to experiment with claymation began with the infamous clay animated series, Wallace and Gromit by Nick Park. I remember seeing it for the first time at Spike and Mike’s Animation Festival in downtown Riverside, California.

According to Spike and Mike Online, Mellow Manor Productions, Inc. was formed by proclaimed hippies Mike Gribble and Craig “Spike” Decker (infamously known as the duo Spike & Mike). Their production company was aptly named after the famed Victorian House that resides as a historical landmark in Riverside, California.

The original purpose of MM Productions was to support and promote underground bands with animated shorts. Eventually their love for animated shorts blossomed into full-time positions looking for the next latest and greatest talent in the industry. After receiving shorts from the likes of Nick Park, Tim Burton and a handful of other animators, Spike and Mike cultivated an animation festival called “Spike and Mike’s Twisted Animation Festival”.

It was the home to otherwise repulsive and adult in nature cartoons and spawned the birth of a little known duo called Beavis and Butthead. According to the site, Spike and Mike served as executive producers for B&B long before the characters gained a cult following on MTV and introduced South Park as well.

To say the show was “fun” would be not saying enough. In fact in all of the times my family and I attended the showings of Spike and Mike’s Animation Festival I can tell you that not only was it fascinating watching the shorts (which were edgy at the time) but the “pre-show” was just as fun. I can remember Mike Gribble tossing a football around with attendees lined up for the next showing.

Before the show began Mike would bring out the infamous concert beachball. Watching the ball bounce and float across the crowd was awesome and if you happened to get the chance to hit the ball you felt like you were a part of something grand. Without Mike Gribble there to introduce the show and entertain the guests I can honestly say it wouldn’t have been the same.

To think that two former hippies from Riverside, California formed a simple animation festival that eventually grew into an eagerly anticipated event is an achievement that deserves recognition.

Sadly in 1994, Mike Gribble, at the age of 40, died of pancreatic cancer leaving behind a legacy that I will always remember.

For all of you trivia buffs; Dale Gribble’s (the character from King of the Hill) last name pays homage to the late Mike Gribble.