September 18th 1986 - I am born at Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park, IL one minute after my sister. 

 

Disneyland features George Lucas-produced and Francis Ford Coppola-directed 3-D film Captain EO featuring Michael Jackson. The 17 minute film cost $17 million and at the time was the most expensive film ever produced on a per-minute basis.

 

Captain EO Teaser

 

(Summer)1988 - My first trip to Mexico marks the beginning of an ever-present love for Mexican culture, traveling, and trying to understand life from different perspectives. Even though I was only 2 years of age, this was a seminal part in my growing appreciation for traveling. At the time, my dad was working for Mexicana Airlines and due to this he was entitled flying privileges of some sort (stand-by tickets).  

 

Prozac (Fluoxetine) makes its debut on the market to treat depression, anxiety, and eating disorder. It claims the name of first Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI). 

 

1990 - My desire to color and draw are taken to new levels with the introduction of coloring contests at local grocery stores. For some reason, I was always down to win an Easter Basket or some other novelty likely involving candy. It was my impulse to express myself and the incentive to win candy that drove my creative abilities as a child.

A drawing for Linda Yang.

 

Adobe Photoshop 1.0 is launched for Macintosh exclusively. This marks design productions first complete integration of type and image and opens designers to much exploration due to new capabilities of the program.

 

1991- Along with the preceding years, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles continued to influence my passion for drawing, comics, and skateboarding.  Throughout, my life as a child the Turtles inspired me to express myself because of the large persona each character unveiled.  

 

 

Nintendo introduces Gameboy to US Market. Before this, Gameboy was solely sold in Japan. Gameboy is an 8-bit handheld video game console created by Nintendo and the second handheld game to use video game cartridges.

 

1992 - I am introduced to the Macintosh Apple computer. At the time, it wasn't a big deal but as I progressed it had an impact on how I thought about computers in relation to image production. Paint was the first computer driven image making program I experienced and this became a sort of gateway to other similar programs later in life. 

 

David Carson begins Ray Gun an alternative rock magazine. Ray Gun features many the experimental typography of David Carson and his musical counters such as Radiohead, Bjork, and Beck (to name a few). 

 

December 24th 1995 - I receive my first skateboard from my older brother (14 years of difference). My brother has always made a large impact on me as a youth and continues to do so because of his encouraging nature, creativity, and free mindset.   

 

eBay is founded among the growing internet and amongst the other 100,000 websites. eBay was the first online auction and was officially released to the public in 1998.

 

(Spring)1996 - My musical senses are introduced to a mixtape that contrasted the two musical sides of skateboarding, hip-hop and punkrock. One side hosted the quirky down-tempo sounds of the Digable Planets and the other screamed the rebellious chords of the quintessential suburban garage band, the Descendents. This mixtape changed the way I thought about music and opened me up to a wide array

of musical influences. This revelation of the general idea of the subculture had a profound effect on the way I developed, in ideological terms. 

 

Dolly the sheep is cloned making her the first mammal to be cloned. Born on July 5, 1996, Dolly lived for six years until her death in early 2003. 

 

(Spring) 1999 - My love for  underground hip-hop and subculture fully emerges with the release of Rawkus' Soundbombing II . This record blew my mind at the time and featured a crucial amount of the greatest MCs (Masters of Ceremony) and producers of the time including Mos Def, El-P, Eminem, The Beat Junkies, Babu, and Common (to name a few, probably too many).  

 

Napster file-sharing software is introduced to webgoers everywhere. Napster marked the first of many file-sharing software online programs that enabled people to download music for free (illegally). 

 

January 2004 - I begin to believe that I can have a future as an artist with the enrollment of my first Graphic Design course junior year of high school. This class among others such as my screen-printing class and animation class drove me to pursue the impulse that I have been unknowingly honing my entire life. 

 

Elections held in South Africa without race restrictions. This marked South Africa's end of apartheid. 

 

June 2005 - I graduate from Willowbrook High School and begin my college career. Graduation was a particularly emotionally charged day with the death of my Uncle Norby and the beginning of a transition from high school to college.

 

YouTube is introduced enabling people to view, exhibit, and host videos of all kinds.

 

YouTube Fans.

 

May 15th 2007- I graduate from College of DuPage with an AA in Graphic Design and decide to transfer to OTIS in Los Angeles to pursue a BA in graphic design. My brief time at COD was highly influential and motived me to push my abilities to the next level.  

 

People protest against high gas prices by asking internet users to not go to the gas station. At the time gas reached over $3.00 per gallon. 

 

August 12th 2008 - I pack up the hoopty with two of my good friends and make the trip out to LA. We made the trip in 4 days, stopping somewhere in Nebraska, (no man's land) Utah, Circus Circus in Vegas, and finally Playa Vista.  

 

Floods and landslides associated with Tropical Storm Kammuri kill 28 people in southwest China and force 11,000 people to evacuate from their homes. 

 

Feb 2008 - A girl makes a large impact on my views towards love and human connection (generally). This is the first time I think I'm in love. 

 

In Iraq, at least 64 people are killed and more than 100 injured as a result of two bombings of markets in central Baghdad. 

 

May 9th 2009 - I almost graduate and am in some type of limbo/transition. I have three liberal classes to complete before I am released and can't help but to wonder (or freak out on) what the next move is. The reality of life after school has not quite set in, but is slowly lurking into my everyday. 

 

Jacob Zuma is inaugurated at President of South Africa.

 

This is 30.14%  of my life (apparently).