I’m actually still alive, and gainfully employed, no less!
Wow, been awhile since I updated! I’m still alive!
So, yeah, in August I was laid off, and so were most of the other developers at NCsoft Austin. They’re moving the bulk of their main development to NC West \ Seattle, which is ArenaNet, who are a very talented group of people I expect great things from.
In the meantime, I’ve found another job in the Austin area, which is totally great because considering the horrible bloodbath the Austin game development scene has been lately, I thought I’d have to uproot and move somewhere else. :)
I’m an Art Outsourcing Manager, the project is cool as hell, the team is outstanding (all ex-NCsoft people I’ve either worked with before, or know peripherally and respect), the office space rocks and I’m really happy here so far. The only bummer is that I can’t say what I’m working on or even who I’m working for, and it’ll be that way for a very long time. :)
The most fascinating part is that it’s on a new project from the ground up, and I’ve never been involved this early in development before. For once, I’m actually going to get to set up an art outsourcing pipeline FROM SCRATCH! And I’m going to document exactly how I do everything, detail my successes and failures, what I learned from them and how to do better next time, and I’m going to post everything I can about it here. I’m really really excited about it. I have a lot of rough content in progress and I’ll be posting articles in no particular order or on any discernible schedule. :)
In other news, I took three months off before starting the new job and got to do a lot of relaxing, reading, studying, thinking and travel accomplished. :) It’s been quite nice. My girlfriend and I took an awesome trip across the Yucatan peninsula to check out all the ancient Mayan ruins we could fit into a week (a handful of photos of that here on Flickr), then I got back and started learning about dieting, nutrition, longevity and general health.
I’ve abused my body before with crappy food, beer, no exercise, too much caffeine and energy drinks, and I’ve decided I’m done with that. I had my genome sequenced at 23AndMe to get a rough idea of the kinds of diseases I may be susceptible to and I’m started on a vitamin and supplement regimen to hopefully help fend off aging, oxidation, most types of heart disease and cancer. I’ve been working out more regularly and cutting out grains and carbs and focusing more on non-processed meat (when possible) and lots of vegetables. I’ve stopped drinking coffee entirely and instead I drink mostly decaffeinated tea. Also cutting back on beer, which sucks. :)
Since I started all that, my energy level has gone through the roof, I rest and sleep better, I can focus on things like I’ve never been able to before, I virtually never get food coma, I’ve stopped having anxiety \ panic attacks (which were rare, but any is too much), and I feel a lot more healthful and balanced. I’m reading up all I can on nutrition and what to put into my body to help me live longer and more healthily, and finally taking responsibility for health and long-term survivability of the big fleshy bag of meat and bone called “my body” that I inhabit. It’s quite an empowering feeling, and that’s my biggest passion right now.
Aside from that, I have other fun industry-related projects I’m tinkering away with quietly and will announce if they come to fruition like I hope they totally will. I am busy, I am active, and I’m ready to get back in the habit of WRITING!
And on the note of writing, I’m going to gradually phase back in some of the more introspective self-improvement related posts that I used to do more often, because I’ve gotten more positive responses to those than any of the outsourcing articles I’ve done. There will still definitely be organized articles on outsourcing methodology and techniques, don’t get me wrong! I just think I’ve strayed a bit from what I originally wanted to do with this blog, which was to have it essentially be a combination of a public journal, but also a place for me to share insights and information on subjects that interest me that I think could help other people learn and improve themselves.
Whether it be making a better portfolio, or managing an external team, or even learning interesting stuff about marketing, I just want this to be a place I can talk about it all and have discussions with interesting people (you guys! :D ) about it all and satisfy my need to write and share.
Anywho, that’s all for me from now. I’ll be back as soon as I’m able!
There are 7 Comments to "I’m actually still alive, and gainfully employed, no less!"
Hi JON!
I take it that you’re still alive then? :P
lol sorry my usual horrible sense of humor
Congratulations for the new job and new life. You know I’m a big fan!
Please go ahead and post at will the book titles that you read and you might want to share, I’m really interested, and also the list of pills and stuffs and food that you take, I might need them eh eh. Usually I get Spirulina or whatever is called there, it’s a kind of micro unicellular plant that grows only at Hawaii and Mexico and it’s full of all the vitamins and minerals…ever heard of that? On the other side it’s impossible for me to get rid of pasta since I’m Italian, well I could get rid of it but I live with a splendid girl who is totally addicted to spaghetti etc… lol
post stuffs right away mate. You’re positive and enlighting. I’m interested in the outsourcing articles as well.
peace
Agos-
Hey dude! How’s it going? :) And yes, mostly alive! Last I checked, anyway.
I’ve heard of spirulina, yeah! I don’t take it currently, but it’s in the queue of stuff to look at. :)
Most of my information has come from a friend who reads EVERYTHING, but two sites I read are:
* The Life Extension Foundation (http://www.lef.org) which has TONS of information, and also sells very high qualtiy supplements at a discount to members (which I am). It’s the first place I go to for information. These guys are at the bleeding edge of modern medical science, and it’s a treasure trove of information.
* Whole Health Source (http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/) A useful blog I just started reading.
I’m also reading The Paleo Diet (http://tinyurl.com/avmdf9) which is a look at the diet our ancestors evolved on over millions of years and why it helped them survive, and exactly where our modern diet is in relation to that and how it’s basically killing us off and making us unhealthy. I’m a week or two into eating a similar diet to what they preach and I’ve already lost 4lbs this week, and I still eat like a king, so…
The other one I’m about to crack open Good Calories, Bad Calories (http://tinyurl.com/dancjn) which is a closer look at modern nutrition.
It’s *fascinating* stuff. Basically, for about $75/mo (the cost of cable TV), I’m taking a full regimen of vitamins that’ll help reduce my chances of general disease, heart disease, cancer, and help extend my life by years or possibly even decades. Supposedly the means exist *today* to choose to live to be over 100 years old, and it’s just a matter of paying attention and DOING it.
My goal is to try to live to see the year 2100, and I want to start as early as possible on the right track so I’m doing things right the first time instead of trying to patch up my poor health at the end of my life.
It’s hard to find any one particular source of information on what’s what, so I’ve been compiling what information I can. If you’re interested, I have a shortlist of some of the vitamins and supplements I take and why they kick ass. If you’re interested, let me know and I can email it to you. :)
Holy.. that’s called a prompt answer! :D
Yeah it’s incredible sometimes how with little money you can improve so much the quality of your life. Also, I’m pretty sure that an healthy diet could be less expensive in any case…vegetables and fruit are not that expensive here and probably there as well…fish is probably more expensive, but it’s the way to go if you are not vegetarian, argh it’s good..
about the shortlist, why not to post that here? Many others could be interested as well :) easy man when you have time
2100 ftw!
cya
Agos.
I’m fast!
It really is amazing. It doesn’t take that much to live better. The meat is a little more expensive than less-healthy sources of food like rice, noodles, grains, and carbs in general, but the energy difference is COLOSSAL. I feel like I’m always on my second cup of coffee, and I don’t even drink coffee anymore at all. It’s that good. heheh.
Well, I wasn’t going to post the shortlist here because it was written by someone else and it’d be rude of me to repost it publicly. I’m just going to write one up myself of what I’m taking and pull my own info into it. Here’s a quick five of my favorites:
* Ortho-Core (http://tinyurl.com/66dyln)
This is apparently one of the very best and most complete multivitamins on the market. The sheer amount of ingredients packed into it is almost scary. I take four of these a day. The cost averages to $6/mo.
* Resveratrol (http://www.lef.org/Vitamins-Supplements/Item00867/Optimized-Resveratrol.html)
This stuff is basically the extract of the ingredient in red wine that’s good for your heart. It boosts immunity, greatly reduces metastasis (the way cancer spreads through teh body), silences gene-controlled mechanisms that lead to cancer cells surviving and growing, inhibits angiogenesis (the growth of blood vessels that feed growing tumors), and much much more. Research shows tentatively that this not only helps prevent cancer and promote a healthy heart, but can also lead to a longer life. The cost averages to $15/mo.
* Vitamin K2 (http://www.lef.org/Vitamins-Supplements/Item01224/Super-K-with-Advanced-K2-Complex.html)
This stuff kicks ass. It regulates the usage of calcium in the body by essentially sucking the calcium out of your arteries (bad) and slapping it into your bones to make them stronger and denser (good). It can reduce all-cause mortality by 26% and in the famous Rotterdam Heart Study, those who consumed the highest levels of K2 in their diet enjoyed a 57% reduction in death from vardiovascular diseases versus those who consumed the least. It’s an ass-kicker fo sho. The cost averages to $5/mo.
* Vitamin D3 (http://www.lef.org/Vitamins-Supplements/Item00713/Vitamin-D3.html)
Like resveratrol, it inhibits metastasis and angiogenesis, promotes special white blood cells that go aroudn killing free roaming cancer cells in the body to prevent them from spreading, and it can reduce all-cause mortality by as much as 50%. The cost averages to $3.50/mo.
* IP6 (http://www.amazon.com/Enzymatic-Therapy-Forte-Inositol-tablets/dp/B00012NGCG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1233093079&sr=8-1)
This is the Terminator of cancer prevention. It normalizes the rate of cell growth (helping prevent cells dividing too rapidly and making cancer easier to develop), helps normalize cell physiology (helps repair DNA and give cancer a hard time), enhances NK cells (special whie blood cells that help protect against virally infected or cancerous cells), increasus tumor suppressing gene activity, inhibits inflammation, is a powerful antioxidant, and, like D3 and resveratrol, inhibits angiogenesis and metastasis. The cost averages to $2.81/mo.
Hope that helps a bit to start. :) That’s $32.31/mo worth of vitamins and supplements that’ll basically help kick the shit out of cancer and heart disease. And that’s not all I take… I’ll write up more later if you’re interested in more. :)
It is a good thing you stopped at cutting back, the very last bottle of the first hombrew batch still has your name on it.
Dude! You saved that for me? You are the MAN! Can’t wait to drink it Sunday! :D
Jon, thanks for the list, really. I always took some supplements to fight stress but I see that it could be done more professionally. Don’t forget that too much meat, even if of the best quality, can damage your body in the long run. Especially if it contains fats; look, body builders mostly eat chicken because has almost no fat. Anyway, vegetables can clean your guts but alternate with fish if you can. When I can a buy a bream (dorade) http://www.metro.ca/on/conseil-expert/poissonnier/etal-poissonnier/poissons/poissons-maigres/dorade.en.html or a sea-bass http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2008-12-09-rice-clinton_N.htm and just put it in the oven over an aluminum sheet with a drop of extra-virgin olive oil and a piece of lemon inside the fish at 200 degree celsius, 392 farenheit for 20 minutes. It’s really simple, it will take 5 minutes for you to clean it from the bones, and it’s good and healthy, pure proteins and vitamins, perfect for the cardiovascular system and bones. Wow, enough with food! It’s just 10 in the morning I already had breakfast lol.