CURRENT MISSION

World-Wide Trip Pt 1: First Stop: Guangzhou, China

ABOUT ME

I landed on shore to Canada when I was 3, nested in a box of Sony Walkmans. Interestingly enough, the thing that stood out to me the most about this new continent was breakfast cereal. I loved cereal. Here's a bit of useless information: Rural China isn't exactly the best place to keep cold fresh milk. So anything milk related was a brand spanking new experience for me. Then again, at 3, pretty much everything is a new experience.I also remember snow.In any case, I moved to a suburb in Toronto - cookie cutter houses, Stepford wives, 5K for Cancer, and school buses - where I had my childhood. By the time I hit college I had moved through 6 schools. I'd really like to tell you that it was because I had some internal spite against authority, fueled by my own racial identity crisis, which resulted in a series of rebellious teenage years, but that would be lying. The truth is: I won student of the month in every grade of elementary school but one; did Boy Scouts; had Asian parents who withheld Christmas presents until I finished every possible grade of classical piano; was clumsy during swimming lessons; chipped some teeth during diving class; and played in a band. Essentially, a poster child for the minority suburban cliché.I had to escape.Don't get me wrong, I love my parents and my childhood has made me who I am (and I do quite like who I am). However, I needed independence, the lack of a safety net, new challenges, and the opportunity create my future to my liking - which, I know, sounds like another cliché.Moving on.I moved out of my parents house and came down to Montreal to study at McGill. I majored in Philosophy and Organismal Biology (Ecology/Evolution) in order to pursue a career in...great table conversation. Let's be realistic - my education doesn't exactly make me employable. However, I was still under the impression that Universities were not massive automatons that provided extremely expensive job training courses. Rather, I - perhaps quite naïvely - still believed that I was pursing higher education in order to be a more knowledgeable world citizen and participate in the democratic process of society building. 4 years later, and I still try to get my keys by pointing at them and saying "Accio keys!". 5 points if you got that reference. No, you're not allowed to Google it.This brings us to today, and what I do now.2 years ago, my best friend and I founded a Design / Web / Advertising Firm which we now work at more than full time (somewhere between Nietzsche and Punnett Squares I decided to pick up a passion for graphic design, web development, photography and advertising). I love my work, immensely. Next, I think I might start a cereal bar - a restaurant that serves every type of cereal imaginable, potentially alcoholic cereal as well.I also have a lot of interest in non-profit projects, social entrepreneurship, and open media. If you're starting/running a project, I'd love to hear about it.By now, you've probably picked up my sarcastic or cynical tones. Contrarily, I tend to be extremely optimistic. I dive very passionately into hobbies - I like collecting them. I have a tendency to focus only on the things I love to do, but have learned to be disciplined enough to do the things I have to do. I like being outside of my comfort zone. If something makes for a good story in the future, it's worth doing right now. Life is very short and I don't believe in respawning after you die, so I truly believe in taking great risks that yield great rewards.I'm currently reading: A Clash of Kings, The White Tiger, and Crime & Punishment.I'm currently listening to: AwolnationI'd love to talk about any of the following topics this week:Sherlock (BBC TV Series)Social EntrepreneurshipMontrealA thought experiment of your choosingThe WireBrain HacksMicrofinancingRock Climbing

PHILOSOPHY

Current life goals are:1. Continue to build my Design / Web Firm.2. Continue to work on the core team of The M Network, a national non-profit dedicated to connecting and supporting social change agents.3. Study sharks or deep sea devil fish for a year.4. Get published in a philosophy journal.5. Publish a book - preferably "How to get an A- in college without lifting a finger."6. Possible MBA (at - fingers crossed - Oxford's Social Entrepreneurship program)7. Start a Cereal Bar.8. Start a microbrewery.9. Survive the apocalypse.10. Twice.11. Travel to all 195 countries. Bonus Follow-up Question!Which one of the following 10 magical items would you choose and why:1. A pot that can produce 1,000 kilograms of any food a day.2. A bracelet that keeps weather perfect wherever you go and within a 250 kilometre radius.3. A necklace that allows you to touch books and instantly absorb knowledge from them, without reading.4. An unlimited bottle of perfume that will make you wildly attractive to the opposite sex (or same sex if you’re gay), which cannot be used on anyone you love.5. A watch that allows you to reverse time by a minute or less per day.6. A bell that when rang fixes any one object at a time, excluding living things, within a minute.7. A chocolate bar, with twelve pieces, that makes anyone who eats a single piece invincible and youthful until the age of 160.8. A no fuel required, maintenance free, eight person van that can take you anywhere on the planet within one second.9. A remote control that allows you and another person to change, superficially, into anyone you want; the effect lasts until you decide to revert.10. An immortal dog that poops out one gold coin every time it goes to the bathroom.

Intereses

In the past, I have been paid to:
1. Design Logos / Brochures / Posters / Album Covers / Websites
2. Program Websites / Simple Games
3. Perform as a classical pianist
3b. Teach kids piano and guitar
4. Play as a guitar/vocal one-man act
5. Create advertising campaigns
6. Record someone else's music at a studio
7. Photograph events and portraits

and have been known to:
8. Give great gifts
9. Snowboard
10. Over-analyze everything
11. Cook elaborate Chinese meals
12. Climb Rocks
13. Draw with Pastels
14. Write super long internet profiles

• dogs
• fish
• books
• performing arts
• design
• graphic design
• photography
• perfumes
• festivals
• education
• dining
• cooking
• breakfast
• chocolate
• chinese food
• running
• remote control
• reading
• tv
• traveling
• drawing
• magic
• music
• guitar
• piano
• drums
• cycling
• fishing
• scuba diving
• snowboarding
• boxing
• rock climbing
• american football
• soccer
• swimming
• animation
• biology
• business
• chemistry
• communications
• ecology
• teaching
• entrepreneurship
• physics

Música, películas y libros

*Books:*
Othello
Antigone
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
World War Z
The Abolition of Man
1984
Death of a Salesman
To Kill A Mockingbird
Picture of Dorian Gray
The Watchmen
A Short History of Ethics

*Movies*
12 Angry Men
The Dark Knight
V for Vendetta
Se7en
Primer
Memento
American History X
Adaptation
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Back to the Future
Gladiator
Let The Right One In
The Lion King

*Television*
The Wire
South Park
Extras
Luther
Sherlock
Breaking Bad
BSG
Futurama
Planet Earth
Archer
Derren Brown
Firefly
How I Met Your Mother
ReGenesis
The Twilight Zone

*Music*

Radio Music
Muse
Tool
Paolo Nutini
Flight of the Conchords
Foo Fighters
Justice
RJD2
Incubus
The Fray
NIN
Guns and Roses

Jazz
Stan Getz
Oscar Peterson
Julie London
Ella Fitzgerald
Louis Armstrong

SoundTrack
Harry Gregson Williams
Hans Zimmer

Classical
Beethoven
Rachmaninoff
Liszt
Chopin
Wagner

Algo increíble que he hecho

Songkron Festival in Thailand
Nighttime Scuba Diving in Cambodia

Enseña, aprende, comparte

Things I can teach:
English
Music Theory
Piano
Guitar
Beginner Drums
Music Recording
Graphic Design
Animation
Web Design
Building a computer
Video Editing
Movie Making
Philosophy (mainly Greek - some contemporary)
Marketing
Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Guerrilla Advertising
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Calculus
Cooking Chinese Food
Snowboarding
Rock Climbing
Biking
American Football
Really really easy magic tricks.

Things I want to learn:
Cello
French
Spanish
Russian
European Cuisine
Farming
Free Running
Boxing

Países que he visitado

Australia, Bahamas, Belgium, Belize, Canada, Cayman Islands, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Países en los que he vivido

Canada, China

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