February blahs with strange positive moments tossed in for variety…

After a fine and warm weekend, the winter shit has struck back with evil intent. Frosty walks in the morning make my body ache and riding the train huddled between sniffling business people is about as fun as it sounds. I kind of like using my time commuting as a thinking period before the day starts, but it hasn’t been that way lately. Get on, get off, trudge through the cold to work.

The evening drawing course has left me pretty groggy. My lectures during the day have still been fun, but I’m finding myself being far more absent minded as of late. It’s probably sleep deprivation mixed with fast food in the system. I swear that my mind is like an Etch-A-Sketch…one good shake and I forgot what I was talking about. I don’t want to be a mindless drooling freak when I get old. I hope medical science catches up with my stupidity in time 🙂

April 1st is the target date for getting my own place. I’ve started house and apartment hunting in my area and will expand the search as the month goes on. I’ll keep you guys posted.

My boss took me out for lunch today with some of our other co-workers. Seeing Graeme there with his kids made me feel strange. I don’t know if I’d have the patience to take care of kids. It seems so mind numbing to me, I wonder if that’ll ever change? I’m so selfish about my own things and suddenly turning that totally towards someone who needs you like that is too bizarre for me to imagine at this stage.

As well, I may have met some new people and started the tiny spark of a social life. I went out last night just to hang out and had some fun. It’s taken a long time, but things are getting a bit easier as far as meeting new people go. It can be tough just trying to be yourself when you want so hard to be friendly. I tend to try too hard and come off a bit eccentric. Or maybe, that’s closer to the real me. I don’t know.

One of the girls I talked to last night was actually quite cute. Funny enough, we’re chatting on ICQ while I’m typing this e-mail. In the midst of the February blah, it’s a nice surprise. Even if nothing comes of the social push, it’s sort of fun trying some new things.

With Valentine’s Day coming up, I’m sure I’ll hit some gloom spots. As much as I try to forget about it, it does stab a bit at times. I think between the upcoming move, work and social nonsense, I’m feeling a bit neurotic. I find a balance and then over compensate for it. I guess that’ll never change.

Check the old webpage for more Life Drawing goodness. With that evening course and Friday sessions, I’m life drawing 3-4 times a week. Werner, my teacher from Sheridan, would be so pleased. If my stuff doesn’t improve with this intensity, I don’t know…

Anyways, that’s the deal at this stage. Be good and if you can’t be good, then be good at it.

January’s wrapping up fast so I thought I’d fill everyone in on the last few days.

For the most part, things are quiet. My roommate Jean is away on a business trip and I’ve been enjoying some quiet time because of it. Actually, I’m enjoying it so much that I’m seriously considering getting a place of my own when the lease expires at the house. Finding a place in Kensington area could be tough, but the idea of having my own place all to myself is appealing. The only messes would be mine and I could set up a studio type setting as opposed to the drafting table in my bedroom set up I have now. Hmm…more details will come later if I decide to go ahead with it.

Socially, I was feeling a little bored last weekend. I didn’t want the rave environment I talked about in my last Newsletter to become a regular thing, so I opted out of that. Instead, I decided to try the LARP thing in Calgary again.

For those of you who don’t know, LARP stands for Live Action Role Playing. It’s like one of those Murder Mystery dinners where you dress up and act like someone else for a night. When I first went to Humber, I hooked up with a LARP troupe downtown Toronto and met some wonderful people. It made me more social and gave me a lot of confidence. When I first moved to Calgary, I hoped lightning would strike twice. The experience was a lot less enjoyable, with some of the worse parts of the Toronto scene magnified to obnoxious proportions.

But, time paves bad memories and I thought I’d give it another go. I figured the worst-case scenario would be that it would suck and I wouldn’t go back. In the end it was…okay. Not great, but not too bad. It didn’t have the spark of the Toronto group, but I met some new people who seemed nice. I don’t know if I’m in a rush to go back, but it could have been worse.

Movie-wise, I saw Snatch and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Snatch is a rapid fire caper film that’s a blast to watch. Fun characters, hilarious situations…I really enjoyed it from start to end. Crouching Tiger is a good movie, but not quite the Movie of the Year 2000 that critics are calling it. The story is very Chinese and you have to appreciate their storytelling style to get the most out of it. The sword fights are incredible, but the wire-flying work always feels strange instead of graceful to me. I don’t need perfectly real physics or anything, but the floating just looks odd.

I’m running an evening drawing course for beginners, which keeps me at the school for 14 hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Between that and our answering machine being busted, I’m not getting phone calls. If you’re trying to reach me, be patient and keep trying or e-mail me instead and I’ll call you when I get in.

That’s the rundown for this time.

A couple things to report…

Settling back into life in Calgary has been strange. Even with a new class and work responsibilities, it’s actually pretty quiet. Compared to the whirlwind holidays, it seems very odd indeed.

Socially, things picked up a little bit last weekend. Saturday was super lazy as I sat around watching movies all day and didn’t even get dressed until 5 in the afternoon. I was itching to get out, but after many phone calls, no one seemed to be around. Then Kevin, one of the instructors, gave me a ring and invited me out to a rave.

I’ve never been to a rave before and I had assumed that it was just a lot of dancing… which it was. This party started at 3am and went until 9, giving new definition to the term “after hours club”. I went quite tired and a bit nervous and ended up having a blast. It was quite honestly one of the best club experiences I’ve ever had. No attitude, just people having a lot of fun. I was thinking about going again this weekend, but don’t want it to become a crutch, so I figure I’ll go later in February instead.

The only downside to the experience was that I danced so much that my hair was destroyed by the time it wrapped up. A quick visit to the barber in Kensington and now I’m sporting a buzz. At least it’s easy to take care of now.

My new class is quiet, unlike the last group and these guys look really dedicated. The last set was fun, but they could get out of hand some times. Starting from the basics again is always weird, but fulfilling, too.

I’m looking at buying a digital camera, so I may start sending a small snapshot with each newsletter some time down the road. That should be fun.

Welcome to 2001… My God, where the heck did 2000 go?

No flying cars, silver jumpsuits or laser guns yet. It looks like the new millennium’s filled with disappointments already 🙂

The last half of my vacation in Ontario was almost as varied as the first half. It was quieter in many ways, but fulfilling, too.

Shopping with friends and wandering Toronto felt nostalgic, but distant. The places are similar, but don’t have the same connections they once did for me. I can’t imagine how many times I’ve wandered Queen Street West, but I don’t recall it ever feeling like this. I knew my way around, but felt like I was seeing things kind of fresh.

Some of my friends were away, others I just couldn’t get a hold of or our schedule’s didn’t mesh. I missed seeing Omar, Simon, Phil, Jeremy, Nifer, Mark, Ian, Paul and Colin. I hate when there’s not enough time… I thought 16 days would be enough. Don’t get me wrong, I was pleased with who I did see, but there’s always more it seems.

Heading into Oakville, I hooked up with the Residence kids. Cornflake was able to stay for New Year’s Eve instead of boogying back to Halifax, which was a nice surprise. I decided to stick around as the year changed over and toast the beginning with a part of the Sheridan Gang.

Leaving Oakville on the Go Train marked the start of the end. With the next few days, good byes came frequently as I wrapped up my visit out east. Leaving each group of friends felt weird. Each time I see them, the little changes add up to larger ones. We’re all connected, but the separation is changing us. I know that most of these changes are for the better, but it’s odd to witness it in stages like this.

Looking through old boxes at my parent’s place, I found print outs of old e-mails from Humber and Sheridan. I couldn’t believe how insecure I was. I get pangs of it now, but back then I wrote such depressing stuff like my life was crashing every single week. I’ve really shifted from that pessimistic thought process to something a little bit more reasonable. I read them, and barely remembered typing some of it. It gave me a good benchmark as to how far I’ve grown. I kind of needed that with the ups and downs I’ve been experiencing lately.

Hmm…I’m not as verbose about this half of my trip as I was the first. It’s not meant to be a let down, or mean that I didn’t have a good time. I think it’s because I’m back in Calgary typing this and feeling a little lost. I’m not homesick and going back to work went fine.

I’m just curious what the year will bring and what I have to do to grab hold of it.

Grab hold.

The holidays zip along and I thought I would take a chance to get everyone up to date on what’s happened so far. The week leading up to my vacation and the journey itself has been already been quite a story to tell. I’ll try to stay on track and keep this interesting, but it may wander a bit to fill in all the details.

If I had to say anything about the trip, it would have to be that these last few weeks have run the full gamut of emotions. At times I’ve been grinning from ear to ear, but there have been some bumps as well. Good and bad, it’s all worth talking about.

Before I came back to Ontario, I was feeling pretty drained. As I had indicated in my e-mail on December 11th, Tanya and I had talked and things seemed sort of positive. Soon after that e-mail, I found out how wrong I was. Communication stopped abruptly when she told me we would not be going any further and I was back at square one (or square zero, depending on your perception). I understand the fear and uncertainty that comes with trying to patch things up, but I thought if we were open to each other it would evolve slowly. If her decision was an impulsive action, a long thought out choice or influenced by other people, I’m not sure. There’s no point in figuring out the “why’s” if the result is all the same. I tried leaving the communication channels open at my end, but I’m really not sure if anything will come of it. As you might imagine, this left me feeling pretty crappy and definitely ready for my vacation.

Cornflake and Julie were in Calgary to visit some of his family and we spent a frantic day together wandering the city and getting me ready to go to Ontario. However brief it was, it was great seeing them. Cornflake did the hard sell about moving to Halifax and having fun. At times it was quite tempting. I’m pretty sure I’m going to stay in Calgary for at least one more year however, and evaluate where I go and if I stay around this time next year. I don’t even want to think about that sort of thing for at least 6 or 7 months from now anyways.

Somehow appropriately, the plane ride home was awful. My night flight was delayed by about 45 minutes and the sound of screaming children kept me awake while I waited at the terminal. Worse still, a bad seat, annoying passengers, more crying kids and a woman barfing violently a row ahead of me gave me zero time to sleep on the plane. When my parents picked me up at 6 am Toronto time, I was pretty much exhausted. After we drove to my brother’s place to visit, I nodded off constantly.

That night, I got my second wind and phoned up some friends to hang out and get caught up. A 26er of rye over a game of Scrabble wasn’t exactly what I had planned, but it proved entertaining enough. Let me tell you, you haven’t done a ‘double word score’ until you follow it up with a harsh drink 🙂

Mike Adams seems happier after moving in with Chris’ cousin, Mike Barker. It took us no time to get caught up and tell the stories that filled in 2000. He’s recently met a girl and I’m really happy for him. Whatever woman finally marries Little Mike will find an unselfish guy with a heart of gold.

Dan Chapman didn’t look like he’d changed very much. He’s got the same woman and similar priorities. Dan’s been relatively at ease with things as long as I’ve known him.

Glenn Reynolds always smiles and he always brings that out in me too. Even though I’d just seen him over the summer, it was nice having another get together and getting up to date.

Mike Barker is getting married and he’s taking it with the same attitude that’s gotten him through everything else. Relaxed, talkative and a little vulgar, he seems to have found a simple plan to take him forward. I envy that about him. I’m always searching for the next plateau and Mike has found happiness just doing what he does. He invited me to the wedding in June and I’ll do everything I can to be there.

Unbelievably, my parents didn’t seem to mind that I stumbled in at 3 in the morning and collapsed. It just goes to show you the power that retirement has had on them. Seeing them so happy and joking around is a wonderful thing. The holidays have always been a stressful time for us, and this year they’ve dealt with it better than ever.

The next day, I started my Christmas shopping. Starting to buy presents on December 21st may seem like a stupid idea, but for some reason I really enjoy it. Call it sadistic, but I love wading into the crowds and just being a part of the chaos that is Christmas shopping. If you let yourself get stressed about it, you lose a chance to watch hordes of humanity running around like madmen. I highly recommend it if you can get into the right frame of mind.

Going to Bowmanville to see Jamie and Chris’ role-playing game store was nice. The two boys are really digging in and trying to make the place work. If the initial crowd at the store is an indication, they’ve got a decent chance of pulling it off. Spending the night at Jamie’s place, we stayed up until almost dawn getting caught up and remembering odd high school days.

I missed Heather’s residence reunion party when I got latched to family commitments at the last minute. I’ve got to get out to Oakville at some point during my holidays and see the Sheridan kids as well as the school itself. Now that I don’t have a car, I realize how much more difficult it is to be mobile in a wide expanse like Toronto. It makes me wonder who owns my good old Zubmobile 2 now?

Seeing Chris Spatola worked out well. We hadn’t talked for years until just recently. The bizarre falling out we had over rivalry, roleplaying games and growing up just seemed silly now and I’m glad we could bridge the gap. It makes me wish I could contact other people and cut through the bullshit just as easily. I know I can’t be friends with everyone, but good memories always make me long for communication with all the people who’ve seen me grow this far.

Soon after, my parents and I headed into Richmond Hill to stay at my Grandmother’s. Unfortunately, this year would be a bit different. My brother Joe and his wife have had trouble coping since the baby died in April and decided they wouldn’t be spending Christmas Eve or Day with us. I guess it was a good idea if they anticipated bringing everyone else’s spirits down. Being at my Grandparent’s place with my brother on Christmas morning was a staple of the holidays and it felt weird knowing he wouldn’t be there.

Christmas Eve was good, but also strange. The family is changing and there wasn’t much time to take it all in before the evening flew by. My cousin Tammy is pregnant and seeing her preparing for a family of her own made me feel a heck of a lot younger even though I’m actually not. My other cousin Lisa is a full blown teenager, with all the social implications that apply to that stage of life.

Several people asked me about Tanya and I honestly didn’t know what to tell them. My parents had said so many wonderful things about her after their visit during the summer and everyone assumed she’d be in Toronto visiting and spending Christmas with me. I stopped quite a few times and thought about if she had been with me in Toronto for the holidays. When my imagination starts cooking, I can play out whole conversations with people and imagine what paths they would go down. I used to do that a lot when I was reminiscing or just writing dialogue for stories.

Christmas morning itself went better than I expected. I went all out for my parents this year as sort of a “thank you” for helping me through rougher times. Seeing them happy made it all worthwhile. Then, just as we were packing up the trash from opening gifts, my brother and his wife made a surprise visit. Joe changed his mind after feeling the tug of tradition, and it was nice to see them follow the impulse to stop by. Even under these circumstances, it felt good to have the family together and opening Christmas “loot”.

On our way to my Aunt Ann’s, we stopped by the graveyard to see the baby’s site. I hadn’t been around for any of the drama in April, so I wasn’t sure how I would react. Joe had asked me to design the headstone for the grave and it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Seeing the design there in front of me carved in stone felt very surreal. I didn’t cry, I just stood there feeling heavy and wondered what could have been.

Christmas dinner in my family is a massive affair with more food than anyone could ever eat in one sitting. Celebrating and eating snapped me out of my funk for a while and my wit seemed to warm up well as I quipped with my uncles. When I’m on a roll, it’s hard to stop me from zinging anyone in my path. My billiards skill however, still leaves a lot to be desired 🙂

Heading downtown the next day, I hung out with friends I’d met years ago at LARP. Getting caught up on 2 years worth of gossip is tough and it was a head spinning concept trying to keep track of who hated who this time. Jenn, Josh, Stu and Chris were happy to see me (I still can’t believe both Stu and Chris got married to two lovely women while I was gone) and the Strongbow flowed freely from the taps at the Bishop and Belcher on Queen Street that night. Weirdly enough, it was Chris’ last night working at the Silver Snail, where I had met him about 7 years previous. Even if the downtown group becomes more and more distant to each other, I try to stay in touch.

Seeing friends after years apart is such a strange experience. You share so many memories and old stories, but everything current feels so out of place. Some of them grow and become almost unrecognizable, while others seem like they’ve been frozen waiting for your return.

Which brings me to now. A little tired and needing a breather, I’m taking a day out to rest at my Aunt’s place and power up for round two and New Years Eve. Ups, downs, highs and lows…I’ll be trying to make the most of it before I head back out west.

If you’ve read all the way to the end in one sitting, I’m impressed. I didn’t realize how long this installment would be but so much is going on and I figured I should get it down before I forget anything. As it is, I’ve probably glossed over too much.

I’m back in Ontario in a whirlwind of family commitments, friends, holiday cheer and minimal sleep. It’s been 4 days back and I can’t believe how much is going on. I’m in a bit of a time crunch, so I’ll have to do a full report later.

Some of the Ontario people have already heard from me and others will be right after Christmas. Hang tight and e-mail me your phone number if you’re unsure whether or not I have it.

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone and enjoy your time with friends and loved ones. Having not seen people for at least a year, I’m appreciating my time here all the more.

Waking up this morning was quite shock to the system. The temperature in Calgary is a frozen -30 today. Bundled up, I could feel the tip of my nose losing all feeling as I walked from the train station to work. The school’s heating system is blowing the breakers, so we’re all wearing winter jackets inside. Last week was a warm Chinook blowing across the city and now we’re in the tundra deep freeze. Unbelievable.

I haven’t e-mailed you guys in quite a while, so I’ll try to remember all the material I need to get everyone caught up. There’s 52 people on the list now, all hearing about my weekly tales of Zub Stuff.

A couple weeks ago, it was a great time for memories. Ian and Mark, two of my best friends from film and multimedia. These two guys really helped me get out of my shell and enjoy the social side of school. Hearing from them made me even more excited about the possibilities over the holidays. Then, calling many of my friends from Sheridan and getting up to date on their lives took me back.

As if that wasn’t enough, my friend Jamie e-mailed me. Jamie and Chris were the two people in high school that I hung out with the most. They’ve really grabbed hold of our old dreams and started their own role-playing game store. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Memories, memories…

Memories made Friday entertaining as well. AMTC had their staff Christmas party and I made the most of the break. The staff decided to get dressed up and I went all out, wearing the tuxedo that I bought last year. I was in a great mood and made up my mind to have some fun. Drinking heavily was also par for the course, but luckily it didn’t hurt me the next day.

Taking a bit of a risk, I invited Jordie and Tanya along. Although it was a bit stressful, I’m glad I did. Tanya and I got along quite well and it got me thinking that I’ve been quite harsh with her. I don’t want to jump the gun and say we’re going to fix everything, but we’ll see what happens.

I saw the Kevin Costner film called For Love of the Game last night and I was stunned how much I liked it. I don’t like Costner and I generally hate sports films, but it grabbed me. It was a really good drama that focused on people, instead of the sport. Well worth checking out if you get a chance.

It’s just one more week before my holidays start. I hope this week doesn’t slow down. It’s the home stretch before I see you all again in Ontario. I’m so excited and I can barely wait. I haven’t been home since this time last year and the ache of not seeing all of you is pretty pronounced now. Many of you are changing, some stay the same, but all of it’s moving along. It’s hard not being there for all of it.

Getting all my work organized for the holidays is tougher than I thought it would be. I haven’t taken any time off since I restarted, so I’m getting all maternal about my class and their ability to function without me there. I think I’m also paranoid that they’ll like it too much while I’m gone 🙂

Looking at how many people I want to see over the holidays, I’m realizing how many phases I’ve been through and how many people have influenced my life so strongly. I feel so lucky to have all of you. Good times or bad, you’ve all helped me at different parts of my growth. When I see you in person, I’ll be sure to let you know that.

Okay, enough nostalgia for this time. I fast-forwarded through 3 weeks of events, but it’ll have to do for now.

Yikes! A whole lot of things have been going on, so I thought I would do my best to update everyone as to my last two weeks livin’ the Zub Life.

Where do I begin?

The day after I e-mailed you all last time, I had a confusing night. Running to meet up with my roommate for a sushi dinner and I just missed the C-Train. Waiting 20 odd minutes and I step on to the next train. Lo and behold, I run smack into Tanya (my ex-girlfriend, for those out of the loop). It’s the first time I’ve seen her since we broke up.

You always think about how you’ll act when you see each other next. You always wonder how it’ll happen and most of those scenarios are typical Hollywood dramatic style. They would never actual spin out that way. Of course, this being a Zub Tale, that’s EXACTLY how it all happened. The coincidental meeting on the train, both surprised and unprepared.

Dialogue was terse and cold with the usual lies about how everything is going great. It’s so cliché and even though I wanted to say more, I knew it just wasn’t going to happen. Breaking up with Tanya didn’t bother me and hasn’t been a bad thing, it was the idea of hurting her feelings. That guilt was the only bad part of the whole break up. Needless to say, I was a grumpy little Zub for the rest of that evening. Looking back over a week later, I’m a lot more at peace with it though. By running into her on the train, it made me think and evaluate the relationship and where it was headed. Doing that, I still feel good about my decision.

The weekend proved entertaining as well. I called back a girl that I had met on my flight down to LA and we went out for coffee. She’s a 20 year old University student named Robyn. Although our interests are quite different (I’m the cartoon guy, she’s in anthropology and is a professional skier), the conversation was really nice. More on her later in the e-mail…

School’s been busy and the class is under the real crunch before the holidays. Student morale is going through waves of highs and lows and keeping everyone focused has been tiring, but rewarding too.

The school had its Open House on Thursday and it was a great way to touch base with Bioware and Pixelplay, two the video game studios in Alberta. They were looking for 2D and 3D animators, which was always nice to see. They seem set on hiring 3-4 of my students, which is a great feeling. The new curriculum seems to be paying off.

That night, I headed out to a club in town called the Night Gallery to meet up with Robyn and some of her friends. It was amazing going dancing and having fun with everyone, but having work next day proved painful. The time flew by and the next thing I knew it was 1:30 am. By the time I made it home and actually fell asleep, waking up at 6:30am was excruciating.

Before anyone jumps the gun, I think Robyn’s pretty cool. But, I don’t think we’re going to be dating. She’s in school and at that stage where being social is a constant. Our conversation was really good, but our schedules are berserk and I’m sure university life will keep her more than occupied. It doesn’t bother me and there’s nothing wrong with just making new friends in Calgary. Besides, it may get me off my butt a little more 🙂

Today, I had a nice conversation with my friend Sara who’s working in Halifax. It sounds like they have so many of my old friends from Sheridan out there. Almost like a residence recreation going on. I have to admit, talking about all of them out there made me pretty nostalgic. If things weren’t going so damn well out here in Calgary, I’d be there in a flash.

All in all, par for the Zub Golf Course. The weather is relatively chilly and the sun goes down early in the evening, making it always feel like it’s later than it actually is.

As always, time is zipping by and my Christmas flight is only 4 weeks away. I can’t wait…

Recovering from the weekend in LA was fun. Getting back to a normal sleep schedule is never easy and I am still feeling tired at strange moments even now while I readjust. It wasn’t jet lag that did me in, it was being over energized and not sleeping all weekend.

On Tuesday, my roommate ICQed me at school and let me know that Scratching Post was playing in Calgary that night. If you remember, Scratching Post is the band that my friend Phil plays in. The same one that opened for Big Sugar on New Year’s Eve when I was in Edmonton. Although I was pretty beat from the weekend, I knew I had to go see them again and say “hi”.

The show was a blast and hanging out backstage with them after they finished was fun as well. The band’s been getting a lot more exposure lately, so I was a bit worried they might be starting to get egos. Luckily, that’s not the case. It felt like New Year’s Eve all over again and it reminded me of how fast everything’s been going since I came back to Calgary.

School’s been flowing nicely with no real problems to report. I seem to be in a decent groove with this class. We’ll see if that keeps up as their schedule intensifies.

On the weekend, Glenn swung back into Calgary on his way back home to Oshawa. On Friday night we ended up at a house party and the rest of the weekend we just lazed around.

It’s strange because Glenn and I have talked about a lot more personal stuff these past few visits. I don’t remember us discussing many things very deeply while I was in Toronto. It’s been nice getting to know him better. Although Glenn’s finished University, he’s not sure what he’s going to do now. He’s so good at just letting things slide and I envy that sometimes. I’ve almost always got a plan (vague or specific) and some kind of schedule. It must be a carry over from my Dad’s excessive record keeping. Glenn just wanted to travel and see more before he settles in to “real life”. Talking about that made me wonder if I should do more traveling next year.

The school was closed Monday and I can’t say that I minded the break. Most of my weekends are so rapid I barely know they happened. The three day weekend feels more “normal”, if that makes any sense. Admittedly, I just bummed around all day, but it was relaxing and I needed the time out.

Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me about the LA trip. I hope you all liked my cheesy photos. Even though it was only last week, it barely feels like it really happened. I guess most vacations are like that.

Until next week,

It was the best.

My weekend trip to Los Angeles was one of the best times I’ve ever had. It was an adventure, but it also helped me further my drawing ability and my career. It was an incredible opportunity to make contact with the industry as a professional and really see what it’s all about. I’ve had an incredible year out here and this is just more proof of it.

So many times while I’ve been teaching, I’ve felt separated from the animation industry. Calgary’s not exactly an animation Mecca, and it’s easy to feel beyond the fringe of the real work out here. The weekend made me feel a part of the bigger picture and helped me to see that the animation community is small, tight-knit and very social with each other.

I’ll start at the beginning. Dashing from class on Friday to the airport was fun and frantic. A big dinner with my boss Bohdan and I boarded the plane. Bohdan joked that I should skip the conference and just look for the nude beaches, but that’s just his way. During the flight, I was excited but it hadn’t sunk in. I had a great conversation on the plane with a couple Calgarians who were heading for a holiday. Even though I was telling them about my job and career, the whole trip and heading to LA didn’t even feel real yet.

I stayed at the Radisson West Side hotel. It was on the outskirts of the city, so it was surrounded by more highways rather than actual city life. The hotel itself was quite nice. I’ve never traveled and had my own hotel room, so that was quite strange as well. Being called “Mr. Zubkavich” by all the hotel staff was kind of funny. Sometimes I would get this feeling of being a kid with way too much responsibility. Going to a conference at age 24 is quite strange.

Of course, Friday night I could barely sleep at all. It was 4:00 in the morning and I was totally wired and a bit nervous. Checking into the hotel made me realize where I was. Of course, the warm weather and smog was a good indicator as well. The air in LA had a texture to it and was slightly unpleasant. I appreciated the fact that I could wear shorts all the time, but the feeling of air pollution wasn’t so impressive.

Saturday morning, I stumbled awake at 7:00am and couldn’t get back to sleep. After a hot shower and some breakfast, I felt mostly human. A quick taxi ride and I was at the studio. Even though I got there half an hour early, there was already a few people waiting as well.

Almost any industry is based on what you can do and “who you know”. Entertainment is even more heavily based on connections. The nice thing about art and entertainment is that the people that work there usually have similar interests. Honestly, most of us are geeks at heart and we love talking shop. Although I was nervous introducing myself for the first little bit, once I got used to it, it was very easy. Everyone was eager to talk about what they did in the industry and what else was going on around us. It reminded me of that feeling I got at residence when I realized that there were a lot more people just like me. It felt right and I knew, once again, that animation is where I belong. And then, of course, there was Don Bluth…

If someone had asked me how I thought Don Bluth would act, I wouldn’t have had a clue. This is a man who has had his studio crumble underneath him three times. His career has been a strange series of twists and turns. In the mid-eighties, people wondered if Don Bluth would overtake Disney in the box office. You have to remember that this was long before The Little Mermaid and Disney’s animated domination of the nineties. How would he act? Would he be bitter and tired of the industry? Did he resent Disney or Fox for their treatment of him?

The answer was oddly simple. He was one of the nicest and most giving people I have ever met. He seemed incredibly calm and totally at peace with the many ups and downs he’s experienced. Don Bluth is 63 years old and has been a part of the animation industry for 45 of those years. He’s worked with some of the best this medium has ever seen and had the strength to leave Disney and strike out on his own. With all of these things, he’s still humble, down to Earth and reasonable. No ego, no fake Hollywood aura. He was incredibly real and totally inspiring.

Don Bluth teaching on stage.

I was surprised at how little he spoke about drawing theory. That may sound disappointing, but it wasn’t. All of the drawing theories he covered I knew for the most part, but the parts that really cut to the core were when he discussed attitude and the visualization process that takes place before you draw. It may have been zen-like and artsy, but it all made sense and really made me think. I watched him draw with phenomenal confidence and I knew that if I could understand the way he prepared for drawing, I would be one step further to drawing with that strength. Drawing isn’t just technical skills and we’re not just mechanics. The drawings have to have feeling. If I learned one thing this weekend, it was that. Even though I knew this before, he really brought the concept home and I felt like I had a real grasp on it.

Lunch was part of the conference. I figured we’d be eating hot dogs and hamburgers over a barbeque or something. Here’s a hint: in California, even casual meals have exotic salads and ingredients. Strange dips, prawn shrimps and fruit salads made up the meal. It was really nice, but a little warped.

Saturday night I needed to explore. Vegging out at the hotel (even though I was tired) was not an option. I grabbed a taxi and headed to West Hollywood. Some people may think that wandering Los Angeles is stupid, but I stuck to well lit areas. I had to see more, I had to take in the whole place. Strangely enough, it wasn’t as dramatic as I thought it would be. Take the stranger parts of Toronto, make it 40 blocks instead of 4 blocks, add in more grime and a couple more people swearing at each other. That’s about it. I knew there wouldn’t be stars everywhere or Hollywood perfection. I just figured it would be more impressive on some level. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right area…

After I got back to the hotel after midnight, my legs hurt and finally, I could sleep. Sunday morning was wonderful as I woke up well rested and got ready for the conference.

Sunday was about half drawing theory and half question and answer time with Don Bluth. Unbelievably, he’s preparing to start another feature film. He’s completely undaunted by previous short comings and is full speed ahead to create again. That in itself was an inspiration. Hearing the stories of his career and what he’s learned really set some things straight for me. I’ve got a clearer view of my goals and what I want to do.

Jim and Don Bluth

I met so many great people: A Disney animator who worked under Glenn Keane, several animators who work for Electronic Arts, a Sega video game animator, storyboard artists, special effects people, motion capture specialists and an animator from Japan who worked on some of my favorite Hayao Miyazaki films. The weirdest part was everyone there telling me I spoke with a strange accent…

After exchanging contact info with everyone, getting Don Bluth and Gary Goldman to sign my original Secret of NIMH poster and checking out of the hotel, I was on my way back home. The flight back went quickly and the only part I didn’t like was entering the chilly -8 Calgary climate.

And last night, I could barely sleep again. So, I’m typing this up in a giddy, sleepy haze. I’m heading home from work a little early today to grab some rest. I’m sure I’ve missed bits, but that’s the trip in a nutshell. I’ve got a roll of film to get processed and when I do, I’ll post the photos for everyone to check out.

November was originally going to be a lazy month. Now, it’s looking like one of the most exciting of the year. I’ll be in touch.