Design Patterns (Graphics as I enjoy it)

Disclaimer: Contains no technical insight, no tips and no showcase.

I changed my twitter theme and bingo! It's on the same lines as my blog's theme! White as the central color. This gives the page a wide feel. But I love to splash colors here and there. (Though I think I've done more than splashing on twitter!)

I also like to use my own work as profile images. Or the alternative, Cartoon characters. Same goes for my desktop wallpaper.

Although I do graphics just next to nothing; I am quite fond of my li'l graphics folder. I'm waiting to create a new graphics. Illustration? Photoshop? MS-Paint? Well, its been so long that I won't get repetitive no matter what I try.

Illustration shall be pretty cool. The flashy jazzy feel works for me. Starting in Adobe Illustrator and finishing in Photoshop => Perfect effect.

But if I go for a pure-Photoshop graphics it'll mostly be a landscape. I've always wanted to try landscape in Photoshop.

MS-Paint? Well, it still remains my MOST favorite application on my laptop. Though not most used. And I think it gives a special feel to the drawings, unlike the other tools I've seen. Then again, I feel most creative with Paint. It provides you very basic options. You have to create effects yourself. Not just give directions as you do in Photoshop. (I say "I work with the pixels directly. It is immensely satisfying." and people laugh. Never mind.)

Hmm.. I'm not into gadgets. When I feel like buying one, chances are that it'll be a pen tablet. The only argument being: if I prefer a pen over a mouse for drawing, why don't I draw on paper? Hopefully I'll restart that too. Soon. Amen.

The Prescription: Go Drive A Car Twice A Day

Ok. I've finally taken the steering wheel in my hands and started learning how to drive.

Driving is proving to be a detox. I realized I don't need even a few minutes to get lost in thoughts. Its so hard to concentrate on nothing but the road ahead. So while I learn to drive, I'll also have to practice emptying my mind and imagination. Going by this new learning of how asynchronised, irrelevant and never-ending thoughts I carry, it should help to rest my mind a bit. Huh! Never knew my mind's so restless..

Its one thing to empty my mind. Whenever the heavy-duty trucks cross me from the opposite side, I get an impulse to turn right and bang them!! No. I don't play midtown madness :P

But seriously, when you have a fear of something for a long time, its intensity starts varying... Since last month my fear of speed and traffic has reached a maxima.. As a passenger, I've closed my eyes when my car overtakes another, clutched my seat at sharp turns, even audibly gasped during one or two close cuts.. Taking driving lessons in such phase should, thus, help my confidence. If I break down my fear when its at the peak, I expect it to vanish at least for a considerable time, if not forever..

So, to summarize, driving's helping me get over my fear of traffic and speed, part one, and its helping me rest my mind, part two. AND, when I care to notice it, its also gonna help me *move* from one place in the town to another on my own! Cheers!!