AlbertLiang.net — Blog

Well, you can barely tell, but I can tell! It feels a lot less poofy. =)

(I got a haircut, if you still can’t tell.)

(Yes, it’s airbrushed. Mostly for fun, though. Heh.)

Haircut: before and after

Let me tell you a story… about 2 guys and an idea. It started as an ideal that video should be more prevalent and more accessible to all. This pair (let’s say their names were Albert and Steve) wanted to form a company to cover everything that happened at their school on video, edit it, and give it back to their school for their use. They could use it to attract new freshmen, or compiled a yearbook DVD, or even just to be the first university to be completely transparent online — you could watch any show or take a campus tour right from your computer. This school (let’s call it Cornell for the sake of giving it a name) was missing this multimedia feature. Nay, it was completely absent, for you see this Cornell institution was still stuck in print and pictures.

It started as an idea to be cheap and “for all” — affordable for anyone because the sheer quantity would make up for the lack of a profit margin. While it was independent and private from the university, its ideal was essentially a service and volunteerism concept for its alma mater. Yeah? We have the premise all set? Let’s begin the story. =)

First, those two guys (er… Albert and Steve) found these two girls to help. Not because they were girls, but because they were skilled in aspects that A&S were not (financial management). These two girls (hmm, more names? alright… let’s see… Jess and Hannah) had a very important and milestone lunch with these two guys where the idea really began to take form. Unfortunately for A&S, H&J were not able to commit to the project, so that was actually the first and last business meeting of AS&HJ. (Funny aside… the original name of this ideal was called Phuzzy Designs.)

After H&J parted ways came a Mark. Then a Steph. Then an Austin. And somewhere along the way we lost an Emily. Followed a few months later by a Yang. I think the collective mass of these names was starting to generate a gravitation field, because soon we found an Alice, a Star, a Tina, a Venus, an Ian, a Cindy, a Hain-Lee, and a Shuning. This new mass was named Optix Productions, and it is currently petitioning to replace Pluto’s spot as the 9th planet of the solar system. The planet had a minor explosion one day and lost a handful of names from its mass, but cunningly drafted a few more names into its clutches: a Zach, a Cassie, an Amanda, and a Christina.

And 20 months later, after that fateful lunch, this is what I do in my office. I flick my business cards around to see how much of my desk and keyboard I can cover up.

Optix Studios business cards

Cookies are a sometimes food. Or so Sesame Street’s Elmo now says. It really is a curious question about child development and learning, though. How many kids “take away” from Sesame Street that cookies are OK as a meal just because Cookie Monster eats it on the show? And how many now “take away” the message that cookies are a sometimes food? From a personal standpoint, I don’t think I was distinctly influenced by Cookie Monster’s eating habits. If anything, the counting vampire probably left a stronger impression. However, I can’t definitely say Cookie Monster didn’t subtly influence my addiction to junk food as an adult. (Good thing “losing weight” wasn’t a new year resolution as that has already been proven to be a lost cause.)

Cookie Monster cupcakes at Krogers – those bakers are so creative!