01/01/2022

​ 01/05/2022 Yesterday or the day before, I had a dream I was in the PCA washroom. There were lots of girls, not all of them went to school here. We were washing our hands, there was a buffet style self serve burger setup inside. I don't know why, but people really liked the pickles. So I got some extra pickles, and left the washroom to go to my locker.

It felt like the last day of something, my locker was kind of empty, and there were some people standing around the lockers. I think 0002, 0133, and 0011 were there. It was probably Grade 12, because it was the place where we had our lockers that year, except my locker wasn't the one I had in real life. In the dream, it was on the opposite side, across from the one I actually had.

In my dream today, I was at some kind of sleepover with the girls. I don't know if they were all there, but I think 0026, 0186, 0002, and maybe 0112 were there. It was dark and we were all talking on the same bed. 0026 was saying something about 0056 and boys. I made some kind of analogy with paintings, watercolour, and paintbrushes. It makes no sense to me now, but in the dream, it seemed like a really good analogy and everyone knew what I meant. ​

01/06/2022 I had a dream I was at a Cisco intern mixer on Webex. People kept coming and going, so I went there in person. But I was really tired, so I fell asleep. When I woke up, everyone was in PCA uniform. There were a lot of people, but I only remember 0138 was one of them. I'm the only one wearing normal clothes – a red shirt and American Apparel jeans.

Mr. 0337 was there, and my mom was there too. She had my uniform in this really small black velvet envelope bag. Then everyone started leaving into these rooms, it reminded me of dance competition hotels. People were rolling their suitcases across the floor. I was the last one to get into the girls' room. A lot of them brought mattresses and were sleeping when I went inside.

I've never been here before. The washroom looks kinda fancy. I wanted to go back to sleep, but I was putting away my things. I had a clear bag with donuts inside, but I accidentally dropped one of the donuts onto the carpet, so I was trying to clean it. Then I woke up. ​

01/08/2022 From Charles Nix's course on Learning Type Design.

Nearly all fonts today are software. That means that most type designers are, on some level, software engineers.

​ 01/09/2022 In my dream, I went to church. It was Holy Word Church, but it was in a basement that looked like Area 300. There were a lot of people, much more than normal. They were all sitting on folding chairs. 0345, 0025, 0022, and 0013 were there. They kept changing seats and moving around. ​

01/10/2022 I had a dream I wanted to get bubble tea and a sandwich from Uber Eats. I searched "bubble tea" and there was a place selling a bubble tea sandwich. It looked kind of flat, the top was covered in brown sugar, I think the inside was filled with tapioca. I thought it was weird, so I kept scrolling. Then there was a cafe selling three different types of sandwiches, like normal sandwiches. ​

01/11/2022 It's easier to understand people who are similar to you. We can hear the same words, and have a completely different interpretation. I would probably have a hard time as a teacher. I generally don't like explaining things to people. It's annoying to me when others don't understand concepts. I prefer to discuss rather than teach.

I had a long dream, but I don't remember it anymore. Someone with a face similar to the bad guy from Mulan was in it. There was some sort of competition, and I think there were a lot of people, too. ​

01/13/2022

​ 01/14/2022 What I think I want in a summer 2022 internship Data visualization Ship something More visual design Work with smart people Good pay In person in the US ​

01/15/2022 I had a dream that if you become a member, then you can have all the items shipped to you in one package, instead of separately. I opened the drawer, there was a box, and inside of it was an unopened bottle of what I thought I ran out of. ​

01/16/2022 Not a dream from last night, just a memory of a dream I had. It was outside in the neighbourhood of my parents' house. It was a little cold outside, I was with some friends, I think Beans because 0373 was there. We were just taking a walk, I had a mask in my right jacket pocket, but something else was in that same pocket, maybe my keys? So when I took out the mask, somehow the keys had made the mask really dirty and ripped. ​

01/17/2022 How to argue Listen to the other person Don't assume you're right Find common ground Show how your view aligns with views they already have Clarify and outline the root problem or point of disagreement ​

01/18/2022 I had a dream about a church related summer trip. Outside, me and two friends are talking to a girl like we knew her, but we didn't, except we followed her on Instagram because we have mutuals. During our conversation, she jokingly called us old, but we can't be more than three years older, tops.

"Get in the cars, we're going on a trip." In front of us is the boys' car. There was a kidnapper, and three of them died. We had to hide in our car. Back inside, it's not safe anymore. 0022 and the other 0298 were there. ​

01/22/2022 I dreamed I was at my parents' house and it was nighttime. Somehow 0345 was there, but no one noticed him at all. Then I was at some type of boarding school, there was a big elevator in the middle of the building. At this place, it feels like we just lived in a cycle, everyday, go up the elevator, go to class, go down the elevator, go back to your room. We wore uniforms, white sweaters with blue skirts. I was living with my friend, but her friend got jealous. So there were some awkward moments in the elevator, when we were all in there, because her friend didn't like me.

I was getting out of the elevator, and I saw 0112 and 0139. There was a prayer writing competition. They wrote one on top of paint sample cards, it was in 0112's handwriting. The prayer was very poetic and had a musical rhythm in the words. It also talked about memes and somehow referenced Mr. 0372. They got 1st place in the competition. Then I woke up. ​

01/24/2022 In my dream, I was somewhere near an airport. There was a crowd, four boys named Daniel, Mark, Luke, and John (I don't know any of them in real life), and someone who reminds me of Moseby from Suite Life.

I woke up in a dark room. There was a girl next to me. I turned on my laptop, and my screen projected onto the wall. A setting on my laptop reset, and everything was in light mode. My desktop background was reset too, so I was trying to find what I had used before in my files. The girl asked me why I didn't remember. I said, because my files cover it most of the time. Eventually I found it, it was a 3D version of some building drawings I did. Similar to the Topia world I made for Atelier 3, with a pink sky.

​ 01/25/2022 I'm the main character in my dream. We're on a trip and I'm with my friends. These girls keep following me and wanting to sit with me, but there's no space for them. There's a lot of food, it was buffet style. Mr. 0154 is doing catering. We went to go check it out early. There were croissants that looked like vertical cornucopias filled with feta cheese. There were mushrooms, shrimp, and lots of vegetables. When I was walking back, I saw 0011. Someone asked me if there was Chinese food, I said yes because there was a lot.

At church, I was talking to 0133 about girls. 0026 got sick and 0136 was taking care of her. 0131 was late, he went to the back. He asked "What did I miss?" and no one replied to him, so I said, "Everything."

After, I went to someone's house, even though I'm not sure if I was invited, but it was chill. Somehow I got looped into practicing tap dancing with a few people who were also former tap dancers. We were standing around the dining table wearing socks. The guy standing beside me was a really good tap dancer, but he kept doing toe stands, which people thought were impressive, but is like the easiest thing to do. I kept seeing 0345 among people in the house, but I never talked to him. 0026 finally posted on Instagram.

Everyone started leaving. 0038, his younger sister, and dad were the only ones left in the house. He doesn't have a younger sister in real life, but he did in the dream. They were going on a trip to a country club, and jokingly invited me, but I'm busy, so I can't go. I was cleaning up, and throwing things into the garbage. My mom came, and she was reading a red book. Then I woke up. ​

01/26/2022 In my dream, we're coming out from a hotel. Everyone is walking in a single file straight line to a restaurant. In between is an island that we cross, it's like a green mountain. There are cars below and around it. The sky is soft and light pink. It feels like there is a neon pink glow coming from the light. The mountain has snow. People have walked in it before, we're not the first. The more people walk in it, the pinker it gets. The sun is setting, I'm taking pictures. I'm wearing a dark coloured sweater, and I don't know why I'm putting my sleeve into some of the photos. The person in front of me looks like 0374, he keeps sticking his thumb in front of my phone camera.

When I get to the restaurant, 0130, 0011, and some other people are there already, but there are more coming. There's not a lot of space to sit, but we can fit. I've been here before, we're ordering for 14 people. They asked me which bottle of water I want. There's many different options – it's the same water and every bottle has a black and white label on it, but they all have different fonts. ​

01/27/2022 A guy and a girl were having a race. The guy had a panda head and the girl was wearing a red dress. They were inside a gym. I wasn't in the dream. ​

01/28/2022 Food I ate from January 20 to 28.

​ 01/30/2022 My dream is in a suburban neighbourhood. Nick from Suburb Talks, 0309, and 0112, and other people are there. We're in a park, on the street. "Why would I date a ghost?" and something about New York City. One of the friends went home. We have nowhere to go, so we knock on his door. I guess we're going inside then.

Near a cave outside, someone is taking pictures of Freezia in a pink dress, so she's back now. People are eating at picnic tables, buffet style. I think I'm being filmed for a competitive reality show. But I'm going to drop out. There's a white girl who kept denying that she poisoned someone, but the truth is coming out that she did it... She kind of looks like 0375, the one that 0345 works with. A lot of stuff happened underground, near a tunnel, similar to the place I imagined people go when they die in Stephenson's metaverse. ​

01/2022

​ 02/01/2022 I dreamed we were in Miss 0014's classroom, the old location at Peoples. There are stacks of books, and we are going through them. Somehow the only person I remember is 0051, but there were a lot of people. I have to go do something, where is my sidekick? Something about a red shirt and red pants. ​

02/02/2022 0376: All the smart programmers are lazy. 0356: All the stupid ones are, too. 0377: It's the flavour of the laziness.

​ 02/03/2022 I had a dream that 0378 found a tweet that I made about mooncake around two years ago, and they replied to it. I got one of those spam texts with a link that probably contains a virus. I accidentally tapped it, and then I couldn't control my screen. When I finally got to the home screen, I realized my entire phone was now in an Android OS and I was freaking out, Googling how to fix it, but no one online had experienced this before. What made it worse was that my phone's alarm was going off, but I couldn't even stop it, because how do you even use an Android? Then I woke up.

​ 02/04/2022

​ 02/06/2022 I had a dream I was going to get these pink earmuffs with ribbons on them. But after I picked them up, the earmuff balls fell off. Then I went grocery shopping with my mom, and I bought snacks and cake. ​

02/09/2022 I feel like I had a dream where my roommate was up really early, but I can hear her getting up in her room now, so I don't know if it was real or a dream. ​

02/10/2022 In my dream, I was outside running, there were three guys running in front of me, and one girl behind me. Someone was watching, I could hear them talk about us. We decided to go for one more lap, I was really tired but I kept going. 0026 came over, she slept in my bed while I slept on the floor. ​

02/13/2022 I had a dream I was scrolling on Instagram, hadn't checked my feed for a while, seeing posts from five days ago, all from one person. When I tapped the profile, all the posts were gone, but there were a lot of stories of people. You know how if you have a lot of stories, it will horizontally scroll on your profile? OK in my dream, there were so many stories, that there were multiple rows below each other. ​

02/14/2022 In my dream, these two people in my class messaged me on Discord if I wanted to be in their group for an Atelier project, and they sent me their ENS domain. While I was walking to a restaurant to meet up with friends, there was a girl with a red lace Naked Wolfe mini backpack, and I complimented her. Then someone else said they liked my Kuromi backpack. I saw someone who looked like 0112 from the back, but it was someone else from her friend group. We all laughed because people always mix the two up. ​

02/18/2022

​ 02/19/2022

​ 02/23/2022 I'm tired of making decisions... If you always get what you want, then do you really know what you truly want? I think about how my current decisions will affect the future a lot, but I don't like to imagine the future. ​

02/25/2022 What I want that I am missing A core friend group Energy (I'm tired) Motivation to work Time for reading, driving, and music Greater productivity and optimization Time to spend on school things To care less – caring is energy Other streams of passive income

I want to know that I am spending my time in a valuable manner, that will have a good amount of positive impact, for me and others in the future. I'm not depressed. I had a dream there were two groups of guys discussing something about my life. They had different views and it was a long, detailed, logical discussion about a decision. ​

02/26/2022 I had a dream I was moving into 300. 0020 and 0021 are there, and 0043 is leaving. I was going there as a preliminary thing, it's fall right now, and I'm planning to go in January. A huge elevator, why does it feel like I've been there before? 0379 and her friend who might also live in the building were in the elevator. I went with my mom. In the room, they asked if I wanted tea. I was wearing white socks. ​

02/2022

​ 03/02/2022 In my dream, I'm at some kind of event where there is a speaker, but everyone has to wear their own earbuds to listen. It's a small room, but big enough for there to be rows of people. I'm late, but there are still spots and I find a seat. After the service, the girl in front of me turns around, and it's 0380. 0308 is also there.

I get an email from 0381 saying she was in Iceland, and I was thinking about how it's not fair to compare AI and blockchain, because blockchain hasn't reached similar levels of adoption yet. It has the potential to impact security and financial systems at scale. Then I woke up. ​

03/03/2022 Thinking about the time I did two take home design challenges in a week, while I was working a full time job as a full time student. I didn't get either of the jobs. Probably my fault for attempting to do it.

In my dream, there was an old man who used to be very knowledgeable, but he is losing his mind. He will start off a sentence saying something very wise and nuanced, but lose his thought. He keeps saying sorry. We try to find people to help him, but it cannot be reversed. I am feeling very worried about this... I have more roommates now. There is a Discord update where you can like messages, similar to Outlook mail. And 0056, 0345, 0382, and 0383 were all in a server. ​

03/04/2022 I had a dream that someone dared me to go back in time, so I did. Everyone was going to 0131's house. I got into his van. He got a buzzcut, 0131 and 0137 were in the car, and we were making fun of him. When we got there, people were waiting outside. 0141 was wearing an oversized tan vintage tweed blazer. ​

03/05/2022 In my dream, I was at a small library inside of a mall with my homies. It was a cool spot. Then I went to go find the washroom. The mall was built in a way that made navigation difficult. Every escalator had two sides, one was hidden. In order to find places, you sometimes had to take the path on the hidden side of the escalator. It was royal blue, velvety fabric, in a diagonal wavy line.

When I went around the mall, there were some other guys running around, also trying to find their way. I made it to the bottom of the escalator. There was a group of girls standing there. I thought they were waiting to use the washroom, so I joined them. After a few minutes, other people who were looking for the washroom joined us too. I started getting impatient, so I asked them, "Are you waiting for the washroom?" They said "No, we're just at the end of the escalator to stand here and sing a bit." Me and the other people who were waiting were so annoyed, 'cause we needed to pee.

​ 03/06/2022 I had a dream that I went to sleep, but I forgot that I left the window open. When I woke up, there was snow all over my room. I don't know where this room is in real life, it wasn't my current room of the one at my parents' house. It was dark, in a basement, bigger than my room downtown, with a long desk by the window, and a bed that is perpendicular to the way my bed is right now. There was snow on my laptop, so I wiped it off, and somehow that made the stickers come off, too.

Still in the dream, 0384 helped me with my homework. I haven't talked to her in a while, she was saying we should catch up. She's actually going to be in Toronto this week, am I free on Thursday? Sorry, I have school and work, and I'm busy on Thursday, I usually call 0385 on Thursdays, and 0345 is coming on Thursday too. Does the weekend work? 0384's busy on the weekend, she has a tight schedule. Maybe another time in the summer. ​

03/07/2022 Advice for young people from Elon Musk.

If you have a zero sum mindset, the only way to get ahead is by taking things from others. If the pie is fixed, the only way to have more pie, is to take someone else's pie. But this is false. Obviously the pie has grown dramatically over time. It's much better to work on adding to the economic pie.

In real life, I had to message this girl on Depop to clarify her address, 'cause she input it incorrectly. She told me she lives in Kingston, but she wrote Toronto. I had a dream where I was walking downtown and I saw a building with the same name as what she wrote. I thought, maybe this building is actually in Toronto? But it's not. ​

03/09/2022 I dreamed about a website that looked something like this. It had parallax scrolling effects.

Then I had a discussion with 0376 about something Secure Endpoint related. I went back to PCA, where 0386 became a teacher, and she was co-teaching a class with Mrs. 0117. Some of us went back to take the class. They wrote their own textbook. Me and 0026 didn't have a copy, so we went to the office to get one.

In the office, there were a bunch of teachers just chilling. I don't remember all of them, but Miss 0014, Ms. 0173, and some more people were there. There were many piles of books in the office. It wasn't that organized, but some were on shelves. As we were leaving, there was a shelf of free snacks. Me and 0026 picked the same snack, and her mom said something about it. Then I woke up. ​

03/10/2022 I don't know if I want to be a product designer forever. I'm interested in a lot of things, like entrepreneurship, machine learning, geography, economics, psychology, languages, investing, and more. But I still have a long way to go when it comes to design, and I also like the idea of specializing in design systems or finding a niche. I'm just scared I'll get "too deep" into design, and a few years later, find myself in a place where it's hard to get out. I would like to spend time building skills that aren't directly related to design, but it's hard to find a balance of trying new things and making financially safe career decisions without getting burned out. ​

03/11/2022 Vince Staples on Tyler, the Creator's Call Me If You Get Lost Tour, with 0370.

​ 03/14/2022 I wish I could breathe. I feel like I had this dream of being on a set filming something, for two days in a row. ​

03/16/2022 In my dream, I was at a buffet style restaurant, and there was a lot of Asian food. I knew many people in the building, maybe it was an event. I first took some fish balls and soup, and looked for a place to sit. There was an elderly couple sitting together, and they gestured for me to sit at their table. So I went and bowed, and I called the grandma 할머니 in Korean. Bruh why am I dreaming in Korean? Then I had to go to work, me and my boss were working on a font together. ​

03/17/2022

​ 03/18/2022 In my dream, I was in a new big brown car with my friends that we borrowed from someone we knew. We were going too fast and didn't see the car that went in front of us before it was too late. We crashed into the car and the police came. The car was badly damaged and got towed away, but no one was hurt.

What does it mean to waste time? What do people mean when they say they wasted their time? They regret a decision? They wish they did something else? They didn't get the outcome they expected? ​

03/20/2022 I had a dream I was going on a plane and checking my tickets – it says row 8, seat 24. 0385 and 0298 are on the same flight. I am sharing a house with a lot of people. There is a box in the corner that looks like both a fridge and a storage unit. It's divided into two, one half is used by me and 0370, the other half is used by 0387. This other guy enters and steps on 0387's shoes, and she gets really mad at him, I am scared.

I went to Wonderland and 0230 asked me why I was there, 0243 was also there. It was in Resale, but it didn't look like Resale. I said I wasn't coming back, I just had to visit to do something. They were wondering how much I am getting paid at my new job, I didn't want to say. Then I woke up. ​

03/21/2022 I had a dream I was in French class, the Renfrew version, and sitting in between 0112 and 0079. Vince Staples was also in this class, and he was at the desk behind me. Then, an alarm went off, but it wasn't coming from my phone or iPad, so I couldn't turn it off. 0370 and 0387 came in my room to help me find out where the sound was coming from, but we couldn't figure it out. I thought maybe the sound was coming from outside my window, so I was preparing to leave the house and check. My roommates were wondering if I would be safe, because it was dark out, and there was a group of strangers walking by.

I blacked out again and my stomach hurts so much. ​

03/24/2022

​ 03/25/2022 Most things are a series of small decisions. ​

03/2022

​ 04/03/2022 I had a dream I went to a new school. One of the classes was a type of fighting training. We had to play dodgeball and wrestling. The class was mixed with girls and guys, but the guys were a lot bigger. During the wrestling matches, the girls kept losing, and the guys were laughing. Until, this small Asian girl was matched to fight one of the biggest guys, who was really arrogant. Everyone underestimated her, but she gracefully beat his ass. The guy was mad and embarrassed. I was watching and smiling.

Then after school, I was at a party and these girls were trying to drug me. They were trying to feed me snacks and Mountain Dew, but I knew it was spiked. There was a popular song, and its lyrics were glamorizing dangerous plastic surgery procedures. I was the only one to leave the party early, and this girl started chasing me with the food. They were trying to get me and sell my body parts.

Another time I saw the girls at school again. They offered me these unnatural looking baked desserts, artificially bright blue food colouring and topped with white sprinkles, sugary and unappetizing. I started leaving again, there were several flights of stairs going down. A girl noticed and started following me again. She said, "You're like a mouse, always running away from me. One of these days, I'll get you." And I just kept going down the stairs. ​

04/04/2022 In my dream, I was at a long wooden table in a restaurant, with dark but sufficient lighting. My mom was across from me, and there were some other guys giving podcast bro vibes. Somehow we decided to have a condiment eating competition on who could eat the most and fastest. There was tomato sauce, mustard, and other sauces. ​

04/09/2022 Lorde on the Solar Power Tour, with 0420 and 0421.

​ 04/13/2022 I had a dream I was making Chapagetti on the stove for my mom. ​

04/15/2022 What I usually think about these days What should I eat? What should I wear? Am I forgetting something? Am I focusing on the right thing at the right time? Am I thinking about the right things? How should I improve this? What would happen if I took a different approach to this? Machine learning Crypto The economy Building products Building systems I want to listen to this song I'm worried about this thing that's out of my control Which K-drama should I watch next? I should clean my room Should I go to sleep or do work? Should I drink coffee? Do I have COVID? I need to go to the washroom Should I track this? What should I be doing right now? What do I need to do tomorrow? I'll reply to them later What did I dream about last night? How can I save time? How can I find more opportunities to multitask? Am I going to fail this class? ​

04/17/2022 In my dream, I was attending ceremonies with my friends, where you have to be dressed up, and there are a lot of girls lined up. We kept running into these three sisters who looked Middle Eastern. The last one was in a church with a garden, and then we went to Wonderland. It was raining, and we were trying to decide where to eat. I was wondering if Coasters was open, and if they would remember me, or if I even knew the people who worked there.

Then we split up to hang out individually with these guys I didn't know. I was near the ocean, and there was a big rock. I was talking to him about sociology, and the conversation was really awkward, but he was nice. Later, there was a get-together in someone's backyard. I was talking to one of the sisters who had black curly hair about sign language and how 0002 taught me a swear word. And then her other sister told me one time they went to go visit the original Treehouse from "You're watching Treehouse" and I was like, I didn't even know that Treehouse was real. ​

04/18/2022 In my dream, it was 7 am and I was walking with this guy, to a building that was a mix of school and IKEA. In the distance we saw four people, I think 0388, 0197, 0389, and Mr. 0146. We thought, why are they walking so early in the morning? We had some things to do, like going to the grocery store and going on the subway. He would always use my Presto card.

Near the end of the day, we came back to the building. We were in the parking lot and we saw the four people again from far away. Are they still walking laps around the building? It's been almost 12 hours now... I heard they were walking for majority ownership of the building or something like that. ​

04/20/2022 Working on my font.

​ 04/21/2022 Saying goodbye, leaving a job, is so awkward, how do you do it? In 10 years, maybe my job will be something that doesn't exist yet.

​ 04/22/2022 In my dream, there was a plane crash. I was sitting across the table from someone I knew, and then 0298 got really mad at me for saying I wanted to make passive income because "Isn't that a given?" ​

04/25/2022 In Paris.

​ 04/26/2022 I had a dream we were making pottery at ENSCI.

​ 04/27/2022

​ 04/28/2022

​ 04/29/2022

​ 04/2022 In April, ten of us from OCAD went to Paris for an urban design workshop with ENSCI, an industrial design school. I learned that students in Europe don't need to pay tuition, they love staying in school, don't think about work, and want to start their own studios. It was the first time I made friends from OCAD. Also, we lived in the same hostel that ITZY did in a vlog.

​ 05/04/2022 Ever since I was little, I've been conditioned to only pursue things I'm good at. You take classes you're good at so you can get good grades so you can get into a good school. But lately I've been finding it very rewarding to work on things, not because I am good at them but just because I like them. ​

05/11/2022 When I was 10, I thought I could do anything. When I was 20, I realized I can do anything but I don't have enough time. ​

05/15/2022 Advice from a 20 year old

1. In terms of money stuff, the best investment you can make is in yourself. Your future growth potential is higher than real estate or crypto or whatever.
2. Be wary of people who are too confident in their own knowledge. People who are really smart, know what they don't know. You can't really know everything, so people who act like they do, are not smart enough to recognize what they don't know.
3. Do work you're proud of. Make decisions you're proud of.
4. Keep creating. Not everything will be a banger.
5. If you don't know why you're doing something, don't do it.
6. You can predict the future by making it happen.
7. If you know you can achieve your goals, you are setting the bar too low.
8. Just because you don't succeed in something right away doesn't mean you should stop doing it.
9. Don't try to force things.
10. It's OK to say "I don't know."

​ 05/22/2022 I had a dream I was on a school bus, next to 0011, and 0130 was sitting on her lap. Outside there was a girl who looked like 0056, so I took a photo of her and we were talking about sending her the picture.

​ 05/26/2022 I dreamed I was part of this group of four girls where we had powers. We were eating outside for a banquet, and there were a few stacks of papers signing up for a K-pop event. One of the girls asked me to go sign up for them. Then later we were outside, and someone was trying to test our powers by using elements against us, to hurt us. ​

05/30/2022 It's so hard to find a place where I feel like I belong. Everywhere I go and with every person I meet, I feel like I need to mold myself a little to be more relatable, more agreeable, more easy to talk to. I'm tired. I feel like a puzzle piece that doesn't fit. I've pretended to like so many things that now I'm not sure if I actually like these things, if I've tricked myself into thinking I do, or if those two options now have the same meaning.

I was myself around you. I could talk to you about anything, without feeling like you didn't care. But these days, it seems like we always disagree and we're never on the same page. I can't figure out if it's worth trying, or if I should give up. I don't think giving up is a bad thing. I think knowing when to give up is a valuable skill. I don't know if I have this skill. ​

05/31/2022 In my dream, I flushed the toilet while my roommate was standing in the shower watching the water go down. The shower wasn't on. I saw 0370 leaving, and she was wearing a Hello Kitty backpack. Then I was at my parents' house, and my mom had the 0060 family over. 0019 was on the couch, and people were asking him questions about school. ​

05/2022

​ 06/02/2022

​ 06/03/2022 What do you want? Peace of mind To make the world more beautiful ​

06/05/2022 Lots of people do the same things for different reasons. You can tell a lot about someone by the way they talk about the future. ​

06/06/2022 I had a dream I slept through our client interview with 0390, and I was messaging 0391 to say I was so sorry. Then I was on my period and it leaked. Somehow the time on my computer was wrong so I actually didn't miss the client interview, although I still missed our morning sync. The call was a disaster, I couldn't understand what he was saying. Midway through, I asked a question and he said, "I just answered that question," sounding frustrated. Then I woke up. ​

06/07/2022 People keep asking me why I don't use TikTok and I don't know, maybe it's because I don't like using my phone, and the TikTok experience is optimized for mobile. ​

06/09/2022

​ 06/11/2022 In my dream, we were in a park. 0392 and 0393 got shot. I was so close to dying, I was right there when he got shot. I don't know what we did wrong.

Then I'm somewhere else, the lights are off, the ceilings are very high. I don't remember if we were allowed just this once. When they turned the lights on, there was lots of Sharpie and drawings on the white brick wall. I saw animals and mannequins dressed up in spring pastel colours. 0027 and 0061 were there. ​

06/17/2022

​ 06/20/2022 I would like to cry but I don't have time. Maybe next week. ​

06/27/2022 Today I was reading a book in a meeting with my camera on. I am going to cry, eat, wash the dishes, and shower. ​

06/28/2022 I dreamed I was at a bar with Grace people. There was a Buzzfeed host and a nurse who worked 60 hours a week. ​

06/29/2022 I dreamed about emails – receiving, forwarding, and reply all. I needed help washing dishes in a very big sink. And I had 11 mosquito bites. ​

06/2022 In June, I retook the Electroacoustics class that I failed the previous year and passed. I learned to make synths from scratch! And I've been working on a product for modelling private equity investments at Addepar.

​ 07/01/2022

​ 07/03/2022 In my dream, 0369 had to use the washroom. (I guess she was my roommate again.) I went back to sleep. Next thing I know it's 11:12 am and Mom is calling me. I tell her to go to church, I'll be late. I look in the mirror and my hair needs to be washed.

I see my mom and dad. They want to wait for me. I end up showering in this public building. It's a nice building, it looks new. It's glass and dark, no lights are on. There are lots of people walking around, but I guess the glass is one way – I can see them, but they can't see me. Or they can see me showering and just choose to ignore me. Somehow it feels like all the people are tiny like ants, and the showerhead is huge and water is everywhere. Then I woke up. ​

07/04/2022 Ways to save time that don't require a lot of money Use voice instead of typing Use keyboard shortcuts, especially for screenshotting Don't cook with oil Say no to things Multitask with different parts of your brain – like grocery shopping while listening to a lecture ​

07/10/2022 I had a dream I was walking on a street downtown and there were wild animals. ​

07/16/2022 0136's birthday.

​ 07/18/2022 In my dream, I saw an Addepar cup, dishes, and there was a party in the next room. ​

07/19/2022 Things that made me more patient Job hunting Making a font Coding ​

07/25/2022 In my dream, I was at the grocery store and the police came. Someone was throwing rocks. 0395 had something to do with a Tumblr union. 0315, 0006, and 0027 were there. I had to give a Navigator presentation at school. 0400, 0001, and 0022 were there too. ​

07/28/2022 Comparison works well in scientific experiments where control variables are the same and stuff, but obviously you can't have that in real life. ​

07/30/2022 Good feelings Getting a refund Putting down heavy bags Sitting down Going to the washroom Eating

​ 07/31/2022

​ 07/2022

​ 08/01/2022

​ 08/02/2022 I practiced with 0401 and presented at InternFest in a room with 0401 and 0402. 0403 said my presentation was fantastic, 0404 said the futures joke was funny, and 0391 and 0406 also said really nice things. I talked to 0402 about blockchain, we hit 4 trillion assets on platform, I met 0407 and 0408, and played Secret Hitler with the product design team. ​

08/03/2022 A lot of people I don't know told me my presentation was really good. We were eating on the terrace. 0409 was juggling oranges at the office. I met 0394's manager, and I think 0410, 0411, and 0412 who are Canadians were there. I ate at a fancy Japanese restaurant, we spoke some Mandarin at our table, and heard 0413's stories.

​ 08/04/2022 We had a design principles workshop. I was sitting with 0414, 0415, and 0416 at dinner. 0415 told us about the time he died. We wrote letters to the person across from us at dinner. At karaoke, they checked my ID, but I still got in. I sang "Complicated" with 0417. Then I went back to the hotel and ate Domino's with 0002. ​

08/07/2022 Today I learned that my hidden talent is fly swatting. ​

08/14/2022

​ 08/18/2022 Saint John, New Brunswick.

​ 08/19/2022

Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia.

​ 08/20/2022 Citadel Hill, Halifax.

​ 08/26/2022 I find it really hard to ask people to hang out. ​

08/30/2022 I was writing a final paper about interface history for a class, but I went on a two week road trip and didn't hand it in. Got a zero on the paper but a 52 in the class.

​ 08/31/2022 New resolutions End Snapchat streaks End Toggl Track End liking all the pictures on my Instagram feed ​

09/2022 Desserts I ate in Toronto from April to September.

​ 09/09/2022 In my dream, I was in my room at my parents' house with 0022 and one other guy. We were hosting some kind of audition where guys would one by one ring the doorbell, and I would go downstairs to let them in. Then we would go upstairs and ask them questions. When it was time for the last person, the doorbell rang.

I went down to get the door, but no one was there. I had a weird feeling about this. It had gotten dark out, and somehow started snowing. I hesitated because I didn't want to see who I thought I might see, but I didn't want to miss out on a good candidate, so I said "Hello?"

0343 and 0418 came out and I did a mental facepalm. I brought them upstairs anyways, and they sat facing the wall, while everyone in the room asked them questions via iMessage group chat. I was so uncomfortable that I was like, how do I get out of this? Oh, I can wake up. ​

09/12/2022 Questions Why are big companies slow? Why are startups fast? Why do grandkids of super rich people lose all their wealth? Why do teams invest more in design systems as they scale? Why does it get harder to organize things when you have more? Why does it get harder to do work when things are not organized? Are conventionally successful people also conventionally organized people? Does the way you organize Spotify playlists and photo albums indicate anything about your personality? ​

09/16/2022

​ 09/19/2022 In my dream, I saw my mom. A doctor performed surgery on me, and used a knife to cut up slits in the side of my stomach. It hurt but felt better afterwards. ​

09/23/2022

​ 09/24/2022 Sometimes you need to stop and tie your shoelaces so you can run faster. ​

09/26/2022 Doodling during History of Typography.

​ 09/28/2022

​ 09/30/2022

​ 10/01/2022 Nuit Blanche.

​ 10/02/2022 I dreamed a large bearded white man in a green Yeezy looking car tried to shoot me for jaywalking. ​

10/04/2022 In my dream, I saw not 0315, 0025, and 0072. I was going to Grace Toronto and forgot my backpack. Then at Booster Juice, my teeth fell out. ​

10/05/2022 Libraries are like being on the Internet without having to go on a computer. ​

10/06/2022 Words like “backup" and “second best” usually have negative connotations, but I love backups, they’re so good and useful to have and sometimes life saving, and second best is so good too, if I was always second best that would be great, no one is first all the time so being second all the time would be incredibly consistent. ​

10/07/2022 I dreamed I was in the car with my mom and dad. A phone was vibrating, it was under the seat. Suspicious... why are there so many phones? ​

10/10/2022 I read the news about Varun Chheda – I hear stories like this all the time, but I don't know why this one hit different for me. Life is precious and as humans, we have a responsibility to take care of one another. ​

10/11/2022 I dreamed I was 10 minutes late to my meeting with 0419 and he sent me a reminder email. When I joined, he showed me this artsy video that had a video of a face layered over another video, which was supposed to be using AI. I had exactly one hour, but I forgot some of my questions. ​

10/12/2022 I had a dream we were friends again. You told me about your new girlfriend and we talked about economics. Then I was buying concert tickets with 0399 and they were like over $200. I immediately regretted it and wanted a refund, but they were non-refundable. ​

10/13/2022 Tools that are made for productivity and efficiency often become tools for measuring. ​

10/15/2022 Weldon Library at Western.

​ 10/16/2022 I had a dream Mister Mango Butt did a face reveal, but his face looked so different from what we were all expecting, and he wasn't even Chinese. ​

10/18/2022 In my dream, there was a guy on a donkey and other animals. It's OK for the first few animals, but the donkey runs off chasing when it's his turn. There is a YouTube video becoming viral that is a parody of an existing movie or TV show. This is now only possible because of advancements in AI and inpainting tools like Runway. A girl arrives at a secluded house. There is a shady guy. Later on, I think they try to kill each other due to a misunderstanding. ​

10/19/2022 Saw Shaheer Zazai's Microsoft Word carpets at the Aga Khan Museum with 0422, 0399, and 0423.

​ 10/27/2022 I had a dream I went to PCA with 0002. We got bubble tea after. The people working there went downstairs to find ingredients, one was speaking Korean and the other was speaking Chinese. I ate a long white bar of tapioca. They said I got soap poisoning from it. They helped me put salt on my tongue and it turned green. ​

10/30/2022 In Waterloo for the weekend. Went to Taste of Grebel, made a pin for 0002. Sometimes the best gift is a good conversation.

​ 10/31/2022 If... We've been to a concert together You regularly like my tweets We were both at PCA for over 10 years You bought me a piece of clothing that I use frequently We've discussed God I consistently reply fast to you We have visited each other while living 2+ hours away from each other We know each other's family You know my non-mainstream social accounts – like Are.na or Spotify We've stayed over at each other's place before I have gift ideas for you in my Notes app We have written each other handwritten notes or cards We know each other's birthday by memory We have built something together We have lived together

For each one, add a point. A higher number might mean you know me more. ​

11/01/2022 I dreamed about an econ meeting. ​

11/05/2022

​ 11/07/2022 I had a dream the pins came off my backpack. ​

11/10/2022 I had a dream I got stabbed in the back of my neck, so I didn't have to do work or school. It was on the news, a girl ran away and people were looking for her, I don't know if the girl is me. ​

11/12/2022 I dreamed of a time limit drawing contest, there was a black pen and green marker. Scribble it over and redraw. A piñata, there's someone trying to hit it. It's their birthday, they're wearing a crown. It looks like they are hitting the piñata with a scepter. They also might be on a boat. I drew it so many times on lined paper, I lost it. ​

11/13/2022 At Haidilao with 0423, 0422, and 0399.

​ 11/15/2022 I dreamed about a repeated phrase that has a long-ish word ending with an 'e'. I saw people at a distance. ​

11/16/2022

Intro of yourself — what you studied, where you’ve worked, and your favourite design tool! I'm in 4th year undergrad, in OCAD Digital Futures. My last internship was at Addepar, working on tools for managing investment portfolios, and I'll be returning full time after grad. Before that, I designed cybersecurity software at Cisco, and I interned on the design systems team at RBC, where I developed a Figma plugin. My favourite design tool is Framer.

What inspired you to pursue a career in design? In my first year of university, I was actually at Western and wanted to do CS. In September, I went to my first hackathon, Hack the North. There, I went to a Figma workshop where I heard of product design for the first time. At the same time, I was failing Calc, so I decided to transfer to art school in the next year. When it comes to making career decisions, I think about, do I like it? Am I good at it? How much money can I make? Is it ethical?

How do you stand out from other designers, whether that’s from your portfolio or through excelling in niche skills?  In the context of applying to companies, I think knowing your own strengths and weaknesses, your unique experiences, what you want to learn, and how that ties into maybe the role you want with a specific team or company. I also think that’s why it’s important to explore and try different things you’re interested in that might not seem directly related to design. You never know. For example, one time I had an offer on a conversation design team, and I had actually developed a chatbot before which I talked about in the interview, but when I was working on the chatbot, I was just doing it because I was interested, not thinking about if it could help me get a job.

How do you approach people for resume critiques and mocks? I like to reach out people I look up to, genuinely want to talk to, and admire their work, so it doesn’t feel transactional. For example, when I was interviewing, I remember this designer who I had been following for some time who founded a company while they were in school, and had a lot of experience in fintech, and happened to have a calendar link on his website.

But also, I feel like most of my resume and portfolio review came from fellow peers – helping and supporting your friends goes a long way. In general, I would just say, don’t be scared of rejection. People are busy and sometimes they might not see your message. For the people out there who are willing to take the time, I'm grateful for them.

Have you ever experienced creative burnout, and where do you find inspiration and motivation? I like to listen to music while doing work, so sometimes if I don’t feel motivated I will make playlists for doing work to. For inspiration, I like scrolling through Pinterest and making moodboards. And reading, so many ideas from reading, a good book changes the shape of your brain.

Is coding an asset for designers?  I think if you enjoy coding then go for it, there are even lots of roles out there where you can combine both code and design. But if you don’t like it, then why spend your time doing something you don’t like? Someone who is primarily a SWE is probably going to be better than you at coding anyways, so if you don’t want to do it, make friends. This is why teams exist, no one is good at everything.

Since all the panelists are studying or graduated from a design-related education, what do you think is the most significant difference that you’ve noticed between having a design education and from peers who were self-taught? One difference I noticed is that I think people studying design make a lot more things, and you get better by making things. For example at my school, I have like almost no exams and it’s all projects, which is usually not that common in other programs. For people who are self taught, they have to spend a lot of time outside of school working on projects for their portfolio. But both are good, I think it’s important to have people coming from different perspectives and backgrounds working together.

What is your biggest tip for someone starting out in product design? I don’t know if this is a good tip or if I just like to remember things, but I think keeping documentation and notes of stuff is really useful. Like, not just saving the stuff you’re designing at companies for your portfolio, which also is important, but feedback you get from people. Also things you enjoy and things you don’t like, which will help you learn more about yourself, so you can improve more in the future and work on things that you’re excited about. Think about your "why." ​

11/17/2022 I had a dream someone was lying to me about pointless things. ​

11/24/2022 I just wanna know who is liking my Spotify playlists. Also, why is Pinterest better at suggesting pins for my board, compared to Spotify suggesting songs for my playlist? ​

11/29/2022 In my dream, I was drawing a fire but there were no red markers. ​

11/30/2022

​ 12/01/2022 In my dream, I somehow got sucked into a scam on Instagram where I lost like $2000 being coerced into buying hair products. I was getting blocked and people I didn't know were leaving hate comments on my posts. ​

12/02/2022 Kids today aren't that different from how I remember Having a phase of the colour pink Thinking boys are annoying Finishing your math before everyone else Not wanting other people to copy you Figure skating Playing computer games like Roblox and Minecraft Watching YouTube Wearing a uniform Playing chess Not liking PE All the girls have better grades Parents fighting to get the bill at the Chinese restaurant Typing test Cinnamoroll stickers Drawing anime eyes and girls Dress up games ​

12/03/2022 In Miami.

​ 12/07/2022 I don't want to be perceived, I just want people to perceive the things I create. ​

12/08/2022 I dreamed I was sitting around a small circular table with other people, talking about the Red Velvet song "On a Ride," except I was calling them Pink Velvet. Then I was playing Littlest Pet Shop on an iPad, and it was called Little Biggie because the iPad was big. ​

12/10/2022 I dreamed about a letter game at the auditorium in my old school. I saw Mr. 0076, blue doors, and Waterloo students. People were wearing t-shirts that had retro graphic design logos. ​

12/12/2022 Recently, I’ve been waking up every morning feeling just grateful to be alive. I think throughout my life so far, I’ve really been taking life for granted. It could be gone at any moment. This is something I’ve heard before, but I don’t think it really hit me until a few days ago.

Things that are statistically unlikely still happen. Isn’t it statistically unlikely that statistically unlikely things won’t happen, ever? I don’t know. Life is precious. We can make plans for the future, but God is the only one who knows. I’m scared but I don’t want to be. Thank you for another day. ​

12/13/2022 I had a dream people invaded our house, but there was a girl wearing all black who was a double agent and secretly on our side. She shattered glass as a distraction, and burned down the house to help us. The only thing I managed to save were my Bapestas, then I posted on my story that our house burned down.

​ 12/14/2022 Going to the Kenny Mason concert alone was 10/10. The two people standing on either side of me were also alone. And the people in front of me were talking about AG Club and other music I listen to! There were multiple mosh pits and Kenny was really nice to say his three rules. Guys in line said my New Rock shoes were fire and the coat person asked me about my jacket.

​ 12/16/2022 Gift ideas Playlist Photo album Domain Font ​

12/21/2022 At the CCA in Montreal with 0399.

​ 12/28/2022

​ 12/30/2022 What does retiring mean? Not working for money Not working for a company