Gotta give props to my fellow USC Trojan.

Being gainfully underemployed as of late, I found myself looming around YouTube in between online job searches and coming across a professional moviemaker named "freddiew" who has his own exclusive channel on the site. I later came to find out that not only is he a former world Guitar Hero tournament champion, he's also a fellow alumnus of the University of Southern California and a graduate of the USC School of Cinema-Television (now known as the School of Cinematic Arts).

Being the aspiring filmmaker and a professional videographer during my time in California, I was very entertained and inspired by his short skits that demonstrated his excellent storyboarding and editing skills with Final Cut Pro and Adobe AfterEffects among other things. I originally applied to USC's film school back in 2003 but ended up receiving an English degree and a minor in Education. But, I still have that dream of doing something greater with my freelance videotaping and technology talents than just teaching a random high school digital media class.

Watching these videos just made me smile, laugh a bit, think about home (many of his short films were shot on campus at USC, nearby Downtown LA, and even a short jaunt to the Mulligan's in Torrance) and help me hope that perhaps someday, my mixed bag of skills may be of use to someone at a larger scale. It also reminded me of how much could have been possible for me if I didn't have to keep swimming upstream in unnecessary condescension with the words "you can't do this" ringing through my head for over 25 years. I can still remember when my father said to me that going to film school was not what Asian females do, a "complete waste of time," and that I was going to be nothing more than a "jack of all trades, master of none" if I followed my passions rather than finding a job that made money. I ignored him (I still do, with authority, as a matter of fact) and went on to run a successful DVD production company for over ten years. I guess I can consider that a personal victory.

Here's to someone that not only enjoys what he does, but does it extremely well and makes a wonderful career of it. Fight On (and enjoy the guns)!