When insomnia strikes...

So here I am again, 2:37am and I wake up unable to fall asleep again... It is getting annoying out of the last 5 nights 3 have been almost sleepless... I have so many thoughts racing though my mind... as I said in the past: "So many thoughts in my head, their footsteps keeping me awake..." and it almost feels like they are actually stomping on my head, I just can't clear it and drift off... I know that so many ppl have the same issue as me (not sleeping) but that's not much comfort.

I need to do something about this, and the good part is that I know exactly what. I already have a gym program at my work's gym (yaaay for free gym!). I will need to start going regularly, it will help me get in shape, release tension and improve my over all well being. Eating healthy is yet another important part. Too many lunches with colleagues at questionable establishments. I have been really feeling like crap lately. And I need that to change. Not sleeping is also causing me to be lazy and to make excuses about going to the gym, I need to change that, it's really the worst habit I can get into right now.

On a positive note, I also picked up some art supplies from Omer de Serres downtown, and have started to paint some artwork for home. I wish I could showcase my work on here but I currently find myself stranded with no camera in sight. (Note to self: get a nice DSLR) I do promise to get a hold of one relatively soon and update with some visuals :) My main objective in making my own art work is wanting to have unique pieces to decorate my place that I have not seen anywhere before, the gallery downstairs of my building certainly has been inspiring me to be more creative and to craft my own environment. I did just finish as very simple yet positive energy piece for the entrance of my place. I wanted to start with that to remind me that I am in my happy place when I walk in through the door. It being winter and all, everything is just too dull. Grey and cold. The loft I am living in has some coldness to it, being modern and all, so I need to warm it up.

Intellectual stimulation. I have been lacking in intellectual stimulation lately and that might be partially caused by being swamped at work and having lots of to do's on my list and all of that swallowing my time. I really want to build myself an EE (Electrical Engineering) Lab to tinker and be creative in all the nerdy ways. I have a few ideas for some projects that interest me, mainly RFID stuff, I really think that most of the stuff that RFID's are used for today are underutilizing the potential of the technology. I also believe that we are using this technology for way too many things that have a big impact on our everyday lives. RFID's as we know them are just not secure enough IMO. Anyone with some basic knowledge can grab a scanner online and have a field day ripping people off. Not to mention RFID access cards for homes and offices... cloning them is just a joke these days, if you feel secure with a proximity access card think again... Other interesting areas of tinkering would include Audio Visual Art set-ups, I think I briefly mentioned that there will be some nerdy art work coming in the future and believe me there is :) I also have been thinking about complete home automation, basing myself on technologies like Xbee's and Arduino's with some tinkering and custom coding should be a load of fun.

Anywho, that would be it for tonight... I am going to attempt to do some reading, will try to fing some super-technical boring stuff to put me to sleep. What can I say some ppl count sheep... I read white papers and studies...

Stay tuned more custom furniture posts coming in a day or two along with some cool tips. Ohh and I think I came up with an Ikea Hack that has not been attempted before :D will post that on here as well.

Bed design

So it's been a while since I posted the first and exciting post on here. As promised I am back and with some interesting interior design stuff, or at least I hope so. After browsing tons of sites and looking for the perfect bed I decided to make my own. Everything I liked was $3000 and up, but definitely not worth the money. I first took to the sketch pad and soon ended up in Google Sketchup. I have some results to share with you guys and gals :) Keep in mind that this is a basic model and it only shows the construction of the bed frame itself, the finishing will be done with a solid wood veneer "Merisier" and will be stained and varnished with a semi gloss varnish. You can see what the wood grain on the merisier looks like in the last picture, the color will be darker after staining. The joints that are visible in the model on the sides of the bed and in front will be covered by the solid wood veneer and will not show. I have been thinking of designing furniture for quite some time, this is my first attempt at it. I also have a carpenter friend who will be giving me a hand in fabrication :P I am really looking forward to building this piece. I have also made a complete bill of materials required including the screws, varnish, stain, wood veneer and the lumber all of the materials total at around $300. Well worth it for a custom piece made to spec and solid enough to take what I can throw at it lol. Check out the pics and let me know what you think! If you have any thing to add or any questions feel free to comment and to ask :) More construction pics coming throughout the week. :D Tomorrow I am going to buy the varnish and stain as well as paint brushes etc. I will also get the exact pricing on the veneer and lumber. The price listed above is a gross estimation, the actual cost should be significantly cheaper. And for those wondering when I say solid wood veneer I mean just that and not cheap artificial veneer that you see on all the ikea furniture real wood used as veneer, it makes furniture look stunning. Post soon, I promise! :)

so I am blogging

I might suck at writing so please don't be shy and bash away if this bores you to death. Now that I got that out of the way... I finally decided to put together a blog. I have toyed with this idea in the past but never seriously got around to it. I just moved into a new loft in Mile End / Little Italy, recently started a new and exciting job and am trying to reinvent myself and my life. I am looking to grow in every sense possible, emotionally, financially, intellectually, professionally, creatively and spiritually. No I am not trying to find the meaning of life. I am simply making adjustments in my life to help me move forward in a direction I feel is the most in-line with who I want to be. I was not happy where I was in life, same friends, same problems, same disappointments, same old same old. I have decided to cut contact with 99% of the people I used to hang out with, do business with and or work with. I moved, I changed jobs, I changed phone numbers. I am really starting from scratch. And so far it's great :) I couldn't be happier with this choice. This blog is going to be my attempt at documenting this human/social experiment. Just so you get the feel for what's coming down the pipe, I now have an entire loft to furnish and will be posting progress right here, I am going to create a few paintings specifically for this place as well as print some of my photographs of the city. I will be creating some interactive art pieces as well. This place has a very modern feel to it, with it's 12ft ceilings and exposed concrete ceiling, as well as column on the side of the wall. So it's going to be fun making this reflect my style, as it already is very much to my liking in terms of architecture. As the weather gets better I will venture out and document my exploration of the area, I love exploring the city and everything is has to offer. Well anyways, I will try to post often and we'll see what comes out of it.