the yak occidental

It's all well and good to say "don't shoot the messenger," but what if it's Friday at 6:00 and your delivery is tanking? When you are in Production in the animation industry, you are a necessary conduit of information and communication. Very frequently, we get bad news and have to deliver it.   Receiving bad news might be something like someone on your team isn’t going to make their quota, or that a key member of your crew is quitting.  Delivering bad news might look like telling your team the client hated the latest version of a certain sequence and has called for a complete redo.  Both situations happen, and in a creative, high-pressure, deadline-oriented environment like Animation, tempers can run high.   In other words, the old adage “don’t shoot the messenger” is especially relevant for us. For today’s thought exercise, we’re going to go over a couple ways you can avoid shooting the messenger yourself. First up, we have Annie Duke, former international poke...

Painting above: Farm at Watendlath (c.1921) by Dora Carrington April Excursion: Mundy Park  Vaccinations are still a ways out for myself and my spouse, so our weekends are still a lot of walks in local parks just the two of us (masks on, of course). We recently went to Mundy Park in Coquitlam* and had a good walk. The trails are wide and walkable, lots of tall beautiful trees. It was lovely to see all the trilliums in bloom! *Coquitlam is on the core territory of the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem)(Kwee-kwet-lem) First Nation and lies within the shared traditional territories of the Tsleil-Waututh(Slay-wa-tuth), Katzie(Kate-zee), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm  (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), Quay Quayt(Key-Kite)​ First Nation​ and Sto:lo Nation.  Most-Liked Chore: Planting Container Garden A couple weeks ago we had unseasonably warm weather in my neck of the woods. I seized the opportunity and got to work setting up pots and planting seeds . I have about 10 containers going, i...

Here are is a playlist loosely based on shadow work. shadow work somewhat track list: Overtime (feat. James Baley and Jake Clemons)by U.S. Girls Sincerely, Jane by Janelle Monáe I Saw Christ Crying in Hermes by Slow Dakota Darkest Hour by Lola Marsh  Chasing Shadows by Santigold home with you by FKA twigs Simmer by Haley Williams Scar Tissue by Red Hot Chili Peppers Confetti by Vita and the Woolf Storms by Fleetwood Mac Freak by Lana Del Rey Delete Forever by Grimes Heartless by The Weeknd 21 by Little Destroyer Caroline Shut Up by Caroline Polachek Why Won't You Come Back to Me by Karen & the Sorrows Goodbye Queen by Jamie Wyatt Dope Queen Blues by Adia Victoria I'm so Afraid (1997 live) by Fleetwood Mac Girls Your Age by Transviolet Turn to Hate by Orville Peck Any Other Way by Tomberlin Pavements by Wy Nothing Else by Misun Lark by Angel Olsen Sorry by Beyoncé Dull Life by Yeah Yeah Yeahs Sober by Lorde Back to Black by Beyoncé and André 3000 Emily by San Fermin Metal H...

Here is a selection of memorable quotes from Letters Home: Correspondence 1950-1963 by Sylvia Plath Painting above: this is not Sylvia Plath, this is Portrait of Inez (c. 1933) by Helen Lundeberg Writing sharpens life; life enriches writing. Ironically enough, I write best when I am happy, because I then have that saving sense of objectivity which is humour and artistic perspective. When I am sad, it becomes a one-dimensional diary. So a full, rich life is essential. p. 232 I accept these days and these livings, for I am growing and shall be a woman beyond women for my strength. I have never been so exultant, the joy of using all my wit and womanly wisdom is a joy beyond words. What a huge humour we have, what running strength! p.264 I am finding a growing self and soul of which I am becoming proud in a good, honest sense. The one sin in this world is exploiting other people or cheating and fooling oneself; it’s a lifelong fight to forge a vital life; I wish us both the guts and grac...

Stuck working under a bad boss? Here are two strategies - one for in the moment, and one for when you're in it for the long haul. Sometimes you get stuck working a job, however temporary, with a bad boss. You might not have the choice to move or leave at the pace you wanted, if at all.  Maybe it’s a circumstances like right now in the pandemic, where jobs in your industry are scarce, or you live in a place where the demand for your particular skill set is low.  O r, maybe you are just starting out in your career and the first company to grant you your break is unfortunately run by tyrannical boss.  In this video I’m going to offer a couple strategies for dealing with a bad boss in the particular situation if going to HR or mediation isn’t an option.  I’m also going to share some lessons I have personally managed to learn from working under someone who isn’t the best leader.  A reminder, however, that harassment or unsafe working conditions are not worth enduring...

Here is a selection of memorable quotes from Emily's Quest by L.M. Montgomery. Painting above:  Young Woman with Flowers (Le Poupée Japonaise) c. 1918 by Mary Swanzy Far off, two beautiful, slender, black firs, of exactly the same height, came out against the silver dawn-lit sky like the twin spires of some Gothic cathedral rising out of a bank of silver mist. Just between them hung a dim old moon, as beautiful as the evening crescent. Their beauty was a comfort and stimulant to Emily under the stress of this strange vigil. Whatever passed - whatever came - beauty like this was eternal. p. 27 All her life she had grown, as it seemed, by these fits and starts. Going on quietly and changelessly for months and years; then all at once suddenly realizing that she had left some “low-vaulted past” and emerged into some “new temple”of the soul more spacious than all that had gone before. Though always, at first, with a chill of change and a sense of loss. p. 31 People who are old and wis...

Here is a selection of memorable quotes from Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery Painting above: A Lady Reading ( c.1909-1911) by Gwen John I shall always end my stories happily. I don’t care whether it’s ‘true to life’ or not. It’s true to life as it should be and that’s a better truth than the other. p. 259 But I believe in myself, and there is always my world behind the curtain. p. 373 I am conscious of three sensations.  On top I am sternly composed and traditional.  Underneath that, something that would hurt horribly if I let it is being kept down.  And underneath that again is a queer feeling of relief that I still have my freedom. p. 376 Want more L.M. Montgomery? A close look at her work and life here .

Here are four things I've been doing lately to continue to pass the pandemic time. Where I live, it is looking like I still have months to go before my spouse and I get our vaccines. Pandemic hobbies are still a necessity, we are still looking for ways to stay entertained. Here are some new things we have come up with lately. Turn the lights out Above: Mia Wasikowska in Crimson Peak We forgot to do Earth Hour on the appointed day this year, so we powered down for an hour randomly on a Saturday night. It was surprisingly fun to sit with a few candles lit and the camping head lamp on in the dark, just having a beer and some snacks. It felt vaguely adventurous to go to the bathroom holding a candle like I was in Crimson Peak or something, and we both giggled our way around in the dark. Try it, you might be surprised. Celebrate a random holiday On April 23, for this first time ever, me and my spouse will be celebrating a Spanish holiday called St. Jordi's Day. Sort of like Valentin...

We're a few days past April Fool's Day. As such, here are some books that truly made me laugh out loud. While the authors aren't terribly diverse, half the books on this list are by Canadian writers. Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield  I read this on my honeymoon as part of the Persephone Newlywed Box Set a dear friend gave me as a wedding present (thanks again, CS!) I was skeptical that a fictional diary of an English housewife trying to manage her household in the 1930s would be relevant or funny for me, but I swear I was dying laughing reading some entries. Alice, I Think by Susan Juby I don't do YA with a couple exceptions: anything by L.M. Montgomery and Alice, I Think. I read this when I was a teen (and probably about 7-8 times since then), and the antics of this teen in Smithers, B.C. was too good. My favourite chapter is when they go for haircuts. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosch This is a graphic novel! I howled with laughter reading Brosch...