About recurring post series

You will see a few recurring series of posts on the yak occidental, here's a quick guide to what it's all about.

RECURRING POSTS SERIES

Words to Live By

Words to Live By is a collection of quotes curated around a specific theme (for example, writing & storytelling, women's work, etc). Generally speaking, this series will cover quotes from books I have read/am reading.

Best Of

Best of is similar to Words to Live By in that it will be a collection of quotes, though Best Of will be centered around one specific book. Sometimes there will be lots of quotes, sometimes just a couple; I highlight whatever seems particularly poignant or amusing. 

 Important- just because there are fewer quotes does not necessarily mean the book was less important to me. For example, I often highlight just a couple quotes from Helen Oyeyemi's books, and she is in my top three favourite writers--I get so caught up in the story! You can use these quotes to see if you might like to read the book in question yourself or for general inspiration.


#ReadWomen

I will often post updates on or lists of books I have read/am reading. #ReadWomen is part of a larger initiative started back in 2014, you can learn more about it here.
A Course in Production

 In the Work category of the yak occidental, A Course in Production is intended to be a free career resource for those who are currently in, or hope to some day be a part of a Production team in the 3D/CG animation industry.

 With a series of blog posts and videos, I will be producing nine lessons (starting in July 2020) focusing on everything from my best practices within Production, what Production in the 3D animation industry is responsible for, and strategies for achieving excellence in a Production role.

 You can read an overview of this series here.

 POST CATEGORIES

 I'll be categorizing all blog posts under the broad headings of Work, Play, and Renewal for quick access and general tidiness.

 Work
will focus on labour. Paid and unpaid, what we do for money/day job, side hustles, womxn's work, career stuff, overtime, etc.
Play
will focus on the fun stuff. Books, music, travel, entertainment, media, what we do in our down time.
Renewal
will focus on mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health and wellness.

Popular posts from this blog

9 Reasons Why Zack on Gilmore Girls is the Worst

Image
Of all the men in the Gilmore Girls world, I think Zack was the worst. Here's nine reasons why. I'm currently re-watching Gilmore girls for the umpteenth time, and once more I find myself loathing Zack in particular. Normally we all get caught up in Luke vs. Christopher, Dean vs. Jess vs. Logan, etc, but I think these debates distract viewers from realizing that Zack is the worst Significant Other of all the women in the show. I think the actor Todd Lowe does a great job portraying Zack, so my critique is def not his performance , my issue is the  character of Zack   who is sooo contemptible. In a way, Lowe's performance of Zack is all the more remarkable - when it comes to the Bad Men of Gilmore Girls, Zack rarely tops the list. I think it's because his many flaws are so *shrug* boys will be boys. As viewers I think we're meant to be distracted by the explosive incidents related to Logan's elitism, Mitchum's tyranny, Dean's cheating, Marty's obvio
Read more

VIDEO: Tips for Better Dailies Notes

Image
Here are 11 tips for taking better notes in dailies. If you’re in Production, good note-taking practices are essential and it never stops. As a coordinator, you might take notes for dailies. As a Production Manager or Producer you might have Production reports, all of these tasks rely on good note-taking.  A huge part of our role is data entry and management. Getting specific, let’s take a look at what you can do to take better notes in lighting/comp dailies. Even if your artists are in dailies, still make sure your notes are as specific as possible, don’t leave it to them to take their own notes, let them have that time to answer their supervisor’s questions or to focus on the feedback.  Let me be very clear: if you are in production and you are taking notes in dailies, it is your job to take accurate, efficient notes. Wherever possible, give the frame range.  Don’t just say ‘near the beginning of a shot’, say F8-12 if you can. If there are multiple characters in a scene, use their na
Read more

VIDEO: Why Not Why

Image
I really don't like 'why' questions at work and some experts agree! We all have our particular quirks and workplace hangups. One of mine is that I don’t like 'why' questions. Interestingly, I have found over the course of the pandemic that I’ve been getting a lot more 'why' questions, and so for this video I want to offer a couple of perspectives. First, I want to be clear that when I was being trained in Production, it was  many years ago  and a different world. When I was learning about Production, the common, if old-school way for me to learn to do something was to do so without knowing the ‘why’ behind it. I just did something because I was told to do it that particular way, no questions asked. I admit, I have inherited this old-school attitude, and my current attitude (which is perhaps a bad one) is that sometimes, we aren’t entitled to an answer. It’s our job and duty in Production to carry something out with minimal questions. Not everything is going
Read more