I can’t believe I am actually turning 40- that’s like my parents age! The common response when people learn my age is “What? I thought you were like 28!”. Part of it may be good Asian genes and the other is because I am so emotionally immature . Risking being cliché, I can’t believe how fast time has flown by. So as I officially exit my 30′s and begin my journey into the 40′s, I want to impart some wisdom collected over the past decade.

Three things I wish I knew when I was 30:

• You have no idea what you are capable of. I started this blog because I knew I couldn’t do it- or so it seemed. With no discipline, experience, or know how, I committed myself to a regularly writing regiment. 2 years and 400 posts later, even I am amazed how much content I have created or reposted. Some of my posts may not have been brilliant but I promise that they all came from a genuine place in my heart. It’s amazing how our number one obstacle is not family, enemies, lack of time, or money, it’s ourself. Our internal dialogue convinces us that what we create is not good enough or will bring little value to this world. It keeps us from staring new things, exploring new ground, or risk looking like a fool. Almost everything I derive satisfaction from now are things that I only discovered within the past few years (my job, being a foster dad, an artist, a speaker, a nerd, etc). I have experienced more  life and freedom living in uncertain craziness than trying to champion competency. I hope that after how many years God will grant me on this earth that I will die looking like a fool.
• No better time can be spent than being a voice for the voiceless. With all the evils in the world, I am convinced that the only ‘good’ of why it exists is to force us into action. I am often reminded of a quote by Martin Porter; “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”. It burdens me reflecting on how many years I wasted trying to gain more toys, notoriety, or power. It’s so tempting to allow ‘convenience’ to become our idol and to just make life as easy as possible. There have been many factors that have contributed to this idea, but nothing more than becoming a foster dad. Having a foster baby has been an emotional roller coaster. While being one of the most challenging things ever it has also been one of the most rewarding. There are too many victims in this world and not enough advocacy champions. For however many years God will grant me on this earth, at the end of my life I hope my very last breath was spent defending another.
• And finally, the last thing I wish I knew at 30 was to live my life for an audience of one. Stop trying to be an imperfect version of someone else and be a perfect you. Everything in this world in trying to conform you into a predictable ‘factory worker’. Whether it’s family, friends, school, or work, we expend an enormous amount of time and energy trying to ‘fit in’ instead of standing out. God has created you as a unique creation- there is NO ONE ELSE like you that has ever existed past, present, or future. Stop worrying less about what everyone else thinks and live for an audience of one. My guess is that will mean being a misunderstood, a misfit, unexpected, untraditional, unpopular, risky, outrageous, emotional, or just a little crazy. For however long God grants me on this Earth, I hope it is spent pleasing Him and no other. This is one of my favorite video shorts of all time. I think it beautifully captures the heart of this idea:

Again, I want to thank you for enduring all my rants and random musings for the past 2 years. I just want to practice what I preach and not be afraid to start over. I apologize to my regular readers and I hope whatever new web project I take on that you will be apart of it as well. In the meantime, you can always catch me on my other blogs at BabbleOn5 and Crazy4ComicCon. Follow me on Twitter at @TonyBKim for what launches next. So join me today on my birthday by celebrating the death of Creative Leadership. See you soon and God bless.

I am so excited to join in with a national movement this Sunday to bring awareness about children-at-risk and orphans locally and globally. It is staggering to think that there are 15 millions orphans worldwide. In the US alone, there are 500,000 children with over 3,000 in Orange County (where I live). This issue has never been closer to my heart since we brought a foster baby into our home a year ago. I cannot think of a greater way to help change someone’s life than to open your home, heart, and life to another. The best thing about it is that the life you change the most is not the child but your own. Check out this video:

Join the nation as we help inspire others to get involved on November 7th. Visit the www.OrphanSunday.org to find out how you can get involved and for more information.

Below of a couple of mine own!

• The manager’s goal is peace; the leader inspires chaos
• The manager avoids conflict; the leader has the hard conversations
• The manager administers; the leader innovates.
• The manager maintains; the leader develops.
• The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people.
• The manager waits to be asked; the leader takes responsibility.
• The manager relies on control; the leader builds trust.
• The manager asks how and what; the leader asks why.
• The manager has his eye always on the bottom line; the leader has his eye on the horizon.
• The manager avoids falures; the leader embraces risk.
• The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.
• The manager fits in a mold; the leader is his own person.
• The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing.

I was really looking forward to seeing The Social Network from the very first trailer months ago. As an avid Facebooker, Twitter, and blogger, I was super pumped about seeing the genesis of what would become a social revolution. I can’t think of any other modern tool that has affected our daily interactions and has allowed us to connect with so many as quickly and easily as Facebook- as my newly re-aquainted list of elementary school ‘friends’ would reflect.

At first glance you would expect The Social Network to be about the impact of the greatest social networking platform in history, Facebook. In actuality, it’s more about the pain of birthing something original and it’s effects on friendships. Maybe this should have been more aptly called ‘The Social Experiment’. In a way, I would describe this like antithesis to the ’Titanic’- the ship survives but the relationships sink. The enjoyment or value of The Social Network is watching those relationships go all the way down to the bottom of the ocean.

Because of this fact, The Social Network has drawn a variety of responses. People loved the manipulative nature of the friendships and also hated them at the same time. There are no true heroes or villains, everyone is a little brilliant and evil. The fact is that according to this semi-ficticious story, FB was birthed, developed, and succeeded from selfish and arrogant motivations. At this point it almost doesn’t matter if it’s true or not because now it’s out there. This fact is hard for many to swallow for their beloved social media site. Many of my own friends have a new-found respect for founder Mark Zuckerberg while others have wanted to shut down their FB account (yea right). Whatever your view is, the dichotomy is very interesting and I love the fact that it has polarized so many.

Personally, I really enjoyed this ‘based on a true rumor’ story. The story telling is sharp, the characters are creatively flawed, and the outcome is not glamorize. I started to become interested in Jesse Eisenberg in Zombieland but now I am a bona-fide fan. Mark Zuckerberg depiction is a neurotic, brilliant, cold, insecure, and a calculating genius. Eisenberg did a phenomenal job of making you identify with your inner and evil nerd. The stand out performance to me was Justin Timerlake. I felt he lit up the screen with charisma and attitude. Mid way through, the film needed a little Red bull and Timberlake delivered it by the case load. I’m looking forward to his career too. Even the Winklevoss twins brought some life into their potential 2-D roles against Zuckerberg (Shockingly, they are both played by a single actor Armie Hammer thanks to movie black-magic).

(The real Mark Zuckerberg)

For me, the most enjoyable parts were the themes of irony from The Social Network. Here is a guy who can’t get along with others that drops out of college to create a social network for the college community. He has helped billions become friends by creating enemies at the inception. It just goes to show you that those who ‘can’t’ teach. It was also ironic that the lead vocal of one of the most successful ‘boy bands’ in history played Sean Parker the founder of Napster- the very tool used to steal music like NSync and ultimately bring down the moguls grip on the music industry. The last irony was the lesson that something as philanthropic as Facebook can be birthed from selfishness. Don’t be naive to think this is isolated to Facebook, try doing some research on the very Mac Book you are using to read this blog (Jobs was fired from Apple in the early years) or the coffee shop that you are reading it in. The pain of birthing something great is the unfortunate reality of many of the luxuries we enjoy (I just watched a documentary about how Disney fired Pixar found John Lasseter because they didn’t ‘get’ 3-D animation. Now Lasseter runs all the Disney theme parks). So I appreciate Director David Fincher’s boldness to tell a less than idealic origin story for a wonderfully idealic social media website.

I know the events of The Social Network are in question. Director David Fincher never spoke to nor consulted with Mark Zuckerberg for this film. So most of this is hear say and highly interpreted. Just like any social media tool, The Social Media is what you make of it. This wasn’t as fantastic and RottenTomatoes reviewed it to be at 98% but it was a solid endeavour and probably one of the best films of 2010.

I give it a 4 out of 5 and a thumbs up ’like’.

I vividly remember the summer of 1995 in some theater and on a first date with some girl. I knew little about this girl and even less about this movie. By the end of the two hours I was captivated and it was all I could talk about afterwards. That night, my love affair with Pixar began while my relationship with that girl ended. Believe me, I didn’t lose any sleep over the latter.

I recently watched a fantastic new documentary called The Pixar Story. This amazing movie chronicles the tumultuous journey of Pixar when it first started in 1979 through its current day monumental success. The story centers around John Lasseter, one of the founders and Creative Directors of this innovative organization. This doc is filled with tremendous lessons like:

• The importance of embracing change
• Cultivating a passionate and committed team
• The power of optimism and infectious enthusiasm
• Story drives everything
• Beauty is built on sacrifice
• An overnight success takes a long time

This is a perfect movie to watch as an individual creative leader or with a diverse team. The part of the story from Toy Story 1 and 2 is particularly compelling. Regardless of your particular field, this will inspire you to tap into your inner dream and to achieve it no matter what. The Pixar Story is a ‘must see’ and would be an invaluable contribution to your inspiration library. Here is an excerpt:

I had to buy my copy off of iTunes but it should soon be available on Netflix and Amazon. You can also visit The Pixar Story website.

Demonstrating strength by Seth Godin

Apologize

Defer to others

Avoid shortcuts

Tell the truth

Offer kindness

Seek alliances

Volunteer to take the short straw

Choose the long-term, sacrificing the short

Demonstrate respect to all, not just the obviously strong

Share credit and be public in your gratitude

Risking the appearance of weakness takes strength. And the market knows it.

Meet Dot. At a teeny-tiny 9mm tall, Dot is the Angelina Jolie of the microscopic film scene. Or at least the Sharon Stone. The latest flick staring this mini movie star tells the story of a little lady on an adventure through a colorful land of intrigue and adventure. The Nokia N8 Phone has been used in the making of the world’s smallest stop motion character animation. Certified by the Book of Guinness World Records, the animation was created by Aardman Animation. In an ambitious project, they combined the might of the Nokia N8′s image capture ability with the concept behind Professor Fletcher’s invention of the CellScope.
Filmed using a Nokia N8 cell phone outfitted with a special microscope attachment, the short clip boasts the distinction of world’s smallest stop-motion animation video.

Fletcher’s invention of the Cellscope enables doctors in remote places to take pictures of blood samples with a mobile phone camera before sending them off for analysis. It is currently being tested in Uganda and has proven successful at helping to detect Malaria. Whilst the concept worked for Aardman, they had to come up with their own variant in order to get the required depth of field for the images. With a few thousand frames shot on the N8′s 12-megapixel camera, these were then stitched together to create the finished movie.

This behind the scenes starts with, ‘It’s not about technology, but what you do with it’. This is a great reminder that you can do a lot with little- or do a ‘little’ with little. Very inspirational.

Thought this was a humorous example of how we worship the thing we don’t have.