Life is like a photomosaic*
A what? I'm sure you've seen one of these. You swear the thing is nothing but a zillion tiny random pictures all jammed together, with nary a plan in sight. "Nice train wreck," you mutter under your breath, mildly afraid that someone might hear you and expose your inability to grasp modern art. But then something funny happens. You take a step back, and... ZAMO! You catch a glimpse of it. The Big Picture. But, um, well, but, so, then, but just what exactly is this "Big Picture"? Ah. Glad you asked. Allow me to pick up the pieces of my crumbling metaphor one by one (and in no particular order) and show you...
- Walking out of Iowa State on a beautiful summer day with a bachelor's in mechanical engineering and a handful of brain cells left. >> 1983
- Discovering rock and roll by way of Ike and Tina's version of "Come Together." >> circa 1969
- The first time I got a real paycheck just for drawing stuff. How cool is that! >> 1985
- Learning all there is to know about 3D game programming (some day I'll actually do something with it). >> 1995 to 2005-ish
- Popping out of my mother's uterus in a hospital (though very nearly in the Sears linen department) in Paducah, Kentucky. >> 1960
- The birth of my first son, Zack. Simply amazing. >> 2006
- The launch of my freelance career, in the guise of Zamo Creative. >> 2007
- The birth of my second—and final—son, Liam (at the time of this writing, a future event). >> 2008
- Learning to juggle (I can do five when nobody's watching). >> 1989
- The rise and fall of many promising bands, all with incredible talent and no brains whatsoever. >> 1977 to ????
- The rise and fall of one ill-fated marriage. Oops. >> the 1990's
- Meeting and instantly falling for the love of my life, Paula (or, "The moment my life finally got on track"). >> August 16, 2004, 5:58 p.m. PST
- Drawing everything that crossed my line of vision with an ordinary No. 2 pencil. >> 1965 to 1980
- Writing, recording and producing music. >> 1984 to ????
- Severely straining every Zen muscle in my body, chasing down enlightenment like the big, slobbery dog that it is. >> 1985 to 1990
- A brief obsession with the Rubik's Cube (best time: 1 minute, 20 seconds). >> 2006
- Taking a year of fine art at Fresno State. What can I say? It was fine. >> 1988
- Spending countless hours alone in my room, woodshedding electric guitar instead of developing normal social skills. >> 1975 to 1990-ish
- The death of my dad, my own personal Einstein. >> 2001
- My metamorphosis from poser to real designer over the course of 16 years with ValPrint. >> 1991 to 2007
- My mom playing classical piano like nobody's business. >> as early as I can remember
- Discovering the Mac and realizing that the only thing better than creating a work of art is, quite frankly, creating a work of art digitally. >> 1985
Hey, wake up, I'm done! I'm sure I left out a few things (like the time my friends and I set that junk yard on fire trying to get nickels out of an old couch), but you get the idea. Life is like a bag of miniature marshmallows...
Randy Zamorski
* It is also, allegedly, like a box of chocolates. But that's just crazy talk, if you ask me...
