Beyond Reality

Dominos Commercial. (Behind The Scenes)

2010-07-09T14:12:00.000-04:00

First Day on the Job.

2010-07-06T17:59:00.000-04:00

Hey,

Back again with a new post. First I want to start off by saying that work experience is vital for everyone to have. It gives you the insight as to how people interact at the workplace and the etiquette associated with it. So without further ado...

My first day on the job..I would say it was very productive and very different. With every job, you get a sense of imaging what it would be like if you were to stay in that job. For some good reason, I feel that I can really excel in this environment. Not necessarily the building per-se (I do like my workstation though!), but the social environment and interaction is pretty good.

What did I do today?

Well, besides eating a good lunch- courtesy of Wendy's- I am tasked with designing an interactive website for the company that has e-commerce and maximizes its potential in SEO (Search Engine Optimization). So today was solely research and analyzing the current site and looking at the company's competitor's sites to gauge how they are using SEO.

I found that they are really pulling resources together in putting their websites on the map. Something that our company is trying to get right but isn't there yet. So my job is to obviously get us there and ahead of their competitors.

A daunting-but-exciting task. One that will test my knowledge but ultimately expand it and in the end, through preservation and hard work, we can achieve this goal.

Wow, I sound like a corporate exec.....

Any who, that concludes my first day. Stay tuned for daily posts of my endeavors!

Signing off,

Carter

Update- 7.3.2010 Template Design

2010-07-03T01:05:00.000-04:00

Sup.

As you can see, I've done a little template change to my blogspot. I think it really suits my theme a bit with the map and all. Or maybe it's just cool. Either way, this is a part of my design overhaul. The header that you see now will be changed in the near future and some other things will be implemented as well after further research. So enjoy this now and leave a comment!

Signing off,

Carter

LEAD and Beyond.

2010-07-03T00:39:00.000-04:00

Hey

Back again with a new post. I've been quite the traveler these days and now that most of them are done and gone, I would like to share some of them with you guys.

So most recently, I participated in a program called LEAD Business and it was hosted at the Darden Graduate School of Business at University of Virginia. It was a three week program and I've amassed so much insight, knowledge and new found abilities and most of all: communications and friendships I could consider life-long.

I was paired up with 29 other students and sent into the world known as College that we all will soon enter in the following summer. Each with our own talents and personalities, we were broken up in to teams to create a website in which would involve social media to market a business started by real entrepreneurs. That was the main focus of the program. We had classes in business, and all the professors, and guest speakers were all friendly, personable and very informative. We also visited many corporations like Music Today, Exxon Mobil in Fairfax, AOL in Dulles, Capitol One in Richmond, FDIC in D.C. and we also had video conferences with people in salesforce.com, and digg.com. I really enjoyed all the visits and gave us an inside look at how these companies are run and what corporate life is like- although Capitol One is a bit different.

The other side was the nightlife and pretty much all the freedom a college student really has. We went downtown, ate ice cream and frozen yogurt, went ice skating, had a party, played sports and just hung out. It's was truly an experience like no other. Everytime i'm asked how my summer was, I will always say "Amazing."

Before that, I was in Florida soaking up some sun and hanging out with my friends before they went to college. And now, I will be headed to Murpheesboro , NC for a family reunion this weekend. Catch yah later.

After this post, I will have some videos up of some of the most profound lectures and my group's presentations at Darden and at AOL for the website release party!

Signing off,
Carter

Updates- Beyond Reality 2.0

2010-04-23T00:15:00.004-04:00

What's up you guys!

Just a few quick updates:

Just implemented StreamPad (http://www.streampad.com/)- an awesome way to import your songs onto your blog, facebook or even your websites! Just click on the link and follow the instructions!
These posts will serve as audio posts to import my songs onto StreamPad.
In the works of developing a WordPress account and a full blown website!

So without further ado, my first batch of imports will be an album called The Breaks by AYB Force: An acid-jazz influenced cd that caters to breakdancers. Pretty neat stuff.
Click to hear music file
A.Y.B. Force- Breaking Point

EDIT*: Because I'm having difficulty with the music imports. I'm going to put out one to see if it works.
EDIT**: StreamPad does not read my .wma files so I'm now in the process of converting the files to .mp3 and put them on Project Playlist and get rid of StreamPad.
EDIT***: StreamPad Is going to be scrapped and i'm going to use Projcet Playlist. First batch of songs go to one of the pioneers in Japanese DJing (Nujabes- R.I.P.) He died in a tragic accident in Tokyo in February. So as a tribute, click and enjoy his music!

The Playlist will be at the bottom of the blog. Just if you want to browse the list, pick and choose what you want to hear.

What Do You Like In A Girl (Young Women) Part 1 of 2.

2010-04-19T15:01:00.002-04:00

   In the mist of my thoughts, I stumbled upon something that I'm always asked. Either from my peers, parents, extended family, or my brother, It is one of the most-I wouldn't say prevalent but-important question one could ask a guy who is becoming a young man. That question of course is, "What do you like in a girl?"

     Let's take the mall for instance. Now keep in mind, the question is formed and asked in many ways. So back to the mall scenario, I'm at the mall with my friends and we are good looking guys and wear nice clothes. So we get spotted, we spot girls, the same routine every time. Anyhow, one of my friends (not to call anyone out) would say, "yo, look at that girl over there." So I'd look, and he would then say, "she's got a nice (something external)." We're all like yeah, that is nice or an equivalent.

     Now for me, looks aren't everything. From experience, I know that cute can get ugly really fast, hot gets cold and stale but beauty is always constant. Because there are more qualities to "Beauty" than there is to "cute", or "hot". Looks help, but here mental and spiritual attributes are more vibrant than their physical counterparts. To me, the ratio of External to Internal is about roughly 30% to 70% because anyone who has had or is still in a long relationship knows that looks aren't everything- there's more to a girl than that.

Now keep in mind, any girl who is reading this, this can apply to guys, but as a disclaimer, because I'm a guy, this is geared toward guys. So without further ado, lets begin to decipher the other attributes of a girl that I am attracted to and everyone else should be too.

What is Beauty?

Beauty:

the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit.
an individually pleasing or beautiful quality; grace; charm.
In its most profound sense, beauty may engender a salient experience of positive reflection about the meaning of one's own existence.

(courtesy of Merrian Webster, Dictionary.com)

Instead of boring you with countless definitions of "Beauty", I provided 3 solid ones that contribute to this piece of my note.

As stated before Beauty has many attributes other than Physical Attractiveness. It covers the sense of well- being one has when interacting with this person, looking at this person or even the thought of that person exhibits that sense. For those who are married, or in a long relationship (both should be stable and happy otherwise, it wouldn't be in either of those stages.) can attest that thinking of their spouse or significant other makes them smile. Yet even with beauty, we have only touched the tip of the ice berg.

We must delve deeper yet again.

Internal Attributes

Personality

The Personality of a girl makes up 100 percent of what I look for in a girl internally and externally. Why? In the broader sense of the term, Personality is the embodiment of the physical, mental, emotional, and social characteristics of an individual. It's the body language, the way she speaks, her confidence (or swagger), her optimism, her spiritual view, her intelligence, her wit, everything. When I spot these great characteristics in a girl, that's when I say, "that's who I want to be around." It doesn't necessarily mean that I want to be her boyfriend, but it applies to wanting to be her friend as well. (The other type if relationship will be talked about in another post.)

As I digress, with a strong positive personality and great looks (it's a plus), you know you have a girl of class, style and regality that could be considered both beautiful and sexy.

Body Language Is KEY!

Everything from her gestures to her walk is key into deciphering what kind of person she is. This is also how I detect if someone is either "cute", "hot" or "beautiful". Now this is a subject all in itself. But for the sake of this already long note, I'll shorten it up as much as possible only getting the main points out.

The Walk:

Displays Confidence, Self-Esteem and Drive.

The Hands:

Displays Sincerity and Honesty.

The Arms and Facial Gestures:

Displays Emotions (Happy, Sad, Solemn, Angry, etc.).

The Eyes (gaze):

Displays Personality traits (Domineering, Shy, Shallow, Fierce, etc.).

Conclusion:

Kind of a weird way to end this note, but At the moment, I've lost a bit of my train of thought. So with that said, this is part one of a two part note talking about what I like in a girl. So I leave you with this, "What kind of girl do you like?" and for girls, just substitute "girl" for "guy".

Part 2 of "What Do You Like In A Girl" coming soon.

New and Exciting Projects!

2010-04-18T22:35:00.000-04:00

What's up family?

I've got some projects I'm working on with some colleagues of mine, which, like the header of this post says, are "Exciting". They are, really! What? You don't believe me? Well, wait until you get the synopsis!

Project #1: SAT.
This project, I'm working with one of my schoolmates named Laura. She's a great writer and helped with the development of the story of this project titled: SAT. (Which stands for some acronym that will be revealed later)
Synopsis:
This story follows a high school student (we haven't developed a name just yet) who is a Junior and preparing for the SAT. Sounds fun so far right? Without revealing much more (because this is a WIP), I'll say that it includes Martial Arts, Zombies and a Sister who's an Android? Now that's Exciting.

As a treat, here is a concept character design of a character in SAT. Enjoy!

Project #2: Portfolio Development.

This is more of a progression-of-self project. This will consist of trial and error, but the end result will produce a Striking Portfolio showcasing my best works and my progression as an artist. The best part is that you guys will be here to witness my progress every step of the way!

And finally, not necessarilly a project, but here is a new pic of me!! This will be the new profile pic of this blog! So as a caption description: Let's unveil "Which one are you?"!

Solemnity-

1. A trait of dignified seriousness.

2. Deeply earnest, serious, and sober.

3. Gloomy; somber.

Now I leave you with, Which one are you?

Carter.

It's been a long time.

2010-03-25T21:20:00.000-04:00

Hey hey hey!

It's been a long while since I've last posted here so to be fair I will recap these past few months:

January: NEW YEARS!! Living my last few weeks in Riverview High.

February: Birthday! Got me a new PS3 and a shiny metallic controller! Just started my school on the 7th. Here we go again!

March: Currently, I've been called by many colleges and had been interviewed by the Art Institute of Philadelphia. That institute was very homely and I could imagine my self being there. The admissions counselor who toured me was very well mannered and asked me some pressing questions. I was amazed at all the cool projects the students worked on and the tools that allowed them to do those feats.

Just one problem: Accreditation. I have a bad feeling that If I went, graduated their accelerated program, that my credits wouldnt transfer to another college for graduate studies. So on to the next one, and now my eyes are on Ringling College of Art and Design, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, Savanna College of Art and Design and Full Sail University--Which I will be touring all during the month of May!!!

Other than that, I'm chillin at the crib listening to a new artist called Childish Gambino and mcDJ who is also known as Donald Glover who wrote for 30 Rock, is apart of the group DERRICK Comedy and is Troy from Community!! He's pretty amazing. He also rocks some of the best gear ever. Check him out: http://www.childishgambino.com/, http://www.iamdonald.com/.

So I hope to post more frequently. Until then, I sign off this day by saying peace!

Carter.

Got some laughs in today?

2009-12-02T22:11:00.000-05:00

Alright, so today I had one of the greatest days ever. I was the center of attention, but in the good way like being a comedian- which I was during that time. Haha. I have no idea where these Ideas of African Jungles, Homeless people and Drive-thrus came from but my gosh, they were hilarious. I think the funniest thing I did was Identifying people wearing "Mom Jeans." You know, the vintage pair of jeans ordinarily found on moms over the age of 35. They are pulled up around 4 inches abou the navel, and an overly acessed amount of trunk room. Because these pants are so high, the legs of their jeans end an inch above the ankle. (Thank you UrbanDictionary.com!) And you know, this was at my high school so, theres like a plethora of moms 40+ that qualified for my incessant jokes about them. I had what, everyone walking beside my laughing. I had people laughing who I'd never seen before. Then with some quick wit, I made a joke about them and they hadn't realized it.

You know what's funny to me, when people who laugh last at a joke. I laugh not only because of the joke, I laught at the people laughing last. Why? Because they don't actually get the joke. You can tell that they don't get it, because after the punchline, everyone bursts in to laughter. Then 5 seconds later the last person chimes in so he or she won't feel left out. By that time, the joke had died. you can also tell by the look on their face or when they shrug then try to laugh. Sorry but, it doesn't work.

I don't know about you but, I've gotten some laughs in today. Have you?

Signing out,
Carter.

PS: Don't be shy to post comments, I won't bite, besides, you don't need an account to post them anyway! Please, I enjoy the company, the dry no comment thing is making me feel lonely. Haha.

I'm just a sucker...

2009-11-30T18:41:00.000-05:00

Yeah that's right, I'm a sucker...for mind-blowing compostional scores produced for films like Star Trek, Star Wars, 300, and more. Even Video games have scores, one most noted for its musical prowess in Metal Gear Solid 4 which, is Amazing in itself. I mean the music just pulls you into many, many emotions and tells a story.

If I were you, I'd actually buy the soundtracks for some of your favorite movies. I challenge you to listen for the music in the background and see how it enhances the scene. I'm telling you, it's so intriguing.

Go on Youtube and search them. I guarantee you'll find them and enjoy them.

My personal favs:

Signing out,

Carter

Today Was a Good Day..

2009-11-28T01:45:00.000-05:00

You know, like the song by Ice Cube.

Ice Cube's Song. What you thought I wouldn't do this?

Just got a new Blu-ray player and man does it look awesome. The picture and the sound and the colors are so sharp, all you feel is you in the same place the movie is. Yup, saw Wanted on blu-ray, Amazing! All the gore and slo-mo action for everyone. The best part was watching it on a big screen tele with impeccable surround sound.

To further enhance my good day was a win from playing Scrabble, eating leftovers from Thanksgiving and having Sweet Potato Pie with Ice Cream, Whip Cream and SilkNog. FTW (For The Win)!

I almost forgot, today I was looking back, thinking about some of greatest encounters I've had with people. I kept landing at NYLc last summer in DC. That 10 day trip was like no other. I met some of the greatest people ever and we will all probably stay friends till death. Alot of people come to mind, especially my LGM (Leadership Group). We went by the name of Roosevelt. We had alot of good memories in the group; playing games to break the ice amongst us, talking about random topics and from that we chose who would be in the top leadership position for the scenario. I vividly remember the first day. I was as always being myself, talking, getting to know each and everyone there. My roommates were awesome, funny and woke you up if you kinda overslept. Haha. the first people I met were sitting at a table who would soon be a part of my leadership group and then those who I would hang out with too.

There were so many people who I could talk about, but that would take up so much time. So I will briefly talk about a few people. Jeff- My brotha till the end, so cool, and so much in common. See you soon man. Wimbo- Great breakdancer, spits so much game (you know it to be true. :) ) and is an awesome person. Can't wait to see ya! Cody- great roommate (except that one time with the pepsi bottle. Wimbo knows too...), funny and nice to be around. Ariel, Issac, Adam, Tyler, Jacky ,etc- Awesome people, we gotta hang out again. Ariel and Issac, let's not try to get lost like last time. Haha.

Brent- You are the best Faculty Advisor Ever! Keep up the good work. :D

Sammi, Tori, Alycia, Mimi- you gals are wonderful. I remember the Abercrombie thing where you wanted me to dress up. Haha. I can't wait to see yall again. It was fun when I did. :)

I don't know, but I'm beginning to feel so happy after writing this. I know that I can sleep with a smile.

Signing Out,

Carter.

P.S.: To everyone I didn't mention, I want to say that you guys are awesome too!!

November 26th 2009

2009-11-27T00:53:00.000-05:00

Back again with a batch of new sketches. Here's one of my favorite actors, Will Smith!

I really think that the sketch looks better than the attempted color render. But oh well, what can you do.

Oh, now this one is special. I was looking at my deviantArt account and saw one of my old sketches, I decided to revamp it using a pose from a manga book. Enjoy!

Looks a lot better huh? I thought so myself.

Signing out,

Carter.

Tribute. As well as another rant. Win for Win :)

2009-11-26T01:05:00.004-05:00

Alright so It being the night before Thanksgiving (well wee hours of the morning of Thanksgiving), the family decided to clean up the house before all the guests came over. Ugh, my exhausted self was not happy. Not. One. Bit. But, because I would get scolded (I really dislike that, especially all of the faces that go along with it. *Shudders from reminecing*), I went along with it. I'm Glad I did because I would have to do a whole lot later.

Besides that, I decided to do a little exercise but with one of my favorite lyricists, Lupe Fiasco. Enjoy, although the whole coloring process was really time consuming. My lack of a graphics tablet hindered my coloring prowess. :)

I'm happy as far as how it all come out. I love the gradient glasses. If only I had a pair....

Signing out,

Carter.

Cool and Exciting!

2009-11-25T17:51:00.000-05:00

Well, I might have exaggurated a bit. Today, nothing special has really happened beside the regular Thanksgiving drama. Haha.

So, I decided to work with GiMP again (I'm really getting attached to this thing) and I made two different pieces. I should really call them exercises because ther aren't really fancy, or reinventing the wheel. I can't wait to head to school so I can work on Photoshop. Sadly, that's my only way of using it so that's why I'm using GiMP alot. Don't worry though, you'll see som Photoshop work really soon. (After Thanksgiving, teehee.)

Enjoy!

Signing out once again,

Carter.

November 25, 2009??

2009-11-25T00:18:00.001-05:00

Okay so because of my lack for a better title, I put the date. Today, a whirlwind of crappy things happened but, one must hold his/ her head high for it could be far worse.

Oh! In the midst of all the drama, I managed to exercise my typography skills by following this tutorial: http://puteraaladin.blogspot.com/2008/11/cool-typhography-design-in-gimp.html

I used GiMP for this wonderful exercise. For those who don't know, GiMP is a photoshop-like program just with out the really really cool things you get with photoshop. And it's Free. Did I say FREE?

So without further ado, here it is:

Oh, the tutorial, if you decided to read it and try it for yourself, it uses two different types of gradients. I used neither of them. Instead, I used the 'Golden' Gradient. Once you tried the original gradients, try using one of your own! And as for the paper texture, I used another one of those as well.

I hope you enjoy it and now, it is time for me to signout. Getting late. Haha.

Carter.

One Late Night...

2009-11-24T01:52:00.001-05:00

Hey all,

First off, I want to say to all those people who say, "forget about sleep" (yeah you know who you are), that you must be either dillusional or insane or a mixture of the two. (I've seen that mix before- not pretty. Not. At. All.) Sleep is necessary for everyone to complete their everyday tasks with ease.

Now that's off my chest, off to the main event.

3 things occured that contributed to my late night:

1) Listening to great music. Lupe Fiasco, The Clash, The Beatles (of course, the cliche'), Trapt, The Fall of Troy, etc, etc. If you haven't heard of any of these people then you must be under a rock. If you don't like them, well that's your opinion, and if you want to make a negative comment- save it, I don't bode well with negativity. Oh there will be a music list too in the near future.

2) Listening to great music while helping my mom take a test in Pathophysiology. Pathophysi-what? Is that a real subject you ask? Why yes! Yes it is. But it is a subject I dread along with any other subject involving nutrition. Remind me to hire one of those people. That alone was a two-hour scavenger hunt trying to find answers to these rediculous questions. Like trying to find a needle in the Pacific Ocean. Did I mention the Pacific Ocean?

3) Listening to music while helping my mom create a snazzy website. Do I have pictures you say? I do but the project is kinda under wraps. I will try to inform you all about it when it's done? Sorry.

4) And number four considering the fact that I lied about have 3 things that kept me awake, would be listening to music while typing up this blog. (Well hello, that's a given considering your still up anyway.) With that being said, this technically doesn't count so don't bother reading this one. I bet you read this whole thing didn't you? Too bad, your brain has turned to mush. Don't blame me, just blame your eyes.

Call me crazy, but I see a pattern. Do you? It's quite obvious. If you guess correctly you win a prize!!

...Except that prize is only that small joy of satisfaction of answering a question correctly.

Aside from all that nonsense, I can't stop pondering what I should do for my next project. Should it be a limerick, typography, illustration, a combination of the three, I just don't know.

Because I have nothing else to rant about and because I bored you to death with all of this text, I leave you with this. If you have any ideas, let me know. Not much of an ending right?

Signing off again,

Carter.

P.S.: Man am I tired. It's what 1:51 am. Great Scott! Haha.

Imagine me on one of these?

2009-11-23T15:27:00.001-05:00

Okay so I thought about a means for transportation and I stumbled upon one of these:

One Beautiful Vespa GTS 300 series scooter. Fastest Vespa ever made at 90 mph! WOW, that's fast for a scooter. What's even more interesting is the fact that you still get 70 miles per gallon on this baby! It holds about 2.5 gallons on a gas tank but that's really good considering you can milk out 175 miles on a single fill up.

The best part is the price tag. Only $6,000 plus some tax but it costs virtually nothing once you put into account the goo-gobs (a saying my mom says; it means a 'Whole Lot.') of money one could save on gas. You pay what 4-5 bucks for 175 miles. I can't fathom why most Americans don't drive one of these.

Oh it's fully customizable, and with a nice helmet (I can customize it for a price..) and an awesome jacket, your all set for an excursion!

I don't know about you but, I am definately putting this on my wishlist.

Well, that's it for this segment tune in later for some more exciting news, poetry, artwork and upcoming projects!

Signing out,

Carter.

What I forgot to mention...

2009-11-23T01:32:00.000-05:00

You know what, I forgot to tell a crucial piece of information.

I specialize in Sneaker Customization. As a matter of fact, I'm working on some Jordan Retro 4's. Rare sneakers, in fact they stopped production in 2004. I also do some photography, and creative writing (columns, poems, short stories etc.) I am a man of many talents, if you will. Haha. So don't be surprised to see a couple of these projects floating around too.

Uhh, questions?

(The crowd shouts)

Me: (points at a man) Yes sir?
DJ: Yes, my name is Darrell Jackson, editor of World is Yours magazine, uhh will these works be on your developing web site?
Me: Well, yes they will be.
DJ: Thank you!

Welcome to Beyond Reality!

2009-11-23T01:10:00.000-05:00

What's up?

My name is Ameer Carter, I live in Riverview and this is my first post on this site. Okay, let's get started. I want to state a few things:

1) No, Beyond Reality is not a surreal saying druggies and hippies say while tripping on E's. (Aww, you wish it were true- sorry but you are dead wrong.) But I can tell you that it is a ideology, one that will shape the world in the near future for many, many years.

2) I am an artist who works in many mediums. I do illustrations, mixed media, video, web design, vectors, graphics, typeography, website layouts and more- but not in that particualr order either. More so, I tend to make art while wearing my famed gym shorts and a white tee. While that may be inadequate for most, I find it quite the contrary. It is very comfortable.

3) I am working on another portfolio website called some name which will include beyond reality somehow. I want to have it done by the end of this year but, with AP classes, work and a social life, well, chances are VERY Slim.

All in all, welcome and I hope you stay for some more interesting posts and dazzling art from yours truly. Rest assured, it will not be as boring as this post was.