By this point I think I've spoken with most friends and family, but I wanted to mention here too that I am about to embark on a new chapter in my life. I'm leaving my job on the Maya team at Autodesk in Toronto to join the R&D team at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) in San Francisco!

Shortly after returning from Scotland (the trip blog for which is in progress and will be posted soon), ILM flew me down to San Francisco to interview for the position. It went very well and they extended an offer to me which I have accepted. I start work on July 14.

I have a number of reasons for embarking on such a big life change. First, after years of interacting with film studios as customers of the product I work on, I feel it's time I get a bit more first hand experience and actually work on some films. ILM is one of the best visual effects houses in the world and the fact that I'll get to contribute to the new Star Wars movies makes me delirious with joy.

Second, I've always wanted to spend some time living in another country. I feel that the process of picking up your life and fitting it into completely new surroundings can be a great opportunity to learn about your priorities and to gain better perspective on the world around you.

Third, I now have almost as many friends and acquaintances in the Bay Area as I have in the GTA. I miss them and I feel it's only fair to spend some time living where they do rather than always asking them to come visit me in Canada.

Finally, I feel that it is time to take a break from Toronto. I absolutely love it here. It is without a doubt my home. But there are a lot of difficult memories here too and I've been a bit stagnant in many ways for the past couple years. I'm hopeful that moving to a new job in a new city in a new country will shake things up a bit and give me an opportunity for a fresh start.

Oh, also, did I mention Star Wars!?!?