Serendipity?

ser·en·dip·i·ty (srn-dp-t)
n. pl. ser·en·dip·i·ties

1. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.
2. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries.
3. An instance of making such a discovery.

Lately I've been thinking about serendipity, the crazy word Van taught us in class. Does everything happen for a reason or is it just a coincidence? A forunate accident?

Like yesterday, Mike, Derek, Derek's friend Thomas and I all went and saw The Presidents of the United States of America in concert last night. They were literally my firsr favorite band, and they were also my first cd I ever bought. I listened to that thing over and over. Some of my favorite songs... anyway, I was stoked to go. They broke up 5 years ago, and just got back together and released a cd at the end of last year. So of course, where do they end up playing? Disneyland (my most favorist of places), at the House of Blues. And where was their previous show? Orangevale. My hometown where I grew up. Serendipity?

I was thinking today as well. Here I am working at Sony, using all of the things I've learned either from school, or what I've taught myself, literally what I did for fun in my spare time. If I never would have messed around making my first website over 8 years ago (quick side note, if you want to see my first real website made in 1999, I actually found the old files and uploaded it again here) I never would have taught myself html. I also would never have had a reason to teach myself photoshop. Also, my html knowledge helped me understand actionscript, and if I wouldn't have picked it up so fast, I never would have made a game for my thesis, which helped me get the job at Sony, and it never would have lead to me becoming Tom's TA, which lead to the opportunity of me teaching a section of Interactive Animation at the college I just graduated from next semester. Serendipity?

And then 9 years ago, my grandma won a trip for a Disney vacation at Florida. While at one of the Disneyland resorts, I was introduced to the art of cels, and I also got my first cel kit. It came with a clear plastic sheet with the image of the genie from Aladdin printed on it, and the right colors of cel vinyl (cel paint). It also gave instructions on how to properly color it, on the backside. Getting that kit lead me to start making my own cels. I bought my own clear plastic. I drew a drawing on a piece of paper, then laid the clear plastic over the top of it, traced it with a sharpie, turned it over, and painted it. I had to be selective with what I drew, because all I had for paint was the leftover from my Disney kit, about 6 colors. Then I found a hobby shop in Sacramento that sold cel vinyl (made by Cartoon Color, ha!) so I started making my own cels with no limitations. I probably made over 30 different ones all throughout middle school and highschool, which I enjoyed showing off and framing. This was all years before freshman year in college with the infamous cel painting. If my grandma never would have won that trip to Florida, I never would have gotten my cel kit, I never would have begun to make my own cels, which lead to me drawing more, increased my appreciation for cartoons, and, who knows, maybe I never would have become an animation major. On that note, if I never would have painted cels, and if I never went to Jesuit Highschool, I never would have heard of LMU, and never gone down to LA. Serendipity?

In elementary school, I played baseball and soccer. One year of soccer, our team was the Sharks, and our coach was a guy named David Feiss, whose son was also on the team. One of my best friends then and now, Ryan's dad was good friends with Mr. Feiss as well, so we ended up being friends too. His son, Davy, ended up being on my baseball team for 2 years, which my dad coached. We would play basketball together and also went trick-or-treating once or twice with our mutual friend. I remember his dad being gone sometimes for long periods of time, which I later found out was him being in Japan working on animated Pink Panther commercials. David Feiss later went on to be the creator of the show Cow and Chicken. We've stayed in touch through the years, I always watched the show, and took time to e-mail him now and then. Junior year in high school I found out he was working at Sony Animation, and early this year he was able to give me some tips on how to apply for Sony. And now I'm working here. My old soccer coach when I was 12 helped me get a job in the field I ended up studying. Serendipity?

So what does it all mean? Is it all a coincidence or something more? have I come to be where I'm at because of chance? Has it all just been a chance of fortunate accidents? Actually, I'd rather it not be a series of accidents that lead to where I am today. There's gotta be more to it than that.

Right?