About Me
February 10th, 2006
I was born in Ottawa, Canada’s capital, and was always into drawing, painting, model building and pretty much all things involving visual arts. I was also into computers at a fairly young age, with my first PC being a Commodore 64. I later attended Canterbury High School to study in their specialized Visual Arts Program, which is one of the most intensive art programs in the country at a high school level. You basically study art half the day for your entire high school career, however the pressures of life and moving out at a young age forced me to quit in my senior year 2 credits short of receiving my diploma. I was not exactly a model student, but such is life I suppose.
I spent my time working and running BBS systems, which was essentially my first exposure to digital art and to community development. I eventually moved to Montreal to work for a large IT company as a product manager and IS/IT support agent and gradually built up my IT and network skills while running a side business doing freelance web design. I have always been gifted as a self-learner where computers are concerned, so with some hard work, I was able to master several specialized pieces of software such as Flash and various Corel titles, and my IT studies earned me a complete MCSE certification as well as some minor other IT related certifications such as the A+ program.
As a freelance artist, I specialized in Flash design and animation and continued to build up my design skills doing design work for clients all over the world, and even working a couple of weeks for a studio in their London office in England. I married and a little over a year later my daughter was born in early 2003, which put an end to my freelance business as my spare time was virtually non-existent. As my daughter was getting older, I began getting back into design and doing small projects for myself and friends until finally in December 2003, I began to design what would become the Pixel2life Tutorial Search Engine and my web presence has been intensifying ever since.
I quit my full-time job as IT manager for a retail technology company after 6 years employment in February 2006 and now run Pixel2life Studios full-time as well as my various other web and design projects. I am also getting back into freelance design for projects that really interest me and looking to get back into 3D design, which has always been a special skill I’ve wanted to learn.
Outside of my professional goals and studies, I enjoy collecting kits and memorabilia from the Predator movies, painting, photography, bodybuilding and yaking on various forums to keep in touch with other people that share my interests.
10 little known facts about me:
1. I have tattoos… lots of them.
2. Patrick Roy is my cousin through marriage
3. I modeled part-time for 2 years
4. I want to live in La Jolla, California
5. My favorite color is red
6. I wore a shirt in junior high that said “No CFCs - Save the Earth” and I actually knew what CFC stood for!
7. My favorite dish is Chicken a la King
8. I’m a metal head
9. Angelina Jolie is my mistress, she just doesn’t know it yet
10. I’m obsessed with American muscle cars from the 60s and 70s
Wow.
BTW i was upset when i went to the old blog and it was gone!
Sorry! But… isn’t this one way better?
Dan
Definitly
It’s funny how your top 10 match your exact look, except i would have thought your favorite color to be blue
Surfed over here after seeing a referral from here to the AnastasiaDeSousa.org site (we set it up) and WOW… awesome site, and by a fellow Canadian as well. One of the most interesting tech blogs anywhere, never mind a canuck (who wants to move to La Jolla)
Cheers,
Robin
Thanks Robin, I appreciate the props
The entire Dawson incident was very disturbing and for Anastasia to be taken by the shooter is nothing short of a crying waste of a precious life. I hope the shooter rots in hell.
Anyhow, thanks for visiting and taking time to drop a hello my way
Dan
Your life story is quite inspiring and makes me want to design a hell of a lot more now, I’m working towards becoming a web designer/developer but also doing odd jobs such as Logo design etc…
Forgot to mention, like you i’m a big fan of metal and am working on a metal community, what bands are you into?
Regards
Hi Dnr,
Good luck with your career
In terms of metal, I’m old school… Metallica, GnR, Sabbath, Zepplin, ACDC etc… for heavier, I’m into Godsmack, Pantera, TTKC and a few others. I also dig 80s alternative and pretty much all rock bands from the 50s to 80s and some 90s.
Dan
That’s sweet, love Metallica and GnR but I am more modern really, things like Atreyu, Alexisonfire plus others…
Hopefully my career will go well, just got to finish my Cisco course before I go all out to make it work.
Regards,
Insignia
Hi Dan,
Just in case you didn’t get to read your emails, we have already sent the Scar Predator for shipment. By the way, THE ONLY TWO PERSONNEL of DanyZero LOVED Both your websites. All the best in your works and long live and prosper. We are metalheads as well so, rock on!
PEACE LOVE EMPATHY
DanyZero
Wow dan, i’m amazed at how far you’ve come from P2L. Its an awsome website, nothing like it. Thought i’d come and visit some more of your websites and they too are just as impressive. Im also very surprised you make a living on P2L. Keep up the good work
hey Dan.
after visiting ur site many many times to check out all of the latest in costumes, props models etc i thought id also see alittle about ur background. It was nice to see that i was not the only one that wanted to move to California, but one thing is for sure….Angelina Jolie is MY mistress!!!!! lol
Take care and look forward to buying a P1 costume from you soon,
Regards
Craig Jolley
I met Dan a few years ago and my first impression was “Wow… this guy is really smart.” Didn’t take me long to discover the flaw in my thinking. It’s not that Dan’s so smart, it’s that I’m so stupid.
All seriousness aside, I have to say..
Dude.. not only are you incredibly talented and an intellectual, but, after 47 years on the planet, having been half way around the world and back, having met people from all walks of life, you Sir (and I use that term loosely) are one of the finest human beings I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and it is an honor to call you my friend.
But red ? WTF ?
I love you man !!
I seem to remember a certain young webmaster throwing a ball made of tape at me in a large auditorium. Hmmm, I also remember being knocked out, and when I came to, I thought I’d gone to hell, because there staring down at me was a hideous visage of a certain young webmaster…
Very stylish site Danny, the content is still way above my pitiful head, but hey I’m learning
Jaymz
P.S. Remember Otis the Library Hound?