I am Jesse Dhillon, a writer, artist, web developer and gamer. This site is here to inform you about my professional and creative pursuits and interests — I used to keep a blog but it took too much time and wasn’t really related to what I am trying to get done in life. Moreover, my creative projects are better representations of what I have to say.

Creative

Right now I am working on producing comics and graphic novels with a purpose beyond good story telling. I am creating plots which use historical events as devices to illuminate different, unseen aspects of humanity. My hope is that people reading my stories will be reminded of their own humanity and the humanity of others: those about whom they may know very little or already have opinions and prejudices.

I am focusing on learning how to write compelling stories, generate emotional intensity within the reader and create characters that people can care about. My great dream is to combine my love of great storytelling with my love of video games, which I think are the greatest storytelling format ever. My goal in the next 2-5 years is to transition out of web development and arrive at a position in the game industry where I have creative and design responsibilities, although at the moment I’m a little unclear as to how my current skills will get me to such a position.

Apart from expressing my hope that people can see the humanity of others, my comics and writing also serve to demonstrate my writing talent and my ability to produce creative projects by managing a creative team.

Technical

I’m an experienced Javascript and PHP developer and I always am working on some project or another with my web development and design skills.

For Javascript frontends, I use the amazing Ext JS framework. Frankly, it’s the best there is. The API is consistent and the container pattern has been exquisitely implemented. I used to use Prototype, but the performance is just about the worst of all the frameworks and I found it to be bloated.

For PHP development, I love Symfony. It’s not as lightweight as some other frameworks, but the convenience and extensibility can’t be matched. I think Rails is for hipsters and posers — people who wear skinny jeans, tote their MacBook in their messenger bag, and drink Pabst Blue Ribbon because they enjoy the irony. Ruby is only the language of choice for FreeBSD sys admins and people who have not used a good programming language.

PHP isn’t perfect either, I only use it for professional endeavors. Personally I use Python for web development, and C++ for anything which requires heavier lifting. I think the V8 Javascript engine is awesome and have been experimenting with embedding it in various projects.

Ubuntu Linux is my preferred operating system.

Political

In addition to Computer Science, I majored in Political Science at Cal and stay up with current political affairs, particularly Middle Eastern affairs. In 2008 I traveled across the country to canvas and phone bank for Barack Obama. Not necessarily because he fully represents my stand on the issues, but because I feel that it’s a civic responsibility to be involved with politics at some level. I manage to surprise most people with my political positions, which are all over the spectrum.

Talk to me offline if you’re interested in my political opinions.

Moral

I neither eat meat nor consume any animal-derived products — eggs, milk, wool, leather, etc. I do not believe that it is possible to be a moral person and kill, or cause the killing of, other sentient beings when it can be avoided.

Yes I don’t kill insects.

Yes I feed my dog meat-based food.

No I don’t think plants are sentient.

No I don’t think your joke is funny.