Not!
I’ve heard that New Zealand looks very similar to the Pacific Northwest. I think someone took that too literally. Here we are, one week from summer, and we have the same weather as the Kiwis have one week before their winter.
I’m glad I have a good winter coat to enjoy this summer in!
Update: Not looking much better. Flights from Seattle to Auckland start at $2044. Hmm…
Proving you can’t take the geek out of the geek: The latest issue of American Photo, and the FontShop newsletter came in today’s mail. Charlize Theron, devastatingly beautiful as always, appears on the cover of American Photo with a headline promising more pictures inside. The FontShop newsletter, on the other hand, contains specimens of the latest fonts and essays on graphic design and typography.
Guess which one I opened instantly.
(font credits: Pique’n’meex by Kevin King, via DaFont.com; Trebuchet via Microsoft)
I am, as you may have noticed, a geek. Total nerd.
I like hanging out in cafes with good food & good wireless network access. But, I get bored going to the same place all the time. So, I decided to start a list. Being a nerd, I want it accessible from every computing device I can access - phone, laptop, jott, etc.
Being a good natured nerd, I thought I’d share. So, so for those in the Seattle area, if you’re ever in need for some cozy place to curl up with your laptop, just go to here, or here, and you’ll see it.
Got a recommendation for me? Post it in the comment thread here.
Remember: Technology is for satisfying cravings easily.
Update: Googling around, I found Jeff Carlson’s list
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Moles & trolls; molls & trolls. Work, work, work, work, work. Hope everyone’s Thanksgiving weekend went well.
Me, I spent the last three days in front of a computer. Not that unusual, I know, but this time I had singular purpose: to bringing up a web site. Over at Lilipip, we’re gearing up for our beta launch later this month. I’ve been writing migration scripts, tweaking video compression settings, building automation, testing the site, and keeping up with the flurry of emails from my equally busy colleagues. Ahh, the smell of fresh startup. Stay tuned and I’ll keep you informed. We’re very excited.
I just spent three hours surfing the net, looking at watches I couldn’t possibly afford. Let me repeat that: three hours looking at products I’ll never buy…
Well, it’s better than TV, anyway.
(Shown here, the gorgeous Langematik-Perpetual by A. Lange & Söhne. It can be yours for a mere $55,000).
Haven’t been blogging lately as you can see. The problem hasn’t been lack of motivation - in fact, it’s really been over-motivation. The fact is that I’m very interested in writing on a whole bunch of topics - photography, film, creativity, business, startups, politics, geekery, graphic design & typography, history of polymaths, fictitious oratory, and several other things. The trouble is, these don’t all fit under the roof of “Artistic Whim” any more. Thus, the dilemma - to have one single blog that I can blather about anything, or to have lots of little blogs focused on one topic.
Conventional web wisdom says that having a clear, fixed focus helps build readership more quickly as it’s easy for readers to figure out what to expect. That puts the burden on me to categorize my thoughts a priori, and to tune the post for the particular blog it’ll land on. That gets sticky when a post really fits many categories. Do I cross-post it to several blogs? Or just post it to the most applicable blog, then post a few “hey look over there at my other blog” posts elsewhere?
On the other hand, having a single blog is really convenient for me - I write posts off the top of my head, then tag them with a whole slew of categories. Such a diverse blog might also help attract other diversely diverted people like myself. It’s also more convenient for friends & family who want to keep up with all my antics and don’t want to track a dozen blogs. On the other hand, being filled with random topics, a kitchen sink blog is unlikely to grow readership.
Any suggestions?
I’ve got a job! I’ve started working part-time for my friend Ksenia’s startup, Lilipip as the Resident Geek. My first day, yesterday, felt just like the first day of school - complete with taking the bus there and everything. (Lilipip’s office is downtown - woo hoo! - I feel so cosmopolitan. Well except that I go to work at noon…). I’m still getting used to the time constraints of having a job, even a part-time one. My girlfriend summed it up best: It’s like going back to work after a long vacation - except I had a 5 year vacation…
Meanwhile: work on the RAAM movie still progresses. I’m still assembling the second act and haven’t touched the third yet. The whole thing clocks in at 47 minutes at the moment. I’m actually hoping that I’ll be more productive on this now that I have the Lilipip gig: The time constraint should help me focused (i.e. instead of reading the entire internet every day), and maybe even get me out of bed earlier to do it. Contrary to popular belief, it is possible for me to wake up before 8.
Update: Fixed bug that ate half this post… All is better now on the digital front.
I used to look down upon those who could not discern the difference between “they’re”, “there”, and “their”. Now I’m one of them. I find that my spelling is getting more and more phonetic. I just wrote “they’res” instead of “theirs”. Earlier I wrote “ov” instead of “of”. I’ll stare at these mistakes knowing that they’re wrong, but not able to figure out why.
A few weeks ago I heard that the rapid frontal-lobe expansion that takes place in the late-teens and twenties stops in your mid thirties. Case closed; old age here I….. uumm… What was I talking about?
My video camera had been sitting in it’s box for several months, so I decided that it was time to bust it out and fiddle about with time-lapse a bit. It’s just a typical morning at Casa Roberto.
Perhaps this is why creativity thrives not on boundless possibility, but on having limitations. I’ve read that two common traits of successful leaders are 1) that they make decisions quickly and move on, and 2) are always optimistic. Perhaps this explains it. It also fits the advice a friend once gave me: don’t try to figure out the rest of your life; just pick a project and do it; then do another; then another.
In other words, don’t think so much.
Recently, a friend of mine told me, “You are being crushed by the weight of your to-do lists!”
Let’s see, my to-do list has about 50 items on it. My list of projects that I want to start is 185 items long (this is after a recent purge during which I cut my list in half). Then there’s the daily practice things like exercising, practicing german, writing, taking a few photos.
She may have a point.
In a Lenswork podcast, The Power of Deadlines, Brooks Jensen admits that though he knows that deadlines are helpful, he hasn’t figured out how to apply them to his creative work. Inspired by this, I thought it’d be an interesting exercise to make a list of all those little guilty admissions that affect my creative work.
The race is over, filming finished, and I’m almost home. I’m hiding in a cave for a while catching up on sleep and downtime. Back soon.
Done! I just finished off my current tech writing gig. I feel like running in circles, waving my arms wildly, screaming “la la la la la la!” like a three year old — but I do that daily already.
Now I can focus 100% on the documentary.
I am exhausted! I’ve nearly wrapped up my current tech-writing gig. Meanwhile, I’ve been busy in pre-production for the documentary: researching, reading, learning to use all this new video gear. (video is so different than still photography: strange element called Time to it) And, if that weren’t enough, I’m busy planning a trip to europe (important tip: when travelling to Venice, book far earlier than 2 weeks ahead; the place fills up quickly).
What’s cool is that none of this feels like “work”. When I have a few idle moments, I thumb through books on making docs, or pick up the video camera and try some knob I’ve not used. I don’t feel the dread of working out of obligation. It feels more like goofing off. I guess my passtime has become my occupation. The only downside is that when I want to take a break from writing & pre-production (because I’m exhausted), the only thing I want to do is writing and pre-production. Luckily, I have friends who have dragged me out of the house from time to time. Guess that’s what friends are for.
Wow, this employment thing sure does cut into ones blogging time, no? Between my tech writing gig, social life, hyper-analyzing movies, and learning to ride a unicycle, I haven’t had much time to write anything here lately.
OK, fellow bloggers, tell us how you fit blogging in with your myriad other pursuits.
After a week of convalescence and purely self-indulgent movies, I’m feeling much better and ready to get back online. Thanks to everyone for sending me suggestions for home remedies — even a telemarketer gave me her prescription. My favorite, though, was the cookies my Mom sent.
I’ve been sick for the past few days, which explains the interruption here. I’m feeling a bit better, but I still sound like Gonzo. I intend on returning shortly to our regularly scheduled… umm… whatever. Until then, I’ll be buried in comfy blankets, sipping tea, and watching a bunch of movies.
Hey, there’s an interesting topic: what are your favorite movies to watch when you’re sick / exhausted / hung over? Me: Ocean’s 11 (Soderbergh), Raiders, Temple of Doom, A la Mode, and Invaders from Mars!.
I spent the afternoon checking out art galleries & taking pictures downtown. On the bus ride home, an older gentleman politely asked if he could sit next to me. I let him and we got to talking, comparing Seattle to New York City (he was in town visiting his daughter). Turns out, he was the guy who auditioned Tony Bennett and produced his first few albums! How cool is that?!?
This is why it’s much more interesting to ride the bus than to drive. Cool, random stuff happens like meeting Tony Bennett’s producer, or that time when the bus driver lead everyone in the bus to sing along to “The Metro Bus” (set to the Brady Bunch theme. ‘cmon, sing along: “The Metro Bus. The Metro Bus. That’s the way, we all rode the Metro Bus”). You just don’t get that sort of thing in your car…
It’s that time of year when I get stuck doing a bunch of accounting. A time to start working on taxes; a time to figure out the budget. According to the numbers, I need to get me a wife:
It appears that I should be an animator. From Getting started in animation:
Q: What skills do you need to get animating?
A: You have to be an obsessive control freak with no social life basically! Animation attracts quiet, low-key people who are happy to work away in relative obscurity with little contact with the outside world. Focus, the ability to mentally break down an action into frame by frame movements, and a grim determination to see things through to the bitter end are useful qualites, as are very short fingernails and a vampirish aversion to daylight.
Today, my friend Linda moves to Florida to begin a new life with new adventures. Her first adventure: working and living on a wee raft in the Caribbean.
To my dearest friend, may you find happiness, love, and the freedom to do anything you choose to do. Your dreams will walk on the earth; I’m sure of it. Enjoy your well deserved rest. And, basking in the sun on the deck of your dinghy, have a little umbrella drink for me.
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