The Week is one of the most underrated magazines out there. I’ve been reading the paper version for years now so I’m very excited to see a well-executed weekly magazine done on the iPad. If you’d like a series of quick read articles on well-balanced issues and stories from the US and the world, check it out. It’s the only news source I need anymore these days…
Category Archives: Life
My Year in Review
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I’ve not really been known to think reflectively (or much, for that matter). I’ve seen people like Alex and Joe post a “year in review” and Matt always does one on his birthday. As I read them I thought it was valuable, if not, fairly interesting. So here we go…
- Rachel and I experienced our first full year of home ownership (technically we took control in December 2010) which included plenty of projects (replacing attic insulation, planting trees) and plenty of purchases (couches, new bed, desk).
- We got married in July.
- We visited the best Colorado dude ranch for our “staycation” honeymoon, it was amazing.
- I turned 25, which almost seemed like a “quaterlife” milestone but turned out to be just another year…
- At Crowd Favorite, I helped work on dozens of web design, development and other consulting projects. Notable launches included the AMC and WEtv websites, and the Annotum WordPress theme.
- I helped contribute very minor patches to WordPress versions 3.2 and 3.3 and released my own plugin, small steps to contributing to open source development
- I started blogging a bit more regularly again thanks to the soon-to-be-released FavePersonal theme from the team at Crowd Favorite.
This past year I also traveled, what I would consider to be, the “right amount” for both business and pleasure. Although Dopplr has been abandoned since Nokia bought the site, it’s still my favorite way to visualize my trips:
- Visited San Francisco a couple times for client meetings and the WordCamp San Francisco conference, it’s still a fun and novel place to stay
- Spent a few days in New York, twice, for client meetings
- Slept through the SXSW conference in Austin
- Experienced Vegas for the first time as an adult
- Spent a few days in London for a client project and had time to wander around and take in the sights
- Traveled to Portland (Maine) to experience the Monktoberfest conference (and beer tasting)
- Rachel and I visited Monterey and Carmel where we surfed for the first time, spent time on the beach, and visited some vineyards
- Spent a quick weekend in Florida (my first visit) to participate in WordCamp Orlando
Overall it was a good year but I think there’s room for improvement in 2012, here are some things I’ll try to track towards:
- ski a lot more and be more adventurous (less ‘routine’)
- spend more time traveling with friends and family
- continue working on interesting projects and products at Crowd Favorite
- explore our neighborhood and the surrounding businesses
- work on the landscaping projects in early Spring
- participate more in the WordPress community and give back where possible
- average reading one book per month (I slipped this year..)
Little Girl Upset About Pink Toys
I almost had this exact conversation with Rachel a few months back as she was picking out a new snowboard and bindings that could match her style, outfit, preferences, etc: black and red, not pink and white. (found on Jezebel via Stellar and Sheryl Sandberg)
The “Tebow”ne Shot
If you’ve watched any football lately you’d know we and the media all love Tim Tebow and his on-field down-on-one-knee prayers during the games.
Well, have you heard of the “Tebow”ne shot? I hadn’t either until the other night when we visited a local pub here in Denver (specializing in meats), Euclid Hall, with some friends.
Since Tebow’s signature move is ripe for emulating and very topical (all the cool kids are doing it), here’s a little bar trick to teach your friends:
- place an order for a “shot” of your choosing
- finish off your tasty bone marrow appetizer, save the bone
- get down on one knee with the bone and the shot
- tilt head back, open mouth
- pour said shot down aforementioned bone into mouth
There you have it, the “Tebow”ne (get it? T-bone!) shot. If anything, it’s fun to describe to people, but even more entertaining if you’re looking for some attention…
This is a treat: every fall Rob Mies, the director of the Organization for Bat Conservation, visits the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and brings some bats with him. They’re misunderstood (they’re a cornerstone in many ecosystems as they eat insects, pollenate, and spread seeds) and actually kinda cute. This gal, a flying fox bat, is almost 3 feet tall.
Happy Halloween(ish)!
[geolocation]
I’m headed to Portland (Maine aka “real Portland”) this week for what I believe will be the underrated technology (and beer!) conference of the year. Kudos to Steve et al for pulling together what I’m sure will be a great time. We have a big “todo” list but Let me know if there’s anything worth seeing out there.
[geolocation]
As soon as I saw Facebook’s new “Ticker” (a.k.a. Facebook within Facebook) I wondered if Facebook was smart enough to “surface” the right stories to me. MG Siegler at TechCrunch:
But while all the competitors were busy making that button, Facebook was busy making the button obsolete. Today’s Open Graph changes represent a world where the button isn’t needed. Sure, it will continue to exist for certain types of content. But it will be more like an on/off switch.
Once I saw the long term plan (with the new Timeline), it became clear that the Ticker is the new Beacon. Facebook is told about everything you do. Then between a mix of curation (updating my Timeline) and algorithm (Facebook determining what is important) the stream of updates within Facebook will become meaningful again.
Or, at least, thats the hope.
Speaking of dressing like a grown up, [Ramit](http://iwillteachyoutoberich.com) introduced me to a helpful service called Trunk Club. In short, you pick out outfits on their site that match your style, chat with your own consultant about the clothes you want, and then in a few days you receive a big box full of great (high end) clothing. If you like it all, keep it. If you don’t, put those pieces in the box and send it back. If you’ve looked at catalogs and said “well, I like that look” but then arrived at a store only to fail at picking out outfits, this is a no brainer. Ramit summed it up best: “It saves me HOURS of time and gets terrific results”.
Put This On, Episode 7: Personal Style
My favorite web series is [Put This On](http://putthison.com) hosted by Jesse Thorn and Adam Lisagor. In the final installment of Season 1, Sandy imparts the wise quip: “Every day put on one piece of clothing that says something about who you are…” (I won’t spoil the punchline),
Guys: go check out all episodes and if you enjoy them you should support the kickstarter project so we can have a Season 2. If you don’t, well, *you’re* the reason we can’t have nice things…
Every Day I’m Shufflin’
After watching the [Party Rock Anthem music video](http://www.vevo.com/watch/lmfao/party-rock-anthem/USUV71100390?source=instantsearch) by LMFAO (thanks, Rachel!) I realized my “white-boy running in place” dance moves are now just called “the shuffle”. Nice!