life

Project 365 Week 02

project 365 week 2 It seems that every day is another challenge to out perform myself. Meaning that each day I get worried that I won't have any good ideas left by the end of the year. But I'm finding out that once I actually commit to doing a picture the creative process takes over my mind and I no longer worry. Instead I get wrapped up in the moment and let my mind lead me from one shot to the next.

But I can't expect to produce top notch work each and every day (1) because I'm still a photo noob and (2) I won't always have the time. And that's a problem for me, being ok with the mediocre. However, I won't let it distract me from the true purpose of this project which is to learn and grow from my mistakes as well as my successes.

One thing I discovered this week that I see a bunch of other flickr peeps using is the "View on Black" option with their photos. It's nothing really profound, just a link to another website that displays your photo on a black background. It's great for some photos, but not all. So make sure and check out my photostream to see which of my photos you can view on black.

Week 2 Roundup

Here are my favorites from the last 7 days of Project 365.

Day 13

Day 013

Day 15

Day 015

Day 16

Day 016

What do you think?

So what do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts, critiques, suggestions. Leave me a comment here or preferably on flickr. Thanks.

Project 365

Project 365 week 01 One of my more ambitious goals this year is taking part in Project 365. Where I will be taking one photo of myself each day for the entire year. If that sounds boring, I assure you it's not. I think of it as a daily creative exercise to help me (1) learn more about photography and (2) explore my thoughts and emotions and try to convey those in a photograph.

There's an old saying that goes; "A little effort goes a long way", and so each week I want to look back on the previous week and showcase a few of my personal favorites. I thought about posting each photo everyday here on my blog, but I thought that would get redundant since you can already see my flickr stream on the homepage. And if you're not already, follow me on flickr.

Week 1 Roundup

Here are my favorite from the first 10 days of Project 365.

Day 006

Day 006

Day 009

Day 009

Day 010

Day 010

What do you think?

So what do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts, critiques, suggestions. Leave me a comment here or preferably on flickr. Thanks.

New Friends On The Block

newFriends This year was great. I got the chance to travel to California and St. Louis and even drove myself out to Wyoming for a weekend. BTW, 14 hours in the car will make you question your sanity. So here's a list of some great people I had the pleasure of meeting this year.

Aaron Irizarry

You're probably already familiar with Aaron if you're reading this, as I had been too via twitter. But this past summer I had the opportunity to fly out to Southern California and meet him face-to-face. Aaron is a family man and an all around "rad" guy. Even though I didn't get to see him as much as I would've liked, just visiting with him for a few hours at his house was awesome. We even sat down and recorded a video blog together.

Chris Wallace

Meeting Chris was like meeting a long lost brother that I never knew existed. Even though he's younger than me he doesn't act like it. Maybe it's his story of surviving cancer or the fact that having a wife and two kids is what drives him to succeed. Whatever it is, Chris has it, and I'm proud to know him. While I was out there in St. Louis we went to a Cardinals game and to take some pictures down at the graffiti wall. But probably my favorite part was just sitting down and talking with him. Check out Lift.

Firehost

Ok obviously Firehost isn't a real person, but I did get to meet two of the people behind Firehost, Chris Drake and Casey Barthels. I don't know if I can say enough good things about these guys. Humble, reliable, innovative, generous, the list could go on. But seriously, if it weren't for these guys I'd still be stuck on the phone with Media Temple having to put up with their poor customer service. Thanks Firehost.

Garth Humbert

Garth is one of those guys flying under the radar. You may not see him in the limelight but don't be fooled, this guy has some serious design chops. It was Garth who flew me out to California and opened his home to me for a short weekend this past summer. Upon arrival I thought we would spend more time in front of the computer, but it turned out to be a relaxing mini-vacation with a trip down to San Diego and to the Temecula Valley Wine country. That was one of my favorite weekends of this past year. Be sure and check out his new company May.

Matthew Simo

It was only the second WordPress meetup group I had been to and the group had grown from about 10 people to close to 50. So it came as a surprise when I found myself sitting next to a like-minded designer. Plus he wore a really cool hat. Since then we've hung out more and more, and you can usually find us up at The Flying Saucer on Monday nights sharing a pint or two and talking about life. Matt is currently working on a new version of his website and I know it will be featured on smashing magazine, at least five times.


That's what it's all about folks, making real connections with real people. If you would've asked me at the beginning of 2009 if I thought I would be traveling across the country to meet people I only knew online I might've said "cool" (seeing as how I did meet my wife online) but it certainly wasn't expected.

Now I'm excited to meet you in 2010. If you're going to be in Dallas, let me know. If you like good beer, good food and good design let's plan a trip one weekend. I want to get out there and meet those of you who I've been connecting with online.

Running Update

I wanted to share how my recent barefoot running adventure in my Vibram FiveFingers is going and how I'm liking them. I also picked up some new headphones so I could listen to music while I run. On my playlist right now is Daft Punk, Justice, Ronald Jenkees and We Are Scientists.

Connect with me on DailyMile

If you're interested in learning more about barefoot running check out the book: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. I haven't read it yet, but I've only heard great things about it.

Simple Running

running-barefoot Forget what all the big shoe companies tell you, they're making promises they can't keep, and instead simplify the way you run while keeping a little more cash in your pocket. You don't need the new $150 pair of Nike's or [insert major shoe brand here] to help you run better, all you need are your feet and a path in front of you.

I'm a fan of minimalism and simple living, so it's only natural that once I heard about bare foot running my ears perked up. I heard about a story on NPR of this guy Chris McDougall who went to Mexico to study a tribe of Mexican Indians known as the Raramuri that have won 100 mile races with nothing more than a thin strip of leather tied to their feet. The more I read about this "barefooting" phenomena I am beginning to realize how much sense it makes. OF COURSE we should be running how God made us, with just the strength and endurance of our own feet.

Vibram FiveFingers

From that same interview on NPR I was reminded of the Vibram FiveFingers shoes. However, it wasn't the first time I had heard about them, my best friend got a pair for Christmas last year, at the time I laughed at him. But now it seems that he was on to something big.

Last Monday I went to register my wife and I for the 42nd annual Turkey Trot here in Dallas, and while at the shoe store I noticed they sold the Vibram shoes (if you can call them shoes). So after trying a pair on I knew these were what I wanted. Intrigued to simplify the way I run and to join the small group of "barefoot" runners, I made my purchase. The Vibram FiveFingers KSO series are beautifully simple.

vibram-fivefingers

My New Journey

Now since I've embraced minimal running, I am intrigued to get out there and meet other people who are interested and/or already doing it. I just signed up for an account on DailyMile to keep track of my running. If you're on there I'd love to connect with you.

Learn More

Here's a video of Christopher McDougall demonstrating and discussing the Tarahumara style of running.

Here's a review of the Vibram FiveFingers on WIRED.com

Go Play Canabalt

canabalt

The Game

Maybe you've seen it, maybe you haven't, either way this new flash-based game from Adam Saltsman and Eric Johnson of Semi Secret Software is the definition of addicting. It makes me reminisce over the days of 8-bit graphics on my Nintendo.

Tips and Tricks

Tap quickly for a short, low jump; tap and hold for a long, high one.

Leap early, land early! This gives you more time to deal with obstacles and plan your next jump.

You blink. You die.

You can read the rest of tips and tricks over on the canabalting website.

Screenshots

Here are a few quick screen shots from the game.

jump-early

land-early

in-the-office

In Review

My best performance to date is 4284 meters. Not to bad considering I just started playing last week. But I won't stop until I reach over 10,000 meters. Even then I think I'll still be hooked. But who can blame me? So if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch you can buy canabalt for $2.99, or if you're iPhoneless like me, you can just sit in front of your computer for hours on end clicking the night away.

Now stop reading and GO PLAY CANABALT!