May 25th, 2009 § § permalink
If I ever teach anything to anybody about IA, IXD, or UX, it will be to honor Anthony Colfelt. Anthony mentored me at Classmates.com and at Myfamily.com. He’s been a great friend, guide, teacher, ass kicker and secret weapon for me for a long time. I lean on his lessons daily, both personally and professionally.
I met Anthony at a party. He walked right up after I tried to impress his girlfriend with my fancy job title – Talk about the worst come-on ever. I mean, normally if I’d tried that in a bar, some meat-sock would have come up and just knocked me out. But the kind of guy Ant is, he made me his intellectual bitch for two years. I guess it could have been painful, but it’s hard to take seriously somebody who laughs like Knox Harrington from “The Big Lebowski”, combines Euro-trash and protein shakes, yet hails from the birthplace of Yahoo Serious. And I was always learning from him, so the medium never really compromised the message.
I have unending respect for the guy, for his work, for his discipline, and I hope to be able to return the favor. He works for some group called Different now. I’m sure their being transformed.
May 25th, 2009 § § permalink
I met Moish in 2005, or maybe 06? Either way, I instantly had respect for the dude. He was straightforward, dedicated to his craft in a way that was shame-making for everybody else in the room. Which is why he didn’t stay long in SEA. He went back home where he could be close to his old and new family. Which is where we met again. I flew into SF late at night, and he welcomed me warmly into a the tight circle of friends closing the bar. Which bar? THE SECOND OLDEST BIKER BAR IN THE UNITED STATES. A tiny shop, lined, up down, and wall to wall with trophies. Then we got pissed, all the way out into the city, and all the way home, and then we fuckin ate hangover food together, before passed out on the floor. Perfect start to my 30th birthday weekend.
Moish does not miss a beat. He’s a fuckin’ dodecahedron of character. Check out his work, you’ll see it. Maybe, depends on your eyes. If you nothing happens for you, you need to go apply at Applebees, because you’ve got the soul of a jalapeño popper, and you’ll be happy being condescended to by pancake-assed secretaries for the rest of your life. Maybe Moish can make you some flair.
May 25th, 2009 § § permalink
My mother always liked to remind me that she was the first woman in my life. Actually she likes to remind whomever I’m dating, and to avoid the wrath of any would-be gods, I go along with it. However, there’s the reality your mother made for you and the reality you live. My Frosting and my fire; she is close. Always close.
She has made my life the best it can be. She has wrecked my life to pieces. She has made me and unmade me, sometimes twice in one sitting. She pulls the trigger when I put the barrel to my eye. She will make me hurt, and hurt everyone i know, and because of that power it is difficult for me to say that I love anyone.
If you want a taste of this myth, go see what she writes. What you’ll find in her writings is the smell of the leather on the lash, the dull bruise of the iron pushed into your side, you’ll feel the heat of guilt, the tremor of your own cowardice. I don’t know if you’ll ever feel what I feel and that’s the difference between us. For you there is the oyster you were born into, and for me there is only the ache of biting down on frosting and fire, and the mystery inside each bite.
May 25th, 2009 § § permalink
She’s all over the web. She’s a fantastic designer, and a real pleasure to work with and hang out with. She’s got this sort of young Faye Dunaway thing going on, but coupled with a super warm, playfully sardonic, modern warm…ah fuck it. Sarah is like a crème brûlée, and doubly delightful when attacked with a spoon. I think her blog is mostly about stuff she experiences on the web, and in the tech world, but because she’s smart and witty and everything she does, from her boots (which I tried to step on for months) and skirts, to her disapproving dog Louis and his Twitter account, to her comps, and album covers, she does with slightly cheeky elegance, you will want to be in her orbit. Start with the blog. Good luck boys.
May 25th, 2009 § § permalink
Sara is my best friend. Sara is my best friend. We don’t see each other too often, but when we do it’s pretty rich. She’s smart, driven, a great host and cook, has introduced me to some pretty important people in recent history, and has been a font of positivity and balance in my life. I owe her a great deal. She’s amazing. You should get one.
May 25th, 2009 § § permalink
Dean Fisher is top 10 one of the most significant people in my life. My history. She’s made me proud to have known her. She’s become a enjoyable reader/blogger, a smart, informed and insightful jack-of-all-things-entertainment/design. I can’t say anything about her that’s going to make you like her more than meeting her yourself. She invites you into her little apartment. It’s only up to you to pull back the kimono.
May 25th, 2009 § § permalink
Robin Sherwood. His name goes at the beginning of the sentence. Put him on the short list. Robin was a huge force when we first worked together, and he was THE force in our most recent endeavor. His blog doesn’t get updated because I think he’s more INTO life than into documenting it. A sensualist and epicure at heart, Robin has me convinced that we’re both intellectual dilletantes with a A-type does of A-typedness.
Robin and I used to have great conversations desk-side, that would veer sharply from observational anecdotes about the strangeness of human behavoir, objects of taste, TED talks, tipping points in the human experience. We were generally all over the map. He doesn’t post much, probably for the same reason I do. We’re fucking busy learning, creating, or savoring. What else is there?
May 25th, 2009 § § permalink
Eric Bergman was my super at my last job, and super he was. I leaned on him a great deal, and learned a great deal from that exerience. His blog is pretty exclusively about his exploding family. He cares a lot about his family, and I’m pretty sure he brought that to the way he took care of his group. Did I say that I learned A LOT from this guy? He gave me an opportunity that was transformative for me. Painful sometimes, but transformative none-the-less. My experience there may yet be the “angle” I bring to the rest of my career. It’s certainly plays a huge part in what I’m doing right now. I owe him much more than the this year and last year. That debt will be long in paying off.