Then: Reflections from 10.20.24

Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page.

Another busy week. I feel like a broken record at this point. The kids' schedules are busy. We went to the South Carolina State Fair. I was thankful that I didn’t have class this week for Fall Break, but I’ve still got a bunch of grad school deadlines to handle. We are actively looking to buy a car — which is a process I do not enjoy. It’s all quite overwhelming, but we manage to figure out how to fit it all in.

Favorite Picture of Last Week

I’ve decided to add this weekly feature to my Now page to encourage me to take and share more pictures. We went to the State Fair to see my daughter’s papier-mâché giraffe. While I was there, I caught this Ferris wheel against an impossibly blue sky.

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Pluralistic: You should be using an RSS reader:

RSS basically works like social media should work. Using RSS is a chance to visit a utopian future in which the platforms have no power, and all power is vested in publishers, who get to decide what to publish, and in readers, who have total control over what they read and how, without leaking any personal information through the simple act of reading.

I really enjoy the Apple News+ game, Quartiles. It’s fun and challenging and I’ve started to mix it into my daily morning routine.

Got the email that my latest journal article was accepted for publication. I’ll soon have one more entry on my Google Scholar profile.

I bought my first Retro 51 pen at Origami Ink in Asheville, an amazing pen shop that was destroyed in the Hurricane Helene flooding. So when I saw that Retro 51 was offering a special edition to support Origami Ink, it was an instant purchase. Amazing pen. Cool design. Great cause.

Then: 10.13.24

Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page.

Tough week to summarize. It was a challenging week for several reasons. Work wasn’t great. We were busy at home. Running constantly. And in the middle of it, I had a little bit of a professional realization. We got to see my nephew play football finally. We’ve been to games that he hasn’t played in, but this time we got to see Brady play and hear “Brady West on the tackle.” Ryan had four lacrosse games on Saturday, which was exhausting for everyone. And I got a chance to take Liz to one of our favorite restaurants for a much needed date night.

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Many years ago, I was having coffee with a successful designer. We were discussing career challenges and he just offhandedly commented “I just don’t love design any more. In fact, I’m thinking about winding down my business.” I was still a pretty young and ambitious designer and left the meeting stunned. How could a successful designer get to this point?

Fast forward to about six months ago. My oldest is in college and took a digital art class… basically the first design class. She did really well and thought about changing her major to graphic design, but she didn’t. “I don’t want to do what you do.” In fact, all of my kids are incredibly artistic, and none of them want to be designers. I shared this observation to my wife, who matter of factly commented “You don’t love design. You haven’t for a long time. They’ve watched you. Why would...

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Then: 10.6.24

Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page.

This week provided confirmation of how bad Hurricane Helene devastated the people and places that we love in Asheville. We’ve heard from all of our friends and they are fine, but the destruction is almost incomprehensible. Asheville is a 2 hour drive from our house, and we make day trips up there all the time. Many of the stores, restaurants and spots we visit are quite simply gone. Lutheridge — a camp very special to my family — is okay, but with a lot of damage. The pen store in Biltmore Village is destroyed. So is the little bakery next door with the amazing Ginger cookies and the restaurant across the street with the pea salad that my wife loves. It’s hard to process all the loss.

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