Life is flying by so fast, weeks turn into months, into years. Spun and I just re-registered this domain and realized we bought it almost four years ago. We recounted the story of us laying in bed, nine days into dating, saying “I’m smitten for you,” and she followed with “I’m spun.” I grabbed my iPhone and bought the domain.

Super coincidental that this post’s photo comes from the same juneberry tree that I shot for the first post, as I lay here in the same spot reminiscing memories. I can’t even believe all the things we’ve done in that amount of time. Hooray for living life to the fullest.

See you at the top of the tree, Spun, then we’ll enjoy the view for a moment and then race off on our next adventure.

oxoxo

So you may have noticed I disappeared for a moment with the blog. I’ve been slammed with work as well as … enjoying life and disconnecting a bit. Lots of photos were shot over the past few weeks, but somehow the vast majority didn’t make their way online. As such, here are some of my favorites.

Fallen Tulip Pedals

An awesome smoking lil lamb in Georgetown

For the past couple months I’ve been working freelancing on a number of different projects through my personal LLC, Mandril Design.

Recently, one of the most gorgeous endeavors and massive undertakings I’ve ever worked on was for Number Sleuth. Through Killer Infographics, my cousin’s amazing infographic shop here in Seattle and with Science is Beautiful, we created a pair of infographics to help illustrate just how big the universe is. One is a static infographic which is a staggering 1000px wide by 20,000px tall showing the relative scale of over a hundred objects within the observable universe (infographic here).

The graphics used in the static version were individually rendered out into high res versions and paired up with an XML file which dictates their scale as well as 10xE position and some descriptive text. Some fancy math and a bunch of tweening with the help of my favorite tweening engine, TweenLite’s AS3 classes, and you have an opportunity to zoom all the way from the observable universe down to a hydrogen atom’s nucleus. All in all, that’s a zoom of 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000x … not something I think they carry at REI or your neighborhood science gadget store.

You’re going to want to blow this up full screen by the way. It’s infinitely better than in the tiny box below.

The Universe made possible by Number Sleuth

Today I did a quick search in Google and found that the infographic was spreading like wildfire. Guy Kawasaki tweeted about it, somehow it made it’s way to Alltop and Digg and I think most inspiring thus far, it was in National Geographic’s blog. As a long time science lover, it’s truly an honor to have my work anywhere on the pages of National Geographic … and apropos that it’s on their site given my love of the web.

Between these sites and a few others, it’s already garnered over a thousand likes, has been tweeted a few hundred times and pinned to a number of boards on Pinterest. I can’t wait to see how viral it goes over the next few weeks. Definitely look forward to the next endeavor with Number Sleuth, Killer Infographics and Science is Beautiful. There’s a whole universe of gorgeous out there that needs to be shared. Definitely an honor to illustrate it in this way for people to get a good understanding of really just how tiny we are in relationship to so many other things.

Please let me know what you think and definitely share with your friends and family so that they can be inspired as well. I can only imagine if I would have seen something like this when I was a kid. Boom … mind blown.

Last day. Desk is safely home. Paperwork is signed. I’m officially a free agent.

Farewell All Star. I’ll look forward to crossing paths again soon.

Off to go enjoy the sun and fresh air.

Tomorrow marks my last day at All Star Directories, and today I’m prepping the rails to make a clean switch to the tracks less traveled. The past two years have been full of creativity via design and development. I’ve broadened my skill set while deepening many friendships.

All Star saw my first shot of tequila, was my employer when I married Spun, and my commute spurned my desire to shoot the last two years’ photos of the day showing off graffiti, nature, alleys, skyscapes, macro shots, and more around Seattle.

All aboard. Train leaves tomorrow.

Media evolves. This is fact. Often, there is one company who draws a line in the sand and forces America to shake off the old and embrace the new. This is not easy and many more companies fail at this than those who succeed. I will concede this one point to Hastings from his open post to members. AOL, Real, Classmates, Starbucks Hear Music (personally a sad one for me), IBM, Amway (oh wait, they’re Quixtar now … even worse than Netflix’s Quickster name ), dare I say GM, and yes hundreds of other businesses have fallen on their faces because they chose to (in the spirit of making movie references) hold the line one moment longer than Mel Gibson would have in Braveheart or jumped too early. Hell, even the mothership took a detour for a stint before getting Steve Jobs back on board to point them in the right direction. They could be going off to … ahem … a galaxy far far away for all we know with his recent decision to step down. But I digress, this is about Netflix, not the primordial soup of mutated, deceased, thriving or soon to be consumed companies around them.

Netflix, you’ve had something that very few companies have and all companies dream of … a loyal following who love being your marketing arm. I’d even go so far as to say they’re evangelists for your cause. We love movies. We love convenience. We loved Netflix.

So lets get down to the nitty gritty for a quick second here, shall we? This more or less shakes down to a few things: evolution of media, arrogance, poor communication, and entitlement. Like I said before, media evolves. When I was at Starbucks we fought to create a CD burning kiosk that was on the downward slope of the CD industry. It was great technology, worked seamlessly, etc, but iTunes Music Store killed the business model. The Concorde met the same fate due to video chat, email, higher gas prices and a more connected world. Technology dies so that new technology can live. [ can you hear Elton John's Circle of Life now? ] There is a natural order to this, one that requires the public to be generally ok with having things change. When change is imposed and the waters are overly disturbed … bad things happen. Nothing is clearer than seeing more than twenty three thousand comments to a post about this imposed change. Which brings us to arrogance. You have a business model that has some secret sauce the layperson isn’t privy to. Fine, that’s why we all don’t have our own Netflix companies. We can’t always know what you have up your sleeve (clearly), but we have grown accustomed to a standard display of reciprocal trust. We pay you for movies we love. You provide a service for said movies … be it physical media or streaming. This has gone really well for some time now. You grossly underestimated the public’s temperature when it came to digital vs physical media. This saddens me for a number of reasons; the largest being that we loved you and you didn’t listen. Girly, I know, but hey, I’m that dude in that role for this instance. A ton of us were ok with the price hike, not all, but we backed you up. We’re getting more now than we were before and we rationalized paying for it. But this? This shows you really don’t know your customers at all … and furthermore, that we don’t really know you Netflix. [ insert scene in movie where the jilted lover sends a friend to go get their DVDs back from his ex's house ] I’m ok with shelling out a few extra bucks for a service that works seamlessly across the board. As far as the frustration of having two accounts, or two payments, or two queues, or any of that crap … I’m going to let Bryan Thompson say it, because he said it best:

This is great news! My dentist just did the same thing. It’s so much better. Now when I have cavities on my top row of teeth I go to one dentist, and when I have cavities on the bottom row, I go to the other dentist across town. Sure it’s frustrating that sometimes they can’t access my dental records that used to all be in one place, and yes I admit that it seems strange that they now charge me almost twice as much for the exact same dental care I received six months ago…but they are innovators! Besides, what choice do I have? They’re the only two dentists around. Well done Netflix! If it ain’t broke then don’t fix it. Simply hike the price, alienate your customer base and complicate your user interface under the guise of “progress”. Kudos.

Your arrogance shows a one sided approach and poor business understanding. Your customers make your business. Now when they see a red envelope, they see red. We will not just perpetually take your antics with a spoonful of sugar to help this “medicine” go down. However, moving on to entitlement, we really don’t have any say as to what you want to do with your business. This is the hardest part and likely where my metaphors will start getting really mixed up. [ queue sappy music where the guy realizes that she needs to be free, remixed with a soundtrack for a baby walking for the first time and that scene where Scar kills Mufasa in the wildebeest stampede ] You need to sow your seeds apparently. You’re young and naïve. You’re going to fall on your face. I am your father… [ man the wheels are falling off ... wrap it up, wrap it up ] We feel entitled to this service, but we aren’t. We just pay for it. It’s a give/take relationship and you can choose to exit it on your own accord. Which it seems like, for some reason or another, you’re choosing to do. We’ll be pissed. We’ll eat chocolate cake and cry a tear or two as we sit in front of our VHS player we found in the garage or Hulu Plus. But we’ll always remember the good times where we all got along.

We await your next move Netflix. Like a magician, had better be a good prestige or I fear you’ll watch your theatre clear faster than if someone yelled “fire.” Don’t screw this next step up Netflix. [ queue Inception massive horn sound or crickets ... it can be your movie too ]

Two years ago, Spun and I were wed under this very ampersand in the Olympic Sculpture Park on the north end of Seattle. We loved the idea of Smitten AND Spun (aka Bill & Kim), the waterfront AND park, an intimate AND public setting. The piece we were married on is entitled “Love & Loss”. We were amazed at the reverence of people that passed by, pausing for a moment on their stroll, jog, or bike ride. We loved that little kids paid no mind to us standing on the lower S, instead playing with the water in the O and jumping around on the benches. The trains whipped by, planes flew overhead and Seattle kept humming while we took our vows in front of a handful of amazing souls.

And is a funny word. It’s possessive. It joins. It has the opportunity to make things infinitely better than you could ever imagine. All of these things happened when I anded myself to Kim. We became one entity, a united front of joy, creativity and life. Over the past two years, we have “anded” more friends, art, stories and love to our fold than I would have ever conceived possible when we stood in the sun two years ago.

You and I, my Love. Forever and a day. My heart and yours. oxoxo

What do Cut Chemist and Reggie Watts have in common? Aside from having them bookend my weekend, they’re one-man-audio-geniuses. Cut Chemist tore up the Showbox at the Market Friday night with a half dozen turntables, most of which were tied to his MacBook Pro. The real joy was how he beat juggled a stack of vinyl to create a smattering of sound unlike anything I’d heard live to date. I kept having to tell myself, “that’s just one dude up there.” Cut, I applaud (still) the way you masterfully wove loops from Giles Peterson and flecks of Moby throughout your own music, ultimately changing it’s DNA but still keeping something familiar. As an aside one of my favorite lines in lyrical history is “She gave me headphones, said ‘have you heard this sound?’ I think I’ve heard this one, it’s totally underground.” As with the lyrics, the timing and delivery of each scratch, mix, beat, tweak, wobble, whatever it was that he was doing with his equipment on stage was nothing short of phenomenal. Cheers man. Come back to Seattle again, I’ll bring the beakers, you bring the breaks.

On the B side of the weekend, we’ve got Reggie Watts. Perhaps the biggest beard-fro-combo I’ve seen on anyone. This man is brilliant as well, but in different ways. Reggie can drop impromptu knowledge faster than you could get it through an XKCD comic, and in a way where you didn’t realize it could be spit via rhyme with elegance in tone and harmony. The vocal range of this man is as limitless as his respect for Seattle and contempt for contemporary music. Two mics, a keyboard and a couple pieces of sampling/looping equipment and he commanded a sea of people to bob their heads, crest in hysterics, and ride tumultuously syncopated audio waves he flawlessly spit for us. Yes, he played The Neptune … but he also embodied Poseidon, with his presence and stage command. I’m still in awe of just how long his songs lasted and how intricate they were harmonized by layering his own voice over loops time and time again. Thanks for the Sea Town home coming. We look forward to the next time you blow up the stage with your lyrics, insight and vocals.

From there we rolled up to Naked City Brewery in Greenwood where our friend Tim Frommer’s brown ale was on tap for winning a Seattle Beer Pro Am. Tasty tasty beer Tim (so good we got a growler of it Saturday night … but I’m getting ahead of myself). Great time kicking it with some friends, got to meet a few other people and then we hit the street to check out some art … yup, because of course, there’d be a great showing of local art in the street right as we’re done enjoying a tasty beer. Turns out John Osgood opened up a gallery across the street, Urban Contemporary Art Gallery and had three of his artist friends helping him with a two sided graffiti improv show.

So I got to talking with Zachary Bohnenkamp as he was finishing up his half of one tag teamed piece about shooting a photo a day on the way in to work and was curious how he got going on doing spray work. Good stories on back in the day. Then we were introduced to Xavier Lopez who amongst other things writes an article for the Seattle PI about the underground art scene in Seattle. Great stuff. The interview with Weirdo about the 619 being torn down is excellent. We’ll dearly miss this mecca of mindpower, art, creativity and … well … questionable architecture. So then he recommended we check out John’s place for some other amazing artwork. Oh man, I’m so glad he did. Mat Savage, Weirdo, Jeese Link, Justin Kane Elder, Ninjagrl, Narboo and a whole host of other amazing local artists. Truly amazing. We’ll post up the photos of our pieces at some point soon. No idea how we didn’t get them captured. Kim got a gorgeous orange bird by John Osgood and I walked away with a chickadee “perched” on the intersection of I-90 and I-5. The mixed media nature of overlaying a beautiful painting … depicted in a bottle as well … over top of a map of my favorite city just sang to me. I’ve been looking for the right chickadee for a tattoo … maybe this will be it.

So we are giddy with life, good art, etc. I thank Xavier and he says, amazingly, “Go back and snag one of my prints.” No lie. So I head back under, have a lovely conversation with his two associates who were staffing his section of the gallery and made my way home with a deer-unicorn-woman that spoke to Spun earlier in the evening (unbeknownst to me) as well. Amazing. Thank you.

So how does this all end? Yup, with more art. A friend texts us with “I’ve got two extra tix to SAM Remix tonight, wanna join?” Given that it was the weekend of “Yes” we had to, right? So we dance in the park where we were wed, under the massive moon, amongst friends, strangers, people who cared about this city as much as we do. Stunning way to end the evening. Thank you Michelle.

Saturday

How do you top that? With a sister, her fiancée and puppy in town! We head for Skillet Diner for some breakfast. So full. Never had that huge of a portion of biscuits and gravy before in my life. Coupled with a portion of a cinnamon roll, bloody mary, granola and who knows what else, I was stuffed. As she and Charlie headed over the mountains for her 10 year high school reunion, we went to go see the Sounders. Oh, right, you’re asking, why are Spun and I going to a Sounders game? We’re not sports fans, right? Troof. But, weekend of “Yes” dictated that we accept tix from a friend who couldn’t go. Yet again, running theme here, it was rad. Seats were near the southeast corner … get this … third row. Though they tied, 0-0 against Chivas USA, it was a true experience. Remind me never to sit in the crazy fan section. That’s nutty.

Where to next you may ask? Oh, a surprise park birthday party picnic. Ladder ball, wine, beer, more laughter, super tasty veggie food, some sun, some shade … some sunset, some … let’s go inside. Which led to the greatest match of pop a shot ever, more shenanigans, birthday cheer, and a whole bunch of etcetera. Another absolutely phenomenal day.

Sunday

Here we go. Final push for a killer weekend. How to start, how to start… Pop open the tent we picked up from REI the day before in the living room to make sure it’s all good to go. Nothing short of made of win. Tents, my friends, have come a long way. I’m actually intrigued to go camping now. From there we BBQ’d great burgers with bleu cheese, avocado, over more amazing time with Becky and Charlie before they flew back to LA. So happy to kick it with you guys Congrats on the upcoming nuptials as well! Some errands to be ran were a must for the weekend and then we hit up Schmitz Preserve Park to break in the hiking boots, see some ferns, big trees and explore a forest.

Little did I know, that Spun had something up her sleeve as well. Under the Schmitz bridge, there is a ton of great graffiti. Much of it has been painted over fairly recently … as goes the vast majority of these sorts of pieces of art in Seattle … but there were a few still remaining.

One of which looked almost like it was done in pastels or perhaps with a brush. This “magic mushroom” stood out as the clear winner.

Other shelf mushrooms kept it company in the forest as we roamed about, splashing in puddles and streams, going off the beaten path here and there, and pausing constantly for tiny shafts of sun alighting delicately on moss or mushies.

Ok, so we’re nearly there, an epic weekend with one more choice. Curl up on the couch and watch a movie (Spoiler alert, we did that too later … Battle Los Angeles … bad) or roam Alki beach. Yes. Splashing in the water is much colder than I expected in August.

There was a huge Hindi/Indian festival going on too with fun music, good food, etc. Man I love this city. New plans for the rest of the summer include: biking on Alki and boarding on Alki. Both will likely include chowder and perhaps ice cream. Hopefully, that weekend will also be another one of “Yes” much like we had for the past two days and some change.

To all of you who we had the honor of spending time with: THANK YOU. This was a perfect weekend. One for the recordbooks. One for you to hopefully enjoy just a little bit as much as we did. Maybe I should extend “Yes” to the work week sometime. Perhaps it’d culminate in more amazing than I could have originally expected.