…the lovers, the dreamers and me

A few years ago I dated a guy that listened to Mike Doughty; there was one of his songs in particular that I loved, “Frog and Banjo,” obviously inspired by the Top 40 hit, “Rainbow Connection,” which my boyfriend also liked, a lot…too much maybe.

So this “Frog and Banjo” is about nothing, in the whole world, being sadder than a frog plucking a banjo. While I don’t agree so much, I find it very, very funny.

What’s that got to do with design? That part, nothing. But, recently I was listing to the “Stuff You Should Know” podcast and Muppets came up; because heck yeah, we should know something about Muppets and now I know a lot, and there ain’t nothin sad about em, banjo or otherwise.

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VIRAL embrace

Before you even ATTEMPT to read my diatribe you should watch this beautifully done minute twenty-eight. Then we can talk.

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Bridging the gaps

Sir Isaac Newton once said, “We build too many walls and not enough bridges.” Smart man. As a company we may be separated by place and space, but at our core we are one organism, woven together by a restless desire to do the best work in the world. Which brings us to the present. As we go forward in this new world, our future success will hinge greatly on our ability to act more nimbly and collaboratively. It will also require us to have a damn good time along the way. This blog, then, is the first of many steps towards realizing this future. It is a space and place without walls, just opportunities to share, debate, provoke and stretch your brain. We look forward to hearing from you.

Free hugs help

It’s Sunday. As it happens, I do just about the same thing every Sunday. I kick things off at the gym around 10AM, that’s what time my future husband works out, and no, he doesn’t know he’s my future husband; then I read 1/3 of The New York Times, get a latte and walk my dog around the neighborhood while I listed to the This American Life podcast.

But today is different. It’s the Sunday before the IDEA Award deadline. I got up 8AM, skipped the gym and went straight for the latte—double soy plus one equal—gave the dog a bone and scooped up my laptop for a lil 1:1 time…it’s been 5 hours and while I’m in it, at the same time, I’m over it. I’m taking a break.

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The Apple of our eye?

Seems like a lot of people are asking, “Why would I buy the iPad?” I was asking myself the same question, until I attended TED. Chris Anderson from Wired Magazine showed a beta version of the magazine on the iPad and suddenly, it all made sense; Wired’s great content x10 due to the additional content/media that iPad technology facilities. Leads me to wonder, if this were around a year ago is it possible ID Magazine could’ve been saved?

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My first TED

At the end of the first day of TED 2010, my first TED ever, I left feeling that TED was a clubby, elitist gathering. That clubby sentiment was underscored by the fact that ‘TEDsters’ are a loyal bunch with many attendees returning repeatedly—often sporting the previous year’s TED bag as a badge of honor.

The event was marked by a strong Silicon Valley contingent, and perhaps as a consequence (some of the Valley’s most prominent tech philanthropists give generously to TED) I found the technology component of TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) a bit over-represented in the presentations.

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Finding beauty in balance

I had an opportunity to visit Disney’s Imagineering today; I left inspired. Not by the ‘products’ of Disney, but by the culture they’ve built. It seems Disney Imagineering has achieved what I might call a cultural elegance; that elegance perhaps made possibly by their achievement of true balance—and by that I mean a few things.

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