ADAA

The above image is a still from a nearly finished short Wexley + Digital Kitchen did for Microsoft. It was my first significant acting experience. I played a computer programmer who gets trapped with his friend in a world they programmed.

Also, the other day I was thinking it might be good to purchase my name .com, so I did. Check it out. As you can see, I haven't figured out what I'm going to do with it yet. Oh well, it's real estate.

Also also, Kid Show is a finalist in the Adobe Design Achievement Awards.

My Woman Fell

As you can see, Jessica took a little tumble off the scooter. She was doing very well, but couldn't slow down fast enough and lost control. I ran toward her, frightened that she was hurt, but all she could do was complain about the grass stain on her jeans and shirt. I've never seen someone so fearfully driven to do laundry.

Good fall, Jess.

High Speed World Champion

Back in December, I achieved an official world record high score for a classic Nintendo game called High Speed. A month later, Nik Meeks topped my score, but now I'm back on top with a score of 23,390,650. Check it out on Twin Galaxies.

I was inspired by the film King of Kong: A Fist Full of Quarters to attempt holding a video game world record, or any record really.

Fink

I was looking through the pages of the latest RISD Views magazine and read an interview with Mike Fink, a liberal arts teacher who's taught at RISD for fifty years. I never took a class with Mr. Fink, but I appreciated his insight. Here's an excerpt:

And I'm a believer.. ...in the fact that the less you control your thinking the better off you are, because if you don't have a sense of the absurd -- if you lose your sense of humor and start using bigger words and fancier references, you're going to lose your soul.

Lady On The Bus

I was on the bus to go home from work. I found a seat next to a woman who was talking on her cell phone. I was a little annoyed, because I try to get off the phone as quick as I can if I get a call while on the bus. A few minutes after she was finished with the call, I noticed she was quietly weeping. I don't talk to people on the bus very often, so I felt awkward, but wanted to say something. It was none of my business, but I knew I couldn't sit there and pretend that she wasn't crying.

"You going to be ok?" I asked.

"Yeah *sniff* ... big news."

"Oh, sorry, I wish I had a tissue to give you."

Still crying, she joked "t's ok, it's what sleeves are for."

She couldn't stop crying and I couldn't do much more. I sat quietly and waited. Then I had a strange epiphany. I heard myself say "There is a veil over my eyes."

The crying woman was upsetting, but the interaction itself brought a peace to my heart. I thought about how fearful I am about speaking to people I don't know. I thought about how hard I try to keep to myself on the bus, or in public.

I wondered how many people on that bus were hurting in worse ways without any outward signs. I thought about how lonely I get on the bus.

It's so much better to reach out to people than to not, but my pride prevents me. I'm glad it was different this time.

Imagine a city known for it's humility.

Mt. Si and ROFLCon

Two weeks ago, Connie, Nathan, Jess and I hiked Mt. Si. There was still a bit of snow on top, so we had to slide down some of the trail. The view at the top was amazing, but hard to capture with a camera, so I captured it with one of my socks instead. If you come over to my house, I'll show you.

In other news, Kid Show screened at ROFLCon this past weekend, along with many other shorts. ROFLCon is a convention in Cambridge, MA focused on internet culture.

Wham

A lot of great things happened at work last week.