See also archives for the following subcategories:
A selection of our best original writing. (55) 
A public calendar for events of interest, recommended shows and concerts, birthdays, etc. (41) 
Pictures we've taken. (37) 
Administrivia and other internal memos. (152) 
As you know, I've been doing the independent-consultant thing for the last six months or so, mostly with ImprovEdge and now with Social Actions which is working to philanthropize the web. More on that later.
Working from home has its benefits (unlimited coffee, relaxed wardrobe standards) but it's certainly not as productive as going to an office. Perhaps it's just my mindset, or the number of distractions here ("Did I water the plants?"), or, you know, kids who want to play with you.
But I hate working in a café. The music's loud, finding a seat is annoying, WiFi slow if present. Plus there's the "how much should I spend here in order to justify my ass taking up a seat?" factor. And forget about trying to make phone calls.
You know what Brooklyn needs, I thought. It's a place where you can rent a quiet cubicle for a few hours, plug in, and do your stuff. Fortunately, the folks at the Brooklyn Creative League had the same idea, and went and built it. So I now have a part-time office space! Check it out:
| Office Space | Park Slope
New Yorkers have some very specific needs when it comes to a commuter bag: durability, comfort, and professionalism. The traditional briefcase might look good in the board room, but that fine Corinthian leather is just going to get scratched on the train or the sidewalk. The ubiquitous nylon messenger bag is durable enough, and you can get away with it at the office, but if you're carrying a heavy load (say, your laptop) your shoulders will feel it. (Besides, it's not good to walk around with your weight unevenly distributed.) A backpack will be comfortable on that one-hour-standing-on-the-train commute, but you'll look like you just came from Freshman English class.
I saw an ideal solution at Tumi -- a backpack that converts to a briefcase. Unfortunately, I don't have $350 to blow. (They make a cheaper one in their T-Tech line but it's still $225, and it's uglier, and it screams "computer bag"). There's a line of similar convertible bags at BBG which at $100 are far cheaper (found on Cool Tools, where you really must read this "pedantic" review of the $530 William Gibson Aviator Bag and ensuing flame war against Bruce Sterling, the new curator there).
But I really like the bag I picked up at the MOMA Design Store: the Lexon Challenger Backpack. It's well made and well designed. As a backpack it's comfortable -- I carried 16 lbs of gear around Manhattan yesterday and my shoulders feel fine. (There's a chest compression strap if you need it.) It's got two main compartments (one with a padded laptop section) and three front pockets. Inside are pen loops and a card holder and a change purse and a carabiner hook so you can squirrel things away properly. I especially like the top corner pocket, which is great for a cell phone stash (or any other gear you want quick access to.)
When you've arrived and are ready to attend your meeting, you just unclip the back straps and slip them inside a zippered compartment. A handle slides out of the top. Now you've got a briefcase. The bag is neutral gray, and most importantly, doesn't have patches, logos, or dingbats on it, other than a subtle black branding box.
And it's only $100. (Less if you're a MOMA member.) Strangely, MOMA isn't marketing the bag's main feature, that it converts from a backpack to a laptop. Update your ad copy, guys!
posted this | this entry's link | 2 comments | Bags | Essential Tools | Reviews
Yesterday Michelle Obama stopped by the Corporation for National and Community Service as part of her whistle-stop tour of the federal agencies. My father was among those standing behind her at the event, to honor his 40 years of government service. Here's the picture that ran in the AP story:
Fortunately, you can actually see him (all the way on the left, in back) in the agency press release photo:
He got to meet her and everything. Congratulations, Pa!
posted this | this entry's link | speak your mind | Michelle Obama
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. And check out this great customizable Mother's Day video -- which is, also, a very clever bit of political viral marketing.
posted this | this entry's link | speak your mind | Mother's Day | Political Ads | Viral Advertising
If you know what it stands for, then you know to put it on your calendar.
So Gillian, our baby sitter / music teacher / child technician, made it to Round 2 of Amateur Night at the Apollo. (See below for her performance in Round 1). In order to make it to Round 3, she must come in 1st or 2nd place in the voting-by-text-message. It costs a buck a throw, and the cash goes to help the Apollo stay afloat. So please vote for her by this Sunday. Here's what to do:
You can see all three of the finalists at the Apollo site if you want to make an informed vote. Shannon should have never covered "At Last." You, ma'am, are no Etta James.
posted this | this entry's link | speak your mind | Gillian Harwin
Gillian Harwin, our babysitter / child technician / music teacher, and her winning performance at Amateur Night at the Apollo. She goes on to the next stage this Wednesday! Go Gillian!
posted this | this entry's link | 1 comment | Gillian Harwin
It's a new/old animated Breakup Girl! Listen for our own Colin as The Pilot. Also check out these stories (Love Sic and It takes a bachelor village) which were sent over by us.
posted this | this entry's link | speak your mind | Cartoons | Relationships
For ValerieAll girls should have a poem
Written for them even if
we have to turn this God-damn world
upside down to do it.
-- Richard Brautigan
I picked up a copy of Brautigan's Rommel Drives On Deep Into Egypt at the Housing Works Café. Even though I already own a copy I bought it.
I have a lot of Brautigan books. He was one of my stepfather's favorite authors, and I inherited his collection. A lot of people start with Trout Fishing In America, but personally my favorite is In Watermelon Sugar. which I mentioned here, oh, seven years ago.
So there was Rommel, on the 50 cent rack. I always feel bad for good books that end up on the cheap shelf in used book stores. Sometimes I buy them just to find them a good home.
The last time this happened, it was A River Runs Through It, on the dollar shelf at Housing Works. I took it out and (for some reason unknown to me) began to riffle the pages. Somewhere in Montana, tucked between the pages, were five $20 bills.
I could have kept them. $1 for $100, what is that, 10,000% profit? But it was Housing Works. The bookstore's revenues help HIV+ people. Morally, the money really belonged to them, which I explained to the volunteer as I handed over the cash.
They didn't charge me for the book, though.
So if anyone wants a copy of A River Runs Through It or a book of Richard Brautigan poetry, just let me know. Mine were almost free.
posted this | this entry's link | speak your mind | Norman Maclean | Poetry | Richard Brautigan
I resisted the Twitter for a long time, but no longer!
I'm no stranger to the social networks. (Remember Orkut? Friendster?) I've been using Plaxo for years as a way to keep up with people's address changes. (It's still good for that, even as they try and make it more of a social network.) Then there's LinkedIn, which is hugely helpful for work (and looking for work) in all kinds of ways. It's by far the best business networking tool since the Rolodex.
Enter Facebook. (Yeepers, I need a new photograph.) At first I thought, what do I need to join Facebook for? I've got a blog. (Which, of course, everyone in the world is reading, right?) But I eventually caved and signed up, although I refuse to superpoke or give out eggs or any of that silliness (any more). I mean, everyone has a Facebook account now, right? (Welcome aboard, Chris!)
But Twitter? Really? I mean, I have a blog and Facebook now -- do I really need another means of broadcasting my minutiae to the world at large? Kerim was the one who convinced me, with this post: Twitter for Facebook Users. He quotes: "Twitter does one small thing, and does it well." As I'm a sucker for simplicity
To keep myself sane, I'm using HelloTxt so I can update all my networks via email. (I still don't do SMS.) I have one account that will update my status on business networks (Plaxo and LinkedIn) and another for personal networks (Twitter and Facebook), because presumably my professional network does not really want to know what I'm having for breakfast.
If you want you can follow Ishbadiddle via twitter, at least if the plugin works. It should tweet the latest posts. (And this is me).
So, do you Tweet?
| HelloTxt | LinkedIn | Plaxo | Social Networking | Twitter | Web Tools
Cruising the back links of Waxy I ran across the following sites of interest to some of our members. Perhaps they will interest you as well.
For Chris: Making songs out of financial charts; Billboard Top 100 in handy chart format (also Pitchfork ).
For Andrea: I made tea and blueful. Some new ways to tell stories.
If none of the above appeal to you, perhaps I could interest you in the World's Hardest Tetris Game?
posted this | this entry's link | speak your mind | Data Visualization | Storytelling | Tufte Alert | Video Games
I am on a CAUSE -- a Crusade Against Useless Stuff Everywhere!
I can't remember where I read about the book It's All Too Much -- probably Lifehacker or 43 Folders or somewhere like that. I'm telling you now: you need this book. It will change the way you think about your house and your stuff. Since I've read this I've been filling up trash bags, giving things away, and generally de-cluttering. Things I haven't seen in five years because they've been sitting in a box? Out. Clothes that don't fit me anymore? Out. Old magazines I'm never going to get to? Out.
Speaking of which, let me know if you're interested in a bunch of copies of Nadine...
And here to inspire you is George Carlin, talking about Stuff. (It's Carlin, so audio is NSFW).
posted this | this entry's link | speak your mind | Stuff
Zach's Kindergarten class watches the inauguration:
posted this | this entry's link | 1 comment | Zach
Hey, it's my first review on Cool Tools!
posted this | this entry's link | speak your mind | Gadgets | Gear | Reviews
There are 10.3 million unemployed people in the United States, and I'm one of them.
For the last three years I've been working at DonorsChoose.org which as you all know provides educational resources for public school classrooms. Several months ago the Executive Director job changed. The regional ED's were no longer doing marketing, public relations, or teacher outreach -- in short, the stuff I most enjoyed. My staff was downsized. And I was going to be doing mostly development work.
Now I don't mind fundraising -- I've been at it for long enough -- but it wasn't why I joined DonorsChoose.org, and my heart wasn't really in it. So it was time to move on. (You should still totally give to them, though! Teachers need you!)
What's next? Well I've been doing more work for ImprovEdge, which uses improvisation to teach business skills. And I'm looking around for full-time employment -- there's a foundation job I've interviewed for, and a couple of other warmish leads. I get to spend more time with the boys. And there's all sorts of unfinished projects for me to continue to not finish.
Anyway, that's the Mike Employment Situation update. More news as events warrant.
| Unemployment
Mike generously invited me to post links here to my recent appearances on WNYC's Soundcheck with John Schaefer. I was interviewed on the show this past Friday, 5 December, for a recurring segment they call "Who's on Top, and Who Should Be" -- a rundown of current Billboard chart activity along with other music picks. (As you can imagine, this sort of geekery is right up my alley.)
The Friday segment (heard via streaming audio here, or download it via iTunes) was my third appearance on the show and my longest yet (about 23 minutes), and we covered a lot of ground: from record sales on Black Friday, including the underperformance by Kanye West and Guns n' Roses, to how iTunes is upending the old methods for releasing pop singles and promoting albums.
One of the nice things about WNYC is they keep old shows up on their website seemingly forever. Since Ishbadiddle was inactive when I appeared on Soundcheck over the summer, here are links to my appearances back in August and September.
Those were fun: In August, the first time I went on the show, I was on vacation in Croatia, and they reached me by e-mail; I did the show live by phone from a soba in an Istrian hill town. (Surreal!) They invited me on to talk about an Idolator column I posted just before leaving on the trip, about the 50th anniversary of Billboard's Hot 100. A month later, they invited me back to talk about another column I'd done about the music industry's attempts to kill singles and force consumers to buy albums.
For a laugh: note that in the August and December appearances, the hosts keep pronouncing my name moh-LAHN-fee (with the "a" sounding like "Evian"), rather than the correct, more pedestrian muh-LAN-fee (with the "a" like "can"). I love how these public-radio folks keep wanting to make my name sound more highfalutin than it is!
posted this | this entry's link | speak your mind | WNYC
Check out Brooklyn's youngest band, T-Rox!
That's Gillian Harwin, our Child Technician and Music Professor, on the guitar.
... kids these days are little whippersnappers, let me tell you. I received a press release the other day (a press release!) about a record-release party for a band calling itself T-Rox. The album, "Burnt Marshmallow," is the product of 7-year-olds Ben Everett-Lane and Max Kessler. The duo sent me their CD, which I promptly converted to 8-track so I could listen to it -- and I was blown away! The song "TV Rots your Brain" is an instant classic. The record-release party is on Nov. 1 and I was told there would be veggie booty.
You can hear more songs on their MySpace page and see more videos from the release party for "Burnt Marshmallow".
posted this | this entry's link | 3 comments | Gillian Harwin | T-Rox
Thanks to everyone who finished off the latest Ishbadiddle Challenge projects. I added a few more and upped the goal!
posted this | this entry's link | speak your mind
Breakup Girl! She's back, with new episodes and a new, bloggier format!
Will Breakup Girl be spotted at the Superhero Costume exhibit at the Met?
I've put some new proposals from DonorsChoose.org on the Ishbadiddle Challenge -- check them out and throw some money at them if you're feeling eelymosynary.
Thanks to everyone who's given so far!
I got my "thank-you package" from the Knuffle Bunny project. Letters from kids, drawings, pictures -- it made me think "wow this DonorsChoose.org is really great!" Then I remembered: Oh yeah, I work there.
