This is a poem I wrote for a friend in response to an email he sent to me  about some important decisions he was facing.

I've been catching up on my Walking Dead (both Season 6 and 'Fear the Walking Dead'). These two seasons have returned to the dark, intense, gritty story telling of the first season. I like it. Also, while at this conference in Maine the power went out in the hotel during a session. I finished this composition. I was inspired by the closing section of a song called PDA by Interpol. I love the way it builds in the layers of sounds on top of a really nice chord progression.

About 2 months into this new blogging routine, I've managed to pull elements from all of the main sections of the book so far, so I'll now start at the beginning. This time with the Preface where Steve and I talk about the first version of the book (Leading Online) and some of what we have learned since.

I was experimenting with a template idea for a clock where a user can just use two fingers to rotate the hands of the clock (instead of the rotate tool). We'll have something cool to share soon. In the meantime, my experimentation produced this interesting animation. Rotating objects duplicated a bunch of times.

Last week I learned about Despair, Inc. - a company dedicated to "demotivators." Obviously this is a resource for humor, and I highly suggest a click-through, at least for a few laughs.

I also learned about Timeline 3D - a timeline building tool. It has a freemium pricing plan. It helped that the person doing the presentation used it very well. I often see questions floating around about timeline tools and this might be one that I suggest people at least try out. 

I received an eloquently written email from my friend and colleague Steve Valentine. Using some 'blackout poetry' methodology, I present his message as poem I am titling "Redacted."

I'm working on an Explain Everything project that acts like a platform-game prototyping kit. I am unable to listen to what I am making, so I recorded all of the instruments on my iPad without listening and then exported it here. I duplicated one of the tracks which is why it sounds like a perfect accompaniment. I used the basic rhythm and contours of the Super Mario Brothers theme. Let's hear how it came out.

We're working on a museum gallery template for creating a fun way to showcase images and videos. That will be shared soon, but in the meantime you can download empty frame images from openclipart.org and then use layers to create a cool gallery effect. Check out the video below!

Today the movers are here packing up the townhouse my family has lived in for the past couple of years in NJ and tomorrow we'll be going to CT. But let's talk about last week where/when for the most part I was consumed by the Mets playoff series and continue to be as such this week (now vs. the Chicago Cubs).

Probably not exciting to most, but I learned that I like the coffee machine in the new Explain Everything offices. This is good and bad. Good because as it gets colder I don't have to travel far to get a hot cappuccino. Bad because I will probably drink more coffee than I normally would.

I pitched the Startup 101 course to the current MKA senior class. I think they were still sizing me up. Let's see if anyone signs up.

I also learned about Live Trace in Adobe Illustrator. This is because I am researching easy ways to convert pixel images to vector images (all part of the book).

No images or videos today. Gotta go check on the movers.