A designer who writes.
I have blogged intermittently since the mid 90s. Thankfully, much of the early teenage angst is lost to time. This collects my writings from this site, an earlier personal website, and some newsletter projects over the years, in mostly chronological order. I also publish new writing here. I publish somewhat more formal writing about content strategy and design careers at Content Career Accelerator.
Brian, one of the organizers of the open mic I attend now, issued a songwriting challenge last week. The input/theme was “stand up”. I started scratching out lyrics in Drafts on my iPad right away that same night, and finished them up on Saturday afternoon. Jon, my music partner, came over Sunday and we hashed … continue
I’ve never really dug into the B-52s catalog, despite having done Love Shack at karaoke at least a dozen times now. I love how unapologetically weird they are. I’ve got Whammy! on vinyl, but this isn’t on it: The songs where only Cindy sings don’t seem to get as much airtime, which is too bad … continue
A local urbanism blog is encouraging the sharing of sidewalk-shaming photos (good!) and it occurred to me that not everyone knows you can take a photo from an iPhone without ever using the touchscreen. Just say “Hey Siri, open the camera!” if you have “Hey Siri” enabled. Otherwise, press and hold the home button or … continue
Extended focus is … not in my strengths column, let’s say. Here are seven of the more common excuses I’ve used to stop writing when I really really really should have still been writing: *** Originally published as List No. 59 of the 7×77 newsletter project.
My 2019 obsession is film photography. I’ve got a lot to learn yet, but I am really enjoying it. It really checks a lot of boxes for me: lovely little mechanical things that make pleasant sounds, small consumables you can collect and stack up like ammo, technical skills to master, and plenty of YouTube rabbit … continue
Catching up on the Road Work podcast. I like the ones where John talks about relationships. This segment starting at 46:44 resonated with me, for better or worse: Other people are doing life, and the mailman comes at a certain time of day, and dinner is at dinner time. And I’m bouncing along, careening in … continue
1) Remove your hair shirt at night. 2) Eat less sand. 3) Take the weekend off: Hire a professional to bust your ghosts. 4) Remember to wear your headgear and mouth guard when fighting grandpa. 5) Hot lemons. 6) Pause — for just a few moments each day — to breathe through your ears. 7) Set up … continue
I read a lot of great books in 2018, and there are even more that I didn’t read, even though I easily could have! No judgment, just life.
I’ve had a truck for a couple weeks now. (Long story.) So I’ve been taking care of niggling errands around town, and visiting places I haven’t been to since I was dating someone with a car who took me to them. Today’s errand was cashing in my change at a Coinstar machine. The places that … continue
Early in the year I started an iTunes playlist called 2018. I added songs to it as it occurred to me. I didn’t really have a plan, but it ended up creating a portrait of my year. Many tracks are new music that resonated with me. A few are old favorites that had particular relevance … continue
Or you will, if you subscribe. Personal dispatches from the desk of Scott Kubie, a designer who writes.