Technology: Meet the Life Hackers

A very good article - Meet the Life Hackers - from the Sunday NY Times about how we can use "interruption technology" to improve productivity at work. A good website in the mentioned in the article - 43 Folders - gives life hacks: useful tips to make life more productive and less stressful.

Art: Architect Tonic - Gallery 2040

The 2040 Gallery in Austin opened their season with "Architect Tonic" a show of works celebrating the merging of art and architecture. Mo Scollan, the gallery director, picked four Austin artists whose work addresses architecture, each one in their unique way: Margaret Henkels, Roi James, David Leonard and the art collaborative Sodalitas. The show was a coming out party for Peter Dick, an architect (and her husband) who will use part of the 2040 gallery as his new office.
I will be reviewing this show for the December issue of Voices of Art magazine.

IMG_0328, originally uploaded by Shrez.

MLK and Guadalupe. Austin, TX. May 2005

Books: Book club - Kite Runner

Our first book club - Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. A poorly written book that clobbers you with a wooden, hackneyed plot. It is a somewhat compelling story that generated some good discussion. It is a bestseller because US readers post-9/11 were hungry to read a personal story about Afghanistan.

Quotes: Poetry (Frost - 2)

I have never started a poem yet whose end I knew. Writing a poem is discovering. -Robert Frost, poet (1874-1963)

Quotes: Poetry (Auden)

Another good poetry quote in this weeks AWAD:
Poetry is the clear expression of mixed feelings. -W.H. Auden, poet (1907-1973)

Technology: Google map hacks (NY Times Circuits article)

A good article about all the nifty things people are doing with Google Maps: A Journey to a Thousand Maps Begins With an Open Code

Technology: Categories in Blogger

Yay! I found a way to add categories in Blogger thanks to Orangewise (Read about it on FreshBlog).

Quotes: Poetry (Frost)

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words. -Robert Frost, poet (1874-1963)

Art: AMOA symposium

Attended a symposim at AMOA to discuss how Austin fits into the context of the broader art scene.
Self Portrait: Austin Art in Local, National, and International Contexts

Art: Openings - Lora Reynolds & Art Palace

Lora Reynolds Gallery - Suspended Narrative. Group show including a piece by Jason Singleton who is in 22 to Watch. Some of the pieces were impenetrable to me. A very nice gallery.
Art Palace Gallery - Sterling Allen (in 22 to Watch) and Jonathan Marshall.

Technology: The Long Tail

Gary Chapman talked about The Long Tail at a Leadership Roundtable: The Future of Media. Janet sent me this link to the Long Tail blog.

Technology: Folksonomy

A good article in the NY Times: 'Folksonomy' Carries Classifieds Beyond SWF and 'For Sale'
Three websites mentioned:
del.icio.us
43 Things
Pledge Bank

Design: Office 12 - Results Oriented UI

Today's Alertbox article is about MS Office 12's new Results Oriented UI. I like the approach of providing features based on the context of the work you are doing.

Music: My Morning Jacket

My Morning Jacket - Z
I was not sure about this one; their other albums were southern rock. But this album is a genre hopping distillation of the last 30 years of music with hints of 60s pop, 70s rock, electronic effects and great melodies. The album art is awesome too.

Happy Birthday

36 today. I have a feeling it will be a good year. Got this great personalized street-art birthday e-card from Theresa.

Quotes: Vocations

Vocations which we wanted to pursue, but didn't, bleed, like colors, on the whole of our existence. -Honore de Balzac, novelist (1799-1850)

Art: Learning to Love You More

Peter told me about this collaborative art web site - Learning To Love You More - when I mentioned Taxi Journal to him.

Art: 22 To Watch - Statesman Review

A review in the Statesman about AMOA's 22 To Watch.

Art: Untitled (Stamps #4)