The past few times I’ve handed out businesscards (which tend to be custom made, spray mount unique treats!) I’ve noticed people noticing my card carrier, which is a repurposed, plastic cassette case. You need one too. Here’s the quick, low-fi tutorial on how to rock it.

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They say it can say a thousand words. But really, there’s probably no limit to what any one picture can say. The picture above, for example, says many things to me. It’s a photo of a part of my working space - right in front of one of the monitors. That monitor and a 60w mercury household light bulb are the only sources of light. I did some post-production to lighten it, but the process distorted the colors in some parts. However, that’s not the story I see in this shot. The photo is not staged, but is instead an accumulation of things in my space. Things that inspired me, things unfinished, things incubating, things completed. After staring a while, I see that this small pile of things symbolizes both of what occurred in 2007 and all that might in 2008.

More than a year ago, in an attempt to wrangle in all the paper in my life along with the great ideas I think I have constantly marauding around in my mind, and to prepare myself for self-employment, I got into a strong productivity kick. There are many systems to do so, the one I chose (after seeing it mentioned at Lifehacker.com) is known as Getting Things Done (or GTD). You’ve heard of it before. If you haven’t, you haven’t missed a whole lot. This particular GTD system was developed and fleshed out by a cat named David Allen. Anyway, there’s a whole cultish, obsessive thing to it which didn’t appeal to me as I was reading about the system and some of its proponents. What did appeal to me was the level of mental discipline required to make it all work.

Wanting to take that mental discipline aspect even further, I found my way to the O’Reilly book Mind Performance Hacks. (Perhaps I also came across this book while reading Lifehacker.com, but it’s also likely that I came across it while perusing the collections at Computer Book Works, the geek-king bookstore that is near where I used to work.) Mind Performance Hacks is a great read, with tips on memorization, effective sleep, nutrition that supports high level brain functioning, and many other things including ORGANIZATION.

I’ve been learning mass amount of lessons as I quest into freelancedom. Some I’ve had a harder time at internalizing. For example, a loaf of bread will eventually mold in the refrigerator (I know, shocked me too!); or when you want something sweet to eat, but don’t want to spend money on fancy deserts with rich ingredients, hot water with sugar is not a satisfying substitute.

On the flip side, I have encountered some pleasant aspects to the freelancing life (other than the obvious ones like casting off the shackle of oppressive employers, and being able to go outside when you want to and watch the sunlight dance off the leaves of trees and the glistening coats of the birds as they leisurely flutter by). Specifically, the dreams.

Not to be mistaken with Butter Fingers, or Sweaty Palms, or even Cold Feet.

I’ve got COLD FINGERS. It’s no mystery to me actually. My office has no connection to the central heat in this building, so here in this room where I spend all of my waking hours (for the record that’s like 20 out of 24 in a day) it’s brick a** cold. There’s snow on the ground right now outside, and if there were any kind of precipitation in here, there would surely be snow up in here too. Ok, I’m exaggerating a little. Of course I wouldn’t be able to work if it was that cold in here - but it WOULD be if I didn’t rock the Lasko rotating ceramic space heater (see the pic here). While it’s been a gently humming life-saver, it’s probably killing me on the electric bill side of things. Ah well. Gotta do something.

All this coldness is really making me think about ye ol snowboard sitting in the closet wrapped up all nicely with it’s cool Dakine brown and plaid carrier. Last year she threw me off on day one (and left me a nice little 3rd degree AC joint injury. Actually a horrendously painful and debilitating AC joint injury). But fear not - since neither do I. It took me 15 years of boarding to catch a serious L, and I know it will take another 15 before it happens again.

My boy Rob out in Salt Lake has been ampin me up on the snowboarding cats out there have been doing in Utah since October! Here I come, fluffy, powdery snow that doesn’t hurt when you fall on those rare occasions!

Ah cruel world, how you make me move so.
My shoulder hurts.

That’s alright tho - by the time it starts snowing, I’ll be ready for the board!