tarajane.me

Joining FiftyThree.

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

I couldn’t be more excited to share that I’m joining FiftyThree, on their incredible engineering team.

When I decided I was ready to try something new, I looked to my absolute favorite products and companies for inspiration. I’ve been a huge fan of FiftyThree since they released their first product, Paper, back in March of last year, and have watched with awe as they have continued to deliver perfect update after update. This hasn’t gone unnoticed, with FiftyThree winning a bunch of huge awards last year: Apple Design Award, Apple iPad App of the Year, Crunchie for best design, amongst others.

I’ll be based out of their Tribeca office in NYC, which means I’ll also be making the move from SF back to my home coast: the east coast. I’m equally excited to be joining the NYC tech scene, and can’t wait to meet the community.

The team at FiftyThree is world class, and I can’t wait to start working with them. They are quite simply changing the way people create in the post-PC era.

We’re going to be making some pretty incredible things together, and I can’t wait to share more.

❤ ❤ ❤

Aside: I’ve been using Paper for my own personal side project of documenting movies I watch.

Today is my last day at Adobe.

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

I started with Adobe on January 2, 2006 as an intern. I had landed my dream job on my first college internship thanks to an engineering manager at Adobe Ottawa who decided to take a chance on an excited and enthusiastic engineering student whose experience at that point consisted merely of high school, macromedia flash, side projects. I’ve been with Adobe since.

To say it’s been a blast would be an understatement. I’ve had the opportunity to work on so many different amazing projects, with the past two years being particularly rewarding with Adobe Edge Reflow launching and getting to speak at Adobe’s Create the Web event on the same stage Steve Jobs once occupied to host Apple product launch events.

When asked what my favorite thing about working at Adobe is, my answer has always been without hesitation: the people. Thank you to each and every one of my coworkers for making the last seven years so incredible.

I’m beyond excited about what’s next, and can’t wait to share soon.

For now I’m enjoying my first, last day of work: thanks Adobe.

❤ ❤ ❤

Top Ten Albums of 2012.

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

For the past five years, I’ve been compiling and exchanging top ten albums of the year lists with friends before the major blogs release their own.

Albeit a little late this year, I’m excited to have a public place to post my list this year as opposed to my previous handwritten list in a moleskin recited over coffees.

10) Jessie Ware - Devotion
- Jessie Ware was a late find for me this year, but once I started digging into devotion I couldn’t stop going back. I’m incredibly excited to see what’s next for Miss Ware, I have a feeling Devotion is just the beginning of something special. If you haven’t seen her latest video, do yourself a favor and watch immediately.
9) Daphni -Jiaolong
- When I first heard Caribou’s Dan Snaith was releasing a collection of dance tracks under a new alias, I was equally as giddy as I was nervous. The first three songs on Jiaolong, have been practically my most played three songs of the year. While the first half is definitely the standout collection for me, it’s so utterly catchy, addicting and so different from anything I’ve heard in awhile… it was an instant staple on this list. Just getting started with Daphni? Yes, I know.
8) Wild Nothing - Nocturne
- I’ve had a few Wild Nothing singles floating around in my colletion via random playlists over the past year or so, but it wasn’t until the release of Nocturne that I really payed attention. It instantly became the soundtrack my commutes, west coast road trips, and weekend morning coffee rituals. Is timeless too large a statement? Perhaps, but Wild Nothing will be accompanying me in 2013.
7) Tame Impala - Lonerism
- Last season in Mad Men, music (beatles) fans tuned in to watch the episode which finished with a $250, 000 Beatles track, Tomorrow Never Knows. It was, somehow, the standout moment of the season for me. I can’t help but listen to the beginning of Lonerism with the same type of emotional reaction. Tame Impala has managed to create a 60s/70s feel reproduced entirely electronically… it’s incredible. I like every single song on this album.
6) Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan
- I had high expectations for this album, which were all entirely met. The vinyl is also an experience in and of itself, if you’re into such things. And the shorts which accompanied the album shortly after. I remember an especially quiet Friday evening, while Pitchfork Music Festival was happening in Chicago, tuning in to the live broadcast just in time for ‘Dance for You’ and enjoying it almost as much as being there live.
5) Purity Ring - Shrines
- This boy/girl duo swept me away midsummer, and stayed with me deep into fall/winter months with Shrines. Dark lyrics, sweet vocals, and irresistably swoonworthy beats. I can think of a hundred different, unique circumstances this year where Shrines became the soundtrack to my life. Oh and they’re from Montreal. ;)
4) Tennis - Young & Old
- I can vouch for all of my friends in San Francisco in saying I absolutely subjected them to Tennis at some point this year. Whether it was coffee/wine/whiskey at the Canadian Embassy, or me given airplay control at the Cabbage Patch, Young & Old was my goto album for something universally accessible, and fresh. Their Friday evening performance at Outside Lands this summer was one of my favorite moments of the festival, I look fwd to dancing at my next Tennis show amongst friends.
3) Frank Ocean - channel ORANGE
- En route to Coachella 2012, Jeff put on Novacane, a Frank Ocean single from 2011 which I’d heard once or twice. It was the perfect driving tune, and upon arrival and entering day one of the festival… we realize Frank Ocean was performing. We rushed to the tent, and squeezed in to get within earshot. It was hands down one of our favorite performances of the weekend, and was dubbed by Jeff as a ‘star making performance’. Channel ORANGE was out shortly after, and was my most played album of the year with 393 track scrobbles.
2) Grimes - Visions
- This is my first year with three Canadian artists in the top ten, and I couldn’t be happier. Grimes, originally from Vancouver but now living in Montreal, has been a clear favorite in our apartment. Most original album of the year with whispy, ghastly vocals alongside electronic, electric beats are incredible. Genesis is definitely one of the best tracks of the year, hands down. Oh and can we talk about the amazing music videos.
1) Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city
- I first heard Kendrick on the drive to Coachella 2012. It was Swimming Pools released as a single, and in a single listen it was wedged in my head for the entirety of the weekend. When the album dropped in October, it was instantly on repeat. Sending to friends. Money Trees, sampling Beach Houses’ Silver Soul, was my immediate favorite, and continues to be. But it’s one of many excellent tracks which has been fueling my fall. I think my most memorable ‘good kid, m.a.a.d city’ memory to date is listening to it on the train en route to the southern foot of the Yatsugatake Mountains while visiting Japan for the first time. An odd match? Nah, it was perfect.

Extremely Honorable Mentions

Because picking only ten albums is really hard, it would be criminal to not mention other albums which shaped my life/year in 2012.

Death Grips - The Money Store
- Get Got, I’ve Seen Footage, and Hacker are incredible. This was such an unexpected, surprise album for me, and slightly outside my typical genre comfort zone. Favorite Death Grips memory of the year: New Years Eve dance party with friends from home to I’ve Seen Footage.
Cat Power - Sun
- This was obviously a super highly anticipated album this year, and as a whole, it didn’t quite deliver for me. HOWEVER, I kept coming back to it, and in particular: Manhattan (the best), ‘3,6,9’, Sun, & Silent Machine. Sun memory of the year: Running the Bridge to Bridge 7k, Manhattan was my finishing track.
The Shins - Port of Morrow
- I’m a huge Shins fan, and this was easily my most anticipated album of the year personally. It doesn’t blow away any of my old Shins favorites, but it did not disappoint. It was a different flavor of The Shins, and I’m excited to see them evolve. Favorite Port of Morrow memory of the year: Seeing the Shins for the first time at Coachella with both my best friend from Newfoundland and my sister. They came out with an explosive Rifle’s Spiral, we all got covered with errupted glow stick.
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel is Wiser…
- Another incredible, and highly anticipated album this year. Another album fueling a west coast adventure. This is a top heavy album for me, being mostly partial to the first 5 tracks. Daredevil, Valentine, Jonathan: I love you.
Mac DeMarco - 2
- This Vancourite has been the weekend morning favorite at our appartment these past few fall months. Cooking up something good, is quite literally the best morning/breakfast song of the year. Looking fwd to seeing what DeMarco does next.

Other Remarkable Honorable Mentions

xxo tj

Something new before the end of the year.

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I typically consider December to be a month of reflection of my past year leading up to New Years. This includes compiling lists of favorites, scrambling to prepare for the holidays, and travelling home to Newfoundland.

I thought I’d try and squeeze in one more new thing before we call 2012 a wrap: this blog.

I’m still trying to decide what exactly I’d like to use this space for, but I’m thinking the next few weeks will shape that.