E’yen Gardner is a local author that has just finished his 3rd book, Chosen One. So far, I’ve had the pleasure of working with E’yen on each book. We decided not to use photography this time around and I’m very pleased with the outcome.

I can’t wait until Chosen One hits the shelves!

E’yen’s first book, Humbly Submitting to Change, was released today! It’s available on his website and also at Barnes & Noble and Amazon. Please support Eyen’s vision and his wonderful gift. I’m definitely looking forward to working with him really soon.

Yesterday, I managed to chop off a few minutes of my 5K run. Since the Capital City Half Marathon, my running has improved tremendously. The race really helped me push through my running challenges to become a faster and more strategic runner.

Now, my weekly running schedule includes 15-20 miles both outside and on the treadmill. The treadmill runs help my muscles and joints recover from a hard run on the pavement.

My ultimate goal is to run the 5K in 30 minutes. I’m almost there!

Artwork by Phong Nguyen

The Fuse Factory Electronic & Digital Arts Lab, a not-for-profit arts organization in Columbus, is hosting its second annual juried exhibition featuring artists working with digital and electronic media. Ignition 2.0: Conversations takes place on April 18th and 19th at Junctionview Studios, located at 889 Williams Avenue, Columbus OH 43212. The exhibit showcases the works of fourteen artists from Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo, Zanesville, Gahanna, and Whitehall.

True to the exhibit’s theme, conversations, much of the work in Ignition 2.0 involves direct or indirect viewer interaction, whether it be human-to-machine or machine-to-machine. For example, Thomas Winniningham’s “Give Me Pop Art” has viewers type into a computer a single word, which is sent to a file that has been configured to post drawing tasks to Mechanical Turk. The images created by Mechanical Turk users who sign on to complete these quick drawing tasks are projected as a composite image in real time.

Other works requiring the viewer’s direct input include Bill Shackelford’s “Blogged”, Nathaniel Hartman’s “Noise Machine #1″, and Debbie Rosenfeld and Jonny Roller’s “Conversations with Color”. “Blogged” monitors blog traffic to the work’s website and runs air from an air compressor into a 6-foot balloon every time someone visits the site, filling the balloon until it bursts. “Noise Machine #1″ uses sensors, toggle switches, and potentiometers to monitor the viewer’s interactions, which in turn impacts the sculpture’s movement/sound cycle. In “Conversations with Color,” viewers send text message responses to questions posed by six different abstract digital prints; their messages trigger the projection of additional images or quotes onto the wall space above the prints .

While not requiring direct interaction, a number of pieces adhere to the exhibit’s theme via reflection upon the nature of conversations made possible by the internet. Jane Ries’ “The Man Project” is a compilation of over three hundred male photos retrieved from their Yahoo! personal ads and categorized according to a system based on facial expression, clothing, hairstyle, and body language. Anthony and Sandra Fontana’s photo installation “We are Avatars” explores the social capital one gains via participation in social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, represented by the placement of images taken of exhibit attendees.

“With the meteoric rise of online social networking and advances in communications technology, the theme of conversations seems quite apt,” said Dr. Alison Colman, founder and Executive Director of the Fuse Factory. “It is amazing what artists are doing with these technologies now, not just in terms of technological expertise, but also in terms of reflection, critical exploration, and play.”

The opening reception will take place from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm on Saturday, April 18th. The exhibit will open to the public from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Sunday, April 19th.

For more information, please visit http://thefusefactory.org or call 614-483-3873.

The 2008 runs were amazing. But, I’m definitely kicking it into high gear with ’09. Last week, I registered for the Capital City Half Marathon. The 1/2 is on May 2, 2009. Peedie and I will be running with my coworkers at People To My Site. My Nike+ training will officially begin February 14, 2009. Pre-training begins January 17th. Woot!

Join us! There’s pizza and partying at the finish line.

I CAN’T WAIT!

“Carl captures vivid portraits, rich details, and genuine moments for the most wonderful people in the world”

I’ve had the pleasure of working with an enormously talented photographer, Carl McKinney. Carl is a wedding and lifestyle photographer located in Columbus, Ohio.

The first phase of this project was to create a brand that represented Carl’s personality and professionalism. Within minutes of our initial conversation, Carl dot was born.

Put simply, Carl dot means it’s just Carl, period. Carl is always the same sweet, genuine person every time you see him. He also brings his warm spirit to his clients and body of work. Therefore, it was important that we incorporated these qualities into his brand.

Next, we began working on Carl’s portfolio site. The objective was always to bring a simple, yet fresh design to the Web. To do this, I incorporated Flash, Mootools, JavaScript, and some fancy CSS styling.

Below are screen shots of what I’ve captured so far. We’ll be launching the new site soon (I promise). Thank you Carl for a wonderful Web design experience.

Today, I passed the 100-mile mark with my Nike+ iPod. It feels great! I’m going for 250 by the end of January. Wish me luck!

Along the way, I’ve been reading a few marathon books to get me charged up. (Book reviews on the way. )

Mom always told me I could do anything I put my mind to. She was right. Not even four months ago, I couldn’t walk around Goodale Park without losing my breath. Today, I’m running and living like there’s no tomorrow.

Congrats to Maldo, Props!, and Peedie for sticking it out and keeping me motivated. Let’s do it again!