Category: Friday Five

This week’s F5 is a little shorter than previous, for a good reason! I kicked off my next big project on Monday, and have been excitedly busy trying to knock it out of the park. However, here’s a few great things to keep your senses delighted. Happy Friday!

1. Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Whipped Goat Cheese:

I did this without the wine since I didn’t have any on hand, but by using really fresh cauliflower and lemons, I didn’t find it lacking at all. In fact, I’m dying to make it again. Farmer’s Market here I come!

2. Lazarus by Image Comics:

I got my dad hooked on comics with this dystopian future’s tale. Elements of Dollhouse, where a heroine executes missions while entrenched in organizational scifi drama. Best of all, there’s a secret even she doesn’t know about herself. It’s rather dark and violent, so be warned.

3. Bryarly’s self-titled album:

I saw Bryarly performing at a local pie shop/coffee house, and was immediately enraptured with her songwriting, particularly the metaphors, stories, and divulgences she uses in her lyrics. I recommend this for long drives and the open road, or other places you can relax and listen to the lyrics.

4. Deep Focus Spotify Playlist

I like working with background noise, and Spotify’s Deep Focus playlist has been my Creative Flow State mantra for the past couple months. I hope it helps you focus, dig in deep, and make great things.

5. Drapery Experiment by JB Knibbs: I love the chiaroscuro lighting, texture, and colors here. JB Knibbs is an amazing photographer and artist, and I’m lucky to call her my friend. I recommend checking out her work if you like conceptual photography, surrealism, and light.

1. “Twirl Me” by Wildlight: lyrical storytelling and downtempo chords and water drips evoke a fascinating place in this song:

2. Big Girls Cry by Sia: It’s no secret I love Sia, from Breathe Me to Chandelier. Her partnership with Maddie Ziegler is riveting, and the newest video is no exception:

And in case you’re a Behind the Scenes video nerd like I am, here’s the BTS.

3. Yuri’s Night: On to something happier! I attended my first Yuri’s Night, an international celebration of space. Los Angeles’ took place underneath Space Shuttle Endeavour! A few highlights: meeting R2-D2 (which I did quite a lot of at Star Wars Celebration this past weekend!) great costumes, geeky people, space art installations, and a Space Shuttle Main Engine. But the most fun was the intelligence, perspective and passion of my fellow space nerds:

4. “How Google Works”: No, not the search engine–though they do discuss that too–the company. How do you build a culture of innovation and quality? How do you help your employees thrive as the business scales? I especially love the way they discuss hiring practices and why it’s better to throw the typical “7-10 years experience” hiring rules out the window and instead hire “Smart Creatives.” It reminds me of the rule I use a lot for casting interactive experiences–no matter how well you plan ahead, the Guest/User/Audience will surprise you. So when you’re casting someone to interact with a Guest, cast the person, not their acting abilities. When everything goes out the window, they’re going to default to who they are and what experiences they have and can bring forward–this isn’t a bad thing! They’ll be more believable too, since it’s their true character. “How Google Works” postulates that industries are innovating so quickly, that being fully experienced in the incumbent software language or having done the job before isn’t the solution. Instead, you hire the wildly curious geeks (Smart Creatives) who you know will want to learn and take on the challenges head-first when curve balls get thrown.

5. FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! Mark your calendars, not this Saturday, but next. I’ll be celebrating in LA at the Blastoff Comicsfest in the NoHo Arts District, but most comic shops should be having events! Say hi if you see me, I’ll probably be highly recognizable.

My friend Travis Bedard does this great thing called the Friday Five, where he curates five fantastic things he’s encountered recently. Here’s some recent finds of mine that I think are really great, and hope you do too!

1. Wild Ones Live

Jon Mooallem’s book Wild Ones is a “Sometimes Dismaying, Weirdly Reassuring Story About Looking At People Looking At Animals in America,” and the only way that could get better? You have Mooallem tell the highlights of his book set to a rollicking folk song by Black Prairie, and air it on 99% Invisible (one of my favorite podcasts). Mooallem’s quest to show his daughter endangered species in the wild before they go extinct is the most joyous and bizarre 30 minutes you will spend, and I really hope you’ll listen to it.

2. Digital Orca

Douglas Coupland‘s Digital Orca (AKA Pixel Whale or Lego Orca) is a beautiful public art piece, located in Vancouver.  I haven’t been able to locate a Lego kit to build my own, but one day I’d like to make my own like these beautiful lego bird sculptures!

3. 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School 

I have been recommending this book to just about everyone I know. It’s a fantastic quick review of many fundamental and complex design rules, told with wit, inspiration, and illustration. I recently visited both Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House and Ennis House, and this book gave me a deeper appreciation and understanding on the tour, which is really just a bonus, as the book is applicable to just about any field–not just architecture.

4. Life on Mars

I’m only on the first part of Tracy K. Smith‘s collection of poems, Life On Mars, but I already can firmly say: you should read it. For a lot of reasons: it’s SciFi, yet also nonfiction, intensely human, and highly evocative. Plus, you’re supporting art made by a woman of color and published by one of the most independent publishing companies. What’s not to love?

5. “Batgirl: Endgame” Cover

I LOVE the current run of Batgirl. It’s the only DC comic I regularly follow, so that should say something. This week the “Batgirl: Endgame” one-shot came out, and Rafael Albuquerque nailed an AMAZING cover, showing Barbara dusting the Joker’s effects right off of herself & Burnside.

Hope you enjoyed the first Friday Five! Let me know if you’d like more of these F5s, or have any requests of what you’d like to see here!