May those that love us, love us.

And those that don’t love us,
May God turn their hearts.

And if He doesn’t turn their hearts,
May He turn their ankles
So we will know them by their limping.

–Irish Blessing

May we all remember the lessons we’ve learned since, not just the pain we suffered then.

I recently finished up work on the album cover you see above. Composer Joe Hallman’s gogreengo has been remixed by Megan Cauley, Peter (PONY) Celment, DJ Carl Michaels/Jamie Johnson, Kono Michi (Michi Wiancko), and Paul Pinto. gogreengo is a hard album to pin down, and tends to be pretty abstract and probably isn’t for everyone, but it’s worth a listen.

Joe gathered some talented musicians to remix his work, and you can hear their stuff and meet them over phenomenal drinks at APO bar + lounge (it’s Apothecary, for those wondering). Make your way there around 5 on the 10th of September and join the fun.

I haven’t heard it all, but in doing my design research, I became fond of Kono Michi’s music. Her vocals and violin work are quite interesting.

::scratches notch into wall::

Anybody know if I’m an adult yet?

Welcome, everyone, to the new year. I hope you’re all finding it to be the cornucopia of possibilities that I do. This year the Voteprime crew found itself once again in Philadelphia. Last year Alisa and I bought a house and so did Alisa’s sister and her husband (our good friend) Brian. Our houses are within about four blocks of each other, so Philly was the obvious choice.

Much fun was had, as you can see in Adam’s photos. Many firsts occurred that year (all photos taken by Adam):

First VP NYE featuring someone on the verge of motherhood (no photo).

First VP Guitar Hero battle sessions (and my first time playing).

First VP Bob & Barbara’s gathering.

First VP t-shirt screen printing (we’ve used iron-ons up to this point).

First VP with our good friends Mike & Jenny (seen here experiencing the cow hat).

First VP trip to the absolutely wonderful Cafe Spice.

As well as many long-standing traditions: lots of good friends together, good food and drink, dressing in our finery, counting down to midnight with my great uncle’s watch instead of watching TV, lots of champagne, and playing great rounds of telephone pictionary.

For Alisa and I, 2007 was a lot like the second movie in a sequel: it serves mainly to set up the third, and raise the stakes. A few highlights: at my job I brought in a freelancer, Alisa and I continued to work on improving the house, we got pregnant, R Design, Ltd became just a little bit more substantial, and friends and family were married and got engaged. I predict that 2008 will be the year of life-altering changes, new chapters, and big decisions. I’m looking forward to it with anticipation and the thrill of the unknown.

What do you want to do this year?

This image is almost exactly a month old now, but there she is, our baby girl.* That’s her at 20 weeks. I haven’t ever been this excited to meet anyone, ever. Expect a lot more baby-centric posts around early February.

*We’re close to 100% positive the baby is a girl.

Coming into New York City this morning for work. Idly wondering if something terrible would happen. Tasting the mild tinge of fear. Disregarding it.

Listening on the radio in the car to Gen. David Howell Petraeus talk about the war. Listening to Iraqi exiles lament the kidnapping, the torture, and the ransom their family paid. Wondering where I’d get fresh water if our plumbing stopped working.

Noticing a sticker in Penn Station stuck on a billboard that read roughly: “I blew up the Twin Towers and all I got was away with it.”

Realizing that the rest of the world keeps waiting for us to notice we’re not alone, or unique, in our suffering.

And I dig the hell out of them.

The mind reels.

Where have I been the last 2 weeks? Finding someone guilty of doing terrible things to a child. It’s been an odd few weeks.

Feel free to comment here or email me about it. I’ve placed a big punch link to it here on Current Config in the upper righthand corner. By the way, that big ol’ cap R is from a typeface I’m working on called ’Sulphur Tip’, which is based on some poster lettering by Lucian Bernhard.

Previously, I ran it in 30:45 and was pretty much unable to walk 2 days later. This year, I trained up for a few weeks ahead of time and did the full 5K (3.5 miles) in 28:00 flat, with no walking and no crippling soreness or knee problems. All around, I’m happy with my performance. My friend Sarah suggested I go for a 10K next. Well, probably not, but I’m going to keep running regularly now, so who knows?

Here’s a map of the route. We ran the loop of Park Dr. South to 102nd St to Park Dr. North to Terrace Dr.