Author: Patrick Rhone

It was Bethany’s birthday last Friday (Happy Birthday Baby!). I did my best to plan a whole day worth of fun activities in order to celebrate. We started with a great brunch meal at Hell’s Kitchen, saw a Fringe Festival show and went to the Lagoon Theater and saw the film Crash, and that is only half of it.
After the movie, we decided to walk around uptown a bit and do a little window shopping. We stopped a few different places but eventually came to Urban Outfitters. For those who don’t know, Urban Outfitters is the place to shop for the to-cool-for-school crowd. It was here, between the throwback-logo-ringer tees, too-hip-to-do-the-laundry denim, euro-trash-trainer jackets and mad-cow-suede track shoes that it finally hit me… I am too old for these clothes.
I have now reached an age where, some of the fashions that would have looked great on me even a few short years ago, now would look ridiculous on me. I don’t quite know when or how this happened. It seems like just yesterday I would have looked great in this stuff. And it is not just this store either. It seems about half of the stores that exist in todays retail mall landscape largely sell stuff that, if I were to wear it, I would look like a 37 year old trying to look 17. Do you know why? Because, I would be a 37 year old trying to look 17. I am just not a demographically catered-to mass market consumer any longer. At least not to the stores I used to frequent.
It all makes me feel so, well, old.

The theme for this week seems to be:
Simplify
Next up in my quest to carry less is my “wallet”. The reason for the quotes is that it is not really a wallet but a card case. Having lived in the big bad east coast, where pick-pocketing borders on olympic sport, I have learned to carry everything in my front pockets. For years I have carried around my ious cards in a card case of some sort. My current model is metal and clear plastic and the lid is attached by an elastic bungie style system. I do like it and it gets attention whenever someone notices it while I am out (“What is that?”).
The problem (and perhaps benefit) is that, due to the metal body of the case, I have a limited and inflexible amount of space and therefore a finite number of items it can hold. Still, I have managed to pack this thing to the hilt with all sorts stuff. Not just the stuff I need to but all sorts of things I could just as easily have in a separate holder in my car. Discount cards, coffee punch cards, gas punch cards, membership cards, you get the idea. None of these items do I need to keep in my pocket constantly. Therefore, it is time to once again “get real”.
I have cleaned it out and here are the only things I really need:
1) Drivers License
2) Check Cards (I have two as I have two regularly used bank accounts)
3) College Staff ID
4) Insurance Cards (Auto, Medical and Dental the total of which equal one credit card in thickness)
I will keep the rest in a separate case in my car and access when needed.
Next up, doing something about that anchor of a computer bag I carry.

Item #1 on the Personal Manifesto I have been slowly building is the following:
Travel as light as possible. Get rid of uneeded items. Carry only what you need to have.
In that spirit, I have been thinking about how to reduce the number of items I carry with me. For instance, do I really need all of the keys I own on my chain or should I have a chain just for my car and house keys and leave the rest on a separate chain or chains at home? Do I really need all of the items I carry in my Timbuk2 Messenger Bag? Do I really need a bag that size and does the fact that I have the room simply encourage me to carry more? If I have a smaller bag will it force me to be more selective about what I chose to carry?
A number of the items on my manifesto are things just like this. Things I believe in and try to strive for. I am not always successful but from time to time, I revisit the list just to do a check of how I am doing. Today, I came across an article at Celsius1414 called Zen Pockets and it has inspired me. I am really going to “get real” about this one.
I am starting small, with my key chain. Here are the only keys I need on a regular basis:
1) Car
2) House
3) Office
4) Bethany’s House
Four keys. That is all I am going to carry from now on. I have taken all other keys from my keychain and have put them on a separate ring which I will keep at my house and only take when needed.
There. I feel better already.

There are some days I fantasize about disappearing. I mean just vanishing in that whole romantic sense. Instead of going home, I go to the airport and purchase a one way ticket to somewhere vast and unreachable and leave everything in my life behind.
This is one of those days.

The lack of posts around here have been because some upgrades to the server at my hosting provider managed to stop Movable Type from working. There was a combination of factors and they were not entirely at fault. Thankfully, my friend Michael once again saved the day and got everything fixed (I did some of the work too, or, at least I tried). It is late now and I am tired but I will be back to my regular posting self tomorrow.

Jason Fried of 37 Signals makes another insightful and powerful argument…
Why do we treat email differently than a phone call?

OK, I am secretly envious of my friend Rodney. Rodney goes hiking, camping, rock climbing and is generally outdoors whenever he has the opportunity. When Rodney’s job sends him off to far away places or he goes somewhere to visit friends, he does not spend his off time in the hotel or the local chain restaurant. He finds the nearest trails and he conquers them. I admire that.
See, back when I was younger, I was into hiking and rock climbing and such. A regular boy scout was I. Now as I have become older, and I have less time and opportunity, I am more inclined to spend the few free moments I have trying to take a nap rather than taking a good hike and experiencing light other than the glow off of my computer screen. I do not tolerate heat as well. I sweat profusely at the slightest activity performed in temperatures above seventy. I am not in the same shape I was 20 years ago, that is for certain.
Still, it is my hope that one day, when the weather has cooled, when I have a little extra cash for some decent hiking shoes and when I have a day on the weekend I can spare, Rodney will give me a call and say “Wanna take a hike?” That would make my day.

My friend John Schott sent this great link. It is Issue 3 from DQ and it’s set up like a digital sketchbook full of beautiful art. Flip through the pages by clicking on them to see some really nice work. It was a refreshing way to begin my morning.

OK, I have had several folks ask me where I got that little cartoon of me that is on the Contact page. To answer this question, I will quote from a previous entry I had on this which I have not had time to get back up yet:
“Iconize Me! is a very unique service offered by DV Graphics. Basically, it works like this. You send them a picture and for $20.00, for the basic package, they will send you a digital caricature of the picture you send as a computer icon! You can then copy and paste that icon to any file or folder.
The entire process could not be easier and it only takes about two weeks from the time you place your order until the icon is delivered via e-mail to your inbox. That is amazingly fast considering that each icon is custom “drawn” to order. The icons are compatible with both Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X. You can also order up a Windows version for an additional cost. ”
For additional charges they will not only send you the icon but also the original Photoshop file they used to draw your caricature. This is what we used to make the version you see on the Contact page.
I should also mention that they do get very busy (I believe it is just one guy doing them all himself). Therefore, sometimes they stop accepting orders. If they are not currently doing so check back in a few days and they may be again.

Boy do I wish I had this a couple of years ago when I was trying to live solely off of my income from Machine Methods. Garrett Dimon lists a number of very important tips for those who either work freelance or are looking to do so. A great resource.
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