How we rocked the Showbox

January 10, 2010 in Uncategorized

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Thanks to everyone who came to the show last night! (Photos courtesy of Amanda.)

Foto Friday: Fabrizio gone wild

January 08, 2010 in Uncategorized

Most of the time Fabrizio is a sweet, gentle cat, but recently he's had some bad mood swings. I don't know if the weather is getting to him or what. I think the alleys of Tacoma have hardened him.

It usually isn't a big deal. He just wants to be left alone. But sometimes he just freaks out.

He REALLY doesn't like wearing Amanda's leopard-print Snuggie either. Learned that the hard way.

No Amandas were seriously injured while capturing these images.

Costa Rica bound!

January 05, 2010 in Uncategorized

I have to be honest. The coolest thing about getting married is the honeymoon. It’s the one time in your life when everyone is supportive of your traveling anywhere for any length of time.

Often when you’re planning a trip, half the battle is getting the time off of work or convincing people that it’s the right time to go. Backlash may include:

“That’s too many days off.”

“It’s the wrong time of the year.”

“That’s too expensive.”

“You should go to (fill in the blank) instead.”

“Can I come?”

The honeymoon, by definition, is immune to all of these hurdles. You can take off the maximum number of days off from work; no one questions your destination judgment; and it’s ALWAYS the right time of the year to travel. No one except your spouse expects to go along for the ride (hopefully).

Amanda and I explored traveling literally everywhere – Europe, South America, Australia – and finally found a place that fit our budget and criteria for a beach-heavy destination that we haven’t yet explored. It was probably the toughest decision we’ve had to make related to the wedding (seriously) because the wedding is just one day, but this is two weeks of relaxation, exploration and eating! This is important stuff! So, we're off to...

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COSTA RICA, AMIGOS!

1,100 miles of beaches. Under $600 round-trip from Chicago for both of us. Win-win.

I booked our airfare today, so it’s finally official! We still have some accommodation work to do but I don’t expect that to be too difficult. I just need a hammock. OK. We also need baños, so we’ll look at some hotel and beach house rental options.

It’s been more than two years since I’ve been out the country (excluding Canada), and I’ve been itching my eyes out to see another part of the world. Finally, I get some relief. Bonus: I get to travel with my then-wife!

Costa Rica ranks first in the Happy Planet Index and is the greenest country in the world

Embarking on another quarter at UW

January 05, 2010 in Uncategorized

You might recall my post 4.0 is a perfect number during which I boasted my perfect GPA at the time. Yes, even Muhammad Ali lost boxing matches and even I don't always get straight A's.

Last quarter I received (gasp!) an A-, defeating my cumulative GPA to a 3.95. That class was about Web storytelling, and I produced a fairly nice video and quite possibly the first-ever research paper on Webisodes. Alas, it was not enough for a perfect grade according to the powers that be.

So now I march on with a GPA wound toward my mobile marketing class, which I am really excited about. The future is mobile, people! I'm even more excited about taking my first-ever break in grad school after this quarter. I kinda sorta need to take a four-week vacation around my wedding/honeymoon, and that doesn't jive with academic accountability.

With that carrot dangling in front of my nose, I'm going to work really hard to get another A on the board and get on track to graduate with a 3.99 GPA, so help me God.

WIB Year in Review 2009

January 04, 2010 in Uncategorized

Another year gone and documented here at Word Is Born. It’s been a good one!

In 2009 I managed to…

…get engaged(!), visit Indiana (twice), go to Vegas (and not get married) (twice), consistently post Foto Fridays, start three new blogs, post more videos, keep my job (Hello recession!), move to Tacoma, buy a house, get the attention of Levi Corporate out of a blog post, write a book chapter on Twitter, stay in grad school, get a cat, convert this blog to Wordpress, redesign it (twice), and keep a blog readership despite the rise of Twitter and said redesigns.

SOMEHOW, despite my abuses and rants here, you still love me (or my pretty photos) and I THANK YOU for that. As in past years, let’s take a look at the highlights (and lowlights):

Best author: Paolo Paolo remains the undisputed heavyweight champion of blogging. Every time he blogs, a puppy and kitten spoon.

Best newbie: Fabrizio Fabrizio starred in several videos over the past year and made it into several Foto Fridays. He is one cool cat.

Best comment: On Sept. 28, 2009, Brother Bear wrote:

Paolo… May I suggest the jeans you find at Costco. They have multiple brands instock and they are very reasonable. My sugggestion is to buy a few pairs or the diffrent brands and maybe go up one size and take them home and see what happens. Then just go back and buy what you think will work as they have no fitting rooms there at Costco.

Been buying jeans there for years now and they always fit my fatass ~Brother Bear

Runner-up comment: On Jan. 27, 2009, Jeanna wrote:

Does this mean you got smart and decided to BUY in Seattle. I was thinking on the way to work this morning how CRAZY you’d be to buy a house in Tacoma. It’s SO far away. You’d probably never come up here, and probably never get to enjoy great places like Black Bottle Again. Basically what I mean is Tacoma = SOCIAL DEATH.

Best guest post by Paolo: Home court advantage

Best post featuring a focuspoint video: Home > Work

Best demonstration of Paolo's game: ENGAGED!

Scariest post: Unmarked intersection + bus = Boo Remember when Amanda got into that car accident? Yeah. Boo.

Best blog series that was a good idea at the time: W(ho)TF is on WIB See the posts featuring Gramps, Al and Cari

Dorte Callahan Memorial ‘Lurker’ Award: DORTE! Especially considering that I no longer live with Katrine, this award is well-deserved.

Most narcissistic: 4.0 is a perfect number

Best ski-related post: Heaven and snow

Most alcoholic: 20-somethings are The New Vintage

Most obnoxious: One day without a phone

Best post written for women: Ladies, eat your hearts out

Most commented: The price of blindness and Demin wars (18 comments each)