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Everybody’s Cindy Nowadays
Billy Bragg introduced me to Cindy Sherman. Not personally, of course. He wrote a song about the photographer on his 1991 album, inspiring me to visit the library (pre-Internet!) to learn everything I could about someone who created imaginary, cinematic worlds for characters to roam around in, then cast herself in those leading roles. At around…
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35 Years of Posting Things Online
The “what were you like in the 1990s” meme crested on social media this month. I’ve watched some folks claim it’s because “that was the last time before we had social media.” But I think my GenX cohort has hit a milestone—many of my friends’ kids are somewhere between heading off to college or coming…
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Cover Me Up
Had some minor outpatient surgery this week—everything is fine—but, in an effort to provide excellent customer service, my surgeon’s assistants said I could pick any genre of music to listen to during the procedure. I thanked them and said, “shouldn’t the surgeon get to pick? It’s his O.R.” And they said, “oh, no, he really…
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How I’m using Twitter (and other social media) in 2022.
Update on Nov. 2, 2022: I’m still not storming off Twitter. But, I think in the months since I wrote the below post, I’ve been using it less and less. And I’ve been having more quality interactions with people on Instagram and (believe-it-or-not) Facebook lately. So I’m trying an experiment this month. I’m going to…
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Why I switched from Basecamp to Teamwork
I avoided writing this post for a long time, mainly because I didn’t want to join a dogpile of performative messages about dumping Basecamp. However, in light of their recent rebrand back to 37signals and because I’ve been an open advocate of Basecamp in the past, I wanted to clarify where I stand. I like opinionated software.…
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Beyond Route 13
Originally a path for Quaker immigrants to travel between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Route 13 got its official highway number in the late 1920s. Industrial barons wanted to streamline a paved path for their new cars, even though most of the traffic in our town was from the trolley that trundled down our Main Street. By…
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The Syllabus 2020: The War of Art
I already believed in Steven Pressfield’s definition of “resistance.” 2020 just put it to the test. At the core of The War of Art lies the notion that we all resist the work we need to do to “turn pro” at our chosen craft. It’s the choice of craft that creative professionals struggle with the…
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Search and Replace
Our Podcast Taxi team worked hard all summer, so our first original podcast series, “Search and Replace” could launch as planned this morning. Every episode covers a single decision our guests made to improve their lives. These changes aren’t always massive in scope, but they each made a significant impact. In some cases, we cover…
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After 20 years of UX work, I finally got my stinkin’ badge.
The first time I held a copy of Designing Web Usability in my hands, it was 2000. I had launched spinme.com in 1997 as a daily newsletter with my best friend, and nobody had invented the word “blog” yet. At my day job, my radio colleagues had been tip-toeing into digital distribution through partnerships with…
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Mellow Yellow
When I worked at World Cafe, we spent an afternoon recording a session with Donovan. He’s one of the genuinely nicest guys I’ve ever met. I’d never have believed he’d become such an important part of my memories. At the end of the taping, he told me he wanted to share a special gift with…
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In memoriam: Joe Taylor Sr. 1945-2020
My dad loved cars, music, and his family. One of six siblings growing up in West Philadelphia (and, later, East Lansdowne), every story he told about his childhood always involved pranks, mischief, or general hijinx. He spent four years in the Navy, sailing the Mediterranean and fishing Apollo astronauts out of the Atlantic Ocean. After he returned to the…
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Silence is violence.
Mine isn’t the voice anyone needs to hear right now about the systemic racism that keeps tearing our nation apart. Yet, as I often tell my clients, silence is acceptance. Today, we now have to realize, silence is violence. Today is a moment for leaders—of all races, of all sexual orientations, of all economic backgrounds—to…
