I’m risking bragging about my son’s birth here, but there are no gushing bodily fluids in this story. I’m talking about him birthing a product. He’s an industrial design student and was part of a three-person team to develop a Chef’s backpack. The team’s design process was nicely depicted and discussed on the hip design [...]
Archive for the ‘Parenthood’ Category
Please pack your knives and go.
Posted in Design, Parenthood, tagged Carnegie Mellon, Chef's backpack, Core77 on September 17, 2009 | 4 Comments »
What was–or is–your favorite toy?
Posted in American culture, Design, Parenthood, tagged Jumbo Cardboard Blocks, Big Wheel, ID magazine, Paul Budnitz, Kidrobot, John Maeda, RISD, Naef, Michael Bierut, Roy Stufflebean on September 11, 2009 | 2 Comments »
The current issue of ID (International Design) magazine has an article in which famous designers describe their favorite toy. Most picked items from their childhood. The write-ups are priceless. Who knew that Paul Budnitz (Kidrobot founder) rode his Big Wheel until he was so big that he had to have his dad nail a plywood [...]
Retracing Thoreau’s steps
Posted in American culture, Parenthood, tagged Henry David Thoreau, Walden Pond on August 6, 2009 | 1 Comment »
My oldest son is a minimalist. He lives very frugally both by choice and necessity. So it is no wonder that he has spent part of this summer re-reading Walden Pond and physically retracing Henry David Thoreau’s footsteps. He took me on one of those journeys on Sunday. It was magical, and inspired some interesting [...]
Inside/Outside Jobs
Posted in American culture, Parenthood, tagged Matthew Crawford, Shop Class as Soulcraft on June 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
One of my biggest adjustments to “real life” (as an industrial designer) post-college was having to be indoors all day. In fact, I’ve never gotten used to it. So, I tell my sons, and their friends, to think hard about that reality when they choose a career. The fact is, most careers are indeed lived [...]
Not-so-innocent high school video class assignments
Posted in Parenthood on April 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
So I’m taking a brief break from creating stuff for my blog….my son made a couple videos that I am sharing. The first is a mock commercial for condoms. (I guess any public health message was fair game, for this assignment.) If you don’t “get” this one, you will when you read the credits.
The second [...]
Steal This Idea, Please
Posted in American culture, Parenthood, tagged career break, Executive in Residence, re-entry on March 31, 2009 | 8 Comments »
I had a Eureka! moment yesterday. It took the combination of three observations:
The Economist once wrote that an enormous–and largely under-reported–driver of the Irish Celtic Tiger economic boom was the sizeable mass of college-educated women entering, and also returning to, the Irish workforce.
In my world I am surrounded by women who have taken a [...]
A teenager’s summary of start-up company financing
Posted in Parenthood, Start-ups on March 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
My thirteen-year-old recently asked me,
Mom what is the point of raising these “grants” [his word for an investment funding round] for your company? All you do is spend one grant trying to get another grant.
Woah. Kinda stopped me in my tracks.
A family friend overheard this statement by my son, and said, (with a [...]
Places where things get made; Pittsburgh
Posted in American culture, Design, Food porn, Parenthood, tagged De Luca, foodies in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Strip District, Wholeys on March 21, 2009 | 4 Comments »
I like being in places where things get made. I grew up next to a humming Detroit Diesel Allison factory and freight train line. Those noises and smells are instinctively comforting to me. Pittsburgh is a city whose very existence has to do with making things. I love this place. I love the grit, the [...]
Only three more days
Posted in Parenthood on January 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
For three more days I can say, “Oh I have three teenage sons.” No, I am not adopting out the one who gives me fits. (Depends on the day, which one that is.) It’s far less sinister than that. You see, I just got off the phone with son #1, and I wished him “Happy [...]
Pages
My Work
Subscribe
Category Cloud
Archives
My Licensing Terms
My latest Tweets
- @joshdilworth Sorry we never met at SXSW. 8 hours ago
- @newmediajim Reminded me of worst of high school, always felt like I was in the wrong place. Too big. Too diffuse. 8 hours ago
- @julien Great to meet you at the SXSW Accelerator event, aggressive ears and all. Hope your travels to Montreal were zen. 8 hours ago
