I can’t remember when I first read about ROOT but the idea has intrigued me for a while.  A small batch liquor made by by the fine artists at Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.  I think my interest began with the simple design of the glass bottles or the maybe it was the story behind the liquor which is a revival of a pre-prohibition recipe root tea that eventually became root beer when alcohol was “out of fashion”.   It doesn’t really matter though because in Washington state you can’t get it.  In fact out side of Philly it can be tough to find.   As a part of a new breed of organic, hyper-local small batch liquors, regular and large distribution is hard to come by.  

During Maker Faire last week I sent one of my co-conspirers to Cask in downtown San Fran where they specialize in small batch liquors and fine bartending kit to look for a couple of bottles.  After a few days on the road myself I came home to this lovely 80 proof alcohol.  I have all sorts of ideas about how I could cook this down and make syrups to poor on various foods but more than that I have enjoyed sipping it over a little ice.  If you ever get a chance to try some I highly recommend it.

Also be sure to check out Art in the age of, they are a lot more than some hipster urban farmers.

Art In The Age of Mechanical Reproduction firmly believes in empowering artists producing high quality work marked by fine craft and intellectual rigor. We do so by applying the fruits of such labors to the cultural forms of everyday life, granting those who wish to engage the opportunity to do so in his/her own environment. Rather than exist at a distance in the white cube of the gallery space, we weave our offerings into the collective surface of myriad personal contexts. In this troubling epoch of industrial commodification, standardization of reproduction, and fomentation of a society of shallow spectacle, Art In The Age issues a challenge and rally cry. We fight fire with fire, subsuming the onslaught of watered down facsimiles and inaccessible displays with thought-provoking products of real cultural capital

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After putting it off for too long I have decided to build myself a dedicated workspace in my house. My house is a three story home built into the side of a hill. The lowest floor is a daylight basement and is relatively unfinished. I have a room that is framed off to be a dedicated workspace.

For the last several months I have worked out of a temporary space that really should be a bedroom and not an office. I want to create a space that can help keep me productive and organized. So I am getting started on a process to create a new space. 

I probably pay more attention to my physical surroundings than the average geek. But having a space where you can go, focus and be creative is important to me. I have put a lot of thought into all my previous workspaces when I was located physically at a corporate office. Now that I am not living in a cube I haven’t really found a way to get settle and create the right kind of workspace for me.

A few months ago I stayed at the Ace Hotel Palm springs and I really was inspired by the interiors of the hotel. They were clean and modern and very well executed. There is also an excellent use of materials, from the cork floor to the canvas curtains. I have a lot of ideas about how these kinds of materials could also add up to a really cool workspace that inspires and motivates me.

For my space I am looking to create a clean and efficient space.  I want the space to be modern and cool but I also need it too be useful and professional.  So I am putting a call out for advice.  Before the contractors show up and tell me how much it is going to cost I am doing a ton of research and I am looking for your help in building a better office.  Here is what I need help with:

1. Flooring: Cork or bamboo (The sub-floor is cement if you are curious)
2. White board: Full wall or just really large.
3. Sitting desk: Suggested styles
4. Standing workstation:  I am looking for a second standing workstation
5. Shelving: low or medium height.

So I am going to document the work from start to finish and let you know how I choose the materials and how I organize the space for my work.  Send me your ideas, I am looking for help from my friends to help me do this right.

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Sorry it has been a while since my last post, but I have been busy doing what I do. Working, traveling, and of course… troublemaking. I am sitting on a whole bunch of posts that I wanted to publish so I thought I would get started with with the 5 tools that I couldn’t live without.  In the last few months I have made some changes to my kit and I wanted to share a few things that have made the process of workshifting easier and more productive. If you work out of coffee shops, hotels, airports and everywhere in between then you will understand that I take the selection of hardware and software very seriously.  

The engine

One thing I thought I would never do was change my hardware. I have been a die hard Lenovo user for the last 5 years and I loved my X300 more than any other machine I have ever had. But I felt it was time for more power and recently switched to the 15" 2.53 Macbook Pro with 8 gigs of RAM. I love this machine and while I find some limitations in the available software, I am running Windows 7 in Parallels so that lets me run tools necessary for work. 

I almost never travel with just one machine (my other is a Lenovo T400s with Windows 7) but the MacBook Pro has quickly become my weapon of choice.  I’m still no fanboy but but lets just say life is a lot happier with this sexy thing in my bag.

The taskmaster

I have used a lot of tools for tracking my todo’s over the years but I love my new found favorite. Task management for me used to be todo.txt but to be quite honest it left a lot to be desired. I moved to Remember the Milk but it seemed like a lot of work, so recently I move to OmniFocus for the MBP. I love this tool. It syncs with my phone, with Basecamp (with some help from separate syncing tool), and my calendar. I am tracking personal projects, business projects and it works as an essential inbox for things that need processing. If you live in lists and are looking for more power this is a great place to start.

The silencer

I was in a coffee shop last week working on a project on a deadline, when 5 moms with spawn in tow came in an settled down right next to me. There was screaming, crying, and lots of weird smells and that was only from the mothers. I still managed to get my work done by putting in my Ultimate Ears UE11 custom earphones. Sure they are one of the brands I represent, but my worklife has never been the same since I got them. I put them in and the world can disappear. They block up to 26db with passive noise cancelation and with a little Band of Horses they pretty much block out anything that could become a distraction. 

The rangefinder

I read an article on Engadget about the BearExtender N3 and knew that I needed it as a add-on to my MBP. It is an inexpensive and totally street legal wifi extender that has one big advantage over a lot of extenders out there; it works! I find that is best suited when I am forced to use shared wifi in places like downtown Kirkland. It allows me to select the hotspot with the strongest signal. I have sat an watched others struggle to stay connected while I am cruising through work. If you have a MacBook, you should get one of these right away.

The organizer

If you are a digital nomad or just a regular web worker, you probably have a lot of cables and other "tech accessories" the Incase Nylon Travel kit should be added to your bag. This bag was designed to protect and carry all the accessories for a GPS unit, but it makes a great kit for protecting your external storage and various cables that used to float around in your bag. I currently keep:

• GPS
• an external hard drive
• 1 mini USB cable
• 1 micro USB cable
• 1 iPhone cable
• 2 USB wall chargers
• 1 mini DisplayPort to DVI
• 1 mini DisplayPort to VGA
• 1 coiling cable lock
• 1 Firewire 800 to 400 adapter
• 3G USB connect Mercury
• BearExtender N3

All this stuff would have been floating around in my bag and I looked like an old lady digging in her purse whenever I needed anything.  This keeps it all together and keeps me sane. 

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If you haven’t seen it already there is an incredible set of unboxing photos of the Leica M7 Edition Hermès.  I am not familar with “the purse blog,” (purses are not my thing.) but these photos are some of best I have seen so far of the fashion edition of an incredible 35mm legend. 

Leica’s packaging is also some of the finest I have ever had the chance to remove. Lots of attention to detail in every element.I have a very small collection of Leica’s and the manufacturing quality and feel of these machines in your hands is amazing. 

The Orange of the Hermès edition isn’t really for me, but I find the contrast to be as startling as the asking price, $12,950.  But hey if you got buy one; there are only 200 of these to go around.

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