My daughter Arden's birthday was yesterday. She's now 3 months old. Which is fantastic. She truly is something else. I have never quite felt this way hearing a girl laugh. Sky parting, angels looking down and all that.

I do have to mention that there are a few things that having a baby will teach you. First of all, when people tell you: "Are you having a baby? Wow, everything is going to change!" they don't really say anything.

They might as well say: "The muezzin's song is very beautiful in the morning fog." Means absolutely nothing to you and as sure as hell does not offer any constructive indication on what's to come.

I would have appreciated a lot more wisdom morsels like: "Wait for 5 minutes before changing the diaper. There might be more in there." Or, drooling is normal. All babies do it.

Which leads me to the next thing. Babies are cute, adorable and leaky. They leak out of all orifices, at all times and at the most innoportune moments. But we love them all the same. And boy, do I.
I would do anything for little drooling, smiling, adorable Arden.

Had some time to re-think some of this blog's function and I got to say, doing a drawing a day can be somewhat taxing. So, it's time for a revision. Drawing will happen as and when I feel like it. Which, to those of you that love quality art, could be quite the relief...

Meanwhile, while I was out, my house was NOT, I repeat, NOT, redecorated, but sadly, my country has.

As in, the president's backers have discovered that backing an incompetent president can actually hurt your efforts to transform the country into your vision of utopia and instead turn it into a shit heap, Hollywood has released some crappy movies and the Colbert report has hit the airwaves. Well one out of 3 isn't all bad...

More later.

16th child born today to the same mother. A full on soccer team, complete with reserves. Here are few interesting facts about the situation.

Husband name?
Jim Bob.

First name initial of all children names? J.

Wife haircut?
Mullet.

Place of residence?
Arkansas.

Does she want more children?
Yes, if the Lord wants to give them some more, she will accept them.

Husband's occupation?
Politician.

Comments? Didn't think so.
We're done here.

Today the US pledged $ 50 million to quake relief in Pakistan.

To put in perspective, that's 2.5 crazy US businessmen taking a little amuzing trip to the yonder space, or to further put in perspective, for 4 extra million Affleck and Lopez could have re-made Gigli! Or, just a little more than 1/2 of Tomb Raider.

Maybe, perish the thought, we would have gotten Angelina Jolie with 1 breast? For lack of funds to pay for the other's salary?

It's a sad state when we 40,000 lives are not worth the price of making a crappy movie like the Hulk. Or when multi millionaires / billionaires are taking trips to space instead of helping their fellow man with money they will never ever even get a chance to spend.

Tsunamis, wild fires, hurricanes, earthquaqes, Pat Robertson, bird flu... It's all very exciting. Makes you think that living in this century will be a lot more un-fun that the last. (minus the 2 world wars, the other smaller, less "world" wars, flu pandemic, the pet rock, etc) I'm bitter already and it's only 5 years into it.

Given our curren deficit, and with the current devastation in the Gulf, (no, not that Gulf, our Gulf. OK, that Gulf too.) what's plainly obvious is that we are borrowing from China to rebuild this country, Thomas Friedman was hinting at this on Sunday on the political shows: The bill (hurricane relief, Iraq appropriations, whatever) "should be called the 'How Much Are We Going to Borrow from China Bill'"

What's interesting about this administration is that they, for all their ferocious sense of independence, are not at all concerned that they are taking out a second mortgage on the country. Could it be the red states that should have taken the card away when they had chance to in the 04 elections? Maybe. The point I'm making is that it's not going to be pretty when they'll want to call the debt and our children will have to pay up. Thanks a lot.

So, here's a question for you all. If an entire region of a country is devastated by a categ. 4 hurricane and presidential make-up visits, how can you tell that the situation is coming back to normal? As in thankfully ignored by reporters and presidents in need of making or keeping a name? I'll tell you how, strippers! That's how! Evidently the strippers are coming back to NOLA. How free market capitalist is that? Nowadays there are plenty of National Guard, and construction workers walking around with cash and no women to spend it on. Enter the strippers, the canary in the coal mine of capitalism.

Simon Wiesenthal died today. I have the deepest repect for the man and consider him the embodyment of all that is right when fighting evil.

Here's what dictated his life focus: at 33 Wiesenthal was taken from his home in Galicia, in what is now Ukraine, and put in a concentration camp. Later, he and his wife were thrown in a forced-labor camp. The Nazis killed 89 members of their families. Wiesenthal could name every one of the dead. Wiesenthal escaped from a camp, only to be caught and sent back. Twice in that dark time, Wiesenthal tried to end his own life. After almost four years in Nazi captivity, he was liberated by American soldiers in May 1945. He weighed 97 pounds. died in Vienna, Austria on Sept. 20, 2005. He was 96.

When asked why he spent his life hunting nazis, Wiesenthal said: "I am not a practising Jew. But I do believe."
Rest in peace.

Yes, this captain of industry, this fearless corporate lion, this scrappy decission maker is now off to jail. You know how it goes, you steal a little, you fudge the books, you throw a $2 million birthday party in Sardinia and the next thing you know, your company's tanking and the investors want your head on a stick!

This to you, as a head of a fortune whatever company is so unseemly and impolite that you make a point in emphatically denying all charges and vowing to fight theese scurrilous accusations. Then, a year later, in comes the verdict and what do you know? You are "found guilty on 22 of 23 counts of grand larceny and conspiracy, falsifying business records and violating business law." Oh bummer. Looks like the ride's over for Kozzie and it's now off to the big house.

And here's the beautiful part of it all: "they likely will be sent to one of New York's maximum security prisons, which include Attica and Sing Sing." From imperial corporate chieftain, who rides Harley-Davidsons, flies helicopters and sails a $17-million (U.S.) classic racing yacht, to Attica tennant, among New York's drug dealers and murderers. Excellent. A well deserved return to reality for K.

Having been in a meeting for waaay too long and talking about stuff that made very little sense, here's what I do. Start imagining a storyline and draw it out. Here goes last week's:

Sunny day in the Negev desert. While walking on this barren looking moonscape I came across a motorized head moving on two small wheels and talking through a veil covering the lower half of it's face. We walked for a distance talking of the current events and how little sense it makes to put Rove in charge of the hurricane relief and we came upon the Ark of the Covenant perched on a footstool. I remember thinking that it looked rather small, but then again, who am I to question the Builders?

What was the meeting about, you ask? Who cares, the drawing makes for a far more interesting story...

Let's all agree on this. The great majority of people you see wearing visors are not sailing a yacht or playing tennis. More than likely, the people you see wearing these visors are shopping for toilet paper at Costco, or getting their oil changed at Jiffy Lube.

You get my point, right? The visor screams at us innocent bystanders the following unambiguous message: Hey! You! The guy / gal wearing me has an IQ score that is within 2 points of his / her shoe size, and on top of it all, guess what? He does not sail a yacht either! Bottom line, get rid of that annoying thing. People know you don't sail and your tennis game is crap.

Next week: flannel track suits!
Good luck to us all. We'll need it.

Been sick for the last couple of days. Some kind of stomach flu. Complete with nausea, lightheadedness complemented by a very subdued headache bouquet! What a wonderful ensemble this was.

Here's an interesting fact. Any bloody time you're ill with some kind of a virus, I guarantee it that within 2 minutes of a conversation about your symptoms, the person you're talking to will say the following: "It's going around!" and promptly proceed to give you a list of people that are now or have been ill with approximately the same illness, in the very recent past.

Could it be the need to make one feel like their plight is shared? Must be that. The thing is that it's becoming a reflex. Also, why is it that we don't get good stuff "going around"? Like say... winning the lottery. Hey you won the lotto? It's going around you know. My cousin, his wife and their kids they all won the lotto in a week of my cousin coming home from work yelling: "Honey! I won the Lotto!". It's going around, I tell you!

From LA Times: "The nation's airline crisis took a stunning turn for the worse today when Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. both filed for bankruptcy in the face of massive losses, meaning that four of the seven largest U.S. carriers are now flying in Chapter 11 bankruptcy."

Here's the whole article. You have to wonder just how much of the problems of these airlines are caused by all the CFOs and MBAs hired to paint a rosy picture of earnings along with converting losses into profits through creative accounting.

You know the type. The suited guy with absolutely no life experience, fresh off the MBA assembly line of Harvard, hired to replace the old-gen economist in the vain hope of increased efficiency. Sure, it is all good, as long as the economy is coasting along. As soon as it hits a rough patch, it becomes necessary to lie, so that you may cover that ass. And one lie leads to another, and another, and then the company is bankrupt.

Luckily for you, you got the oil prices to blame your failure. Unfortunately there is the old-gen economist that is still thinking that the company should have foreseen this crisis and changed the business model to be able to withstand a blow in fuel cost. Especially knowing that we are dealing with a limited supply commodity that is unfortunately abundant in the world's most unstable and insane areas.

Yes, with a city in ruins, what is there to do but have a telethon where entertainers, who inexplicably are given a voice in times of distress, are coming on and reading teleprompters. It is good, of course, if it makes people react in a positive way and donate to important causes. The question is, do you really need Celine Dion telling you what to do, or can you do it yourself without the benefit of a Vegas performer sometimes enjoyed by the elderly?

Personally, I would rather see my taxes at work providing shelter and sustenance to the disaster stricken poor rather than seeing my taxpayer cash fighting a questionable war.

Looks like The Job Cut Fairy has been dealt a kick in the crotch by the Boeing Machinists. Tonight, the Machinists Union backed a strike by an 86 percent vote. Which makes it a pretty good majority.

I have always wondered where is the backbone of the labor movement in this country? And why has it developed such a bad name? Seems that the unions have done a certain amount of damage to themselves, by associating with all kinds of unsavory characters and focusing on lobbying rather than on the priorities of the constituents. But what are you gonna do? You get some power, you get elected, you represent a whole bunch of people and you discover you like the power and want to get more of it. So you figure out different ways to maintain the chokehold. And if that comes at the expense of the people that put you where you are at, so be it. Because you know what's best, right?

Wrong.
Dead wrong.

This is what caused the labor movement to fall into the deep, deep toilet that it is in today. This toilet needs a periodical lively flushing, which is exactly what's happening now. By the way, you can apply the same pattern to the world of politics and you'll get the system we got, where you get less attrition than what you had in the old Soviet Communist Party. Pretty pathetic all around. Ultimately what it comes down to, is completely ignoring the needs of the people once they put you in charge.

Good for the machinists. And good for International Brotherhood of Teamsters and Service Employees International Union for splitting from the AFL-CIO. Keep at it!

As I am watching TV tonight, seeing the total devastation of the gulf coast states and cities, there is something that is just painfully obvious.

When it comes to looting some people are just plain dumb. Some basic things to consider. When looting, do not go for the TV you dumbass. THE ELECTRICITY'S OUT! It's big, unwieldy and does not free up the hands to fight the other fool trying to wrestle it away from you. You are an idiot! In times like these you need portable wealth rather than a TV. Also, carjackings. Where will you drive it? The flooded area to the left? Right? Front? Or back perhaps? You sir, are an idiot. This is of course, saying nothing about the fact that your city's falling apart around you, there are people dying all around and you are concerned about watching American Idol on a slightly banged up Toshiba, sporting some mildewy Nikes. You can tune in on just about any channel to see these specimens. Not talking about the people taking water, food, of course.

Also, when looting, consider your choice in apparel. Wearing a teeshirt that says "Vote or Die" makes you look like a complete jackass. A jackass concerned about voting and democracy none the less. If there is such a thing as Karma, these people will get theirs. We should all be so lucky if there is a special circle of hell that these people can spend eternity in. Some kind of arrangement where they could spend 24h/day assembling this crap in a dirty underground sweatshop in Indonesia, while beaten by a morose foreman/pimp.

I am at a loss for words.

Consider this: the estimated cost for rebuilding New Orleans is 23 billion. The cost of the war in Iraq is 1+ billion / week. Hopefully it will come down to priorities. And speaking of priorities, take a look a this map of the world's active conflicts and the US arms sales to the respective regions. Very inspirational.

About Katrina, from NPR. Go there and listen to the story. Heartbreaking. Here's the summary. Read the last phrase a few times, just so that it sinks in. It is priceless.

"August 30, 2005 - Flood waters are rising in New Orleans, which remains without power after being hit by Hurricane Katrina Monday. Phone service is also largely down, and looting is taking place in several areas. Fallout from the storm has prompted President Bush to return to the White House (from vacation) two days ahead of schedule."

Here's one of the biggest ever annoyances you'll ever have to face as an employee or small business owner. Meetings. Everyone wants to meet. Sometimes meetings are useful and can accomplish a lot. Sometimes you'll meet about the most inane and irrelevant things. But you go and meet. Because you have to.

If you really are concerned about meetings where you don't spin your wheels, you should check out this article and stop reading here. I am talking about anti-efficiency. When there is a good reason to just sit back, spin away and watch it come undone. Why? Because it's funny, because you have no choice and because you need a break.

Some excerpts from the article mentioned above:

"Before you schedule a meeting, think about the potential results of getting everyone together. Will the results justify the cost of the meeting?" Sure, I suppose you could do that, or in case you want to just look like you know what you are doing, learn some words and expressions that mean noting and sprinkle liberally in the meeting. Here are some useful and completely irrelevant expressions that will make you look like you know what's going on and make people ask you for input: "reinvent out-of-the-box metrics", "matrix scalable supply-chains", "facilitate open-source deliverables" and my favorite: "verticals". These priceless gems will make you visible and guarantee you a raise if used appropriately. Careful though, meetings are a lot like comedy. Timing and delivery is everything.

"I have found that the fewer people there are involved, the more efficient the meeting." Sure. So, what you do for a good wheel spinning exercise is invite everyone. And make sure you have an agenda that gives a voice to the least relevant player on the project. This way you are guaranteed to humorously waste at least an hour. Make sure though that this person is in a supervisory position. They will not resist the urge to make comments, take control and confuse the issue.

"Do "types" emerge in your meetings? Every group gathering will bring out different types: the person who talks just to get air time, whether or not the input is valid; the parrot who repeats others to get credit for good ideas; the quiet one who never speaks at all." Oh, types. That's adorable. Take notes, see who are the "types" and store the list in a safe place. These are the people that will give you a well deserved wheel spinning vacation from work, reality and sanity. Your only responsibility is to use this power wisely and call on the "types" with great care to insure maximum wheel spinning time.

"Is meeting follow-up more work than it's worth? Do you insist on a meeting report to tell everyone what happened?" This is key. You must follow up. You absolutely must share your wheel spinning with everyone and take as much time of their day with irrelevant emails. Also, be sure to "take it off-line" with one person or another. Your boss preferably. I find that bosses love to taken "off-line". Shows that you are involved and want to share important observations as a sideline to a bigger conversation. Looks like you care.

Hey there.

After deciding to put a blog together and after some struggle with the Movable Type platform, I got it all skinned and ready to go. But first, I believe some introductions are in order. I am a graphic designer in Seattle. Age 36.

So, let's see, what can we infer from this? A graphic designer / art director, in Seattle, age 36. Let's take the art director thing first. Sometimes I am an art director, sometimes an art janitor. You know how it is, performing janitorial duties on someone's vision of what looks good, professional, or, the worse client quote to date: "hey, let's just slap some lipstick on this pig and make it presentable". Emblematic of all things that say respect for one's craft, wouldn't you say?

It's all part of guessing the client's idea (if they have one) and then making it so that their clients in turn are not turned cvompletely off and heading for the hills when they come across their website. This happens sometimes. Ok, more often then I'd like it to. But not always. and the fact remains that I am in this business for the times it does not happen.

That's about the graphic design / art direction part. Now, what about the Seattle part? What that means is that I probably am doing work for high tech companies. Which is true. The tech is very high and the work is very important. About as important as a fart in a hurricane. Sometimes. But it pays well and sometimes it can be really rewarding. That is sometimes, not always. Have I said sometimes yet?

Hey, you say, 36? That means you worked for a few companies and you have some experience, right? And I'd answer, right you are chappie, right you are.

So welcome to this so called blog, stay a while, put your feet up, have some chamomile tea, hitch yer pants up and swear loudly. It may be a bumpy ride. Or it may be just some completely irrelevant reading. And who wants to read?