Maple tree seeds.
Scientific name: Samaras
Street name: Helicopters
Why I adored them as a child: Hours of fun reenacting the “Ride of the Valkyries” scene in Apocalypse Now
Why I loathe them as a homeowner: Hours of tedious raking, gutter cleaning, and tiny-tree plucking
Voila! An exercise in Photoshopping excess, this overwrought work is somehow featured on my professor’s webpage, alongside several more impressive tryptychs.
I’m not exactly sure what it was we attended at St. James Farm over the weekend, but it involved a hooded falcon, cuatro men in sombreros, a solemn-faced equestrian rider, a skittish white horse, a man of mystery named Mario, a princess and her super smiley knight in shining armor, and a kiddo who found a dandelion patch to be more entertaining than all of the aforementioned. 
One of my favorite freelance projects of the last 12 months involved writing the copy for a University of Georgia recruiting brochure. Initially, I was unsure how to add the project to my portfolio, as it’s a print-based brochure and reading it is a convoluted but cool exercise in origami. I decided to attempt to replicate the reading experience by using a series of photographs compiled in video form. To give the video some oomph, I added two songs performed by the University’s Redcoat Marching Band, “Georgia Fight Song” followed by “Glory, Glory.”
I wrote the copy for RHB, a fantastic agency staffed with smart, highly creative people who specialize in assisting academic institutions with their communications. The University of Georgia was founded in 1785 as the first state-chartered university in the United States. Connecting to this distinction, the theme of RHB’s campaign for the University is The First.
UPDATE: The First earned RHB a 2014 Gold Addy Award from the American Advertising Federation.
We went to Cantigny Park to see tulips, purple cabbage-y things, and assorted other flowers whose names I’ll never know. But the surprise — and highlight — of the day was the rafter of wild turkeys that crossed our path, bringing a broad smile to the kiddo’s face.
I’ve passed through the small town of Essex, IL (population 803) hundreds of times over the years. It was more or less the midpoint between my grandmother’s home in Thawville and Chicago’s western suburbs, where I lived. My grandmother passed away in 2010, but I had the occasion to drive through Essex last weekend. I was looking forward to seeing once again the metal artwork of Jack Barker, who routinely had dozens of his creations on display in front of his studio on the main drag through Essex. Sadly, I found only two recycled-metal sculptures outside his studio on Saturday, one of the horse shown below, the other a unicorn that looked like something a Game of Thrones Wilding might ride.
The spareness of the art studio was explained to me Saturday night, when a web search led to the discovery that Jack died a year ago this month.
The kiddo is digging her new (used) playset. Look closely at the image below along with this photo and you’ll see that both she and the playset could use a good power-washing.
Eight inches of rain in a 20-hour stretch led to widespread flooding damage in my community last week. Kudos to the city for collecting water-damaged items for free, though these two chairs, kicked to the curb by my neighbor, appear to be in decent shape. I bet I could have Craigslisted them for at least 20 bucks a pop.
It’s sidewalk chalk season, and my daughter demanded that I draw her a duck. I complied, scribbling the feathered flapper below. “That’s not a duck!” she complained. Aside from the mysterious goiter, I think it’s reasonably duck-like. But then, there’s no pleasing a three-year-old.
