Resolutions for 2005
Just a thought from 28 December 2004 about Powazek, Resolutions.

1. Sell the car. Walk/Muni more.
2. Launch the first issue of JPG Magazine and keep 'em coming.
3. Quit smoking. Again.
4. Help Technorati truly kick ass.
5. Treasure every single moment, awful and beautiful alike.

Merry Christmas from Fray
Just a thought from 25 December 2004 about Christmas, Fray.

It's that time of year again. In the Xmas spirit? Enjoy these classic Fray stories:

Kathy's Annual Ladies Luncheon by Beth Lisick
"The funniest piece of mail I get arrives in the first week in December."

The Tree by yours truly
"I couldn't wait to see them brown and dry on the sidewalks. I was that way about Christmas."

Ho ho ho!

Unfortunate
Just a thought from 23 December 2004 about Movies.

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is fantastic. It's better acted, more beautifully stylized, more captivating storytelling, and just more of a joy to behold than any of those wretched Harry Potter movies. And be sure to stay until the very end, the movie has the most beautiful ending credits I've ever seen.

Just one thing: If your child is not old enough to READ, then just leave them home, okay? It's a dark movie, so if your kid's too young to read, they're probably too young for the movie. And there's jokes in text, so if your child asks you, "what does that say?" over and over again, eventually the bitter couple sitting in front of you will turn and say something ... unfortunate.

Aside to Jason: Sometimes, when two people love each other VERY MUCH, they use ALL CAPS to denote SARCASM. This is called STYLE. Look it up.

Technorati in Transit
Just a thought from 18 December 2004 about Technorati.

Everybody send the Technorati Team some good vibes as they pack our servers into a van and move them across town to a new colo. Hardcore ops stuff like this makes me glad the worst I have to deal with is Photoshop crankiness and CSS trickery. Good luck, guys!

Update: They're Flickring the move!

Update 2: We're back! And there's more good news!

My Chanukah Window
Just a thought from 15 December 2004 about Photos.

There's a tradition in Judiasm during Chanukah. You're supposed to light the candles just after sunset, right around the time when people are coming home from work, and place the Chanukiya in a window so it can be seen. The old reason for this was to remember the military victory of a bunch of fundamentalist crazies in the desert. But the meaning has become a bit of Jewish pride. The Chanukiya in the window means: A Jew Lives Here.

For me, this year, Ephemera has been my virtual window. I shot photos of my Chanukiya aflame every night and posted them. In this season of rampant Christmas craziness everywhere I turn, it was my little corner of Chanukah rebellion.

Here's the whole set:

I hope you've enjoyed it, too.

Technorating
Just a thought from 14 December 2004 about Technorati.

So I've been working at Technorati for about three weeks and I'm just starting to get my hands dirty. Some tweaks I made to the home page and log in process went online today. Now the homepage will welcome you back if you're a logged-in member, and tell you a little more about what we do if you're not (bonus points for anyone who knows what "yak shaving" means). Small steps, sure, with many more to come, but it's always nice to make improvements and release them out into the wild. If you've visited the site and didn't quite know what to make of it, try again and let me know if the changes helped.

That's My Baby!
Just a thought from 10 December 2004 about Love.

This post is all about my wife, the lovely and talented Heather Powazek Champ (yes, she took my last name as a middle name, though she calls it her first last name, and it doesn't have a hyphen - we like to be difficult).

You knew she was a photographer and started the Mirror Project, but did you know that she's funny? And not funny in the head (though, well, maybe, but only in the good way), but funny in print. Check out this great interview and her recent thoughts on the joy of PMS. Funny!

She's also entrepreneurial. Last year she created the Print Club, where you could sign up for a year of monthly photos in your real live mailbox - plus one on your birthday! - for less than most people spend on coffee a year (or, at least, me). And by the way, you can sign up for Print Club 2005 now. (Makes a great gift!)

Yes, folks, that is a shit-eating grin on my face. I love you, baby!

Listen to Fray Day 8 San Francisco
Just a thought from 5 December 2004 about Fray.

The Fray Audio Archive has been updated to include the audio from Fray Day 8 San Francisco! Tune in for three hours of fun, including musical performances by songwriter Goh Nakamura and beatboxer Kid Beyond and true stories told live by Jack Boulware, Beth Lisick, Derek Powazek, Kirk Read, Kevin Smokler, and lots of other great folks in the open mic.

More in Fray »

Bookends in Words Magazine
Just a thought from 5 December 2004 about Books, Clips, Powazek, Writing.

I'm thrilled to have contributed an updated version of my protest story, Bookends, to the 4th issue of Words! Words! Words! Magazine, which is all about protest. The issue also features writing by Savannah Schroll, David Barringer, Kathy Fish, Steve Himmer, Ryan Kennebeck and Sean Ferrell, photography by Beth Stegall, and drawings by "drew" of toothpastefordinner.com.

It's a great book and at $5 it's a freaking steal. So if you're looking for a great gift for the old hippie or young lit snob in your family, this is it.

KnowSpam 1 Million
Just a thought from 5 December 2004 about Geek.

In a dubious achievement, KnowSpam, the service I use to block email spam from hitting my inbox, has now passed the 1 million spams blocked mark. I started using KnowSpam on 27 June 2003, just over 17 months ago.

One million spams. Just imagine all the special offers I missed.