This weekend, the family made our way down to Redondo Beach to spend time with visiting cousins that my wife had not seen in years. The trip was short but sweet and full of many fun moments catching up. However my favorite part was capturing my 2 favorite people along the edge of the peer while the spring sun set.
After spending the past 6 months in perpetual motion with work, it was great to split after thanksgiving to get some needed rest & relaxation with my family. Cabo San Lucas, Mexico is a short 3 hour flight from San Francisco.
One of my favorite side projects is one that I have built to showcase the adventures I share with my son Brandon. Obviously the content is more near and dear to me then any of my other work. However, it functions in a way that really makes the sharing part quick and easy. Thus what ultimately makes it so functional for me. I originally intended on keeping a more standard blog, but never could seem to find the time to write up lengthy post’s about our experiences.
Well, it has been a fair bit since I have posted anything… but I am excited to have taken the entire thanksgiving week off from work. Saturday was a very typically beautiful fall day here in the San Francisco bay area. We spent nearly the entire day outside both around the house and down the street on the hillside along the canal trail. We enjoyed the low 70′s sunshine, the crazy colored leaves on the trees, collecting rocks and using sticks to write our names in the dirt… (Well Brandon just scratched the dirt – he is only 15 months).
On Sunday, we gathered with my grandma Alma Mendell to celebrate her 100th birthday. Her actual birthday is tomorrow September 23 and I plan to join her for a smaller celebration. Though yesterday, the family were together to eat, joke and marvel at a really special lady. This was the first time I can remember that any mention of her age was allowed at this annual festivity. You see, my grandma has been lying about her age for so long, that my dad could actually be older then she is. (Or says she is) It is all in good fun, but really, how often do you get to go to the balloon section at the florist and ask for the pink one… um ya… number 100 please.
Yesterday Lourdes, Brandon & I went to the Oakland Zoo. I must admit that at first, I was not too excited by the idea. I have always found zoos and animal amusement parks to be a bit sad and often disturbing. While I do think it is awesome for kids to be able to see such exotic animals in person, I usually find myself feeling sad for animals that seem so out of place in such small concrete enclosures. Take for example the orca whales at marine world living in glorified big swimming pools – or polar bears at the San Diego zoo, living in feux ice and cement enclosures.
I am an avid student and evangelist of user-centered design principles - I have created or overhauled some of the world's largest online Business & Technology properties. My focus has always been on building functional design systems that creatively solve business problems. Solutions that convey brand & messaging, but more importantly, are intuitive to maximize the possibilities of an interactive medium. Any thoughts, opinions, or ideas expressed on this website are solely my own and not necessarily representative of those of my employer, CBS Interactive.
