Jeffery Vaska
Public Service
26 January
Preparing to drive 4,100 kilometers. Will be eating alot of nuts and dried fruits along the way. Lifes Rich Pageant is the greatest driving album of all time. Feel free to make suggestions...
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25 January
Many years ago when I created publications I used Quark and did most things by hand. Specifically, I used the text flow feature and was mostly content with how it worked.
Today I suddenly realized that with the web we don't really deal with text flow and pagination very well at all. Which is too bad, but it's a kind of liberation from handling that particular problem.
* I believe there is a specification in CSS3 that does something in this regard but I'll believe it when I see it. I've also used Masonry in the past (and on this site) but I wish there was a less automatic way of doing things.
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24 January
"We spent the summer in Bushwick listening to Slim Whitman records slowed down..."
Holy crap, I'm sold!
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I'm not sure if this is working. A few people have asked me what the point is to this blog because alot of the content is really mundane.
I'm still trying to find that gap where I feel most of these thoughts belong. Sure, I could do this on Twitter but I don't want to use Twitter. For the most part, these thoughts are the ones that don't want to be filed under work. In fact, I think they want to defy categorization which is impossible. I don't want to write much about work or simply reblog other peoples work which is what most blogs are about.
I'm not trying to be profound and I don't worry too much about what I'm saying - I'm just trying to have a little fun with an unfinished idea. All I can really tell people is that we'll see what develops in the future - the approach is a work-in-progress itself.
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23 January
Breakfast knives!
Breakfast knives?
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22 January
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11 January
Social networks...bah!
Create your own. Get to know people. Be genuine and honest.
The "social network" will not save you. Take the opportunity to really know other people.
Sorry, I'm old skool. I want to know the people around me. There is nothing better than getting to know a voice or even seeing a persons facial expressions.
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Somedays you plan.
Somedays you design.
Somedays you build.
And, somedays you reduce.
Yesterday and today were days of reduction - my favorite part of the process.
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10 January
To comment or not to comment (Via Gruber). That is the question.
I doubt I'll ever use the commenting system around here - it simply seems less fun to me (and people have always felt free to tell me what they think via email).
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09 January
I find that staring intently at coding problems tends to help resolve them more quickly. Kind of like watching El Topo on a Monday morning. Oh wait. lol
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08 January
"This is a 250 dollar can (of clams) and we're eating it with toothpicks."
~ Anthony Bourdain
Damn, I love Spain too.
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At Christmas of 2007 I bought my wife a beautiful Brompton. During Christmas of 2009 the bicycle was lost during travel. We had built a special wooden carrying case for it and were quite unhappy about the loss. We tried to followup regarding the disappearance but it was with an African airline and it was an impossible task.
This year, just after Christmas, the bike was found?! She received notification that her bike was being sent home (it was listed at her parents residence in Belgium). Apparently, it had been sitting at the airport in Las Palmas for two years?! Yes.
Bike and biker will soon be very happily reunited.
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07 January
How to assemble your chair with Enzo Mari.
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I just woke up from a bad dream. One of those awful feeling dreams where when you wake up you are one hundred percent absolutely awake. I might have even been muttering things out loud during this one.
The dream was of a technological future where everything is invested in 'the cloud'. The work you do, every keystroke, time-tracking, the usual things. But, it went further with tracking of body and eye movement, attempts to read your mind, number of steps you take to get a water/coffee, the amount of time it takes you to get home, not only your use of your refrigerator but the amount of light outside of the refrigerator when you open it up (like, late at night). It went on and on...
The detail that went through my mind was a total overload.
Of course, the dream didn't specify what the data was for but we can all come up with ideas on that front. Paranoid? Perhaps. Is it really that scary? I don't think so, but it's something to think about until I fall back asleep.
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04 January
For a couple years now I wanted to start making things with wood. I know that many folks building websites feel the same. Websites are abstract - you can see and feel but you can't touch them. More and more, I wanted to touch things (I totally understand Steve Jobs obsession with 'texture' in that respect).
A few months ago, after a year of slowly acquiring a solid amount of tools (which is very difficult in this part of Africa), my wife and I set out building things before relatives arrived for the holidays.
It was not easy. In fact, it was heartbreaking. We knew we needed this or that tool to make the job more simple. We're an architect and a graphic designer, and we know we have talent, but we were unable to do what we wanted. However, with screws and very simple joinery we got the job done.
For Christmas, we had family bring us alot of things - our tool repetoire doubled (we had everything we bought sent to them on our behalf). It was probably the best Christmas I've ever experienced.
One of the first things you need is a decent workbench. We didn't have one so we simply placed a sheet of plywood on top of a much nicer table. It was not easy building things, working at an odd height and worrying alot about ruining the table. Not to mention, we have very little vise capabilities (and the only vices you can get here are the more terribly cheap Chinese vices - the one in the shop didn't even work properly).
So, after the holidays I set out to build a proper workbench. I did alot of thinking about what I wanted but in the end it wasn't possible - I can't get solid hardwoods here that are traditionally used in a classic workbench. With a heavy heart I kept researching until I found the Ultimate Workbench. We considered how we could adapt things and in the end I simply felt that we needed to just build one.
For myself, this felt like an Indexhibit. I knew it would do the job and I could adapt things according to my skill and needs. I jumped right in, bought the plans (for ten bucks) and got 'stuck in' on things (I'm not totally clear on the meaning of that phrase but Eatock has been using it alot and I get a giggle out of it). The past three days I've been working on this and it's been great. I'm a novice builder and everything I do is a learning experience and I'm loving it.
We are already nearly completed but we have to find some small parts for the sawhorses around the city and this could take a few days - the photo is of a nearly completed workbench. I told myself I wouldn't get back to work for Indexhibit until it was done but I have to stop for the moment. I'll post some completion pictures when I can.
Not really related but still related, speaking of Indexhibit, anybody feel like taking a look at the beta and giving us some feedback? ;)
Ps: Sorry it's not the best photo - low light, iPhone...
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03 January
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30 December
Here comes 2012.
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28 December
Have a happy new year.
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22 December
Robyn Hitchcock has alway been holiday music for me for some odd reason. Here's a funny song about Gene Hackman.
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A few people have already mentioned that my green color scheme is a bit much. Well, I'm just a little crazy that way. Looks fantastic on my Macbook Pro so I'm in love with it. Pink on red might be next.
Have a Merry Christmas. ;)
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20 December
Nara, Japan 2011
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"My favorite buildings and me..."
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19 December
I would make a terrible cake designer because it would have to be super minimal and not that sweet. I think I'd rather make empadas de galinha instead. Portuguese chicken pies for any and all occasions!
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18 December
Apparently, 'scrabble' is an actual verb - to scrabble. Its meaning and usage is nearly identical to scramble as best as I can tell.
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17 December
How do you build a successful business?
You, understate and over-deliver (and be good). It's that simple.
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16 December
People are now referring to traditional blog activity as 'slow blogging'? As opposed to something fast like Tumbr, I guess. Thing is, I love that! I am a slow blogger then.
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15 December
While playing Scrabble tonight I mentioned to a friend that every time I go to the beach to work I always have a great time - I can think very clearly and feel reinvigorated. He said it's the iodine. Apparently, there really is something to this - link.
Furthermore, he told me that in Italy they have a program for underprivileged children that takes them to the sea to experience the rejuvenating effects of the ocean/iodine.
Now, regarding that silly aside I made about every office/studio/agency space needing a beachfront workspace? Seems like a no-brainer to me...
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In response to John Maeda's tweet.
Do you remember the agony of learning how to insert an img with html?
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Last week I logged out of my Google+ and Youtube accounts. I don't like that with Google+ you are being closely tracked around the web. Facebook does a similar thing but I rarely visit that site even though I have an account. I deleted all the associated cookies, as well.
Yes, I realize they probably have other nefarious ways to track me but I'm making things a little more difficult now.
To put it simply, I "unlogged" from the social web. Except, I still use my Twitter account - I like Twitter and I'm comfortable with them even though I do not post very frequently.
I'm all for a good, free service but I don't find the tradeoff of a free email or free videos enough to warrant that kind of tracking. I'll be resistant, if that's what it takes and (try to) occupy the unlogged internet.
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Today I needed to be a little more focused than normal so I chose to avoid email and the general web and drove to the beach. There is a great cabana where I can have a coffee and work. During the day it's usually empty.
I think that every office/studio/agency should have a quiet beachfront working space.
On the way home, having a clear mind (being near the beach always does that for me), I decided to drive home slowly so I could prolong the feeling and continue thinking. When you have the opportunity, there is nothing like a slow walk or drive. The journey is often more interesting than the arrival when you have time to see what's happening around you.
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Yes, please. I'll take one of everything.
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12 December
Why is Indexhibit taking so long, Vaska?
Unfortunately, it's a fair question. I don't really have an excuse except to say that life has gotten in the way over the years.
Somewhere towards the end of 2007 I started feeling kind of strange. I would have shifting vision or break out in a terrible sweat during the day. It would quickly pass and I would get back on with the work at hand. I was terribly busy and was only beginning to have fun with the project I had been working on for about a year at that point.
More and more though, I started having days when I was tired and felt short of breath. Sometimes when I had people working in my studio with me I would sneak away to our house and work from bed checking on progress from the meeting I wasn't really attending. I didn't want people to know I was feeling this way.
Eventually, I believe it was early 2008, I developed a terrible, uncontrollable cough. I tried naturopathic remedies and teas and finally, after fainting in the street one day and a few days where I was in so much pain I couldn't stand up, I reluctantly agreed to see the doctor. I had to acknowledge that it wasn't simply going to pass.
The first rough diagnosis was cancer. I had to wait three weeks before they were sure, after a biopsy and a bunch of tests, that I had contracted sarcoidosis. This is one of those rare diseases you hear about on Dr. House. I never felt comfortable talking about it publicly (especially on the web).
The causes of sarcoidosis are mysterious but they suspect it's a combination of pollution and stress that wears down the immune system and then all kinds of crazy things happens. Once, a crack appeared in my field of vision and passed slowly from right to left over twenty minutes or so. It was hard being patient while that happened.
Ultimately, in my case, I was lucky that it wasn't fatal and I never had to take one ounce of medicine. Instead, I had to simply ride it out. For the next year I had to fight a kind of brain fatigue (I don't know what else to call it) that made me either melt away or get really ornary. It would occur at random times during the day. I wasn't at my best but I managed to keep working from bed.
Finally, I believe around the end of 2009 I could tell I was more or less normal again except for some minor loss of lung capacity. By this time, I was moving to a remote country and it was a good time to enjoy the warmth and the sun and relax - I needed that.
I have still been too busy between then and now and alot of things have changed but I'm grateful to still be here and doing things that I really do enjoy. There will be a new Indexhibit shortly - thanks for being patient. All I hope is that people find it useful.
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Questions, ideas, proposals - feel free. I am
available for freelance projects.
Contact: studio \at\ vaska \dot\ com
Twitter: Vaska