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Megan and I can’t thank Shin enough for presenting to us this incredible video of our wedding!

Nine years ago I sent the following letter to my friends, telling them about how I was moving to the Bay Area to “follow my bliss”. I hadn’t thought about the letter since I wrote it. Last year my friend Vickie wrote to me, opening with, “This letter still inspires me”. I thought it would be worth revisiting…

At the beginning of June, I’ll be moving to California, the San Francisco
East Bay to be exact!

Why am I moving? I’m moving to follow my bliss.

Last summer I went to the Burning Man festival in Nevada, an event with a
large population from the Bay Area. The event opened my eyes and convinced
me to more actively seek out my happiness. I found that I really took well
to the attitudes espoused by the people at the event and that I wanted to
experience it more.

For the last couple years, I’ve been living in Hackettstown, NJ, a tiny
far-suburb of New York City. I’ve become a well-known person in the town,
running my own business and becoming a member of Rotary International.
People say “Hello” to me on the street. It’s a lovely place, but it’s a bit
too low-key for me. Unfortunately, it’s a little too far from NYC for me to
go to evening events comfortably. Moreover, the life perspective of the
average New Yorker or New Jerseyan is different from a San Franciscan. I’m
hoping that have more in common with locals there in that department.

The business I’ve created, “Computer Guy” is very geographically based so
moving 50 miles would be the same as 3,000. I’d done the New York thing and
Boston. Now it’s time for another move.

So I’m packing my things, selling off detritus, and getting ready to leap!

I’ve been thinking about some of the more specific reasons I’m making this
move. If you think you might be able to help with any of the following
things, gimme a buzz!

I’d like to live “in the middle of things”. I want roommates to be around
and, initially at least, a furnished short term rental. I want to walk out
my door and be there already. I’ve spent many years being on the quiet
outskirts, -near- things. But I’ve come to realize that if a life is out of
sight, it is out of mind. If people and community are “just a short drive
away”, they are still too far away. I want to be able to trip over people.

Creatively, I’d like to find a subject I think I might be interested in and
find someone to study under. I’m not sure what that will be but I’m hoping
I’ll know it when I see it. Maybe it will be experimental aviation, or
improbable art. I’d kind of like to become a musician. There are a bunch of
things I’d like to do but haven’t found critical mass for them where I live
right now. I’m crossing my fingers, and forging ahead.

For employment, I don’t know where in going to land. I’ve been doing
Software Quality Assurance for 15 years and I’m pretty good at it but the
software industry is a constantly changing entity. Maybe I’ll find a place
there, maybe I won’t. I’ve thought, perhaps wistfully, about becoming a
continuity editor for films or such (I suppose I’m moving about 400 miles to
far north for that). I’m just a bit tired of not actually making a “thing”.
QA is just a kind of proofreading… and very little of my dot com
employment actually produced anything that is widely used. I suppose I’d
scratch that itch if I built a bridge or something, but that really isn’t in
my skill set. ;-) It would be wonderful if my job was my passion.
Craigslist has 100 new job openings every day. We’ll see what happens!

I posted this on my blog first on April 28th, 2005.

Here is the followup to that letter:

Burning Man and the culture around it certainly has had an effect on my life! I’ve been so involved in arts like flame effects and machine art that I’ve taught it for years now. I lived in the middle of everything, on the corner of 24th and Valencia in San Francisco for 8 years. I started a few more businesses (and closed just as many, poop). I’ve built giant steel and fire art with a massively collaborative art group and helped run a relatively smaller art project that took me to India among other places. The actual “follow my bliss” letter had an effect on my life… I had sent it to a former employer and friend; his response was, “We’d love to have you work in Cupertino as soon as you arrive!”. It was a great way to get my feet on the ground. I found love more than once, more importantly I found the love of my life and put a ring on it.

The letter offered considerable premonitions into my life over the last 9 years. It’s funny that I didn’t end up in “The San Francisco East Bay” as promised until 8 years later. But all things come to pass. I’m now writing this on the verge of starting grad school and fatherhood. I have no concluding remarks for this post, no conclusion because, as Vickie reminded me recently, “It’s all about the Journey!”

I got these really nice illuminated switches from Sparkfun to control the Rubens’ Tube I built with a friend. Wiring them up was strangely non-obvious so I figured I’d post a schematic here.

For about 2 years I had an HTC EVO 3D phone on Sprint. It took totally groovy 3D pictures! Unfortunately, Sprint service in the east bay totally sucks so I dumped it for my Motorola Moto X (which totally rocks). The phone had a lenticular screen which should show 3D photos and video pretty darn well! It’s sad that I now have no really good way to view the 3D photos I took except “wigglevision”.

As part of my application to San Jose State, I put together an art portfolio. They liked it well enough to accept me into their program. Take a look at the PDF yourself:

Art_Portfolio_San_Jose 10-21-13 v1

A sample…

Megan and I will be on our honeymoon in Canada until July 11! I won’t have phone or text but my email and megan’s phone will work.

Attention makers (and those who love them!): watch this terrific 25 minute presentation by Carl Bass, CEO of Autodesk. He talks about 3D printing, designing and manufacturing with help from computers, biological manufacturing, designing with infinite computing power, and related topics.

This is the future of making things.

(via Swissnex San Francisco and the O’Reilly Solid 2014 Conference)

Today really is Maker Day!

(via this whitehouse.gov link)

Presidential Proclamation — National Day of Making, 2014

NATIONAL DAY OF MAKING, 2014

——-

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Our Nation is home to a long line of innovators who have fueled our economy and transformed our world. Through the generations, American inventors have lit our homes, propelled humanity into the skies, and helped people across the planet connect at the click of a button. American manufacturers have never stopped chasing the next big breakthrough. As a country, we respond to challenge with discovery, determined to meet our great tests while seeking out new frontiers. During the National Day of Making, we celebrate and carry forward this proud tradition.

Today, more and more Americans are gaining access to 21st century tools, from 3D printers and scanners to design software and laser cutters. Thanks to the democratization of technology, it is easier than ever for inventors to create just about anything. Across our Nation, entrepreneurs, students, and families are getting involved in the Maker Movement. My Administration is increasing their access to advanced design and research tools while organizations, businesses, public servants, and academic institutions are doing their part by investing in makerspaces and mentoring aspiring inventors.

I am committed to helping Americans of all ages bring their ideas to life. Alongside our partners, my Administration is getting tens of thousands of young people involved in making. We are supporting an apprenticeship program for modern manufacturing and encouraging startups to build their products here at home. Because science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are essential to invention, we launched a decade-long national effort to train 100,000 excellent STEM teachers. And we are expanding STEM AmeriCorps so that this summer, 18,000 low-income students will have learning opportunities in these vital fields.

As we observe this day, I am proud to host the first-ever White House Maker Faire. This event celebrates every maker — from students learning STEM skills to entrepreneurs launching new businesses to innovators powering the renaissance in American manufacturing. I am calling on people across the country to join us in sparking creativity and encouraging invention in their communities.

Today, let us continue on the path of discovery, experimentation, and innovation that has been the hallmark not only of human progress, but also of our Nation’s progress.  Together, let us unleash the imagination of our people, affirm that we are a Nation of makers, and ensure that the next great technological revolution happens right here in America.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 18, 2014, as National Day of Making. I call upon all Americans to observe this day with programs, ceremonies, and activities that encourage a new generation of makers and manufacturers to share their talents and hone their skills.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-eighth.

BARACK OBAMA

The triple Rubens’ Tube Michael and I built was at the Crucible’s Fireside Lounge last month. It was a really fun event. We also brought out The Littlest Dragon as well.

You can see a shot of the Rubens’ Tube in this Crucible Flyer: