It’s been an eventful stretch with some big milestones! My wonderful wife turned 40! Ian’s been working with me for 10 years! LinkedIn also just informed me I’ve been getting paid to make websites for 20 years 🤯. And there’s been a slew of other projects underway:
Frostapalooza concert videos now live!
Frostapalooza was a giant one-night-only benefit concert-slash-party featuring an amorphous supergroup made up of my musical friends and family.
I used the anniversary as a deadline to finally get the concert videos edited and published! You can watch web nerd rockstars be actual rockstars, and watch what happens when you put almost 40 people on stage to perform Bohemian Rhapsody.
Wake Up Excited!
Wake Up Excited! is my podcast about living an exuberant, creative, and fulfilling life. I technically announced it when I relaunched this newsletter, but finally had time to give it a proper introduction.
Denise Jacobs
Denise discusses restoring cast iron, connecting past & present passions, growth through teaching, navigating this poisonous moment in time, her incredible garden, & creative empowerment
Aarron Walter
Aarron talks about the never-ending process of self-improvement, curiosity, how research is really “me search”, super activities, FIRE and how to think about money, and living an examined life
Jessica Hische
Jessica discusses using enthusiasm to fight the negativity engulfing our world, ADHD and mental health, balancing our personal responsibilities the world at large, engaging with local community, creativity breadth & depth, and more.
I’d love it if you subscribe to the podcast, watch/like/share on YouTube (RING THAT BELL!!!), and share with your friends, family, and anyone you feel could use a dose of inspiration and positivity!
Atomic Design Course Underway!
Life has delayed me a bit, but I’m thrilled to say that I’m now cranking on creating my Atomic Design Certification Course. I’m kicking things off with some spiciness:
Why, exactly? I explain in a wide-ranging interview with the Design Systems Collective:
“That damn name continues to cause so much confusion across (even mature!) digital organizations.”
People hear “design” and immediately think “thing for designers”. If we had a time machine, we’d go back and change it to “UI system” or something more inclusive (though it doesn’t have quite the ring to it!). But here’s the fact: design systems are for anyone who cares about the success of digital products. The success of your design system lies in everyone’s shared understanding of what design systems are and how they help create great digital products.
That’s why I’m creating my Atomic Design Course for everyone: POs, UX/UI designers, front-end devs, back-end devs, QA engineers, marketers, managers, and even the suits! The course will be useful for design system veterans and novices alike, junior & senior practitioners, and high-level and low-level folks. Creating alignment and shared understanding is the key to design system success, and my course will teach your whole digital org the core concepts, best practices, methodologies, and practical process to create & maintain a successful design system.
We’re offering a team license discount to help your whole org level up their design systems game. We’re also giving a significant discount when you buy a bundle of our Subatomic design tokens course with the Atomic Design course preorder.
Meanwhile, on the internet…
Some things worth checking out:
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Vibe code is legacy code - I love the comparison to giving a child a credit card.
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Smart quotes for smart people is some useful typographic old gold from Jason Santa Maria
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Jamie Lee Curtis isn’t having a moment, she is the moment - I’ve also struggled with the “artist” label. Embrace your full creative self!
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Sun Spat by EMEFE is my current jam
My question to you: What musician(s) have you gone through this process with?
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Phase 1. Don't like
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Phase 2. Like ironically
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Phase 3. Like sincerely
Feel free to reply with your answer and/or what’s exciting in your world!
Many thanks and much love,
