Picture this: a man in his 40s somehow manages to live his life fully (and with enough good food and shelter to keep him happy) without getting a full time job. Not a trustfunder, he simply is able to piece together teaching and design jobs all those years. Finally, one day he's given the opportunity to turn his life 180 degrees by entering the federal government. Let's just say this guy has been learning a lot on the job!
March 26, 2009
Confessions of a Long Tail Visionary
Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail: Products that are in low demand or have low sales volume can collectively make up a market share that rivals or exceeds the relatively few current bestsellers and blockbusters. Chris Anderson, editor of Wired…
February 22, 2009
On Forming a More Perfect Union: Art and Discourse Chat
Trees with Mormon Temple, 2009, ©Jeff Gates. Click on image for larger view. Yesterday, as I was driving the DC Beltway I suddenly saw the spires of the Mormon Temple above the leafless branches of Rock Creek Park. With…
January 19, 2008
The brain is an incredible organ. Our ability to express complex and meaningful ideas sets us above the rest of the animal kingdom —if you can harness and master it. Without cognitive control humor can turn into fits of hysteria,…
May 20, 2007
Window Washers Outside My Former Office Window Our offices recently moved and I no longer have a coveted window on the world outside. But before I left I got the opportunity to document my view and take this portrait….
April 7, 2007
You know your job is secure when you make it on Wheel of Fortune. Click the image above to start. (Quicktime, 5.5 MB) Last night: the end of a very busy week. I’m preparing for my first back-to-back business…
June 30, 2006
The Patent Office Building, which houses the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, is about to receive visitors. After a six and one-half year hiatus for renovations, the Smithsonian American Art Museum reopens tomorrow. As a…
December 16, 2005
Eye Level: Yahoo! says we’re “100% snooty-free!” Access to Eye Level, our new blog at American Art was a bit dicey today. Typepad’s servers were having a bit of trouble so our site (and every other Typepad hosted site…
November 28, 2005
The Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Blog: Eye Level Today marks the debut of a project I (and many others) have been working on for about six months: Eye Level, the blog of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (and the…
November 24, 2005
Getting Up Close and Personal with a Bear
My “one-on-one” in-depth visit with Tai Shan Tai Shan, the Smithsonian’s newest Panda will debut at the National Zoo December 8. Well, technically he’s China’s newest panda since, by agreement, he will be given to the Chinese when he…
September 17, 2005
Another typical workday: a suspicious package left at Starbucks. Every workday afternoon I log my activities and daily accomplishments into an Access database. We do this to track the amount of time each project takes. But the bonus is…
May 26, 2005
Pretty in Pink: My Coworkers and I in the Uniform of the Day Commuting time is usually decompression time. Unlike driving, riding the subway each morning and afternoon allows me to listen to music or This American Life on…
March 6, 2005
Psst. Hey you. Yah you. Come over here. Wanna buy some cookies? Uh, I got Trefoils. I got your Do-si-dos. I got Double Dutch, Samoas, and Thin Mints. I even got Lemon Coolers. They’re lo-cal. What’s your pleasure? The…
February 12, 2005
Since shedding my higher level administration duties at work a few months back I’ve been able to concentrate on design and geeky things. Being creative in my day job —I’m in heaven. A few weeks ago we introduced a…
June 1, 2004
At key junctures in our projects my boss will gather our team together and ask if we can “touch magic rings.” Can all of us agree to sign off on the work we’ve done so far? It’s one of…
February 14, 2004
Found: one two three four five six seven eight iTunes/Pepsi bottlecaps out of 11 tries. In a vending machine in the basement of my office building. I won. I won! You really like me iTunes/Pepsi. As usual, I brought…
June 23, 2003
Parenting’s Effect on Usability Studies
I had a mild epiphany this morning. Movie listings are not as clearly designed as they could be. My 24/7 role as a parent has led me to this point. But it was my day job as a Web…
December 26, 2002
Pessimism By Any Other Name Is Not Pessimism
Was it visions of sugarplums that made my Christmas Eve day commute to work so sweet? Or was it President Bush’s “pardon” for all us Federal workers one half day of freedom for the upcoming holiday? No, as I…
February 14, 2002
Zen and the Economy of My Words
I’ve got laryngitis. The rest of my body feels fine. In fact, my throat and voice box feel completely normal. It’s only when I attempt to speak that I even realize I’ve got a problem. I’m revisiting puberty as my…
January 13, 2002
A Review of Performance Reviews
It’s January in Washington, DC. Nestled snuggly between The Holiday Season and The Tax Season in this town is The Performance Review Season! This is the period when all good federal government supervisors are “tasked” with evaluating the performance of…
December 21, 2001
It’s ¡El Día Más Corto del Año Pero de los Días Está Consiguiendo más Largo y Soy Día Feliz! This is one of my most favorite holidays! Yes, it’s the advent of winter (my second least favorite season) and I…
February 9, 2001
Boy, did this week fly by. But it didn’t start out that way. The first three days were spent in a class in contracting. I’m now an official COTR (pronounced “cotar” as in Cotar the Barbarian). In official parlance I…
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