“The first step on the road from thought to website is text. Text is the most fundamental kind of web content. When websites have images, audio, or video, responsible authors will make sure these things have textual equivalents. However pale such alternate text may be compared to the media it represents, it’s a baseline. Text is the common denominator of web communication.” — Tim Brown, of Nice Web Type, on his new tumblelog, Making Nice Web Type.

And,

In the last year, this website has been powered by Expression Engine, Drupal and later, once I found the appropriate fit, WordPress. It has been skinned with a handful of publicly available free themes — present one included. I will say, I have a great respect for any individual willing to put their code out there for free — however, of the themes I have personally tried, none have focused on what I value most: legibility.

Legibility is very dear to me because, well, I have difficulty with that which is near to me.

Second, though we have all embraced short-form communication, I’m afraid, generally speaking, we’re collectively ignoring the value of long-form articles.

That said, I felt it was time to do something. I have been working on a WordPress theme that puts the reader first — if its worth it, I’ll even try and make it public. My hope is that, once in place, it will allow me to focus on writing longer posts and have them presented in a manner that encourages you, the viewer, to read them.

Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert has shown that we deal with failure better than we’d expect. In studies, “when people are asked to predict how they’ll feel if they lose a job… or fail a contest, they consistently overestimate how awful they’ll feel and how long they’ll feel awful.” In other words, “we overestimate the intensity and duration of our distress in the face of future adversity.”

While we tend to focus solely on building our skill sets or expanding our knowledge, the greatest advancement and learning most often comes from action, experience, and taking risk. And our regrets in life reflect this. According to Gilbert, studies show that “in the long run, people of every age and in every walk of life seem to regret not having done things much more than they regret things they did.” –Michael Schwalbe, The 40–30-30 Rule, from The 99 Percent blog. via Destroyed by Design.

“When Borgenicht came home at night to his children, he may have been tired and poor and overwhelmed, but he was alive. He was his own boss. He was responsible for his own decisions and direction. His work was complex: it engaged his mind and imagination. And in his work, there was a relationship between effort and reward. […]

“Those three things—autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward—are, most people agree, the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying. It is not how much money we make that ultimately makes us happy between nine to five. It’s whether out work fulfills us.” –Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers, pp149-50.

I am slowly settling into an idea of what, to me, constitutes meaningful. I know that I need to be excited each day by what I do or I flounder. Autonomy, complexity and a connection between effort and reward. I should alight every morning with a terror rattling through my bones – then I know I’m challenged! Navigating within the confines of that challenge brings reward, but challenge is the key.

Every time I’m tempted to overcomplicate a project, I listen to Sonny Boy Williamson and he restores my faith in simplicity. You’ll understand.

Built around an aluminum frame, this Dutch bike features a single-speed, coaster brake, integrated solar powered LED head and tallights and not much else.

“We were inspired by the good old-fashioned Dutch bike,” explains the 28-year old Dutch designer Sjoerd Smit, “we stripped the bike from whims that can only break or cause frustration and added innovation and style”.

The VANMOOF is a thoroughly modern town bike, and looks nothing like the old stadsfiets my Old Opa would have built at our factory, (though that’s not necessarily a bad thing!) It certainly resonates with me: I suspect cycling is in my blood.

VANMOOF promises a new model every six months, and this is a firm I’ll continue to watch.

Update: Portland-based, Specialized-owned, Globe Bicycles looks to have a small, but growing collection of practical and not-so-practical models for sale. More interesting than their offering, however, is the running commentary on factory-built/imported bicycles vs. locally built by a skilled framebuilder in the post comments at the NAU blog. (via Luke Dorny/@luxuryluke.)

As the weather turns, I tend toward the workshop, squirreled away turning wrenches and smelling of two-stroke motor oil. This is a world I stumbled upon, years ago, that has become very much a part of me—despite the challenges of geography, parts availability, and prevailing attitude towards such means of transport in an oil town, such as this.

A very good friend of mine has decided to have a go at a shop, and I’m happily along for the ride. If you ride a classic Vespa or Lambretta, BENZINA is here for you, from the ground up.

I hope to be able to show you more, as our venture proceeds.

Spring is finally nearing in Calgary. As the ground clears and the nights get warmer, my attention typically drifts to vintage Vespas and bikes that rattle and clatter and smoke, while my clothing takes on the all too-familiar scent of Motul 800 two-stroke oil.

I’ll try not to neglect you, internet, but the sweet mountain air calls.

Two examples of hand lettered text in my neighbourhood. What a difference a century can make.

Hand painted signs in my neighbourhood.

Good design is honest. Good design is thorough to the last detail. Good design is as little design as possible. [Dieter Rams]

There is a brief, but important list of people that I would credit for my love of design, art and architecture. Individuals who’s guidance and mentorship was and is invaluable: my Oma and Opa, painter and photographer, respectively; my father, the engineer and photographer; Pat Dowie, photographer and printmaker; and Jacqui McFarland, interior and graphic designer. The rest, whom I’ve only known in books, photographs, and occasional consumer purchases include John Pawson, Jonathan Ive, and Dieter Rams. These individuals, seen and unseen, have collectively developed my aesthetic worldview, and I carry them with me every day.

All the more exciting then that Rams and Ive, among many others, are included in the list of personalities featured in Gary Hustwit’s latest film, Objectified, which debuted at SXSW, a couple weeks ago. I eagerly anticipate an announcement of a screening here in Calgary.