There are a few bands that I am fanatical about. A quick look at my last.fm charts shows these bands to be Iron & Wine, Eels, Simon & Garfunkel, The Shins, and Ben Folds. When it comes to these musicians I will buy every track they put out, I will see them in concert, I will insist that friends listen to them, I will track down rare bootlegs, and I anxiously await their future releases. This last part, waiting for new releases, is the hard part.

For example, the latest Shins album isn’t a Shins album at all. It is a collaboration between Danger Mouse and James Mercer, the Shins frontman. They are going by the name, Broken Bells. I have known for months about the album, and waiting for it to come out in March is excruciating. Like most music, the Broken Bells album was leaked months before its release date and can be found on the Pirate Bay and other less than legal places. It is virtually impossible for a true fan to resist the urge to grab this music as soon as it becomes available. A true fan sincerely wants to give money to their favorite bands and the guilt that accompanies stealing music is extra heavy in this case.

I can only assume that the delay in the release of an album has to do with the music label wanting to reduce CDs on the same release date as digital files. The printing, packaging, and production of the CDs must delay the release.

I can tell you that the Broken Bells album is going to be worth the purchase. Here is a video of the first single:

If you can wait until March 9th, you can pre-order the Broken Bells album  from Amazon. I plan on buying it on Vinyl since I don’t really listen to CDs.

I have been writing regularly since 2004 and while I am not completely comfortable with calling myself a “writer,” it is something that I aspire to become. Today I was inadvertently paid a complement by an editor who told me, “Your style is a bit different than what we do. Your writing is a bit more personal than I’d like.” The context of this statement was after evaluating some writing samples I sent as a prerequisite for possibly writing for a certain web designer site. While it wasn’t meant as a compliment, I really took pride in the fact that something “personal” is coming through with my writing.

The truth is that, yes, I take my writing very personally. The writing that I admire the most is from authors who aren’t afraid to let their emotion carry over to their written words. For example…

Some authors are visionaries.
Some are great teachers.
Some are prolific creators.
Some do it with humor and logic.
Some do it with honesty.
Others are articulate.
Some are fanatics.
Some do it with insightful commentary.
Some are trendsetters.
Some are committed to excellence.
Some are consistently random but fascinating.
Some are just experts.

Is there something that all these authors have in common. If I had to guess at the source of this talent I would put my money on passion. When you are truly passionate about something it is very hard NOT to let your passion show through in your writing. The opposite is definitely not true. If you don’t care about a topic it is impossible to write a compelling essay about it.

The question that this leaves me with is whether or not the world needs another lifeless web design blog. How many CSS galleries, Photoshop tutorials, top ten lists, and free font/icon/theme blogs do we need? At what point will the pendulum swing back to the side of truly passionate discourse about design? Will there be a resurgence of critical thinking similar to the days when BADG and SpeakUp dominated the design blogosphere? I truly hope so. In the meantime, I will continue to strive toward writing passionate and personal posts.

In 1927, Richard was a suicidal drunk without a job. He was bankrupt and living in the slums of Chicago. He had been expelled from Harvard twice for bad behavior. The business he started with his father had failed. His daughter died after struggling with complications from polio and spinal meningitis. To say that things were tough is an understatement. It was at this low point in his life that he made a decision to turn his life around. He committed his life to changing the world to the benefit of all humanity. It sounds audacious doesn’t it? You bet it was. But that is exactly what he did.

Over the next 56 years R. Buckminster Fuller would live an extraordinary life that did change the world. If you are unfamiliar with Fuller’s life and his work, I would like to give you a brief introduction to the achievements of a truly fascinating man.

Buckminster Fuller is best known for designing the geodesic dome. Actually, Fuller only popularized the dome which was invented 30 years prior to Fuller’s work. Nevertheless, his contributions to the geodesic dome, including some patents, will probably be the most visible part of Buckminster’s legacy. You know the iconic sphere at Epcot Center? It is also know as Spaceship Earth and is probably the most prominent example of Bucky’s geodesic structures. The thousands of domes in existence are fascinating structures, but they aren’t the most interesting of Fuller’s ideas in my opinion.

There are three words that Buckminster Fuller invented that pretty much sum up his design philosophy. Those words are livingry, tensegrity, and dymaxion. The fact that all three of these words get flagged by spellcheck is by itself a testament to Fuller’s personality as the definition of a non-conformist. If you read his writing you will probably laugh at some of the sentences he concocts. Not only did he make up words, he would write the longest run-on sentences you have ever heard. My point isn’t to ridicule his writing, but to point out that Buckminster had no use for the conventional obstacles that humanity had built around society. When language was insufficient for his purposes he would invent new words. When traditional rules of English limited his ability to explain his ideas, he unapologetically broke the rules. But I digress. Let me get back to the the concepts of livingry, tensegrity, and dymaxion.

Livingry
Livingry is the opposite of weaponry. Fuller believed that the goal of all professions should be in the support of life. His term for the world is “Spaceship Earth,” a term meant to recognize that our planet has a limited amount of resources. We are hurdling through space without an instruction manual and we need to learn how to best manage life here. Indeed, Fuller was in fact an environmental activist long before that term was perverted into the modern day stereotype.

Tensegrity
The word tensegrity is a combination of the words tension and integrity. You may have seen sculptures made of only steel cables and long metal rods. Without any outside support, these structures seem to defy gravity as they rise into the air.

Dymaxion
While the word dymaxion comes from “dynamic maximum tension,” it really is just a brand name that Buckminster used for several of his projects including his dymaxion car and the dymaxion house. Buckminster’s ideas about housing and the car were decades ahead of their time. The dymaxion house was designed for energy efficiency. The plan was to make the house easy to ship and assemble on any terrain. The three wheeled dymaxion car was fuel efficient, fast, and seated 11 passengers. Unfortunately, the world wasn’t ready for these inventions and both the dymaxion car and house never went into production. Here’s a video of the dymaxion car in action. Note the amazing turning radius:

Perhaps the world wasn’t ready for many of Fuller’s ideas. He has a great quote that says, “This is the real news of our century. It is highly feasible to take care of all of humanity at a higher standard of living than anybody has ever experienced or dreamt of. To do so without having anybody profit at the expense of another so that everybody can enjoy the whole earth. And it can all be done by 1985.”

Buckminster Fuller died in 1983. His gravestone says “Call me trimtab.” This is a reference to an interview where Fuller observes how a tiny rudder (the trim tab) can change the course of a giant ship. Bucky said “The little individual can be a trim tab…If you’re doing dynamic things mentally, the fact is that you can just put your foot out like that and [change the direction of] the whole big ship…”

If you are interested in learning more about Buckminster Fuller, I encourage you to read his books, especially “Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth
.” The Buckmister Fuller Institute website is also worth a visit.

Have you ever met one of those people who can remember exactly what they were doing on a particular month in a particular year? I am lucky to remember what I had for dinner last night, so I am amazed by people with memories for events and dates. I have been reflecting on the last ten years and find myself struggling to remember where I was. To help me remember I started sketching out the years and it is kind of interesting to see how much my life has changed and what has remained constant.

As I look back over the years the thing that stands out are a handful of friends who have influenced my life significantly. I don’t make friends very easily, and I don’t think I realized how lucky I was to spend time with these people. So here is my 2000-2009 timeline. I am sure I forgot plenty of events and facts, so I might have to come back to this later as I remember things. Here it goes:

2000
Lived in: Seward, Nebraska
Worked for: Concordia University, local gas station
Drove: 88 Toyota Pickup
Favorite possession: Specialized mountain bike
Most influential friend: Jason Simanek
Art shows:
Midstates Graphic Design Competition, Concorida University
5th Plains States Undergraduate Exhibition, Emporia State University
Nebraska Annual Student Art Competition, Wayne State
Watched: Cast Away
Was listening to: Beastie Boys

Big events:
Living off campus
Summer painting class with Professor Bockelman
Dating Betsy Hanft
Playing doubles with Brady Gurganious

2001
Lived in: Nebraska and Colorado
Worked for: Costco, Front Range Community College, Focus on the Family
Drove: 88 Toyota Pickup
Art Show: Painting/Prints by Adrian Hanft, Senior Exhibition, Concorida University
Most influential friend: Paul Maurawski
Favorite possession: Power Mac G4
Watched: The Royal Tenenbaums
Was listening to: Oh, Inverted World, by The Shins

Big events:
Senior Art Show
Kicked off tennis team
Graduation from Concordia University
Got married to Betsy
Moved to Colorado

2002
Lived in: Colorado
Worked for: Nelnet
Drove: 88 Toyota Pickup
Favorite possession: Nikon Coolpix 5000
Most influential friend: Gary Meyer
Watched: Spider-man
Was listening to: The Creek Drank the Cradle, by Iron and Wine

Big events:
Got a job at Nelnet
Betsy pregnant
Moved back to Nebraska

2003
Lived in: Nebraska
Worked for: HuebnerPetersen
Drove: 2001 Toyota Tacoma
Favorite possession: iPod 3G
Watched: Lost in Translation
Was listening to: Beulah

Big events:
Rian is born
Got a job at HuebnerPetersen
Moved to Grand Island

2004
Lived in: Colorado
Worked for: HuebnerPetersen
Drove: 2001 Toyota Tacoma
Art Show: Recent Works on Paper, three person group show, Hastings University, Hastings, Nebraska
Favorite possession: Our house
Most influential friend: Bennett Holzworth
Watched: Kill Bill 2
Was listening to: Black Keys

Big events:
Award of Excellence, website design, AIGA Nebraska Annual Design Competition
Started Be A Design Group
Moved back to Colorado
Bought our first house

2005
Lived in: Colorado
Worked for: HuebnerPetersen
Drove: 1996 Toyota Tercel
Favorite possession: Sony Turntable
Most influential friend: Travis Gray
Watched: Batman Begins
Was listening to: Blinking Lights And Other Revelations, by Eels

Big events:
Official Bloggers for the 2005 HOW Conference
Interviewed on Design Matters:
Be A Design Group website featured on HowDesign.com’s “HOW’s Top Ten Sites”
Found Photography photo blog launched
Lego Camera on Digg

2006
Lived in: Colorado
Worked for: HuebnerPetersen
Drove: 1996 Toyota Tercel
Favorite possession: Sennheiser HD580 headphones
Watched: Battlestar Gallactica
Was listening to: Rodrigo y Gabriela, by Rodrigo y Gabriela

Big events:
Best of Flickr, The Blink of an Eye Flickr Photo Contest and New York Exhibition
Launched Adrian3 blog
Timelapse Construction Movie on YouTube
Betsy in car accident

2007
Lived in: Colorado
Worked for: HuebnerPetersen
Drove: 1996 Toyota Tercel
Art Shows:
Weld County Annual Fine Art Exhibit
Modern Portraits of Christ, Hastings University
Most influential friend: David Fotherby
Favorite possession: MacBook Pro
Watched: Mad Men
Was listening to: The Shepherd’s Dog, by Iron & Wine

Big events:
Art Show sharing gallery with Robbie Conal

2008
Lived in: Colorado
Worked for: HuebnerPetersen
Drove: 1996 Toyota Tercel
Favorite possession: iPhone
Most influential friend: Tony Splittgerber
Watched: Dexter
Was listening to: Orakular Spectacular, by MGMT

Big events:
The end of Be A Design Group
Font Burner Launches
Disney Cruise
I turned 30

2009
Lived in: Colorado
Worked for: Red Rocket Media Group
Drove: Still driving the 1996 Toyota Tercel
Favorite possession: Panasonic Lumix LX3
Most influential friend: Chadd Bryant
Watched: Twin Peaks
Was listening to: Song Up In Her Head, by Sarah Jarosz

Big events:
Left HuebnerPetersen after 5 years
My sister got married
I wrote 4 WordPress plugins
Started new job at Red Rocket Media Group

2010
I have high hopes for the coming years. Blessings to you in the new year and beyond.

Every December I take a look back at the music I have enjoyed throughout the year and make a best of list. (For previous years you can visit: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004). This year I think I consumed more music than ever before and hopefully this list reflects a “deeper” selection than normal. Here it goes…

The Top Ten Albums of 2009

1. Manners, by Passion Pit
MP3: Sleepyhead

2. Song Up In Her Head, by Sarah Jarosz
MP3: Shankill Butchers

3. Around the Well, Iron and Wine
MP3: Belated Promise Ring

4. Merriweather Post Pavilion, by Animal Collective
MP3: My Girls

5. The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo, by Steve Martin
MP3: Pitkin County Turnaround

6. Hombre Lobo, by Eels
MP3: In My Dreams

7. Troubadour, by K’Naan
MP3: Bang Bang

8. Doves, Kingdom of Rust
MP3: Kingdom Of Rust

9. Fantasies, by Metric
MP3: Help I’m Alive

10. What Will Be, by Devendra Banhart
MP3: Angelika

Download zip file of all 10 songs.

Honorable Mention:
11. Keep It Hid, by Dan Auerbach
12. Grizzly Bear, by Veckatimest
13. Monsters of Folk, by Monsters of Folk
14. My Maudlin Career, by Camera Obscura
15. Sea Sew, by Lisa Hannigan
16. Divided by Night, by Crystal Method
17. Reservoir, by Fanfarlo
18. Veckatimest, by Grizzly Bear
19. God Help the Girl, by God Help the Girl
20. 11:11, by Rodrigo y Gabriela
21. Actor, by St. Vincent
22. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, by Phoenix
23. It’s Blitz!, by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
24. Middle Cyclone, by Neko Case
25. Dark Night of the Soul, by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse

Albums On My List to Listen to:
White Water, White Bloom, by Sea Wolf
Mumford & Sons, by Mumford & Sons
Phrazes for the Young, Julian Casablancas
Ambivalence Avenue, by Bibio
Post Nothing, by Japandroids
Technicolor Health, by Harlem Shakes
Family, by Le Loup
Psychic Chasms, by Neon Indian
Time to Die, by The Dodos