Future of Web Design Conference

A little short notice, but The Future of Web Design is holding a conference in New York on November 3 & 4. The schedule looks fabulous and if you are a student, tickets for the conference are only $45!

Call For Photographers

There are two organizations that are putting together a collection of photographs of farms in Pennsylvania. The first, Farm to Table Pittsburgh is putting together a commemorable poster for their upcoming annual Farm to Table conference on April 3 & 4, 2009. The poster is entitled "Farms of Western Pennsylvania."

The contest deadline is November 30, 2008 and the photographs must be of farms in the Western Pennsylvania area. Read more about it on their web site: www.pathwayswellnessprogram.com/farm_poster.html

I am actually organizing and designing the poster, as well as their marketing collateral and event program this year. It is a great event to learn more about the opportunities available to eat locally and to meet the farmers around the western Pa area.

The second photography contest is for PASA, the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture.

The organizer, Don Gibbon, emailed me and asked me to spread the word. He included this little blurb about it:

Fourteen photographers participated in the exhibit "Loving Your Mother:
Farming as if The Earth Matters." projected continuously at the
February,2008, conference of the PA Assoc. for Sustainable Agriculture.

Some 290 excellent images were shown on a large screen in the main exhibit hall
in a continuous loop during the entire three days of the conference. They
were seen and admired by some 2000 conference attendees.

Images made by professional or amateur photographers are sought for the 2009 version of the exhibit. To participate, please submit two or three jpeg files, max 500Kb each, illustrating the nature of your work to Donald L. Gibbon, curator of
the show. Don will respond to your submission.

Final submissions will be called for in mid-December, 2008. We will ask for a maximum of 10-12 high-quality images showing your impressions of what it means to farm sustainably in Pennsylvania. We had a huge range of responses to that
question last year, from photographs of a community barn-raising followed by
the barn blowing down and a farm house in flames to all manner of crops,
people and livestock, growing, planting, harvesting.

Not everyone stuck to the rules: one photographer submitted some really interesting images of a sprout-growing operation in New York City. The farm was underground, bathed in fluorescent lights! One photographer submitted lovely rich images of work
on a cooperative farm in Illinois. So there's obviously room for artistic
license. This exhibit is co-sponsored by the Silver Eye Center for
Photography in Pittsburgh.

Email your photos to Donald Gibbon: dongibbon@earthlink.net

Here's two of my submissions:

A few Announcements

First, I would like to pass on a link to the web site for Blog Action Day. This year on October 15 bloggers worldwide will come together to post about this years topic, Poverty.
What is Blog Action Day?

Blog Action Day is an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day. Our aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.

Click on the graphic below to learn more or particpate by blogging:

Also in the news, Dell has announced it will use Mercury-Free LED monitors for it's laptops, starting on December 15, 2008. Whether Dell has a better marketing strategy or they are the first of the big computer manufacturers to go green is my question. They have also announced they will design their desktops and laptops to consume 25% less energy by 2010.

A quick loook at Hewlett Packards site shows they have an environmental impact statement, but they do not publish any actual numbers associated with this. This "Design for Environment" statement was created in 1992...maybe it's time they update, hm?

If you like Wierd Al Yankovich and computers, you'll love this song: "It's All About the Pentiums"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj3MrY6DP-s

What is the world coming to?

I've recently moved into a new office near my home in Titusville, PA. Although I do miss trudging around in my pajamas all day, I have found a few perks. One of them is listening to NPR on my way in and out of the office.

Recently I was listening to "All Things Considered" and they pointed out a study that looked into how people deal with feeling powerless. (Study: 'Lack Of Control' Plays With Our Minds)

This story really hit home for me for several reasons. First, because I was moving into an office for the first time in my life there was a little adjustment period when my diligent 16 hour work days turned into a panicked chaos: finding wireless internet connections so I could download emails ; settling into a new schedule; not seeing my baby girl until 5pm. I don't make changes very often so it was stressful trying to set up internet connections at my office, getting furniture, and getting dressed everyday!

I also learned that my daughter is not as resilient as I previously thought. The change in routine made her start trying to control her almost 2-year-old world more, screaming "don't!" at me and telling me to "stop!" when I was in a hurry to get everywhere and throwing her in and out of the car seat. We were all in limbo as I waited weeks for my internet service to be fully functional, my office not to smell like the chemicals in fresh paint and remembering that I have to bring lunch.

Although this may not be true for everyone, I find that I don't realize that I'm trying to adapt until I stop and think about all of the things I'm trying to accomplish; spreading myself thin, working a lot and getting little done. Then I realized, much to my pleasure, that things just take time to settle down. It's a never ending lesson for me and maybe a reason why I don't like to shake things up too often.

Thankfully it only lasted a month. (I've been called a drama-queen before!) I was disappointed that the anti-climactic event of getting an office didn't contribute to a burst of unprecedented new business. I often think in best-case-scenarios and the fact that I had to deal with so many things I didn't take into account seriously tapped my energy.

Anywho, the NPR program that I listened to was fascinating. It talked about a phenomenon you may have experienced but haven't heard it discussed before. The study hypothesized that when people feel out of control they start looking for patterns as a way to find some sense in their world. After messing with the heads of the study volunteers, they then showed them a series of images that were likened to static on a t.v.

"We literally found people seeing images in static – they were given pictures that were just pure noise, like static on a television set – and we had those who felt that they lacked control saying that they saw significantly more images," she [Jennifer Whitson] says.

The realization that I was doing the exact same thing started to sink in right about then. As all of these things in my life started to transform and take on new meaning, I started to think that everybody thought I was a slacker and nobody could rely on me because I couldn't answer their midnight emails and weekend web site requests. Sorry Todd, Nathalie and Bob!

This could explain the saying "When it rains, it pours." When something starts to go bad in your life, lots of things start going bad. Also during September, I saw my cousin who is six months older than me get diagnosed with Hodgkins disease. My sister's sister–in–law had a bone marrow transplant to help cure her Non–Hodgkins lymphoma, my dog died, I ran out of gas and locked my keys in the car twice.

If all of these things don't make a person feel out of control, what would it take? Although I hate the end of summer and the burgeoning number of cold days, I thank Jupiter that October is shaping up to be a beautiful finale to these turning points in my life and of those around me.

The woman who conducted the study, Jennifer Whitson, concluded her radio interview with this little gem of advice:

" Maybe this could help in real life, Whitson says. When you're feeling powerless, maybe you should stop and think about what you really care about – something you do have control over."

These are some things I'm looking forward to in October:

• Watching the ever–fabulous Troy Polamalu (Steelers, #43) consistently be where he needs to be. My hope this football season is to see Troy get a touchdown interception. He deserves the glory.


• Sending my daughter to daycare! I found a great little daycare right by my office. It's affordable, accredited, and the kids were play–feeding baby dolls when I looked in on them. Precious!


• Meeting more people from Titusville. This town is like a little city. Having lived in the country for the past 7 years, I am welcoming the site of sidewalks, coffee shops and getting to know the city-minded people that I work near. It truly is a great town.

Until we meet again!