Work(ing Title)

This is my Halloween costume.

Evan Williams’ new model for web product success is spot-on. Rock the kasbah Ev.

I love what the kids at Moo are doing. I got my 10 pack of Flickr cards last week and will be ordering a full boat shortly (once I’ve picked the photos truly worth the printing).

With the announcement of these Skype cards though an idea hit me like a swift kick: I need a Web2 card. Though it will certainly take more deals before it’s useful, imagine it: A mini card where I can select my web2 services (Flickr, Skype, Upcoming, Yelp, Del.icio.us, etc.) and have each of them beautifully represented in the physical world.

Sure I could hack the Flickr cards and put the rest of my URLs on them, but that doesn’t give me the shiny logos (which some might argue will be the only lasting effect of Web2). That and I’m sure the cool kids at Moo will think of more great ways to communicate my various personas.

“We think you can under-do people and one-down people.”

My apartment has a small balcony that for the past six months has gone completely unused. It’s too small to put out any significant furniture, and I don’t own a grill so it hasn’t become a surrogate kitchen either. During the summer it’s a good place to watch the little league games, but now that the weather has come the only purpose it serves is parachute the spare key to someone on the sidewalk below.

Walking just now to grab some food from the mess, I was thinking about the persian cafes in Westwood. They’re jammed every night and while I’ve never been in one, they appeal to me in the same way my friends’ Kasbah does; dark, warm, and just a little bit seedy. Rather than waiting to get up ther nerve the next time I’m in LA or home in the valley, I feel it’s time to build my own den.

Picture the ground covered in thick rugs and plush pillows in reds, browns, and golds. Instead of walls a billowing, loose tent-like canvas will hang around you with curtained, tassled openings that look out onto the hillside and back into the apartment. A small firepit and hookah will be supported by small end tables to hold hot cups of mint tea and small plates of hummus and olives (and whatever Persian alchohol I’ve yet to discover).

This is my project for the winter, as a way to leverage the unused space as well as that crisp Pacific Northwest climate. I’m very excited…