Gas, as we know, is becoming ridiculously expensive. Add that to what we now know about global warming and we see many people clamoring to ditch their old cars to buy new hybids. I know I sure did it, trading my Mazda 3 hatchback in for a Prius last year when my Mazda lease ran [...]

These are trying times. The economy is in a downturn, the war in Iraq lingers on, gas costs over $4 a gallon, and large businesses in America are losing money. At times like this, I think back to WWII and the efforts of the government and businesses to bolster the economy, how they encouraged thrift, [...]

I’ve been lucky over the years to work for companies and in offices that allow me to bring my dog to work. Portland is definitely a dog-oriented town and having pooches in the office seems like a right and not a perk for many people. At past jobs, I knew things were really going downhill [...]

When I was in the first grade, I was a Brownie. I remember two things clearly about that time: Brownie Camp and selling Girl Scout cookies. My grandparents were in town during cookie season that year and purchased an entire suitcase full of cookies! Cut to 25 years later when OakTree Digital asked me to [...]

In the last week I’ve driven my car 53 miles, ridden my bike 31 miles, and walked roughly 10 miles. I drove to work once, to Lake Oswego for a meeting, to Powell Butte for a hike, and to Hillsboro for softball games. That’s a lot more driving than I usually do, so I’ll have [...]

I know it might be hard to believe, but for about a year or so back in 1999 I stopped believing in global warming. I caught myself saying things like, “How do we know the Ice Age is really done? Maybe the warming is totally natural.”
Woah. How could I go from living with Earth First!ers [...]

When I decided I wanted to be a designer, I was going out on a limb. The year was 1997, and I’d just completed my bachelor’s degree in English, had no design experience, and had only created one (very hideous) web site. Back then, Amazon.com was still in its infancy and I wasn’t even sure [...]

I used to be a bus commuter. It was better than trying to drive to work in bumper-to-bumper traffic then have to pay for parking, and at least I could read while I sat (or stood) in a cramped bus. Depending on where I worked at the time, my commute took from 30 – 60 [...]

Portland is a small small town in some ways. Working in the interactive industry only seems to exaggerate the smallness, since everyone has worked with everyone somewhere along the line. If I had a nickel for every time I met a prospective client who turned out to be best friends with a friend, friends with [...]

Sometimes, I learn about teamwork and collaboration in the least likely places. In the two years that I’ve been a volunteer dog walker at the Oregon Humane Society, I’ve walked with four different teams and had varying experiences on each.
The dog walking schedule is broken down into morning and evening “teams” that work on getting [...]