An Affair with the @ChevyVolt

I admit.  My feelings are changing.  I’ve been flirting with Chevy for the last three years or so, not long after I returned from my 48 states drive for the best fuel economy.  We started with a date in several different vehicles, and a blind date with the Chevy Volt in 2010.  I got a preview, but I didn't get a great sense of it back then as my preview was rather short.  

When I received an email about participating with Chevy for SXSW 2013, I was definitely interested in seeing how the Volt changed over the last few years.  A big thanks goes out to Chevy for providing me with a super slick ride during SXSW.  This year, Chevy was kind enough to loan me a 2013 Volt for a week and provide a badge for SXSW Interactive. I have test driven many vehicles before, and this one is by car one of the sexiest rides of all time.

The particular model I received was just beautiful.  With a sleek deep blue exterior, the striking black leather and white leather trim was reminiscent of a spaceship.  I’ve never had a sexy car before, and now I’ve been spoiled.  

For a car that gets a relatively high EPA mileage, the hatchback makes it very roomy.  With the seats folded down, a windsurfing mast and surfboard easily fit into the back.  Also, the folded down platform can easily accommodate two large Swissies with no crate. I’d probably get some custom made barriers to fit the slope of the hatchback for having dogs in the back.  

Oh SEXY Chevy!


During our time with the Chevy folks, we learned that the 2015 Volt was supposed to have WIFI!!!  It would be its own mobile hotspot, and it would likely be a monthly subscription model much like a 3g iPad.  With hands free Siri (because we don’t want you to text and drive), you can get stuff done without every having your hands leave the wheel or eyes off the road.  

Dear Volt,  I’m glad we got to spend some quality time together.  I feel like I really got to know you (See Hacking the Chevy Volt), and I can’t wait to have another affair.  

Frank's Noodle House in Portland, OR

On a recent trip to Portland (paid by a client), I stumbled across Frank's Noodle House.  I was intrigued by handmade noodles, and decided to give it a try.  Frank's Noodle House is located on 822 NE Broadway Street, Portland, OR 97232.

My meal started off with a bold hot and sour soup.  This soup isn't for wimps.  It is perfect for those who aren't afraid of a little kick. 

I wound up ordering several dishes - handmade noodles with Shrimp and Squid.  Each dish was only $7.95.  The spicy sauce was reminiscent of dishes my mother made, and the texture of the handmade noodles was fantastic.  The noodles were not perfectly uniform in size, and the texture had structure and bite.  It was the same texture of dumplings that my mother made. 

Speaking of which, I couldn't pass up the handmade dumplings!  These were oh so good and hit my comfort food needs right on the spot. 

There's a beautiful shrimp, lightly coated in a spicy envelope of goodness. 

Burgers and Wine with George DuBouef

Wine is popular.  Burgers are popular.  The combo of the two might not seem obvious.  Wine can seem too high brow to be paired with such common food.  While burgers can seem like common food, it shouldn't be cast aside.  The burger movement has been swinging for a while now.  While I do like fancy gourmet burgers, there's nothing quite like a well executed burger with no frills.

I used to eat a burger and fries at least once a week.  I haven't been as good about making sure I get my weekly burger lately, but it is never too late to start.  

When I was invited to the George DuBouef burgers and wine event, my dopamine receptors were pretty excited.  I had been on a burger fast for about month, so I was primed.  No pun intended.  I won't go into all the details of our wine + burgers class, but I'll show you a good food porn time.  Enjoy!

The wines are poured. 

The burgers were from a variety of places: Cool River, South Congress Cafe, and Parkside.

Hello, Burger Porn.  The fries were pretty darn tasty too!

Would you like to see a close up of my meat?

Alright. It is 8:49 am on a Sunday and I'm feeling really hangry now. 

#TEDxAustin 2013: A LOVE Letter @tedxaustin

The event is tomorrow, and I cannot be more excited to connect, re-connect, and jump in headfirst into one of the most intense and immersive experiences.  It isn’t a secret that I’ve been a huge TED fan for years, but this year, this post isn’t going to be about the actual event.  It will be a LOVE letter.  A LOVE letter to all those who taught me so much during my tenure on the TEDxAustin production team. 





Being on the TEDxAustin production team is no easy feat.  We are challenged regularly.  We’ve gotten so good at creating experiences, spaces, and connections, that many on the team should probably add miracle worker to their list of occupations.  Thank you to everyone on the team who contributes their time, energy, ideas, and hearts to this huge endeavor.  Photos by OutboxMail.

I’m quite proud of my TEDxAustin 2013 project.  Shawna Butler called with a question: how can we share the love?  One of the things that Shawna and I talk about frequently are LOVE letters.  When she says, “Write a LOVE letter,” I know the purpose is to connect, give thanks, and to show our appreciation to our partners.  


I must give thanks, as well, to Shawna for teaching me about the art of writing LOVE letters.  She tells me often that I’m pretty good at it, but my unspoken response is that I learn from the best.  Thanks, Shawna.  Thanks for being the glue that keeps our TEDxAustin family together.  

This project never had an official name.  I always just referred to it as the LOVE letters, and it came to me as I was driving to work, ruminating about our wonky phone systems at work.  I was to call Evan at Outbox to discuss an interactive way to integrate their products into our experience.  Somehow, the idea of mail, phones, and missing connections turned into this idea.  

My idea was to send LOVE letters to our sponsors.  I genuinely do love our sponsors - I’m pretty huggy around them.  The plan was to have our attendees write LOVE letters to them at our pre-event, the Tuesday prior to TEDxAustin.  I spearheaded the pre-event, so that was pretty easy. I invited a dear friend of mine, Lydia Fiedler, and amazing stamping queen to provide our materials.  And I had Outbox provide a “mailbox.”


After the event, Outbox created a video of these LOVE letters to be shared with the world.  We’re not particularly shy about our love and gratitude.  At the event, these letters were stuffed into badges at random, and our attendees were given the following instructions:

“We’re about to start the day with words of wisdom, nuggets of insight, and catalysts for inspiration.  As you go through the day, we also ask you to dive deeply into gratitude and share it in a letter that conveys appreciation to those who committed their time, talent, and resources to making this immersive experience a reality.

During our community catalyst event at TreeHouse, attendees were inspired to write LOVE letters. Through the magic of Outbox they’ve been digitally delivered and you can view these letters of LOVE at www.TEDxAustin.com.  

We invite you to share our love. If you find one of these letters in your badge, please personally deliver the letter to its addressee.  Spreading the love, as it were. Fearlessly.”


My wish for this project was to introduce the idea of LOVE letters - how can we show our love and gratitude to others.  Now that it is done (you’re probably reading this after the event), we have documented our love, encouraged others to share declaration of our love to other attendees, and then to connect with our partners.  Post event, we have videos and photos of these love letters to be shared far and wide.  

Many thanks to Evan Baehr from OutboxMail, Lydia Fiedler from UnderstandBlue, Stacy Weitzner our TEDxAustin voice, and Shawna Butler for giving this oxytocin-filled project life.  My heart is full thanks to you.