Stories
2024 Projects and Plans
During a recent visit to Las Vegas, I visited a museum that invites you to question what you perceive as reality. This museum provides a refreshing look at what we think is real and what might just be an illusion. It raises the question that…perhaps we can’t always...
Big Boy Stories: When Entrepreneurs Were Hamburger Flippers
Every time I drive past an In-N-Out burger in Austin, I think of my grandfather. When the In-N-Out chain arrived here in 2013, Austinites were offended. Locals thought the wave of transplants from Californians had gone too far. Turns out that the burger chain belonged...
The 16,000 Pixel Postcard
Immersiveness seems to be up in the air, like AI. In a moment when we’re trying to understand where we humans fit into a future with robots infused with artificial intelligence, it can be challenging to sense the boundary between our analog and digital worlds. I was...
The Fog
My fascination with fog horns - yes, fog horns - emerged from other hidden artifacts and people that fill our landscape. Fog horns and other industrial sounds create ambiance - they send messages of alarm or comfort along the water. While spending a few months this...
A Backstory is Often the Real Story (Part 2)
This month on Substack, I am sharing a fascinating story from my island camp in Maine… “Part 2” continued from last month’s essay on the “real” Green (and I’m not talking about the color). Bob and I arrived on this island during the 1980s, not to escape the mainland...
Are islands just small continents?
Islands are both magical and mythical. Maine has almost 5,000 islands, if you include some that lean inland. (The rocky granite coastline was the subject of a documentary film I recently produced, The Long Coast.) While the film didn’t dig deep into island life, it...
Illusionary Evolutionary
When was the last time you had permission to play, tossing out rules for a night? I attended a magic show earlier this month, an intriguing dance of entertainment and storytelling. I hadn’t thought much about magic until that night when the connection between magic...
Where Am I? …Help? (Plus 4 thoughts on where AR/VR is heading)
The voice asked me if I needed help. I was lost. I had been watching astronauts emerge from the International Space Station to perform tasks in space as if I were somehow clinging to the exterior of the ISS enjoying a 360-degree view of outer space. A new voice - not...
Butterflies and Ants and Bees (Oh My): Museum stories from NYC
How does one float like a butterfly, think like a bee? Leading with questions recently sparked my curiosity during my visit to the American Natural History Museum in NYC - some more serious than others. 🙂 Filled with truly fascinating dioramas, exhibits, and...
Risking Burning Down the House for an Experiment
I unexpectedly found myself in a personal experiment on my recent trip to Copenhagen: eating breakfast by candlelight. What a contrast to my usual jumping out of bed at 5am, turning on every lamp and spotlight I find on my way to the kitchen. In this moment of slowing...