DONOVANHOUSE

Going to Zaarly

Matt — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 05:30:24 +0000

In a couple weeks I’ll be leaving my post as a UX director at projekt202 to join the UX team at Zaarly. I first learned about Zaarly when Squaredeye launched their design of the app. I always felt there was something to the service, but I’m not much of a visionary so I never reflected too deeply on what that “something” was.

About six weeks ago Matthew Smith tweeted that he wanted to help build a new economy in the world and that it was called Zaarly. I thought, “A new economy – that’s the vision piece I’ve been curious about.” I struck up a dialog about it with him and Shane Mac, and a few weeks later my wife and I were on a plane to San Francisco to consider a new career and a cross-country move.

It’s important to me that you know how much I love my current job. I was not looking to leave. But after spending some time with the Zaarly team and spending some time dreaming about living in San Francisco, I couldn’t imagine passing this thing up.

My p202 cohorts have been ultra supportive about my decision to chase this opportunity down. I’m utterly humbled by the awesome people who surround me. This next chapter is going to be freaking nuts. I’m crap-my-pants-scared and can’t wait to get going.

For my friends in Dallas, we won’t be moving to SF until some time in the early half of 2012. If you’ve moved your family across the country before, I want to buy you lunch and pick your brains for advice.

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Broken Horsey

Matt — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 22:28:55 +0000

This rocking horse was a gift to me from my grandpa when I was a boy. My parents saved it and passed it along to me when our first daughter was born. As you can surmise from the photo, it’s seen better days.

We didn’t have a convenient place to keep it in the house any more. When I set it on the patio for the girls to play with outside, Kristin warned me the weather would ruin it. I didn’t care. It’s just an old rocking horse.

It’s become unridable – even dangerous. Pieces of wood have splintered off, leaving lots of jagged edges. So I carried it out to the curb.

Jaimes, my five year old, came out and asked what I was doing. I explained that Horsey was falling apart so I was leaving him out with the trash. She protested. I put my hand on her shoulder as we stood looking at the neglected toy.

“It’s just a rocking horse,” I said.

“Bye, Horsey,” she said.

Jaimes went back into the yard, but I stood there a moment. I could remember being just a little taller than Horsey. I thought of my grandpa—my papa, who knew the toy maker who made the horse. Papa died in a car accident when I was 19. I thought about him—his gentle demeanor and terrible jokes. I thought about his car—the smell of Winston Lights in the red upholstery. I’m not a smoker, but I’ve always liked the smell of cigarette smoke because of the way his car smelt.

I thought about Horsey sitting alone at the city dump. Abandoned and utterly betrayed.

I turned and went inside. I’m a grown man and he… no, it is a wooden toy.

I thought about the other neglected things in my life. Our unfinished kitchen and bathroom. The half-demolished arbor that once covered the patio, protecting Horsey from the rain. Other responsibilities came to mind, like overdue oil changes, projects past deadline at work, and my inability to explain the Trinity to my children.

Horsey didn’t go to the dump. When I told Kristin I was sad about throwing him out, she said we could restore him instead. I told her it would be just one more unfinished project, mocking my shortcomings as a homeowner and as a man. When I started crying she walked out to the curb, picked him up and carried him into the garage.

I’m normally not sentimental, nor am I naturally sensitive toward sentimental people. But today an old, gracious rocking horse helped me see that there’s room for restoration. That all things are waiting to be redeemed.

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Billy Graham on Technology & Faith

Matt — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 14:34:53 +0000

I’ve been thinking a bit about the futility of the design profession lately. I’m talking real design—problem solving design, not decoration or art.

We’re never really solving the root problems, rather we’re just putting band-aids on the tangible issues because only God can fix what’s wrong with the world and what’s wrong with us. Billy Graham gave this talk at TED eleven years ago on technology and faith. It’s still completely relevant.

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Captura

Matt — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:29:44 +0000

I’m changing jobs. People tell me this is supposed to be stressful, but I’m feeling pretty awesome about it all. I’m leaving a great team full of good friends and some of the best bosses I’ve ever worked for to go work with another great team full of old friends and some other fantastic boss/leader types (we’ve worked together before).

I will miss the crud out of my 404 UXD hermanos. It’s been an incredible run.

Onward and upward.

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The Great Christmas Music Hunt

Matt — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 02:18:58 +0000

Taking a cue from Mark Driscoll, I’ve been trying to initiate more of the Donovan House Christmas celebration instead of just expecting Kristin to drive it all. Over the past few days I’ve been looking for excellent (if not slightly obscure) holiday albums. Here are four of my favorite holiday tracks right now…

12 Days of Christmas by Relient K
[audio:09-12-Days-of-Christmas.mp3]

The First Noel by Over The Rhine
[audio:01-The-First-Noel.mp3]

Blue Christmas by Martin Sexton
[audio:15-Blue-Christmas.mp3]

White Christmas by Jamie Randolph
[audio:02-White-Christmas.mp3]

What are you listening to this advent season?

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Design Sponge

Matt — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:24:10 +0000

My friend, Daniel, just told me about this website. Some really cool before & after + DIY interior design resources.

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How to make board & baton shutters in a weekend

Matt — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:29:09 +0000

Several months ago I posted some quick before & after shots of some board & baton shutters I made for the front of our house. A few people have asked me how I made them, so I thought I’d whip up a little how-to.

Assembly

These are just faux shutters – they don’t actually “shut.” The upshot is your measurements don’t have to be exact. In order to make them look functional, each shutter should be about half the width of the window.

For this project, I used fence boards because they are cheap, light-weight, and support the “cottage-chic” style we’re going for in the long run (so much more work to do). I played with different board counts and spacing widths before landing on five boards per shutter, each board being spaced 1/4 inch apart.

Once you have a plan, you’ll be able to cut the appropriate number of boards to length. Each of my shutters required seven boards. Five boards at exactly the height of the window and two horizontal boards to secure them at the top and bottom.

I decided to stain the wood before the shutters were assembled because I didn’t want any of the wood to be susceptible to rotting. Staining each board individually took an exceptionally long time and, in retrospect, I’m not convinced it made much of a difference. If I ~~had~~ got to do it again, I’d stain each shutter after it was assembled. Whether you’re painting or staining your shutters, use an outdoor material with a sealant and make sure to cover the front and back of the shutter.

During assembly, I used paint sticks between the boards at each end to keep them spaced evenly. When securing the cross boards, use a combination of wood glue and finishing nails. Use two nails on every vertical board at both the top and bottom of the shutter in order to keep it from getting wobbly.

Hanging

If you’re hanging shutters on a brick house like mine, be sure to use concrete anchors. The nice thing about these Tapcon anchors is that (a) they’re easy to spot because they’re blue and (b) they come with the masonry bit necessary for drilling into brick. For this project, I use 3/16″ x 2-3/4″ anchor screws.

When you drill your pilot holes, drill into the mortar between the bricks and not into the bricks themselves. Drilling directly into brick will likely crack it, which would be a bummer.

My father-in-law helped me hang these and we whipped through all eight shutters in about an hour. It’s really a two man job. I don’t think I could have gotten them up evenly on my own.

I hope you found this little how-to helpful. If anything seems missing or is unclear, ask away in the comments. Likewise, if you’ve done this before and (more than likely) have done it better, please share your insight in the comments.

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Matthew Henry’s Method for Prayer

Matt — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:42:06 +0000

From the website –

Promoting, encouraging, and assisting biblical prayer

This is a great example of fantastic content fused with outstanding design. Can’t wait to dig in!

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Madmen Yourself

Matt — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:18:12 +0000

In anticipation of Mad Men starting back up next Sunday, I madmen(ed) myself. Now I’m gonna go home and have martini.

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Davy

Matt — Wed, 20 May 2009 21:27:33 +0000

Our third daughter came into this world at 8:05 CST this morning. She weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces and measured 20 1/4 inches long. Both she and Kristin have been sleeping all day, but are doing just fine. I will continue to post pictures on Flickr over the next few days.

I know all babies kind of look alike, but I can’t get over how much Davy looks like Jaimes when she was born. They both have my shnoz.

Jaimes, on the day she was born:

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