Hello! I'm Vincent Gallegos, a web designer and event photographer living in Washington, D.C. Enjoy my stories about art, technology and creative living.
We just got back from Casa Oaxaca and, wow, I just have to show you. From the perfection of the guacamole to the churros w/ cinnamon, I am beyond excited to have visited this restaurant in 2009 ;). Thanks for the surprise, Dawn, you look beautiful! Happy New Year everyone!
Sort of. We don't party crash and yet we feel their presence. On Wednesday, Obama visited Martha's Table in our neighborhood, and yesterday, I took touristy photos with my visiting family in front of the White House just before Lady Obama welcomed her new Christmas tree (can you see it in the photo? One of the last I took before the area was cleared).
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An exciting pre-Thanksgiving day announcement: I'm thrilled to be joining the non-profit advocacy organization Common Cause, headquartered in Washington, DC, as web designer and online communications strategist.
Common Cause is one of the most active, effective, and respected nonprofit organizations working for political change in America. We are a nonpartisan citizens' lobby, dedicated to making government responsive and accountable to the people. Since the 1970s, we have led the fight for campaign finance reforms, ethics and accountability in government, civil rights, and open government on national, state and local levels.
Starting in December, I will be collaborating with Common Cause's California team to launch a state-level redistricting reform website. Other exciting plans ahead. 2010 is an important year for political change, and I'm happy to be one of the 400,000+ Common Cause supporters involved with issues that matter--now as staffer!
I want to thank my network of friends and media professionals at U.S. News & World Report, Development Seed, Free Range Studios, and Homefront Communications for letting me represent them over the last few years on critical web projects.
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One of the best DC parks to visit on Sunday. See more of Meridian Park, fall edition.
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While I didn't make it out to the real fun, here are some photos from the office parties. I wish you both the best! Nikki Schwab is now Yeas & Nays columnist at The Examiner; Houston Ruck will be at Growth Energy. Congrats!
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A great weekend ahead! Attending AccessibilityCampDC, shooting Creative Brief: New Arlington Cultural Center as official photographer (thanks Philippa!), meeting a potential creative partner at a race (thanks John and Jenn!) and paying attention at Green Festival DC (thanks Jensen!).
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See Heidegger and a Hippo on Amazon. Harvard grads Cathcart and Klein can tell a good joke, and they know their philosophy. I have their previous book, Plato and a Platypus (I know, the titles!). The book ends with a politically incorrect metajoke, ha!
Exciting news today: Posterous, the lifestreaming/blog platform/ping.fm-on-steroids service I use, has released the ability to fully customize blogs (theming). Previously, only one theme was available for all, and I stuck to Posterous partly because the default theme happened to be clean, simple and beautiful. I can't wait to explore a redesign this weekend. In the spirit of lifestreaming, I will do all my design and code changes LIVE, so don't be ashamed to visit the remodeling every now and then.Because of this, I will be posting less often this weekend. Thanks for visiting my blog! Follow me on Twitter.
NEW! I started lifestreaming because I wanted to connect. Social media and e-mail are easy and powerful. Other times, though, it's good to be able to send a direct, private message to a blogger with a single click. Be the first on my shiny new form, Google-powered! I threw some questions on there if you want to help me improve Design Notes + Photos:
No registration or e-mail required! Just type in the marked box and hit submit.
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One of my recent popular posts asks: Is life good, or life crap? Today, I want to say to you: life is good. I hope you take a moment to remember 9/11--and then go make the world a better place.
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Missed Doris on account of her new schedule at the Post. She is keeping busy and motivated after her recent return from the AAJA conference, where she spoke and got re-elected! I met fun new people (AU SIS folks there), including a super smart dietician. Co-worker Nikki from US News makes a nice and unexpected appearance.
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I met in the street a very poor young man who was in love. His hat was old, his coat worn, his cloak was out at the elbows, the water passed through his shoes, - and the stars through his soul --Victor Hugo
via flickr.com. Today, I reflect on the above quote by Victor Hugo, and its poetic way of linking ideas of gratitude and happiness.
On the day I was born, it rained forever. Last year, I was annoyed. Today, I connected the experience with a surprising story ** (see footnote) and felt happiness-- the free kind. Happiness is free when it comes effortlessly. It feels casual and soft. Yet--amazingly deep.
A moment of free happiness comes easily by exercising gratitude. My "Why Use Posterous - Reason #9" post will be out Monday (see Reason #10). The post will explore the idea of keeping a gratitude journal using Posterous.
Simple and immediate gratitude: seeing a rainbow between downpours.
Happiness comes from the sharing of laughs.
Or acting on a friend's suggestion. Thank you, Jeff, for recommending Matchbox,
because happy moments come from seeing pizzas prepared oven-baked before our eyes.
Happiness is free when we are grateful of people's good wishes. Thank you Marie for raving about the sliders.
Or... from a silly face?
Or from conversations turned geeky. Here Sohit explains his facebook app Diditz. Oz poses in thought so as to not ruin the real deal just moments earlier.
Happy moments that are free yet deeply felt. And they can super random.
Random moments teach us how to be genuine, or close to genuine--like a candid moment captured before a pose.
There is also hysterical laughter.
Thank you to Simon, Laura, Jeff, Sohit, and Oz for making it out yesterday--another year under a downpour (see last year). Dawn, Jonathan, Pete, Claire, Patrick: thank you for your efforts to attend and sorry for the logistical mess! And thank you all for the nice words on Facebook. I am happy to have you in my life, for free.
** FOOTNOTE **
My mother calls me and tells me what I had never considered about the day I was born: her day! Her immediate worries; her recollection of the day as lived. Common ideas of childbirth, of motherhood, were along my thinking. Fabricated ideas!
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(Photo by Aaron Landry)
My birthday celebration is an experiment, friends, because I'm writing at 12:50 a.m. to invite you to a dinner that I would like to have today, at 6:30 p.m. Embarrassed to send such last minute details! Initially, I was going to push to Saturday for a Marvin happy hour, because my girlfriend is at school this evening. Now, I'm thinking that I don't want to spend my birthday by myself (not that there's anything wrong with that!). If just one of you shows up to have a bite & drink with me I will probably remember you forever... the impact you'll be making on this little guy! :)
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One of our neighbors left piles of old magazines, from the New Yorker to Esquire to Money and BusinessWeek. What's great about these issues is that they are from 2006/2007/2008 -- I didn't think people kept their issues around this long! Yes, I grabbed a couple of them... you must know it's fun to inspect the past with present-day glasses.
You are awesome, friends. Thanks for reading and happy friday!
If you are on Twitter, don't forget to #followfriday (huh? more here). Not on Twitter yet? Here's a guide.
Sent from my iPhone
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I didn't give much to Dickinson College's First in America campaign, but the care and attention the college gives to alumni make me want to give more. I received a warm, personalized email from a staff member a few months back when I made my small donation. Today: another thank you email.
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