Dirty hands.

Anyway, Sunday, while standing on my back patio, listening to Lila Downs really loud and feeling the sun warm on my back, I felt a satisfaction that I never feel when designing with pixels. I thought back to my days in design school when I took a couple of industrial design classes, and how much I enjoyed them. I think there's something to the tactile, physicality of putting your hands directly on a design object. And the act of actually moving through space in order to realize a design. 

I like interaction design, and the project I'm working on at NPR right now is challenging and interesting, but sometimes, it is so nice to be off the computer. Away from a digital interface and knee-deep in a physical one. No Twitter, no blog, no Facebook. Just me, my dirty, greasy, grimy hands, Will's power tools, and a deliciously satisfying tactile interface. LOVE IT. It's kind of like white space for your brain.

When I retire, I think I want to open a photography studio, design and build bikes and furniture while running an authentic espresso bar, and sell produce from my organic garden at the farmer's market on the weekends. Ideally, somewhere in Europe. Or Colorado. Or maybe back in Seattle…sigh.