Jenville

A few weeks ago, in preparation for a mobile web development conference in Orlando, I had a vision of a skirt with tumbling iPhones and iPads, and I knew what I had to do. I had to make it exist.

After a trip to the mall turned up no plain A-line skirts, I realized that I needed to sew the skirt myself...something I had never done before! But I found a pattern (I had to hack it to get rid of the tie at the waistband) and managed to make a skirt that looks like a real skirt and not like college dorm room curtains.

For the iPhones and iPads, I found illustrations online, cut out paper templates, and then cut the shapes out of various fabrics. An iron-on backing makes the appliqué work much easier. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. I'm going to be an unstoppable skirt-sewing machine!

I'm looking foward to debuting it at the conference. But, lord help the mobile nerd who points out it that doesn't accurately represent the diversity of the mobile landscape. Dude, it's only a skirt!

My Christmas present from my brother (the unstoppable Liam Lynch) in 2011 was this video of Arlo dancing to his favorite Daft Punk song. It's my favorite thing on the Internet! (well, in addition to the other Arlo videos Liam has made, listed there on the right column.)

Recently, I had the great pleasure to be the guest on Episode 50 of The Big Web Show with Jeffrey Zeldman and Dan Benjamin. I wasn't sure that I had enough to talk about for an hour, but as it turned out, after 60 minutes I was still going strong.

Jeffrey and I reminisced about the early days of the Web; I talked about working for O'Reilly Media and my experience turning my HTML Pocket Reference into an iPhone app; and I revealed some thoughts and insecurities about my design process and my quirky sketchbook hierarchy.

We barely even got to the topic of Rock Stars! Always leave 'em wanting more, I say.

After 12 years with my little green Beetle it was time for a change. Welcome the Fiat 500 (also little and green)! I love love love this car. It's zippy and handles well. It's got Sirius Radio and Bluetooth. And a sunroof.

But most of all, it's so CUTE! I adore the retro, two-toned dashboard, which is nice because that's the part I see the most. What a wonderful way to kick off the summer.