Be Extraordinary

Carpe Diem - Seize the Day - Make Your Life Extraordinary

Those who have seen Dead Poets Society read the lines above differently than those who have not.

However you read them, their message is the same. Make your lives (or life) extraordinary.

What have you done recently to stand out?

How has saying yes or no put you in jeopardy or made you vulnerable/special?

What makes you so extraordinary that others should pay attention?

I have a son who is truly exceptional and I'm glad he is the way he is and I'm sorry that I did not recognize it earlier. I will not make excuses for him or ignore his contribution. I can say now that he doesn't fit in with the prescribed formula of cool kids and the "in" crowd. My mistake has been in trying to make him appear that he should.

I am committed to him as he is - awesome - why would I ever expect anything less? Why should you?

The Great Lie

Here is the lie I will not tell my children.

No, it's not Santa Claus or The Easter Bunny, it is the lie surrounding education and the hoops you must jump through to experience success. We've built our entire system on a factory that no longer exists...

My degree has nothing to do with what I do. My success is tied directly to my ability to fulfill my promises.

If you want a manual to success, here it is - Do what you say you will do every time and do something worthwhile - ease someone's pain better than anyone else can.

Do this in extraordinary ways and you win...always!

Excellence

I expect it and so should you. If you don't get it - look somewhere else.

The Last Wild Place

People ask why I go to Alaska. It's so far they say. Aren't there plenty of places to fish in WA.?

Well, when I was a boy my Dad drove from southern California to SE Idaho for family vacations. We stopped to see family, but I remember seeing him come alive in the high deserts of northern Nevada and southern Idaho - no people, just wild. I remember 4:00 am trips to remote creeks to stalk fish.

I learned to fish in those small creeks where fish had no pressure from fisherman, just the pressure to survive amid the harshness of nature.

It seems these wild places are vanishing. There are very few remaining in the lower 48. (the Upper Queets and Olympic Peninsula rivers being remaining exceptions)

I love Alaska not because there are a lot of fish for me, there are. I love it because this is the place where my sons may find the wildness for themselves and their sons.

I come alive here because I find it to be the last of the wild places. It is my high desert. My prayer is that it will remain so for my children and their children.

I want my Dad to see this place.

Time Away...

Everyone needs it and this afternoon I get a little bit. Looking forward to fishing with some clients, but more than that, friends.

Over the past few years, we've fished rivers in Yakutat, Alaska, (Johnny's East River Lodge), The Kenai Peninsula, Washington's Yakima River, and the wild rivers of the Olympic Peninsula (Hoh, Clearwater, Queets, Bogachiel) This time it's to King Salmon, Alaska to fish the Naknek and Brooks Rivers surrounding Katmai National Park.

I'll be posting pictures of my travels on Twitter and Flickr.

Looking forward to building on our friendship, creating new fish stories, and recharging for a bit.

Clean Up Before Bed...

No one likes cleaning up a mess, especially at the end of the day when you're tired and just want to go to bed. I just went through clean up hell with my kids - what's worse is that tomorrow is the first day of school. The last memory of the summer is me telling them the only way out is to finish.

If you don't finish, the mess is still there except now there are more commitments the following day. Sound familiar?

As Winston Churchill once said - "If you find yourself in hell, keep moving..." or something like that.

Where Delivery Counts

"We rate ability in men by what they finish, not by what they attempt"

I used to play pick up basketball with a friend of mine and he was a great defensive player. He could pick your pocket for a breakaway easy as pie. When it came to making the layup at the other end, he would often choke. He'd yell out "FINISH!"

Seth Godin talks about this as "Shipping".

A client of ours has a tagline - "Where delivery counts and quality is everything." Think about that, where delivery is COUNTS.

All your work on the 99% means almost nothing, or is severely diminished, if you miss - and I'm not just talking about the final 10%, I mean even the final 1%.

If you are chopping wood you will never split it straight through if you aim for the top of the log...you must envision the axe hitting the bottom of the log - you must finish.

The same is true for hitting a golf ball, punching someone (it's true), or shipping a product. Do not aim for the front, aim for the back and drive right through. The result, you will have shipped. (Finished!)

Marketing Restart

Wouldn't it be cool if instead of spending time coming up with slick campaigns to convince potential customers how great your company is - your marketing department focused on providing tools and avenues to let your customers and employees share your message with others?

Your company would need to clean up its act a bit I bet. Each touchpoint with customers would need to improve. Each employee would need to see themselves as "thee" marketing department. Each transaction would need to be of such high integrity that your customers would have no choice but to refer you to others.

Now that's a company worth working for and buying services from.

Too bad most take the easy route and just come up with a new "message".

Partner or Frenemy - Who Cares?

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend"

It seems that with the lines blurring between specialties, business and personal life more and more frenemies are emerging. Oftentimes in order to compete some companies set aside petty differences to work together on certain jobs whilst competing to the death on others. Oftentimes employing tactics that strain relationships and partnerships. Self preservation seems to be the order of the day.

I can honestly say that we have struggled with these sorts of relationships and now look to partner only with those who are interested in providing the highest level of service and support to customers. We want to work with folks whose only motives are the success of the project and for growing the relationship so it is stronger for the next project.

Focus on doing great work, communicate honestly with partners and customers, and you'll find you have no time or need for frenemies.

Ask One More Question

It's hard sometimes for my son who is 9 to be a role model for his younger brother and sister. I mean, sometimes it's hard for me to be a good role model. I'll often ask him to help me out by being a good leader. Usually it goes something like this:

"Hey, we have a lot going on today and I need your help by not making a mess, will you help me?" His response is usually, "Sure."

This approach is not very effective at preventing messes. However, I have recently employed a new strategy that works not only at home but other places.

Ask one more opened ended question.

So, we start with the same exchange above, but following his "Sure." I ask, "Can you please tell me more about how you will help me out?"

To which he explains his idea of helping. We are then able to discuss each of our expectations and make certain we are in alignment. This process allows him to think it through and understand better how he can truly help.

Asking one more question, whether at home, work or other places takes a little more thought, but may just make a big difference

140 Chances at Creativity

I remember hearing complaints (still do) around why Twitter chose 140 characters for status updates. Why not 200 or 256 or 1024? It turns out that number was initially selected for compatibility with SMS messaging. Though most modern tweets are not done via SMS (though many still are).

There has been an interesting by-product from this limit, creativity. Here are a few:

• URL shorteners such as bit.ly take long urls like this - http://www.brainfroth.com/2010/08/three-legged-entrepreneur-stool.html and turn them into http://bit.ly/95H7oh
• Hashtags offer the ability to "tag" or categorize tweets
• Third party tools such as twitpic offer hosting of media such as photos and video.

The point is this. How do you see the 140 characters? Do you see it as a limit or an opportunity to be creative?

Custom vs. Off the Shelf

My company is a custom web application shop and one of the great things about custom software application development is that you can build pretty much anything you can dream up. This is also one of the biggest drawbacks for some people. Many customers don't know what they want, or they think they know what they want, but have a hard time articulating it. We have a design process where we listen to our customers, and then work to wireframe out a solution. A difficult jump for some is the fact that the wireframe is the blueprint and that is what the project as quoted includes. Aligning those expectations early (before code is written) is the key to keeping projects on budget and on time. These "limits" require the project team to prioritize new requests and table other requests for future development. Each release really begins to become more of a product once the wireframes are approved. (This is what is does and all that it does right now - not saying it can't do more, it just has to happen later.)

Other companies focus on creating products. These products can only do what they can do. If you dream up something different, you either need to find a different product or hope that your feature is included in future releases. This can be a very lucrative path for software companies, because once they have a product they can easily support the single version and only make revisions as they find they need to. This is not such a great solution for customers that don't fit nicely into compartments.

I believe there is a place for both types of development and in the coming weeks you will hear more from SiteCrafting as we expand our offerings in both areas.

Worry, Worry, Worry No More

Taking a look at the news is a pretty daunting thing. Economy, terrorism, flooding, famine, etc. etc. It's bleak. Many folks feel one step from the edge and many are. Businesses are shutting down, entire downtowns have been decimated. What to do? I mean really, what can you do?

You can do the following:

1. Choose to control your destiny.
2. Control the way you respond to situations as they arise.
3. Create your own reality by pushing forward
4. Embrace the challenge

Whatever you do, don't just sit there and worry. Don't just resign to let life happen to you. Life rewards action.

Three-Legged Entrepreneur Stool

I had coffee one day last week with a friend who has been in the technology start up and education fields for several years. He has owned a company that was sold off and now spends his time creating technology leaders as a college professor. The question came up - what does it take to succeed as an entrepreneur?

Three things (not counting luck).

1. Communication

Entrepreneurs must be able to communicate their vision, their value proposition, and their opportunity to others. They must be persuasive and speak with clarity and confidence. Others must be inspired.

2. Competence

If all it is is an idea and you have no knowledge about how to execute it will fail. You must possess the background knowledge and associated problem solving skills in order to create a workable product or solution.

3. Motivation

You must be relentless in your pursuit. Motivated not only to do the big things necessary to succeed, but also motivated to mind the not-so-fun details. You must embrace the challenge and the opportunity every day and inspire you team the same way.

I'm sure there are twists on each of these, and success is not a guarantee, but if you are hitting all three of these consistently, your chances have improved dramatically.

What do you do here?

In the real world you really fall into one of four categories as an employee. You may change category from moment to moment, but you pretty much better fall into one of these if you are going to stay around.

1. Create billable hours or stuff your company can sell - you may be a programmer, a lawyer, or an assembly line worker, and thus you create stuff or service to sell.

2. The Rainmaker - you sell stuff. You get clients to say yes and you do this all by yourself or with minimal support. In addition you create partnerships that bring in revenue and growth.

3. You support the production or rainmaker folks with measurable outcomes.

4. You receive and track down money that is owed to your company.

If you don't fit into one of these four groups more than 7 hours a day - you're probably not going to be around long - or you should try owning the company. Even then - you get to do ALL FOUR ALL THE TIME.

Mobile Innovations

Thank goodness for iTunes, iPhone and iPad.

That's all I have to say...except for some questions.

1. Does anyone think we would have apps like the Chase remote deposit application or Instapaper, or Shazam without these devices?

2. How about Runkeeper or 100 pushups, or fitness tracking apps?

3. How about web checkin with paperless boarding passes from Alaska Airlines and others?

4. How about the comparison shopping applications and location based services?

5. Movies and music in your pocket, on an airplane? on your lunchbreak in a park?

These are game changing times - and the beginning is now. Time to stand on the shoulders of giants and be excellent.

Sure others have tried, but it took Apple to Think Different and show us what was possible - now the rest can copy - again.

Not in the Budget

So, I get a call from a design house that needs something done, for which they have no expertise. Additionally, they have already set a budget for the work (with no idea how much time it will take to complete) and they come to us.

Them: "Please code out this section of the site that connects to a third party vendor"

Me: "Based on reviewing your spec, the requirements, and your timeline, this is how much it will cost."

Them: "That's not in our budget, can you do it for less"

Me: "No, this is what it will take for us to build it and fully test it. If we do it in less time we will bill you for actual - If, however scope increases the cost will also increase".

So, why am I writing this? Because I have these questions...

1. How can you possibly offer a project budget for which you have a huge portion you have no idea how to complete?

2. Why are you asking me to bail you out?

3. How would you respond if I called you and said, "I need 5 web concepts, I told the customer you would do it as a donation, that's OK right?"

Apple = Disney, Droid=Universal

End the Holy War please.

There are many more things we should all be worrying about besides how much the latest iPhone or the latest Droid device rules or sucks.

My quick observation is Apple=Disney - the standard. An empire built on quality and control which is often emulated by others.

Droid is more like Universal - edgy, the anti-Disney, trying to establish itself not so much by what it is, but what it is not.

This is an age old "battle" and frankly tiring - neither are going away - let's just hope it motivates them both to create awesome products.

How Long is a Piece of String?

So, here's what happens.

I get contacted and I have a 3 minute conversation which usually includes phrases like:

"You've done this a lot so you should know...", "It's really not that hard to do", or "Give me a ballpark, I won't hold you to it..."

Actually all of these are lies. Anyone in our industry knows this to be so.

This post is not meant to be a rant, but it may end up sounding like one.

I actually think that those that are making the statements are not doing it to take advantage, they are more just in a position of either not knowing, or not appreciating what it takes to do what we do. So I hope this post will help educate - if nothing else.

For the record, I am done giving pricing without full specs. I am done with ballpark numbers, I am done with brainstorming after those numbers have been revealed. I am done with Ad agencies dictating design without ANY idea what matters and what actually works for the web, especially after pricing has been discussed.

Imagine that you are building a house, you tell the architect you want a house with walls and a roof. How much is that? He'd be crazy to answer, yet I am expected to give an answer without hesitation.

Go into Home Depot, ask them - "How much is a piece of string?"

Answer: IT DEPENDS

Depends on length, type, features, materials, craftsmanship, etc. etc.

The same is true for our "product". IT DEPENDS.

"By events calendar do you mean, I can see when events are happening ONLY - or I can register, create a custom t-shirt, invite friends, tweet, add it to my calendar, send myself reminders, blah blah blah?"

So I am done.

This IS a rant, more at myself for letting it happen then at others for asking.

We are not laying pipe in a 100' trench - we are dealing with emotion, marketing, expectations and the only way to make those expectations clear is to fully define them.

So, it ends, at least in as much as it's been done before.

Here's what I want...

I want you happy, not let down. Conversely, you should want me happy, because it is in your best interest for me to be here and not go bankrupt eating features and costs because you wanted a price up front.

Twitpics from Space

So just a few minutes ago I received this tweet from astronaut Soichi Noguchi @Astro_Soichi

http://twitpic.com/1dwswl - Space Shuttle Discovery arrived!

I was stunned by the image and the access - in real time - to relevant news. A quick retweet by by brought this response from @izenmania - ""Twitpics from space" really sums up a lot of what's cool about scientific progress."

Imagine the record we are collectively chronicling through our tweets, some mundane, but some granting access to events like never before.

Brands I Love Series - Nisqually Cleaners

OK, let's not kid ourselves - if you are going to run into me out in the real world chances are "business casual" is not going to be part of my equation, a suit and tie - even less likely. So I guess that all adds up to one thing, I am not a "regular" at the dry cleaners. I don't wear a ton of clothes that need a lot of TLC...BUT! and I mean BUT! I do have a place...

This place is not far from my house, and even though I only go there 3 times a year or so, they know me and they take care of me like I visit them every week.

Here's an example.

I show up after like 4 months of not being around and drop off 6 shirts and 4 pairs of dress slacks and the first thing the lady says to me is "Hello Mr. Forth, do you want your shirts lightly starched?" I am so stunned all I can do is manage to nod...I fumble to myself as I exit...

Even better - my wife drops off a similar batch, she gives our last name and the lady says to her, "Mr. Forth likes lightly starched shirts?"

My wife - God bless her - answers, "I guess so..."

What's to learn?

Simple. Pay attention to what your customers want...even those that don't visit all that often. They will appreciate the recognition and attention to detail.

I am now looking for opportunities to get more clothes cleaned at Nisqually Cleaners, a brand I love. Learn more

Brands I Love Series - El Gaucho

Bring a couple of hundred bucks with you if you are going, but don't worry you won't regret it. It's not the kind of place I go often, twice a year (my wife and my birthday) is about it. That's not to say we don't love it, we do. My guess is every night and every occasion is made more special for all those customers dining at El Gaucho.

The big wooden door on Pacific Avenue in downtown Tacoma serves as a passage back to another time where service and excellence are the standard. They focus is on providing a quality dining experience for the customer. They serve the finest food, best wines, and top it off with table-side preparation of salads and deserts that enhance the dining experience.

There are a lot of reasons I love this restaurant (brand), but here are a few points:

1. They are consistent - from the quality of ingredients to the level of service from each staff member they are spot on - no let downs
2. They take care of the little things - from picking you up at your hotel to holding leftovers in their fridge until your show is over for later pick up, they make it happen
3. Dining at El Gaucho is an experience you want to share. Our conversation always ends up focusing on who we know we'd love to take to El Gaucho

We don't get there often, but when we do we savor every moment. When our dinner and dessert are done we depart and begin the process of looking forward to the next time we can visit.

Going to El Gaucho is probably one of the lowest stress dining experiences you can have. While it is definitely not the least expensive option, the time and overall experience of service and quality bring more than their fair share of value.

Note: I will be focusing in the coming few weeks on different experiences with brands that I truly admire. It will be interesting to see what common characteristics will exist across all of them. I welcome your feedback and insight as the conversation develops.

In Tomorrow's Paper?

I'm pretty sure I will never NEED to read a newspaper again. I might WANT to read one, but I definitely don't need to.

Here's why.

This morning I had coffee (you read this already) with a friend and while there I ran into another friend. This second friend is the Executive Director of an organization with some big news coming out. This friend said to me - hey there's news coming out about us (which I already knew about) in the paper tomorrow.

This afternoon I read online (twitter, facebook, etc) all about this news. Will I or anyone else be surprised tomorrow when we read it in the paper?

Did you just find out this morning the Lady Zags lost in the Sweet 16 in the paper?

I rest my case.

How will you know and what will you do?

I had coffee this morning with a good friend and like anyone who has experienced 2008 and 2009 there have been struggles. I've heard tons of talking heads discussing the economy and how bad economies weed out those who have been falsely propped up by good economies. This Darwinian approach may be the reality, but it is never easy to hear about, or discuss another's struggles.

Bottom line: all industries are struggling to a point, some have been more fortunate than others and there is no easy money unless you are a league leading left handed hitting catcher in the Big Leagues.

We have been very fortunate, we are growing, hiring, expanding, but that may not always be the case.

I kept asking myself in my mind as we were talking - how will I know that my plan is no longer working and more importantly will I recognize it without delusion, and what will I do?

I just hope I approach it differently than the horse and buggy guys, the record labels, the newspaper guys, the travel agents, etc. etc.

I have heard it said it is better to fail quickly than to die by a thousand paper cuts - I agree!

The answer I believe is in the way I hope I see the world. I see the world as a place of changing attention and priorities. Within that change I approach my response to that change focusing on unchanging principals (justing, integrity, love, shared benefit, etc) I accept that my way is not always going to win and if I want to win I need to pay attention and move to embrace the change, and not fight it.

How Much is Enough?

Seth Godin's Fear of Philanthropy blog post highlights a struggle I feel on a day to day basis related to non-profit organization in my personal and professional life. We have made a commitment to be involved in ways with ANY non-profit we are affiliated with. Thus, it is hard when you work for several or sit on boards or volunteer time to determine "the line" of what is enough for each. The well is not unlimited, even though the desire to help is.

While I cannot to everything that does not excuse me from doing nothing.

Oftentimes, just as Seth states it boils down to attention (who gets it) and proximity (who happens to be around when I am receptive). This is true for foundations with millions of dollars and families asked to donate clothes, food or money to local causes.

So, how can non-profits "help" those of us who are approached to part with time, talent or treasure?

• If we have a process of giving to non-profits (SiteCrafting does) please respect that process.
• Tell us your story. We want to know how we can help and what you need, even if we are unable to fully meet those expectations
• Don't guilt it out of us. There is no joy in extortion - giving and receiving should be joyful
• If it's a volunteer opportunity make it easy for US to invite friends - if we believe in it we will be inclined to invite our friends to participate
• Understand that we are pulled in a variety of directions and our intentions are good but our attention and treasure are not limitless
• Let us know what you need and let us know what enough is (see Seth's post as a reference)
• Respect the "Sorry, we can't help at this time." If you get this ask if you can approach us later. Likely the answer will be yes.

I know I am personally in awe of the dedication of the staffs of all the non-profits I deal with. They are the MacGyvers of society. They are dedicated to making the world a better place using sweat, spit, and duct tape. I want to make it easier for them, but can only do so much for each.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

OK, so I like to make and drink beer. Not as much since I've been doing all this running and trying to lose weight, but I still partake from time to time. Depending upon the day, I will make it a choice to indulge. My choice is definitely one of the best lunch places in Tacoma, The Harmon. It's not just about the $8.88 specials (very good and fast) or the $1 10 oz. beer (cheaper than iced tea and much better) it's also about the best server around, Vanessa.

If you ever had lunch there you know who I'm talking about. She is pleasant to all her fellow teammates and greets everyone with a cheerful hello and great attitude.

I'm sure every day is not great, but you wouldn't know it by the way she personifies service.

She knows what I order and usually an IPA is delivered just a second after I find my seat. Quick Sidebar: If I'm with someone she doesn't recognize, she plays dumb and asks if we'd like anything to drink - something I appreciate. She remembers that I like to substitute salad for fries (the weight watching thing again) and even gets the dressing just right.

It would be easy for her to just take the orders and deliver the food, but she does more than that and for that she's worth so much more to The Harmon. Making customers feel valued, listening and learning preferences, and all the little things make the lunchtime rush feel more like a welcome retreat.

Excellence at the Edge of a Continent

Moclips is a sleepy town 15 miles north on Scenic 109 from the quiet seaside town of Ocean Shores. It is approximately 3 1/2 hours from Seattle and Portland on Washington's Hidden Coast - the North Beach area. Until recently (creation of Seabrook in 2005) the big cities in the area were Pacific Beach, Moclips and Tahola (the seat of the Quinault Nation). The area boasts gorgeous beaches and tidal pools, is minutes from the grandeur of Olympic National Park and has a small unassuming (from the outside) restaurant that features in the words of my recent guest "The best WA wine list I have EVER seen, ANYWHERE". As a side note, this guy is no slouch when it comes to drinking/enjoying fine wine. Have a look at the wine list.

Where do you find it? Ocean Crest Resort. The wine list has been awarded a level of Excellence every year starting with 2004.

Why the big deal?

The big deal is passion. The big deal is making a choice to be the best whether in a bustling downtown or 150 miles from the nearest downtown. You see Ocean Crest made the choice to be excellent when it would've been very easy to just be small or average. Expectations out there tend to not range on the very high side. Despite this, Ocean Crest staff committed to greatness way back when no one was watching.

There is a lesson here for all of us.

No Frontrunners

I came back from a long run this morning to find my Zags being shellacked by The Orange. This will be the end of my bracket. Prior to yesterday's action I was in the top 99% (click on the screen shot to see) at the end of the day I will likely be OUT. (Barring a Zag miracle)

Every year I pick the Zags to win it. Sometimes against my better judgement, but if you're going to pull for a team, then go big and pull for them all the way.

I'm disappointed as a fan because I know they are capable of so much more. It's funny it's the same way I feel about my kids or our company when the A-Game gets left at home replaced by "good enough".

Bottom line: Show Up Ready to Play - in some cases you only get one shot.

A Perfect Day for Fishing - Not so for Catching!

It's rare to summer steelhead fish on the Olympic Peninsula on 65+ degree days. I'm certain I've NEVER winter steelhead fished on a string of days as beautiful as it was Thursday and Friday. The fish of 1000 casts (if using bait), 100,000 casts if swinging a fly - is nearly impossible to catch when conditions are perfect (perfect water flow, good cover, cloudy 0r drizzling skies, freezing temperatures). In fact, it is alway too cold/hot, water is too high/low, fish are too skittish/lethargic - most of these explanations from a guide ends with the statement "You should've been here yesterday."

We had a few things working against us

• Lots of boats (it was the annual Hohdown - more info here)
• A front page article about the Queets (my favorite river) in the Seattle Times
• Did I mention the sun? It's hard to catch a ghost in bright daylight.

We had a fantastic day with our guide - author and friend - Doug Rose. He literally wrote the book on flyfishing for steelhead on the Olympic Peninsula.

I've left my gear out on the coast since I'll be back in a couple of weeks, hopefully it will be drizzly, freezing, cloudy, with perfect water flows. It'll be a crappy day for fishing and a great one for catching - that's winter steelhead for ya.

Spring into Action

It's all about responsiveness.

Bottom line things go wrong, or communication gets missed. When it does there are two ways to go.

1. Call to Action
2. Deny and/or Blame

May you always acknowledge the issue, leap to action, admit when you are wrong and chart a course for correction.

Today's example comes from Smith Brother's Farm. I was under the impression my first delivery was to come this past Monday. I posted a tweet about needing help, instant response. When I got home my milk was already here and they reminded me my day was going to be Wednesday. :)

Oh, and the milk is fantastic! AND I'm blogging about them.

It matters how you respond.

Ghost Hunting - The Search for Wild Steelhead

So, tomorrow evening I will head West. I will ply my trade on the rivers of the Olympic Peninsula, swinging flies waiting for the tug. They call it the fish of 1000 casts and goodness knows if it was that easy I'd have gotten bored and given up already. Others just call it "the ghost".

Unfortunately with each year that passes the quarry becomes more and more elusive as the wild rivers of the peninsula become less and less so. Horrible resource management (dams, logging, hatcheries - read Mountains in the Clouds ) have pushed wild steelhead and salmon populations to the brink of extinction. I've packed my 8wt, DryFly whiskey, warm clothes, and great friends.

So I embark on another quest in search of my own "white whale". Last year the rivers were blown out and my trip ended with an unexpected trip into a ditch after avoiding a deer on my way home. This year all I'm looking for is a tug and a photo of a wild steelhead.

Alter Ego

There's a lot to say inside my head and sometimes I struggle to figure out what is personal (thus for this blog) vs. what is SitecCrafting which is this blog. I put so much of myself and who I am into the personality of SiteCrafting it seems that everything over there is personal to me.

I will continue to try and figure out where it goes, and for the most part all hobby stuff (beer brewing, fishing) will live here, the rest over there.