posthumous actualization
bridging metaphysics with social media

"dang! forgot to cancel twitter"
© 2010 Dave Weinberg

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Get beyond physical with NEW cellphoneSketchpad greeting cards!

Now available for purchase:
>> ONLINE
>> Old Port Card Works, 3 Moulton Street Portland, Maine
>> Paper Moon, 1 Westbrook Common, Westbrook, Maine

cellphoneSketchpad greeting cards – makes life worth living.

See a cellphoneSketch on this site you absolutely can’t live without? Email us for high-quality limited edition custom-printed cards signed by Dave Weinberg.

Also available, framed and signed archival prints!
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smilingly afloat

very merry ferry
© 2010 Dave Weinberg

Special thanks to @brentdanley for organizing Photography Meetup to Chebeague Island on Saturday. Met some great people with impressively long zoom lenses and other gear.

Click on thumbnails below to see slide show (slides advance forward and backward manually by hovering/clicking on either side of image).

#cSp special edition:
documenting thiery (corp.)

the audience behind the audience, thievery corporation
portland pier, portland, maine
© 2010 Dave Weinberg

Sketches of the pre-show (with thanks to @therichbrooks for upper balcony views…) with digital vignettes of anything except what was happening on stage. Click thumbnails below to view slideshow.

pecha kucha, night – TOnite

cellphoneSketchpad presents '365 sketches later...'
at pecha kucha tonite - rines auditorium, portland public library
5 monument square

It’s like speed dating for Creativity. Join us tonite for an eclectic 20 slides x 20 seconds view of local creative talent:

Arthur Fink · Jordan’s Meats Building

Rich Caro · Quiltmaker

Peter Turner · Innovative Use Of Objects

Dana Trattner
· Paintings And Vision
Jon Calame · The Roma Of Rome

Dave Weinberg · cellphoneSketchpad – 365 sketches later…

Maggi Blue · Gelatin + Glass

Derek Taylor · Chair Tennis

Lynn Shaffer · China & The Shanghai Expo

Barbara Hart · Living Aboard

365 cellphoneSketches later…
GREETING CARDS!

NEW! cellphoneSketchpad NOTE CARDS

(…and MrGnombe Illustrated note cards)

© 2010 Dave Weinberg

cellphoneSketchpad cards are here!

…well actually they’re over at Zazzle thru the mrGnombe Gnotecard Co. At Zazzle you can mix and match different cards to create you’re own specialized sets. Discounts begin at only 10 cards!

cellphoneSketchpad.com launched June 28, 2009. Thank you to all who have clicked, tapped, commented and/or contributed to this blog over the past year. Your ideas and encouragement have been generous, inspiring and most appreciated!

It’s been a fun year ‘sketching’ and pushing the low-res limits of the Motorola Razr. And while I will probably break down and upgrade to an iPhone at some point this year I continue to be impressed with what that teeny tiny less-than-one-megapixel relic has been putting out.

Hope you enjoy this next venture and chapter of cellphoneSketchpad. I look forward to future collaborations and further exploring as a community-based platform for sharing art, ideas and creativity.

Thanks again for all the support!

cheers and Happy Monday!
-Dave

ps A selection of cellphoneSketchpad cards are also available at Paper Moon on Main Street in Westbrook. New locations coming soon!

now open

exxon valdez, the next generation:
speaks out

"hey for what its worth, I heard capt. hazelwood didn't compost!"
© 2010 Dave Weinberg

BP Executive scapegoat courtesy of Project M North 2010 on display at the good life fest in Belfast, Maine. Check out stuffitbp.com for more photos and to learn how hair (yours and your dog’s) can help the situation in the Gulf of Mexico.

If you live in Maine you may have noticed or (as I imagine ExxonMobil would prefer it…) NOT noticed, how Exxon gas stations have all but disappeared from the easy-on/easy-off highway drivescapes. In what appears to have been either a back room corporate coup d’état by Irving Oil or more likely a calculated means of UN-branding by ExxonMobil – the partnership enables a brilliant PR shell game.

The Premise:
Remove the logo of the brand associated with one of the worst environmental disasters in history (until just a couple of weeks ago…) while leaving the grandchild brand of the red Pegasus behind to continue doing business. Over time, perhaps less people will associate the Mobil brand with the parent ExxonMobil joint corporation.

Not that it matters anyway, we now have a new scapegoat – British Petroleum. Time will tell if there is an equivalent Capt. Joe Hazelwood to pin this one on. And if so were they drunk or sober when they chose not to enforce the necessary inspection or expense of assuring that a mile down under water fail-safe mechanism would not actually, um… fail…

Also:
Have you noticed how Gulf recently updated their logo over the last few years to be set on a clear blue sky? It is very comforting to know that Gulf no longer deals in those filthy dangerous fossil fuels. Apparently, whatever I’m pumping into the Honda from Gulf is just a breath of fresh air. Sadly there is another Gulf that will not be fresh again for a very long time.

Last thought:
This is not an indictment of the local owners of franchises of these brands. And, no I do not own a Prius (heard they have some issues too…) and yes, I should be biking more for regular transportation and exercise. So am I not complicit here? My personal choices and dependance on oil enables this ‘machine’ to keep on churning it out and enables disasters like this to happen.

We as consumers have more power than we (choose to) think. If we change our behaviors and how we spend our dollars perhaps corporations would get the message and it would not take a disaster of this magnitude to get us where we need to be going. To quote Saul Griffith – “the planet is your client”.

At the risk of gettin’ all treehugger – as we celebrate Mother’s Day let’s not forget to celebrate Mother Earth.

the rockettes of semiotics

I-295 northbound construction's dress rehearsal
click image for more sketches
© 2010 Dave Weinberg

Drove passed these highway construction signs on my way to a client meeting and it immediately made me think of theatre – like backstage before opening night at Radio City with road signs starring as actors and production crew, scenery, props and of course, choreography.

This particular ‘show’ will be going on for approx 6 months starting in May – northbound I-295 between Portland and Freeport, Maine. Mostly evening performances with some matinees. No intermission.

More sketches from the final dress rehearsal viewable on the cellphoneSketchpad Facebook fan page.

fear

"...you know self defense is all you need"
© 2010 Dave Weinberg

One of my favorite album covers (not to mention a pretty cool mobile device interpretation of it) – tho definitely one of the darker cuts on the record – if not a theme song for Cymbalta (ps that’s not Robert Fripp on guitar). More on this depressive little dittyCaution: a bit overly existentialist for a monday… adjust attitude and self-esteem accordingly…

What song describes your fear? And is it really fear, or is it just ‘scratching’ the surface of something else?

good question(s)

week in review
© 2010 Dave Weinberg>

Lots of miners died – so did the Polish President and his wife; Tiger is back out on the green but people seem more interested about what happened off the green; Priests continue to be accused of what Priests get accused of; Apple’s stock is approx 150 pts higher than it was around this time last year; Some schools are paying kids to learn; and on and on…

So what does this tell you about yourself?

For me, Sunday is a reminder to pause and ask, not just “what happened?” – aka news events (filtered through media orgs) typically viewed at face value – but “what is happening?” – to me, right here, right now… How we respond and feel about news events and stories are more about us. Any story can be viewed for ‘what it is’ but do they also trigger metaphorical questions if we take the time to make these connections?

Lots of ways people do to this: houses of worship, outdoor activities, the 50 minute hour, yoga, Sunday morning news shows (although this arguably abdicates the reflection out on to the pundits) – a walk in the woods (with or without the dog), making art, being present with your kids…

So what did actually happen and what is happening?

  • What in my life has died?
  • Can I go back to something I once did despite how others may react to it? Or is it time to move on to something else?
  • What is behind the core patterns and behaviors that seem to reoccur in my life?
  • What was I doing a year ago that can be considered successful one year later?
  • What is my true compensation for learning? Is it money or something else?

News can trigger all sorts of questions if we take a moment to stop and really ask, “What Happened and What’s Happening”?

$25$15

free delivery in greater portland - 21 copies left
© 2010 Dave Weinberg

Seth Godin’s latest book, Linchpin – reads like a manifesto/owner’s manual on how to stand-out during uncertain times – with a narrative that at times channels classic Kurt Vonnegut (there are even little pen & ink drawings in it, circa Breakfast of Champions…) but with a much more hopeful outcome (based on choices YOU actually get to make with your life).

Godin challenges us to believe in the possibilities, accept what is and to persevere through the all too human inner resistances that keeps us mired in self-doubt, an outdated world view and (old all too) familiar mindsets.

anyways here’s the deal:
Linchpin lists for $25. I paid $15 each and will gladly pass that savings on to anyone who is interested (you know, while supplies last… void where prohibited… and all that marketing blah blah…). Email me at: cellphoneSketchpad@gmail.com if you’d like a copy (free delivery to RiRa Tweetup attendees this Wednesday 😉 you can also get a copy for about the same price directly from Amazon.

words to live (and learn) by…

the innovation convocation at usm

Students, faculty, staff and community gathered in a professionally facilitated conferencing forum called ‘Open Space Technology’.

Participants initiated discussions around relevant topics of their own choosing, self-organizing in multiple mini-town hall-like forums, capturing key objectives, strategies and benefits.

Deeply satisfying to partake in such an inclusive process that welcomes diversity and an open exchange of ideas. More information at http://usm.maine.edu/pres/convocations/

cSp special edition: Rippleffect Gala
THIS Thursday

some tickets still available for gala this Thursday, 02.04.10
Ocean Gateway on Casco Bay - Portland, Maine
a benefit supporting leadership and development programs
for Maine kids
© 2010 Dave Weinberg – invitation graphics, Kevin Fahrman

Sharing an email received this morning from Aaron Frederick, former Executive Director of Rippleffect:

Greetings All,

Rippleffect is trying a new angle this year, changing it’s traditional November Velvet event to a mid-Winter gala, to be hosted at the Ocean Gateway on Portland’s Waterfront, Feb. 4th, 2010 from 6:30-10:30.

Emilia and I wish we could be there, supporting the important work that Rippleffect’s guides are doing through our many programs.  Here in India, we’re witnessing the struggle of a developing country to find it’s identity, support the health and well being of its populous, and avoid re-creating the environmental pitfall that the US consumption habit has created across the globe.

As we move into a complex future, it is vital that we support programs that help youth become solution-oriented, motivated, creative problem solvers, for it will be many of these youth who mantle the responsibility to make a positive change.  

Rippleffect’s summer adventures and year-round school outreach programs are constantly evolving to help Maine youth connect to their natural environment, identify their inner strength and resiliency, and recognize their part in building a community that can support the greatest good for society and for the planet.  

Find info about time and tickets below. Also, be sure to spread the word and get the youth in your world registered for a Ripple adventure on Cow Island this summer.

Sending our best from Tamil Nadu,
Aaron & Emilia

Support Maine youth adventure programming, purchase Tickets for the Rippleffect Gala today!

February 4, 2010
6:30pm – 10:30pm
Ocean Gateway on Casco Bay
Live Auction at 8:00pm
Dancing with Esperanza
Support leadership and development programs for Maine kids. Purchase Tickets $75 per person

coming soon: *

a brief history of romance

© 2010 Dave (*valentine’s day, baby!) Weinberg

Teacher as Artist show ends this week at Freeport Square Gallery. Only several framed cellphoneSketchpad archival prints still available!

* Give the –-> unique <-– gift of cellphoneSketchpad for Valentine’s Day!

Can’t make it to the gallery?
We ship! Email me: cellphoneSketchpad@gmail.com

Up next: 10x10x10…

endearingly in deering

spirits of barking squirrel(s) descending
© 2010 Dave Weinberg

very few things in life eclipse a mid-evening snowshoe jaunt thru meteorologist’s UNDER-predicted fallen snow. (aka *LOVE* when Lou McNally says 2-4″ and it just keeps on fluffin’ up to just under 10″…)

The evening hike thru Deering Oaks Park in Portland (originally drafted by William A. Goodwin and later adapted byFrederick Law Olmstead‘s firm – a seeming mini-prototype of Central Park in NYC) was truly magical – even my inner parking genie (super power) totally delivered – despite the area being prime for parking ban overflow.

I am told that the well preserved period building in this image used to house a restaurant called the barking squirrel.

party with the duley’s

joy & oy
joy & oy - (Click image for full story)
© 2009 Dave Weinberg

More from Party with the Duley’s at the Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/cellphoneSketchpad.

Also check out ‘Dining with the Duley’s’ Tuesday nights on WMPG – 7:30-8pm – listen live: http://www.wmpg.org – 90.9 & 104.1 – Portland, ME – serving up the good vibe!

Follow the Duley’s on twitter: http://twitter.com/theDuleys