the Kansas - Oregon trail

Happy Mother's Day

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spring now

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Springtime has come tentatively.

Cherry trees light up the streets.

"Can we go outside, Daddy?"

That's Kurt in the background.

A big Happy Birthday to our new friend, Sara, shown here discussing the finer points of meshed metal utensils with Violet.

Growing up.

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let's go hiking

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My friend Kurt Porter was up here this weekend and it was the first sunny and warm weekend we've had in awhile.

We headed out to the Columbia Gorge and took in the sights.

Enjoying a short hike to the only non-tourist infested falls in the area.

Horsetail Falls.

Someone named Violet thought it was pretty amazing to be under the falls.

This view is out toward the Columbia. This is about 25-30 minute drive from home.

We can hardly wait until summertime.

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Cold day in the Sun

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Hello.

It has become so much fun to introduce Violet to the world. Everything is so exciting to her.

Violet, This is the world.

World, this is Violet.

We could all learn something about seeing things anew, I imagine.

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High times

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Someone has been really sick. Here she is taking her breathing treatment like a trooper. She is so good about it.

As a father, I have to say that she is not going to Santa Cruz for school, or Eugene for that matter. It looks like college in the 90's here. Anyone for hacky sack and Pearl Jam?

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"Punk is Dead, Punk is Everything"

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I forgot if I ever mentioned that the book I worked on designing for so long has come out. It is a beast of a book at 288 pages of punk flyers and ephemera.

My favorite review is this:

"We need books like this to serve as the inscrutable evidence of the losers and the drunk, hopeful teens with their best bad ideas in full flower....
To remember punk as it really happened."

Jessica Hopper - Chicago Tribune / This American Life

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Labels: "Punk is Dead, Bryan Ray Turcotte, Michael Etter, Punk is Everything"

on seaward monsters

Violet and Wendy took a trip out to the Monterey Bay aquarium while they were out on their California tour.

creatures.

It is really amazing to watch her excited about the world around her.

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re:Active and Dwell magazine

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Dwell magazine did a short article on re:Active

The world of design has experienced a watershed of change in recent years, transcending its former role as refuge for cultish hipsters and uptight academics in favor of a more meaningful and democratic movement. Creativity is being recognized as a powerful tool for change, and quite possibly the answer to important social issues such as third-world poverty and inner-city violence.

Exhibitions at national museums exploring the phenomenon have received more than their fair share of the spotlight. Much has been made about logos created by notable names and forthcoming manifestos predicting eminent progress. But grassroots organizations already tapping the vast potential of the creative mind haven’t garnered much attention. Michael Etter, who is the director of an organization doing just that, had the revelation back in 2003.

reActive is Etter’s non-profit opus, an organization dedicated to harnessing the energy, ennui, and inspiration of disadvantaged youth in the gritty Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. Kids have the opportunity to get their work published in the program’s magazine, and in the process are given an outlet for the troubles that often characterize their coming-of-age experience.

Since being launched in 2004 with friend Kristin Mehus-Roe, reActive has released magazines showcasing the impressive writing, illustration, and photography of its contributors. The talent, like the subject matter, is quite real. Not coincidentally, so is the change.

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