Welcome

Hi. I’m Aaron. I design stuff. If you’re here, it means you probably went to check slickpixel.com. First of all, thanks for being interested. Unfortunately, SlickPixel had become stagnant. I felt that I needed to justify my presence on the web by having a site that was dynamic and actually had something to offer. A two year old, stale site wasn’t it.

I have been thinking a lot about what I want SlickPixel to become. I have some really big plans which, when mixed with procrastination and anal retentiveness, mean big timelines. Which brings us both here. The SlickPixel blog site. This site will offer more up to date content, and serve as a nice replacement until the new full SlickPixel site is completed.

I hope you enjoy, and if not, you can always visit my old site here.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Chip Kidd: A Number of People

NotCot posted a link today to download (via iTunes) a video of Chip Kidd's "A Number of People."

This is the same talk that I saw Mr. Kidd deliver at the 2007 HOW Design Conference in Atlanta. I thought it was immensely entertaining, and recommend taking the time to download and watch it. Plus IT'S FREE!

Check it out.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

To Beard or Not To Beard

As the temperature starts to drop and the leaves start to turn, I begin to ask myself if it's once again time to start growing my annual beard. I actually thought about skipping this year. But then I saw this web site and, well, it's hard to argue with what they have to say.

Especially #9.

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Friday, October 17, 2008

2008 Brunswick Festival Cook-off Winners

Southside Virginia Community College hosted the Brunswick Festival this past weekend in Alberta, Virginia. The weather was really nice and the turnout was really great. EmporiaNews.com has more coverage of the overall event, and you can see some more pics on my Flickr page.

I really just want to touch on one thing though, and that's daddy winning the Brunswick Stew cook-off. There were 20 stewmasters from all over the state competing, and a panel of judges from surrounding counties declared daddy's stew to be the best. This was the first time daddy's won the top prize, which in my opinion, is way overdue. For a man who could hardly walk without getting out a breath a year ago, and underwent a lung transplant earlier this year, it was great to see him go out there and whoop up on the other stewmasters.

If you missed out this past weekend, he's fixing another stew in about a week for the Lawrenceville United Church's Apple Festival. (Don't worry, it won't be an apple stew.)



Daddy with his stew paddle trophy.



We put the 'umm' in 'Brummswick'

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Thursday, October 16, 2008

Venice Recap

I am waaaay behind in this recap, but better late than never, I guess. Amanda and I spent a week in Italy last month. Here’s a quick recap of the trip:




Day 1 (&2):
We leave Richmond and embark on our trip that involved us being awake for roughly 24 hours over the course of the flights to Italy. Our first layover was in Michigan, then Amsterdam, then finally we got to Italy. I’m sure we were a sight to behold.


We head to our room after stumbling out of the vaporetto that brought us to Venice. After wandering around Venice for a while (how hard could it be to find the room?), we miraculously find our room and pile in for a nap. Several hours later we awake reenergized and ready to join a bustling nightlife. We had a very romantic dinner outdoors, then wandered leisurely around the city.





Day 3:
Once we’re up and fed, we make our way to the famous St. Mark’s Square. We find solace from the crowds in the Correr Museum at the square. After a quick lunch, it’s back to the room for another nap to recharge. The afternoon included a tour of the Doge’s Palace. That place was ridiculous. The size of the place was simply unreal. And it was covered in amazing art. As night fell, our courage grew and we decided to just wander around Venice at night and get lost. It was really fun to have nowhere to be and simply submit to the city’s unique landscape and layout.





Day 4:
The weather wasn’t quite as cooperative today as we woke up to rain. But we still got out and ascended the Campanile (the bell tower in San Marco’s square). We also toured Saint Mark’s Basilica, which houses relics believed to be the body of Saint Mark. After our usual afternoon rest it was off to Ca' Rezzonico in the rain.





Day 5:
We decided to take a day trip and get out of Venice for the day. After making our way to the train station, it was just a short ride to Verona. We did a Rick Steve’s tour of Verona and saw everything from the supposed balcony of Juliet to castles and unfinished churches.






Day 6:
Today we took trips out to the islands of Burano and Murano that are right off of Venice. Burano is famous for its lacework while Murano has world-famous glasswork. The islands were very interesting because we got to experience all the best things of Venice (architecture, food, art) without some of the not so great stuff, like the tourists and crazy complicated streets and alleys.

Once we got back to Venice, we took a 40 minute vaporetto tour that was guided by iPod commentary by Rick Steves. It was pretty educational and really interesting.





Day 7:
Our last full day in Venice consisted of a trip through a museum of 18th Century costumes, a stroll through the main market area, shopping in the shops at the Rialto bridge, a visit to the original Jewish Ghetto, and a long walk toward Frari Church (we never actually made it). Later in the evening we went to eat at place called 9 (we think) that had the coolest little flyer as a business card. I also almost fell in the canal before supper too, but that’s a long story for another day.



Day 8:
We headed to the airport only to find out that some European airline workers were STRIKING! Only for that one day though! So all the flights that day were cancelled. This led us to hop on a bus and head to Maestra for the night. We were worried that Maestra was going to be the bunghole of Italy, but it was super charming. We strolled around the downtown area then through a park where we saw old guys playing bocce ball, folks with remote control sailboats on a little pond, kids riding bikes and practicing soccer. It was really charming.



Day 9:
We wake up extraordinarily early to hop on our flight home. And we finally did. We finally got back home and we were so happy to be there. But it was a great trip. Check out the Flickr collection for more photos.