I had never visited the West Coast so earlier this year Jim and I decided that this was the year to do it. The week before last I took my first real vacation that didn’t involve parents, my job, or the internet. Southern California seemed to be a solid bet for good weather and good waves so Solana Beach in Northern San Diego was the perfect spot. Before I jump into my backlog of posts to be written (including a recap of Refresh Baltimore, I promise that is next) I wanted to share some quick highlights from my trip.

Typography

Mollusk’s sign was done by Jeff Canham who’s work is featured in my Surf Typography Post .

Moonlight Glassing & Other Beautiful Surf Boards

Moonlight Glassing is known to be the place where some of the most beautiful surfboards are born, many of Tyler Warren’s boards make their way through this shop. Everyone there was so friendly Jim and I really appreciated our tour. For more surf culture from Moonlight check out their blog at http://www.surfysurfy.net .

Best Smoked Tofu EVER

Mao’s Venice Beach. Amazing.

For all of my SoCal Pictures check out my flickr set.

We are all sitting at our desks doing the same thing… we are all Designing. Who else out there can relate? What does their environment look like? Is anyone else going through the same exact thing I am right now?

Alex Giron created a Design Faces pool on Flickr, and I have really enjoyed seeing the shots taken by other designers as they sit at their computers working their magic. If you are a Designer… join the pool and take a shot. Its great source of inspiration!

I grew up on Macs. I am a member of an all Apple family and currently live in all Mac Household. My first Mac was a Quadra 605 and I have never owned any sort of Windows machine. My family still holds on to a Flower Power (still running) in our attic. In 2002 I started my summer job at an Apple Specialist in Richmond. Back then there weren’t Apple stores, there were Apple Specialists who had on-site (knowledgeable) repair technicians. We used to throw midnight release parties for the new OSs and would rent out a local movie theater to broadcast Mr. Jobs’ keynotes. Some people think this sounds pretty dorky but It was the most fun I have ever had in my life. Everyday I woke up and got to share my passion with the Apple Community. And thats what it was… a community.

(Im not pissed off in this pic, I just didn’t know my picture was being taken at work)

Apple has inspired a culture that extends beyond a brand, it created a community and now that community is becoming mainstream. So was it a revolution? Perhaps it has just made people begin to think Different…ly.

This trailer got me thinking a little bit about how things have changed since my days working at Capitol Mac.