lee.ourand.me

Voice of Kemosabe

Kemosabe’s a hedgehog. And he’s got a voice like an angel


New cat name just dropped: Catalie Portman.



Purple Burglar Alarm

Some Scots can’t say “Pulple Burglar Alarm”

GWAR Destroys Tiny Desk Concert

The band of Intergalactic Monsters. Tiny Desk Concert. Solid.

I've heard of a walkie talkie, but this is ridiculous

Anyone in the market for a $3,000 backpack that follows you and, oh, is also a smart speaker?

How Do I Draw a Pair of Buttocks

The internet was just a funner place in 2014

Lifenotes 6

Changes

  • It’s been over a year. Holy shit. Lots has changed. Let’s see…
  • We got married! Had a nice little ceremony at a restaurant here in Richmond. Jess officiated the thing, and did a damn fine job. It was exactly what we wanted.
  • We’re back in the states, living in Richmond, VA. We’ve got some family and longtime friends in the area. And we’re practicing making new buds through via the love of whiffleball. Team We Got The Runs went 4-3 this season.
  • I’ve officially transitioned to a management role at work. Still doing lots of in-the-weeds programming, so it’s been a soft transition so far.
  • We got a cat. Her name is Biru (you know, like Ruby, but staggered). She is a bit of a devil. But she is cute. Biru sleeping Biru with her tongue hanging out

Lifenotes 5

Adios Valencia

  • Welp, that 90 days went pretty quick. Our time in Spain has been quite lovely. We’ve both learned some Spanish, eaten some paella, ran some runs, enjoyed some siestas, seen a MotoGP race, met up with some buds, and spent some time with family. Next stop is Split, Croatia.

Lifenotes 4

Roam

  • August was my last month as a New York resident. It’s been a magical, frustrating, amazing place to spend the past decade, and leaving is bitter-sweet. We’ll be shoving off for Valencia, Spain later this month. That laid back Spanish living will be a nice change of pace for a while. I’m not sure what comes after that—we’re taking it one step at a time.

    After moving out of my apartment, we headed to an Airbnb we rented for the two weeks before our flight. It was the grossest damn thing I’ve ever seen. We encountered a cockroach within 2 minutes. The hand towel in the kitchen had roach eggs all in it. The dish soap was watered down so as to resemble water with a bit of blue food coloring. There was a leak under the sink that’d clearly been running for years—all the wood was rotten and moldy and horrible. I called Airbnb, and left almost immediately.

    We got super-lucky, and some good friends happened to be leaving for a camping trip for the exact two weeks we needed a place. They generously let us stay in their lovely Brooklyn apartment while they’re out. So, we’re holed up in an infinitely better spot while we await our flight out of here.

  • Valencia happens to be the last stop in the MotoGP season, which will also be Valentino Rossi’s final GP race ever. Hopefully covid remains enough under control in Spain, so that we can go cheer him on.
  • My friend Andrew came up with this clever laptop stand called the Basic Stand. I picked one up as a lightweight/compact laptop stand to take while I’m traveling. It’s very neat, and raises my laptop up much higher than the kind of standard aluminum stands we’re all familiar with. My posture is thankful. Brilliant stuff.

Lifenotes 3

Big Business

  • HappyGastropod, LLC is officially a thing. I’ve been using the name HappyGastropod since 2008. Thirteen years later, we’re officially in business! I’ve been working on a little bulletin-board software called Cafayo that prompted the move to start a company. I’ve always loved the name HappyGastropod, and loved the goofy logo I made all those years ago: This thing remains a nights-and-weekends type of project. It’s been a fun learning experience thus far, and I’m excited by the possibilities.
  • I’m building Cafayo using some Hotwire libraries and techniques. It’s an absolute delight to build apps this way. It’s so refreshing, having spent the past several years writing in the flavor-of-the-month single-page-app framework for work. Hotwire is simple, fast, and (once you wrap your brain around it) surprisingly flexible. A shame about its whole relation to Basecamp…
  • After years of prodding by some family and friends, I broke down and bought an Xbox Series-S. I got it primarily to whip my brother’s ass in the MotoGP Game. It’s not going as planned, thus far. I have much practice to do.
  • Governor’s Island is open to the public yet again. Cynthia and I went this weekend and enjoyed the scenery.
Previous Page 2 of 3 Next