I've come to realize that there are two things I really enjoy doing in life:
1. Moving forward while standing sideways.
2. Making things with other people.
Pretending I can surf like Larry Bertlemann on my skateboard.
1. As a kid I got heavy into skateboarding, then snowboarding for a while, and now that my bones can't take the pounding from skateboarding, I get my "moving forward while standing sideways" fix from surfing. I can't quite explain why I love the feeling so much, but there is something inherently freeing about moving forward while standing sideways. Remember when you were a kid, and you figured out that if you ran really fast with your socks on and then stopped that you could slide across the floor? How cool was that? Same feeling.
2. The other thing I love is being part of a small group of creative people and making something together. Like this magazine you're holding in your hands, for instance. Or like making a record with a band or solo artist. I know how to write, I do the graphic design for this magazine, and I can do photography. In theory I could make my own magazine, but I have absolutely no interest in doing it that way. I love working with Larry and our crew – Scott, Anthony, Geoff, Marsha, Andy, Jenna, Maria, Thomas, and Jonathan – as we all build the magazine together over the course of several weeks. When an issue comes out, it feels like something we all contributed to and it's far greater than the sum of its parts. Working remotely, we don't actually get to see each other in person, but every issue involves a few phone calls and hundreds of emails; and we are looking forward to seeing each other in person soon when we start attending conferences again.