Filmed this TED Talk that my friend Jon gave in Tampa Bay. His thoughts on “intentional living” and caring for the poor are absolutely worthy of everyone’s time.

There is a reason that I find myself hopelessly addicted to Super Crate Box after no game has held my attention for months. 

It reminds me the kind of game my father would play.

Now, the visual style of Super Crate Box certainly alludes to a generation not my own. The initial level looks straight out of Donkey Kong, and the characters would fit into such a game seamlessly. However, when I say I’m reminded of my father, I’m referring to something more.

I certainly don’t meant it to be uncomplimentary (against the game or my father). I mean he’s simply used to a different breed of games than the ones we’re used to. He keeps his cool at the helm of a Galaga cabinet with one credit left. He has seen levels in Ms. Pac-Man that I’ve never dreamed of. 

Super Crate Box is a hard game, much like many classics. In fact, to say it’s a “hard game” is putting it lightly. It’s a really, really hard game. If you finally manage to grasp the normal mode, those which follow are practically murder. I’d imagine the acronym behind “SMFT Mode” is less than pleasant. 

I typically hate hard games. If something is too difficult, it sucks the fun out of the experience. Super Crate Box isn’t that type of game. It has a “just one more round” infectious quality that can keep you playing for hours. You never feel punished, just challenged. It reminds me of games like Sinistar, or other games from the same era, which I spent my youth playing alongside my father.

If he or I had found this game sitting in an arcade, we’d likely be broke. In my opinion, that’s the best compliment I could ever hope to give such a title.

Was tasked with shooting an impromptu video for work. Completely done on the iPhone 4S … I think it turned out quite well.

My favorite Christmas photo that I’ve taken.

Merry Christmas.

Hackett at 512 Pixels was gracious enough to read, respond, and link to my post from yesterday morning. Very cool to see my own name pop up in my Google Reader feed.

As my community prepares to celebrate Christmas together, this article on North Korea’s spiritual climate has come to mind several times. What drives it home:

Still, there are those who celebrate Christmas behind the barbed wire, unaccompanied by pageantry or feast. I try to picture them, prisoners in their own country, reading about the Nativity aloud in a climate of repression and fear. Their narratives of suffering seem out of sync with the quiet scene as we imagine it…

In the bleakness of North Korea, where even Christmas trees at the border are deemed a threat, the urgent need for God incarnate, God with us, is made achingly real.

My favorite blogger Stephen Hackett recently wrote an article about the misattribution of the title “curator” to bloggers known for gathering links around the web and sitting them in front of the reader. His article brings to light an interesting fact - “curation” is becoming a buzzword. Any blog gathering the internet in a tidy package can be labeled as such. A certain new service describes itself as selling ”curated” packages. This terminology is quickly becoming coveted. Hackett, and the article he references, both suggest that curation is the wrong term. The first article puts forward the alternative “reporting” but I’m not so sure about that. Hackett offers “editorializing” but I don’t feel that’s right either (in the same way that both myself and Adam Lisagor are uncomfortable calling ourselves “videographers”).

I’m thinking the term “curator” shouldn’t be thrown out just yet. What we know as digital curation is such a unique beast that no other word seems to really fit. Traditional curators are often degree-holding specialists trusted with their materials. Translating this idea to the digital world places emphasis on content that I find very good for web culture. It shows that people place real value in the things they love. However, I think there is a requirement for those who use the term - one must provide some unique context or information when displaying their prized possessions. I have a hard time taking digital “curators” seriously when all they do is throw links together. The why is so important to me when it comes to art.

That being said, I’d gladly be known as a curator of the things I love. I haven’t been sure what to do with this Tumblr for a long while now. As a big lover of social, I feel it’s imprudent to oversaturate any medium. My Instagram photos by and large stay on Instagram. Small bits of thought simply go to Twitter. Personal items and “check-ins” go to Path. Photos go to 500px… and to Tumblr. That’s because I don’t know what else to do with Tumblr. 

Until, a month ago, Hackett’s article prompted me to think about why I appreciate what digital curators are trying to do. I’ve been mulling it over ever since. I don’t think I’ve settled on a conclusion just yet, but I believe it’s something I’ll think about with every post I make here going forward.

Macaroons in an edible bowl.

Observing the Chihuly.

An exhibit at the Chihuly in St. Petersburg.