Category: portfolio

This is a portfolio of my work in many forms. It should give you some insight as to the products I might help you to create.

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70 of 365: First visit to Agricola

Agricola Pears (agricolaeatery.com)
Agricola Pears (agricolaeatery.com)
Agricola Pears (agricolaeatery.com)
Agricola Pears (agricolaeatery.com)

About Agricola

Agricola, a Princeton based farm-to-plate restaurant, has been here for about a year, and tonight was my first opportunity to visit. Agricola’s own site says “Using fresh local ingredients from our very own Great Road Farm as well as from other neighboring providers, we serve food that brings people together to laugh, share and celebrate. Good food translates to memorable moments and we encourage you to delight in both as we build on the traditions of community, farming and breaking bread with friendly faces.” – See more at: http://www.agricolaeatery.com/about#sthash.GjY5qtT3.dpuf

Atmosphere and vibe

When you walk into the restaurant, it is inviting and uses natural elements in the architecture to remind you that artificiality isn’t welcomed. You are greeted by bare wooden beams, masonry, and other natural elements that show the naturalistic and holistic approach to the food. It’s warm, the atmosphere is friendly, and the vibe is communal. You are invited to sit among other diners to enjoy your meal.

Service

Every person you speak to on staff is knowledgeable, kind, and service-oriented. I did not ask a question that was not answered in a rewarding way. This is not the only place that this happens in Princeton, as we are blessed with great service in this town, as might be expected. However, it did not disappoint.

What we had

I planned to visit with a friend, and we decided to have drinks and dinner on a relatively warm summer day. It was cool upon entry, and had adequate spaces for gathering a party. I was quickly welcomed upon entry and invited to sit while I waited. When my friend arrived, we were seated quickly. The choices were a single page of delicious descriptions, filled with real food, local choices, and great variety, despite brevity. The menu for dinner follows:

Kale salad

We shared a kale salad with carrot ribbons, radishes, toasted pumpkin seed vinaigrette. It tasted distinctly of parmesan, and had great texture and freshness.

Grits with Salsa Verde

The Castle Valley Mills Creamy Grits with Salsa Verde was delicious, creamy, and had a great mouthfeel. Not very sweet or overly salty, as it is too often served. The Salsa verde added a nice break to the potentially heavy bowl.

Summer Squash Flatbread

The main dish was a wood-fired piazzetta with purple potatoes, wild garlic salsa verde, house-made ricotta. The vegetables, as throughout the meal, were al dente and allowed to have some resistance. The ricotta bordered on feta in its bite, but was crumbled and certainly not overwhelming.

Drinks

Agricola has a full bar, which is uncommon in Princeton. More importantly, they have very good beer in bottles and on tap. Tonight, we had Lagunitas IPA and Left Hand’s Stout. It’s hard to go wrong in pairing with choices like those.

Conclusion

To be perfectly honest, I had heard some less-than-praise comments about the food at Agricola, but I found none of it to be true. I would recommend it to anyone who appreciates real food, and I consider it a new favorite not only in Princeton, but in general. Well done.

Details

Agricola Community Eatery

Eleven Witherspoon Street

Princeton, New Jersey 08542

telephone +1 (609) 921 2798 info@agricolaeatery.com

– See more at:

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69 of 365: On being accused of being too affectionate with my boys

Saturday Selfies
Saturday Selfies
Saturday Selfies
Saturday Selfies
Saturday Selfies
Saturday Selfies

So I have kept this in for a few weeks, but I wanted to get it off my chest, because it made me really, deeply angry. I was having breakfast with my kids at outdoor seating at a local breakfast joint, as we tend to do, so we are less disturbing to others as we talk and laugh and carry on. I tend to be especially affectionate with my kids. We often hug, kiss, and express our love for one another openly.

There have been times when people have come up as they are leaving and note how fantastic it is that we have such an obvious loving relationship, how well-behaved my boys are, and that we do each other a service in our familial relationship. It’s true: my boys and I both benefit deeply from the affection and respect that we share for each other. It is a gift that I treasure, this relationship.

At any rate, I wanted to get on WiFi at this place to upload one of our Saturday Selfies that we do, and it required a password from the establishment. I decided the easiest thing to do was to leave my 9 and 6 year olds at the table, step inside the restaurant and ask for the password. I was not concerned in the least, because the windows in this place make it very easy to see what is going on outside at all times, and I never lost track of them. I noticed that the couple next to us at breakfast was talking to my boys as they were leaving, and I came back out to see what was at issue, if anything. The couple had already packed up and were on their way back to their car when I got back to the table.

When I asked what exchanged when I was inside, my oldest said that the gentleman said that “If anyone ever touches you, kids, tell your teacher.” He said it was strange, and that he wasn’t sure why the man had said it. I calmly replied that it was good advice to share any odd behavior from adults with other adults, like their parents or other authorities, and that the man was likely just being helpful. I thanked them for telling me about the couple’s behavior, for instance, and that I always want to know if anyone ever says anything odd or out-of-place to them. I scanned the lot to see if they were still around because I’d have loved to have had a word with the couple myself, but it was probably for the best that they were already gone.

But it was clear that the couple had misinterpreted my open affection with my kids as a hint at parental pedophilia. I don’t know that if I was abusing my children that I’d be so bold as to hint at it in public. I suppose I should be grateful that others are looking out for my children, but are we so deeply conservative in our society that my actions could even be interpreted as anything but love between father and sons? I will say this: I refuse to be less affectionate to my children out of fear of its misinterpretation, and instead hope that we can socially stop jumping to conclusions about what someone’s intentions are simply because their own experiences, perhaps a more conservative parental relationship, differ from mine with my sons.

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68 of 365: Simple sketch of a coffee cup.

Coffee cup by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Coffee cup by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Coffee cup by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Coffee cup by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

This is a simple sketch of a coffee cup in Inkscape.

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67 of 365: Dance by Antoinette Marchfelder & John LeMasney

67 of 365 Dance by Antoinette Marchfelder & John LeMasney via lemasney.com
67 of 365 Dance by Antoinette Marchfelder & John LeMasney via lemasney.com
67 of 365 Dance by Antoinette Marchfelder & John LeMasney via lemasney.com
67 of 365 Dance by Antoinette Marchfelder & John LeMasney via lemasney.com

This is a collaboration between Antoinette and I. Antoinette has a lovely drafting ability, and makes the most beautiful, colorful, jungle-inspired work. We’ve worked together in Inkscape, to help her expand her digital working style. In this case. I asked her if she had ever used a Wacom tablet, and she said that she had one, a small one. I brought out my lovely 24 inch Wacom, handed her the stylus, and she made this inspiring dancing figure you see above. I added the text below her illustration. We used an image of a lit match as the palette, and applied a range of tones from the very bright parts of the flame, to the darker smoky background. Fun work, and thanks Antoinette!

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66 of 365 The truth knocks on the door by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

66 of 365 The truth knocks on the door by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
66 of 365 The truth knocks on the door by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
66 of 365 The truth knocks on the door by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
66 of 365 The truth knocks on the door by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

The truth knocks on the door and you say, “Go away, I’m looking for the truth,” and so it goes away. Puzzling.” (Robert Persig) by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

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65 of 365: A library design problem solved, perhaps.

nowhere placemark geolocation by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
nowhere placemark geolocation by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
nowhere placemark geolocation by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
nowhere placemark geolocation by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

I was alerted to Toby Greenwalt’s great blog theanalogdivide by Sophie Brookover of Library Link NJ, in which Toby just proposed a series of design problems as they relate to libraries. I love a good design problem. Here he introduces the first problem, and below I answer it in my own way.

“Your first challenge? Create a online library card signup.   You could say that signing up for a library card is our equivalent of what websites refer to as onboarding – the process with which a user becomes part of that site. Sites invest significant work-hours and enormous sums of money to make this process as appealing as possible?

Libraries? Not so much. Whether through requiring in-person visits, confusing policy, or resorting to PDFs, libraries tend to get in their own way when it comes to attracting new users. We can do better than this. I’d like to use this inaugural Challenge to prove it.

Your criteria:

  • Design a workflow that a hypothetical user would use to sign up for your hypothetical library. You’ll need to use this design to address the issue of proving residency.
  • If there’s a policy that needs to be set in order to make your design work, you’ll need to explain that policy.
  • Any medium is OK. Pencil-and-paper. Google Form. Flowchart. Photoshop mockup. Working prototype.
  • If you draw inspiration from somewhere, cite your sources. I’d love to hear a bit about your process.
  • You must have your design published by Monday, May 5th. Remember to email me (toby at theanalogdivide dot com) with the link. If you don’t have your own web space, feel free to send me the design and I’ll publish it here.”

~ theanalogdivide » Blog Archive » The Librarian Design Challenge –

So my answer is as follows:

  1. Advertise a shortened URL (via whatever advertising channels you wish) to a Google Form in which you allow a new patron to fill out a form. Form logic should require all required fields, such as full name, address, email, and phone number, etc. If payment is required, payment information can also be collected, but should occur later in the process, after address is verified.
  2. As you may or may not know, all google forms publish results to a spreadsheet, which can be exported to a CSV for use in a mail merge.
  3. Daily or weekly, a mail merge can be used to create mailable postcards with a unique code (autogenerated) that is sent to the address of the new patron.
  4. A patron who receives the postcard at the indicated address will submit the code and payment information to a second URL (encrypted) if any payment is required. The code validation reasonably proves residence to the degree that this is possible through electronic means.
  5. Upon code submission and or payment processing, the patron’s new card is mailed out, or made available for pickup, depending on the patron’s preference.

This mimics Google’s own location verification process for business registration listing in Google Places service https://support.google.com/business/answer/2911778?hl=en&visit_id=637299706572194876-2550561397&rd=1).

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