Ef Rodriguez - Web culture rascal

Quoted in a Book About Manners

Ef — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:51:11 +0000

On page 81 of Henry Alford's new book Would It Kill You to Stop Doing That?, you will find a quote from me about the unintentionally rude questions I sometimes get when I speak to college classes about social media.

I've never been included in a book before, so it's a thrill. I just received a copy of it, and I look forward to actually reading it because it's about manners. My manners are admittedly slapdash, but I tip nicely when dining out.

#NintendoEnthused Party at the Pug Pad

Ef — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:31:53 +0000

I hosted a charming little Nintendo Ice Cream Social at my place as part of the #NintendoEnthused program (whereby rad folks get to play rad games and blog/tweet/meow about it). I invited some good peeps over to play Wii Play: Motion, a collection of mini-games for the Wii that were significantly more whimsical than the Wii Sports stuff I expected from the title.

There were sweets, so much sweets!

There were also giggles, so much giggles:

The ice cream game (I think it's called Cone Zone) was especially challenging. I had long prided myself on my Cone Zone skills. Even as a small child, I knew I was destined for Cone Zone greatness. Alas, I was crushed by my peers and will have to seek my fortune elsewhere.

A huge thank you to Nintendo for making my apartment the site of much mirth. Hugely awesome evening, and I got to eat gummi bears.

Happy Birthday to Me - 2011

Ef — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 13:59:56 +0000

Fancy Headphones

Ef — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:07:22 +0000

...are totally worth it.

They shut out the world and let me watch internet cat videos in relative peace. They are my first line of defense against talkative airplane passengers and are the ONLY way to listen to old school jamz.

I rock a pair of Bose QuietComfort 2's. If you're in Boulder and want to test drive them for, like, five minutes - give me a shout.

TEDxBoulder 2011

Ef — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:44:53 +0000

As usual, I got too busy and neglected to do a write-up of TEDxBoulder (an event I helped found and organize), which returned for its second year a week ago. With close to 1,800 people in attendance, it's easily the largest event I've ever been involved in.

From a design standpoint, it was a new peak for our team. Everything looked amazing - from the stage design, to the venue itself. I'd always wanted to be on the stage at Macky Auditorium (I'm a CU alum), and I finally got my chance, if only for a few fleeting seconds when I decided to show the crowd the little bear pin I happened to be sporting that night.

Our theme for the evening was Time & Change. However, the primary tenet I took away from the evening was to never stop making. Make more time. Make more change. Make more things. (Epitomized by Threadless founder Jake Nickell's talk that night, replicated here - and below)

If you were there, thanks for spending your evening with us. You have no idea how much I fret about filling all those seats. It's always a huge relief to see them slowly filled with friends and soon-to-be friends. If you weren't able to make it, we'll do it again next year. Maybe we'll have have a bouncy castle outside or something.

Special thanks and hugs to Kimya Dawson, who performed that night. The next day at brunch, we discovered our mutual love for "Step Up 3D." (Best movie ever, son.)

Blendtec Smoothie Geek-o-matic

Ef — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:11:59 +0000

I recently bought a high-powered blender that answers to no one. If you encountered this blender in a dark alley, there's a good chance you would get a weird rash. It's a serious blender. It's a Blendtec.

As part of my foray into CrossFit, I'm trying to eat more veggies. This has always been hard for me. I'm a notoriously picky eater. The kind of kid who orders hamburgers that consist of meat + cheese + bun and that's it. So the idea of eating spinach and kale filled me with volcanic fury.

So I bought a blender to [hopefully] get more veggies into my system via delicious smoothies. I'll periodically post my experiments here. Get ready. Get smoothie.

Got recipes or tips? Leave them in the comments! Help me avoid putting myself in the hospital!

CrossFit So Far

Ef — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:14:20 +0000

Based on the recommendations of trusted friends and rascals, I started doing CrossFit this week. (Is it "doing" CrossFit? Learning? Training? Or just CrossFitting? I'm so confused. Perhaps I should ask someone at CrossFit Roots, the place where I, um, do.) It's this exercise thing. There is a whole lot of sweating.

Part of the regime includes a change in diet that focuses on Paleo principles. No dairy, no sugar, no bread, lots of veggies, meat and fruit as well as some other rules. (I'm sure I missed plenty.) I'm on Day 2 of the regimen, and my arms are sore.

I like the variety. Our workout from Day 1 was completely different from Day 2 - except for squats. There are always squats, it seems. I'm doing okay. I haven't passed out or started crying - both of which I tend to do when playing World of Warcraft - so I've got high hopes.

I also ordered a blender. Because I'm one of those dummies that can't eat vegetables properly. I'm going to make smoothies. I'll write about that more when it arrives. If I get good at it, I'll invite you over for a smoothie brunch on the weekend.

Did I mention my arms are sore?

Ignite Boulder Sweet 16

Ef — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 23:30:26 +0000

I let the dogs out.

Thanks to everyone who attended Ignite Boulder Sweet 16. And a super special HOWDY to Mary Rotman of O'Reilly, who came out to see what all the noise was about.

Ignite Boulder will return in December. The dog costume, however, will not. ;-)

All photos courtesy of Kia Ruiz. Gorgeous!

TEDxBoulder + Good Apples

Ef — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 23:34:26 +0000

I was delighted to see Good Apples' incredible work on display today on the Denver Egotist. They designed the program for TEDxBoulder (which doubled as each attendee's badge) and are having their work featured in the 2011 Communication Arts Design Annual.

As one of the organizers of TEDxBoulder, I'm instantly reminded of how special our inaugural year was. I can't wait to do it again on Sept. 24 at Macky Auditorium. (Tickets on sale now!)

[Image credit: Good Apples]

Twitter Marketing and Pandas

Ef — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 16:43:24 +0000

I contributed to a group interview on the Trada blog about How to Market Your Business on Twitter and ended up mentioning pandas and something I described as programmatic slime:

What I meant was that if you're a little too clinical and precise about your Twitter strategy, you may make folks queasy. It's the same principle as the uncanny valley. Just as humans are better when they be real, so are conversations.

Here's a panda: