Jam [packed day today from 7am run,  work breakfast in Waterbury, meetings till lunch then a very good long lunch with my very good friend Jleigh. Jleigh has been my admin for 6 .. maybe 7 years,, she’s worked with me during some of the best.. and certainly the most difficult years of my working life. She has known more about what I do .. and where I should be at any moment  than any other person (including me). She’s a warm and caring person with a great eye for detail… and now she’s leaving IBM.. While I can’t go into the circumstances here.. it makes me really, really sad .. and mad… to see her go. She’s had a tough year.. she’s now going through her second rounds of chemo… and doing well . She’s looking forward to life after IBM..  .. she’s got plans to set up a day care.. so she can hang out with kids.. and work outside with her hands and garden. It was great hanging out with her today.. I plan on keeping her close….

after lunch , back to work .. and read for several hours. I’m still trying to take in al the info related to my new job.. before I knew it , it was 6PM.. time to head over to Champlain College for the talk by Casey Reas . Here’s the blurb from Champlain that talks about the event

Acclaimed software artist Casey Reas uses computer algorithms to create complex, organic abstractions. In his ongoing series Process, Reas explores the relationship between synthetic and naturally-evolved systems through strikingly beautiful prints, animations, architectural wall fabrics, relief sculpture and interactive works all derived from variations on the same fundamental software algorithm. Reas is also internationally recognized as co-creator of Processing, an open source programming language specifically for visual artists, a standard for artists creating images, animation and interactive art. Reas is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles and has exhibited throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Reas will be in residence in Burlington from March 21-23 working with local artists in algorithmic art. For more about Casey Reas and Processing:
Processing – http://processing.org/
Casey Reas – http://www.reas.com/

Casey’s talk was really excellent.. thoughtful, organized and fun. He talked mostly about his art.. and very little about the software (Processing) behind it.. It was a completely different talk than I expected.. but I liked the one he gave better than the one I expected. .. The pieces he showed were really beautiful.. .. even more so when he explained the very simple rules behind them.

There were about 40 folks in the room including artists, designers. architects and techies.. After a the talk and a good amount of time for questions, the meeting shifted gears and became about the growing maker community in Vermont.. It was such an exciting conversation.. we talked about the new Vermont Makers group, the Essex Tech  fablab, The Lab-B cyberhacker space and our Vermont Fablab at UVM. We discussed  setting up a monthly meeting with speakers and labs.. and we discussed the Champlain Makerfaire that we’re planning in the fall. The energy was SO good…

Around 9 we all went to the Bluebird.. a new bar down town and kept the conversation going. i had some more good conversations with Casey and his amazing path.. and met some new local makers .Thanks so much to the Vermont Makers, Ken from Champlain and of course Casey Reas for making the evening come together.

I see great things happening here..

nite all, nite sam

-me