The Joys of Western North Carolina

Posted by: mhespenh
May 11, 2008

I just got back from visiting my little sister at her school: A little hippy commune in South-Western North Carolina, called Warren Wilson College. Situated deep in the mountains outside Asheville, Warren Wilson is a tiny liberal arts college known primarily for its unique student body and focus on environmentally-friendly studies. The campus itself is stunningly gorgeous- hidden off the highway under deep cover from the forest around it, surrounded by amazing views and a very vibrant music and arts scene.

Aaaaaanyway- I was driving back with my Mom (Happy Mothers' Day, Mom!), rolling down (up?) I-77, and we decided to stop off for a coffee/bathroom break just north of Statesville. I was walking back to the car and happened to see the following sign (click to biggify):

Hey! Lookie heya mah! Dey gots summa dem inernets! I reck'n we ought stay there!
Oh, the joys of Western North Carolina...
 

PSA: Mix-tapes live on in the 21^st Century

Posted by: mhespenh
April 25, 2008

Just a note to all those out there, who, like me miss the good old days of mix-tapes -sitting in front of a cassette recorder, painstakingly recording songs off the radio or other cassettes to form the GREATEST MIX EVER (or so you thought). Ah, memories. Of course this was years before the RIAA and associated groups began their assault on fair-use, slowly chipping away your rights to use and enjoy the music you own in the ways you want.

Prepare to be nostalgic: A new website, Muxtape.com, has brought the cassette-based mixtape of yester-year into the digital realm. Users upload their own MP3s to Muxtape and arrange them in whatever order they so desire. That playlist is then accessible to anyone on any device with a web browser (beit a PC, mac, iPhone, Treo, etc.). Very cool. To get a feel for it, you can check out my muxtape here:

http://mhespenh.muxtape.com

Many props to the people behind this endeavor. Go get in on it while you can, for I fear in our Country's current legal atmosphere they will soon be sued out of existence...
(Thanks to Tom Merritt at C|Net for first pointing me to muxtape)

i can has toys?

Posted by: mhespenh
April 24, 2008

So I've noticed there is a distinct (and frankly disturbing) lack of adorable cats on this site. For that I appologize, and humbly submit for your enjoyment the following video of my very own cat, Cujo, playing with his favorite toy: Some kind of weird plastic/leather whip, which he goes nuts over.

Soooo, why?

Posted by: mhespenh
April 08, 2008

This being my first blog post, I feel I should explain what purpose I intend it serve in the grand scheme of this site, so here we go.

I created this site for several purposes:

To serve as a "digital business card/resume," allowing me to showcase my work

To practice, perfect, and showcase my web design skillz

To give myself a place to voice all my random thoughts

To give my friends, family, and collegues a place to see what I've been doing recently

This blog will serve the latter two of these purposes, so these posts will not necessarily be related to the projects I'm working on, but rather just commentary on life, technology, and the web in general (to name a few possible topics). From time to time I may even have guest bloggers jump in to help out/pitch their own ideas- so look forward to that.

If you have any comments on the content of this blog (or anything else on the site) feel free to let me know. Shalom!