sean's blog

What's next for Crispy Chicken?

Well, as you can see, the new Crispy Chicken has been lost forever. Well, not forever, but for a while. Due to some miscommunication with Server Intellect, who hosts the site, we lost the Crispy Chicken files. Yes, I was angry. Yes, I yelled at them on the phone for a while. But they did everything they could do to find my files, which were deleted due to a billing issue, but could not find them. BUT, to their credit, they made ammends by offering me some free hosting, which I readily will accept.

Which begs the question ... when will Crispy return? Well, this does give me an opportunity to build the thing from scratch. I was working with a whittled-together quicky version. But now, I have the chance to do things right, get it back on the Graffiti platform, and have an even better site! Now isn't that just grand!

This should take a few weeks, but be on the lookout for a new and improved Crispy Chicken very soon.

Until then, I will be blogging to this site, so keep reading, and stay tuned!

WHO THE, WHAT THE ....???

Yes, you are right - this is NOT the new Crispy Chicken. Due to some miscommunication with my host, Crispy Chicken is lost out on the farm (server farm that is). They were able to recover my old site - this one - but we are still trying to locate our tasty little chicken.

I'll keep posting to this site in the meantime - so all is not lost.

And please cross your fingers that we can relocate my Chicken files - or I'm going to have to redo everything all over again!

Where has Sean been?

After much moaning and groaning from all my fan(s) out there, I'm back to blogging. My apologies for the gaping void left in your life. :)  Just kidding. Seriously, I apologize for not doing this sooner, I guess I really haven't had much to say lately. Life has just been crazy - I have been traveling a lot recently, work has been pretty insane, and just haven't made a lot of time for little ol' me.

One thing you might be interested to know is that I am working on a redesign of the site, and it's going back to my original blog name - yes, ladies and gentlemen, CRISPY CHICKEN is coming back. Don't worry seanbaugh.com, and crispychicken.com will take you to the same place.

So get ready all my chicos and chicas, Crispy Chicken will soon be back with gusto.

More later!
 

Atlanta - HOW 2007

Last week, my coworkers and I traveled to Atlanta (Hotlanta) Georgia for the 2007 HOW Design Conference.  This was my seventh conference, and can say one of the best. Really a great time getting to know my coworkers, meeting some new people, getting refreshed.  Came back with lots of great ideas and tips on growing the design business, attracting new customers, and managing creative-types.

I also got to know Atlanta again - and ate some amazing food - most of all, some good ol' southern cooking at a joint called Agnes & Muriels - really terrific!!  Had fried green tomatoes, fried macaroni & cheese, fried chicken, sweet tea, and more.  Check out these pics ...





I also got to meet one of my favorite designers, Chip Kidd, most known for his great book jacket work for Augusten Burroughs and David Sedaris.



And, believe it or not, the Coca Cola museum was pretty darn cool. Got an opportunity to taste over 70 varieties of Coke products from around the world! My least favorite? Some drink from Tanzania which tasted like charcoal.




One of the highlights of the HOW Conference is always the final party, sponsored by the paper companies - paper companies LOVE us - and this year was no exception. It was held at the largest aquarium in the world - the Georgia Aquarium, and it was just amazing.



BTW - special thanks to Jon Broom for these pics - my camera battery was dead the whole time :)

So, I totally dug Atlanta, and want to go back - especially to this restaurant called "Spoon" for one reason or another :)

Karma

I know that by making fun of this poor man I am breaking every karma rule in the book. I'll probably have a piano fall on me as I leave the building today. But I just couldn't resist. I was at the Fossil store looking at watches, and the salespeople started to giggle. We saw this man with toilet paper hanging out of the back of his pants. Now I could have been a good guy and walked over and helped him out, but no, I took a picture. Yes, I know, I'm horrible. But admit it - you are chuckling right now!

Taxing Weekend

This has really been a challenging weekend - for a variety of reasons which I won't go into here.   But, I only say this to say I had a really great and productive week at work.  So that's what keeps this weekend in perspective.  Here's a glimpse of what I've been working on (click on the image for a larger version) ...

The new Turtle Creek Chorale site ...



The new Sound Creative site ...


 

Shift Happens

I really don't know how much of the information in this video is true - but much of it is staggering!

My Favorite Things - Bob's Onion Rings

Ok - yes, I know the last installment of My Favorite Things was a food item ... but I just really like food! Today I sing the praises of the onion rings (onion steaks!) at Bob's Steak and Chop House in Dallas. First of all - these things are gigantic! A full order could feed four people. I've really never had an onion ring that comes close to these. The batter is crispy, hefty, and flavorful, with a nice, subtle kick from a blend of spices. The onions are sweet (not tangy), and always soft (but not too soft!). The flavor of the sweet onion blends perfectly with the slightly spicy batter surrounding it. Seriously, eating these rings is like cutting into one of their famous steaks - a beautiful blend of texture and flavor. And at $8 for a giant mound of these things, they make a perfect appetizer, or side item. And nothing goes better with Bob's onion rings than a cold Bob's martini from the bar! :)

Amazing photos

Amazing images as lightning hits the Empire State Building.



I'm assuming this is exactly what is supposed to happen - but is that a communications antenna or a lightning rod at the top?

Regardless, this is so awesome!


 

Belief

Today, I was at Whataburger for lunch, by myself, and in a very introspective mood. And this guy sat down across from me, also alone. He pulled out his bible, his bible study guide, and his Palm Treo. I thought this was an odd combination of things - especially at a Whataburger on his lunch hour. It got me to thinking. Do I believe in something enough to actually spend my lunch hour studying it. Which then got me to thinking more ... what do I believe? Well, I can tell you this. I do believe in a God - but I do not believe in a God that sits around, bound by the rules of a book. I believe God is a very personal entity to everyone - and God means something different to everyone. That might not seem so revolutionary. But I believe its a two-way street. For God, his/her/its relationship is different with everyone as well, and I believe that the "being of God" adapts to each individuals sense of belief, structure, and purpose.

This flies in the face of what organized religion stands for - and good - I think organized religion flies in the face of everything I stand for. :) Organized religion takes the personal relationship out of what should be the MOST personal relationship you have - between yourself and a higher power - whether that be the traditional God, a "force," nature, whatever.

But this is why I believe that anyone, regardless of creed, sexual orientation, ethnicity, etc can have just as strong a personal relationship to their "higher power" as anyone else. Because God just doesn't care - if you are in the right place, then God is in the right place.

Falwell Dead

From MSNBC ...

The Rev. Jerry Falwell — founder of the Moral Majority and the face of the religious right in the 1980s — died Tuesday after being found unconscious in his office, a Liberty University executive said.

Ron Godwin, Liberty's executive vice president, said Falwell, 73, had been found unresponsive around 10:45 a.m. and was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital.

Godwin said he was not sure what caused the collapse, but noted that Falwell had “a history of heart challenges.”

______________________________

I will not be hateful here, and my heart goes out to his family and friends.  I had actually read he was a very nice person to be around. But, I fear a legacy of hate and intolerance will follow his death, when it would have been so easy to preach love and acceptance. RIP.

It doesn't get much better ...

... than this.  :)  I just ran across this video of the Turtle Creek Chorale concert in December. Since I was in the back singing, I just didn't get the full impact of this piece. WOW!

Bill on Hillary

 Wow - I'm not even a huge Hillary fan - but this video really is effective!

My Favorite Things - Monica's Mexican Lasagna

Today I start my new blog series - "My Favorite Things," where I share with you, believe it or not, my favorite things! :) This might be food, a gadget, clothes, whatever - it really can be anything. I'm just a sharer.

This week's favorite thing is the Mexican Lasagna from Monica's in Deep Ellum. This unique and fun dish is comprised of layers upon layers of yumminess, including corn tortillas, cheese, ground beef, tomatillo sauce, what tastes like green chiles, and more. Combined with a Monica's frozen margarita, this is a pure and authentic Dallas mexican dish. Pardon the horrible photo - was the best I could do with my cell phone!




UPDATE:

I also found this recipe for Monica's Mexican Lasagna on the Food Network - as well, as a more tantalizing photo :)

Oops

If only.