MNT

My mother is the only kindergarten teach…

Matt Thomas — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:36:51 +0000

My mother is the only kindergarten teacher at a small school. She has 27 students, one of whom does not speak English (a girl who transferred from Haiti). She doesn’t have an aide or a translator or anyone to help her other than the P.E. teacher who takes them off her hands for a few minutes every day. This week, she’s getting a 28th student. If you can imagine spending your entire day with 28 five-year-olds, and then try to imagine having done so for the past 32 years, then imagine how it would blow your mind to find out that if the residents of her county don’t pass the 1-cent sales tax up for a vote next month, the school (where she’s taught for longer than I’ve been alive) is going to close and she’ll have to transfer to another town.

Metal Type

Matt Thomas — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:37:31 +0000

On a whim (my whims are strange) I decided to buy my first font — an actual set of 20th Century Bold, 30 pt., cast in lead. My ongoing fascination with typography always needs more fuel, and getting to play with a font in its three-dimensional form brings new meaning to the names I’ve thus far only given to items on a page or a screen — leading, ems, dashes and brackes that I can hold in my hand. It’s just the beginning of a fascination, but I can imagine how quickly it could elevate into a full-blown hobby.

A Friendly Speed Test

Matt Thomas — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 05:43:56 +0000

Living in rural Alabama, I’m incredibly skeptical of anything that includes the words “mobile” and “broadband,” but I’m giving Verizon’s MiFi device a try. The setup process was terrible and Verizon won’t win any awards for their Mac VZAccess app, but the speed is undeniably strong, even out here in the boonies. It makes me very sad that Apple’s phone is limited to what is, at least where I live, a totally crap network.

To best illustrate this fact, I decided to do a friendly speed test on the iPhone — first, connected to AT&T over EDGE, and second, connected to Verizon’s 3G network via the MiFi. With results roughly 500 times better on Verizon, I’m very much hoping for a bit more choice with Apple’s future wireless devices.

Less and More

Matt Thomas — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 02:02:59 +0000

Got this beautiful surprise in the mail from Automattic today. 600+ pages of pure Dieter Rams goodness.

Traction Control

Matt Thomas — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:59:55 +0000

Ok, so I’m a little out of practice with the snow.

High Five

Matt Thomas — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:16:40 +0000

Holy crap; I finally captured it on camera!

Keyhole Photo documents Mobile Mardi Gra…

Matt Thomas — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:02:51 +0000

Keyhole Photo documents Mobile Mardi Gras with an awesome WordPress blog. I’ve always been very proud of our Mardi Gras — first in the nation, as we’re all required to mention — but never get to see much of it. (I’ve got to move closer to downtown!) My favorites are this portrait of Queen Ethel Vaisin from Sacred Heart and a candid shot of MAMGA King and Queen Lauren Levins and Jonathan Horner. Definitely will stay tuned so I can keep living vicariously through their lenses.

Breakfast for Dinner

Matt Thomas — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:40:28 +0000

I’ve been on a cooking tear lately; I’m finding that it’s a great way to unwind after a long day at my desk. Right now I’m cooking my way through Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics cookbook, and my taste buds have been happy with the results. Tonight for a late dinner I made myself some eggs with sausage and leftover roasted potatoes and red peppers. I baked up these cheddar buttermilk biscuits I found in the cookbook to go with. Big ups to these biscuits. Am I going to need to join the Barefoot Bloggers now?

Lack of Flash in the iPad (and before th…

Matt Thomas — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:28:13 +0000

Lack of Flash in the iPad (and before that, in the iPhone) is a win for accessible, standards-based design.

Zeldman

Tybee People

Matt Thomas — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 06:59:28 +0000

I haven’t written about my trip last week — despite having a million things to say, there’s just been no time. Coworking with Brian, Sheri, Jane, Mike and Matt was awesome — we always end up being a little sad we don’t work together in-person after we do these. We got to meet up with some local WordPress users from the Tybee Times (new WordPress-powered site coming soon!), SCAD Radio, and District.

Being back in a place that still feels like home, with the people I work with, was surreal at times but really fun for me. The menu still calls me back: “Come Home Matt.”

But these Tybee people. These people were my brothers and sisters for two years. Being away for so long almost let me forget how much I missed them, but one night back together reminded me well. I’d prepared myself for the possibility that I might not see anyone I knew while I was in town. I forgot to prepare myself for the possibility that I’d get to see so many. Tybee was my home again for a week and I couldn’t have hoped for it to have been any better. It won’t be so long before I come back again.

The photo above is from Matt’s Tybee WordPress Meetup gallery. Sheri took some awesome pictures of our WordPress meetup at Huc-a-Poo’s.