Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.

Steve Jobs (1955 - )

Next week I’ll be heading over to New York City (if  weather conditions allow it) on vacation with my girlfriend. I’ve been trying to write something meaningful about this trip since the minute we bought the plane tickets, but so far I hadn’t really been able to come up with anything. And then I looked at this.

It’s hard to overstate how anxious and excited I am about this trip. New York City has always been the dream for me. I grew up in a small town, and moved to the biggest city in the country as soon as I could. I have always had that hunger inside me, that part of me that needs to conquer whatever challenges the world can throw at me. To be able to thrive in the greatest city in the world, get to know it and experience it running through my veins.

New York represents the ultimate challenge. A city made of dreams, and promise. A place that entices our senses more so than any other city in the planet. We have been flooded with images of this dreamland ever since we were born: in cinema, music, television… it is ever present in our collective unconscious. Stories of personal realization, love, success… Of loss and tragedy, too. I still remember watching the horrific news of the 9/11 hit, and the complete shock and utter disorientation that came next. The uncertainty that unfolded as everybody looked around and wondered if such a tragedy could really be happening.

But New York is a city like no other, and its will cannot be subdued or destroyed with a million planes. It represents the better part of ourselves: the mix of cultures, the global sentiment of belonging no matter where we were born, the ideal that together we are stronger, capable of anything. The possibility.

I’ve never been in New York and yet, I know that city. I know it like I know an old friend that I may not have seen in years. There’s a part of me that has always thought of myself as a New Yorker. The part of me that wants to dream.

The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. And like that… He’s gone.

Verbal Kint, The Usual Suspects (1995)

Awesome portrait by the great David Lanham.

David is a terrific artist who works at The Iconfactory designing icons and other graphic elements. I really like his work, and his imagination is only equalled by his talent to translate ideas into images with amazing results.

Back in the summer, with the arrival of Apple’s iPhone 4, David started doing a few portraits over FaceTime. Then, he posted some of them on his Twitter account. The response was so great that in the next few days he was flooded with a gazillion requests from his followers, yours truly included :P

A few months later, I finally had a chance to sit down and talk to him while he sketched the first draft. He was very nice and the experience was really great. I even got a sneak peek of the new iPhone game from The Iconfactory: Astronut, which features his artwork and is really fun. Then, over the next few days the digital process would come, where David’s talent really shines. He even endured my OCD comments all the way through, which I can tell you is not easy to do! :P

You can see the final portrait below. I’m really amazed and it has exceeded all of my expectations. All in all, a wonderful experience and the confirmation that, besides a great artist, David is a terrific guy.

If you want to get to know him and his work better, pay him a visit on his website. I assure you that you will not regret it.

Thanks, David!

_“Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy. And ideas are bulletproof.”

• V for Vendetta

This year’s Halloween was fun. I had always wanted to dress up as V, the main character in Alan Moore’s awesome graphic novel “V For Vendetta”. Such a tremendous work of art.

For the less inclined towards comics, there’s also an excellent film adaptation from the Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix), starring Natalie Portman as Evey Hammond, and the amazing Hugo Weaving as V. Just hearing Weaving’s deep, penetrating voice is enough to give me the chills.

After goofing off for a few hours in V’s skin, I can tell you one thing, though: drinking through that mask is uncomfortable as Hell. No wonder he went mad. Other than that, fun all around in good company. There’s no better recipe for a truly great Halloween night ;)

Here are some pics taken throughout the night. You can click through to view the complete set on Flickr.

See you next year!

From the Web:

You can participate in ISUD by doing one of the following: - Wear a suit to University - Wear a suit to work - Wear a suit in hospital - Wear a suit to school - Buy a suit - Drink in a suit - Party in a suit - Watch How I Met Your Mother

What are you waiting for? On your marks, ready, steady… SUIT UP!

(Pics coming soon)

(via @reniciodeltoro)

UPDATE: pictures added.

minimalmac:

[simplifyyourlife](http://simplifyyourlife.tumblr.com/post/1104880807): > >

_[Analog Sunday](http://analogsunday.com/) is an informal idea to encourage people to take a day off away from all things digital. Any or every Sunday can be an opportunity to unplug, get off the computer, relax, recharge the batteries and take a break from usual computer based routines by engaging with the world in a different way._

> > I’ve been enamored with the [idea of taking regular “digital sabbaticals” for a while now](http://practicalopacity.com/post/1128309974/everything-you-need-to-know-about-a-digital-sabbatical) but have not really gotten the gumption to do so fully yet. Sure, there are days when I drop off of Twitter, etc. but I have not done any yet where I completely unplug. Perhaps, it is because I have been thinking of it in terms of a week, or even a weekend. That said, doing it for one day might be a modest way to start.

That’s a wonderful idea. It’s nice to just stop all this digital madness every once in a while.

I just have one teeny, tiny question… Does using an eReader (Kindle) count? I mean, it’s still just reading a book, isn’t it? :P

Interesting analysis over at Tennis Planet, regarding the right use of power, size and strength in today’s tennis.

Warning: not for the faint of heart, TP has his own way of saying things :P

Yes, it’s true.

Arrrr!!!! Happy plunderin’, me hearties!

Introducing, for the first time, my personal website for those of you who understand Spanish (it is, after all, my first language).

The purpose of this web is two-fold:

First, it will enable me to learn how to code and build a website, which I’ve always wanted to do. But I’m starting one small step at a time. At the moment the web is handled by Wordpress, while it’s up to me to figure out how to tweak the theme and learn basic CSS. Who knows, maybe I’ll build a new one from the ground up one day. Suggestions, by the way, are not only welcome, but encouraged ;)

Second, I feel more comfortable writing about certain things in Spanish. Things that wouldn’t fit very well with Tumblr, or the tone I’m trying to set for this blog. But don’t worry, Analog Senses is very much alive, and it will continue to see the same kind of content that before. Only bigger, better, and uncut (and more frequently updated, I hope!)

That said, I give you alvaroserrano.com. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do publishing it.

Cheers,

Álvaro.