This past Saturday night, December 17, 2011, I asked the love of my life to marry me. Go to brad.sherree.us for the temporary site I made for the story. I’ll update with a full story soon.

One of the most beautiful and encouraging videos I’ve ever seen. I come back to it often. Narrated by Carl Sagan.

Watch it full screen. In HD. In the dark.

Finally got around to putting up some a couple prints and letters in my home office. Desk and chair from IKEA. Chalkboard is from a garage sale and is 90 years old. Letters are from an antique dealer in OKC. I also have an L, but you can’t see it in this picture. Sorry the photo is so crappy. Still getting used to the 360 panorama app.

My roommate, Nathan Poppe, is an incredibly talented videographer. Check out his latest creation — a video recap of last weekend’s Dustbowl Arts Market in Norman, OK. One of the best I’ve seen from Nathan yet.

Check out his tumblr and twitter. Also, this music project he’s involved with called the VDub Sessions is one of the coolest things in Oklahoma.

Just a passage I’ve been reading lately. Watched the Rob Bell interview last night and began questioning how much I know for sure about what I say I believe with certainty. I’d rather be unsure and admit it than act like I know something that’s impossible to know.

Not going to comment on this video one way or the other. But I love that it made me question myself. Makes me wish there was a TED talks site for theology. No, not a GodTube, segregated version to keep people from watching atheist TED talks. Just a site with worthwhile, intelligent discussions, debates and interviews about theology. Anyone know of something like that out there?

Skip the first 8 or 9 minutes. It’s just the people sitting in the room before the live stream started.

1920 × 1200

iPhone4

I bought a house in Edmond within biking distance, so I’m happy about that. Been crazy out-of-my-mind busy with work, getting settled into the house, and slowly making my way through Lost again on Netflix.

But since starting my job, my blog has become worthless. Curiously, my job is to create blog designs. Something about coblers kids and shoes…

Also, here’s a wallpaper I made for my desktop at work. It’s at 1920x1200. There are a couple more sizes for you underneath as well.

So I checked out the hipster messenger favorites, Chrome and Timbuk2. Chrome didn’t have many options and the ones I’ve seen looked bulky, so I tried out Timbuk2. They let users post product reviews (positive & negative) on the site, which was an awesome way to learn about the bag from people riding with it, not just a flowery description. Loved the custom bag maker. I chose a monochromatic look. 2 panels of lightweight black and 1 panel of reflective restaurant-booth-style vinyl. Like an Orca.

But the most impressive part of the purchase was the personal touch they put on everything I got from them. This snippet from the confirmation e-mail was so much more entertaining than the usual confirmation receipt:

We suggest that you actually read it and like it because this is what you are getting and the address below is where we are going to send it. If you must be That Person, we can TRY our best to make changes or cancel your order.  This is only if we have had enough coffee and our warehouse hasn’t… Remember, this is only if your order is NOT IN PRODUCTION. Once your order makes it to our production line, we can’t change it for you and if it’s custom, we can’t take it back. Not because we don’t love you; but because we already have really, really nice custom made Messenger bags from Timbuk2.  It’s part of the uniform.

It was refreshing to get something with some personality. Made me feel better about spending $200 on a backpack. When I actually got the bag in the mail there was another surprise. It didn’t come in a bloated box like everything from Amazon. It came in a plastic shipping bag with a map on it. Not just any map. It’s a bike route map of San Francisco with all the locations you can buy Timbuk2 bags tagged. They encourage you to cut it out and reuse it for something. But the writing is brilliant. Not your average Starbucks corporate eco-friendly statement.

Now every time I need a travel bag, I know exactly where I’ll look first. Next time I go to San Francisco, I want to go check out their office. I couldn’t care less about visiting the Jansport factory or the Nike factory. But because of the extra personality Timbuk2 gave me, I am now fascinated with their brand and want to support anything they do.

This is powerful branding. All about knowing your audience and taking every opportunity to be genuine and personal with them. Timbuk2 has a mission and it’s not to be the biggest messenger bag company on earth. But it is to be the best. And to not destroy the earth in the process.

I’m a fan. And the bag is awesome, too.

The album cover is made from ladders. You know, the ones you’re supposed to climb.

Enjoy!

Track list:

I’ve made my favorites a bit bigger.

[design] Space Invaders

[design] Dirty Mouse

[everything] Kitsune Noir

[art/stories] Missed Connections

[religion/movies] The Search

[music] OSU On

[graffiti] Wooster Collective

[design] Aisle One

[design/culture] The Apache House

[identity design] Brand New

[beauty] Design Is Mine

[design] Design Porn

[architecture & furniture] Dezeen

[package design] The Dieline

[design portfolios] Form55

[print design] For Print Only

[design/electronic music] ISO50

[package design] Lovely Package

[interior design/furniture] Nook

[fashion/photo] Sartorialist

[typography] Typography Served

[typography] We Love Typography

[fashion/photo] Wear Palettes

[photo] Sarah Rhoads

[design] Wanken Blog

[tech] Wired: Gadget Lab

[tech business] Wired: Epicenter

[ampersands/daily] Ampersand Ampersand

[stories/hell] Clients From Hell

[photo/design/daily] Destroy Every Day

[design/lomography] Emmadimes

[design/local] Foundry Collective

[typography] Friends of Type

[design/photo/local] Okie Creative

[photo] Zach Gray

[design] Reform Revolution

[funny/architecture] Unhappy Hipsters

Hope you enjoy.

Download it here now.