Man, my work laptop died on me, and now I’m using a loaner. For whatever reason, they’re so damn slow now. It just crawls doing any basic design work. I finally convinced the folks here to help me out and get a new machine. Instead of a laptop, I’ve decided to go with an iMac. For me, I need raw power and a big screen.

The new iMac is a 27″ screen, loaded with a SSD drive and an i7 processor. I’m really hoping that solves my speed issue. I love my monitor, but I’m going to have to give it to another designer (Behnaz). Hopefully she’ll be able to enjoy it as much as I have.

The new laptop should be coming in within the next two weeks. Seems like forever, but I’m really looking forward to the upgrade.

Here are some photos from this weekend’s hike at Scotts Run Nature Preserve with Annie.

Appy (pictured right) is the first design intern at AddThis. She came in with very little experience and came out with a strong understand of design fundamentals. The last day of her internship was last Thursday, and I wanted to share a couple of things that I learned from her.

1. Stay positive because it’s infection.
2. Work hard at being good at your job, even when you’re off hours.
3. Surround yourself with motivated people.

I’m looking forward to seeing where she lands. She’s talented and driven. Check out her portfolio.

I also wanted to give a shout out to Emily (pictured in the middle) for being such a good manager and mentor for Appy. They were fantastic comrades, and it shows how chemistry can be the foundation of an awesome team.