http://thoughts.iamjamesmartin.com/

Photo

Tue, 15 May 2012 18:45:42 -0400

my hood. old 4th ward neighborhood map.

Fri, 04 May 2012 14:47:00 -0400

my hood. old 4th ward neighborhood map.

On May 1, The Burger Coalition will launch. Each month,...

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:49:54 -0400

On May 1, The Burger Coalition will launch.

Each month, we’re going to open up a form on the site that allows for 5 people to RSVP for a seat at that month’s burger spot. The dinner is going to be built around fostering a dialogue amongst folks that may not know each other and creating a network of people that enjoy good food and conversation. We then plan on aggregating thoughts and ideas experienced and sharing them on our site. (and we’ll have an ever-growing guestbook of the coolest people in Atlanta)

This project is going to launch concurrently in Birmingham and Atlanta in May. It would be great if you all could help me spread the word. The website is: http://theburgercoalition.com and the twitterererer is: http://twitter.com/burgercoalition (please follow for announcements and such)

coming very soon.

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:40:33 -0400

coming very soon.

abstractpersonifications: For James yayyayayyayay

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:04:04 -0400

abstractpersonifications:

For James

yayyayayyayay

"The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes..."

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 23:46:14 -0500

“The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.”

- Christopher McCandless

"When people ask me to explain the South, I usually don’t have an answer beyond saying it’s too big,..."

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 01:14:43 -0500

“When people ask me to explain the South, I usually don’t have an answer beyond saying it’s too big, complex, and varied to pin down easily—or at all. If I’m asked about our editorial mission, I say it is to “explore the South,” which is meant to convey a few things, including that we don’t expect or claim to know everything about the South. Who can know everything about it? The South keeps changing and surprising even as it’s studied. … If Garden & Gun just stuck to its, well, Pistils & Pistols, and merely revealed, with freshened-up accuracy, which elite group it is that they serve (versus claiming that they speak for all), even my snarkiness would dissipate. Such directness on their part wouldn’t even have to be costly—or sweeping. It could be achieved with a tweaking of the motto that appears on every G&G cover. This motto debuted in 2007 as “21st Century Southern America.” Then it was changed to: “Soul of the New South.” Then it was changed to: “Soul of the South.” Change it one last time and the truth shall set us free. Change it to: “The Soul of the Old South.””

- Oxford American editor Marc Smirnoff’s dismantling of Garden & Gun is totally cutting, totally smart and totally overdue. It makes me proud to be a Southerner as well as an OA contributor. (via rachael-maddux)

always.

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:09:46 -0500

always.

Well said, TIP.

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 10:35:40 -0500

Well said, TIP.

Friends, I’m making a documentary with two friends. Check...

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:28:14 -0500

Friends,

I’m making a documentary with two friends. Check out our kickstarter and please please donate: http://kck.st/yGr8De

Is there Something in Particular that makes the South a great place to create? We think there is. To prove it we are visiting 13 cities across the region in 30 days, chronicling and creating an online resource highlighting the people and places driving a resurgence in Southern creativity.

For TripLingo, I’ve begun Phrase a Day, an illustrated...

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:13:00 -0500

For TripLingo, I’ve begun Phrase a Day, an illustrated form of some of our favorite phrases from within our app. A new illustration is posted every day. Check it out here.

I’m proud to announce the soft launch of the American...

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:58:00 -0500

I’m proud to announce the soft launch of the American Spirit Whiskey site! Please take a look and feel free to let me know what you think!

2011: A year in review

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 14:09:00 -0500

One year ago, I launched my 12 fifty two project. The aim of that, as you may know, was to continue the motif of constant creation. 30 days later, I took part in Start Atlanta, a weekend long hackathon and met a slew of incredibly engaged folks. This was the start of my introduction to the start up world. We had 2 days to create a prototype of an idea that was pitched on the first day. I worked with three companies: Cineminder, JayTalker and last but not least TripLingo.

I feel like the decision to take part in Start Atlanta was spurred by my involvement with Project M, which I had just participated in the year before and led to the establishment of Cardinal & Company. I love working under pressure and rapidly prototyping. I never would have thought that this little weekend dealy would turn in to what it has become. TripLingo won Best in Show and was invited to take part in StartupRiot. On the day in which TripLingo became incorporated, Cardinal had just turned 6 months old. I was in a new city with few friends and two babies. Thankfully, I had coffee.

As part of the 12 fifty two project, I was doing a lot of research at this time, planting seeds and trying to meet people doing incredible things in their respective fields. I was so in awe of the great coffee shops in Atlanta and in researching them, I stumbled upon a blog by Jason Dominy. I set up a tour of Batdorf & Bronson and towards the end of the meeting, he showed me the Atlanta Disloyalty card. I mentioned that I’d love to help him relaunch the card with a new design. Over the next week or so, I devoted some time (sleep had dwindled at this point to about 5.5 hours per night) to creating a new card.

One of the people I met at Start Atlanta was Jesse Phillips. Jesse is a honest and kind dude who had an idea for a calendar. He brought me on to do the design. We launched a kickstarter page for it and were able to raise enough money to print our first round! And then we were on FAB! And then FAB again. The response has been incredible and I want to sincerely thank all those that who supported it! (they’re still available, if you want a few for your friends and family)

Meanwhile, over at Cardinal, things were going quite well at the beginning of last year. We had American Spirit Whiskey and a few smaller but significant clients on our side. Things were moving along (especially for being only six months old), but we weren’t brining in loads of money. Because of this, we had to shift the operations around a bit. We went from Cardinal being a partnership, to Cardinal being an umbrella in which we all freelanced under. This meant that whatever freelance work we got was ours to keep (to provide for family, rent, whatever), but we were still all doing it under the Cardinal name which would *hopefully* help in promoting us. Our hopes were to do this umbrella idea temporarily until we had a bit of money saved up personally.

In July, I went home for a week and a half to celebrate the fourth of July, birthdays and a little break from the chaos that was happening down in Atlanta. A couple of days before I left, my friend Mark Wills mentioned he was going to drive out from Greensboro, AL to San Francisco with his dog Henry at the beginning of the next week. The entire drive down to Atlanta, I was contemplating if it’d be possible to do a trip like this. It would take another week and a half away from both Cardinal & TripLingo and I wanted to make sure it was cool with those dudes before I committed. I asked Jesse (the TripLingo leader of sorts) if it was alright with him and he was. I brought it up to the rest of the team and told them of the trip. The next day, American Spirit Whiskey was having a tasting at their house (or Charleston) and I told the Cardinal guys that I’d be gone another 2 weeks or so. They both were excited about the opportunity.

And so I told Mark I was in! I flew to Dallas and meet up with him and his pup. And this was our itinerary: Austin, Roswell, Albuquerque, 4 corners, Cortez, Green River, Las Vegas, Half Moon Bay & SF!! Check out our trip. (Mark, thanks so much for inviting me on this expedition, man.. it was a once in a lifetime trip that I’ll never forget)

With all good, there is bad. A few hours after crossing the border in to California, I got a call from Matt informing me that he can no longer be a part of Cardinal & Company. He has to pursue full time work to provide for his family. This was totally acceptable and understandable. The next part wasn’t. He dissolved our company without the three of us discussing it. He ended our lease to our studio (and we had 1 month to get all of our things out). He contacted clients and told them that he’d be taking over. He contacted prospective clients and told them that we (Cardinal) were not interested, but he’d like to still have a shot at the job. He did a lot of things that were inconsiderate to the other two parties involved and in turned ruined a friendship. It could have been handled so much better, but it wasn’t. And maybe that was necessary.

So, I returned home with one company gone and another thriving. TripLingo became my first priority, but I had to supplement income with freelance. Thankfully, I’ve been able to work with some great people over the past 4 months. Shoutouts to: Prem & John of Cooleaf, Jon, Antonio, Matt, Chris & Sid of OpenStudy, Ben & Kim of Mogley, Diane of Artisan Plastic Surgery, Jim & Charlie of American Spirit Whiskey & Chris of WonderRoot.

The past month has been a whirlwind of excitement, too. A few months ago my friend Kim was having a going away party for her trip to India. There, I met Melonie who started and runs The Feed, an online newsletter and publication that highlights people and organizations doing great things in their city. We’ve remained in contact ever since meeting and have since teamed up to work on Something in Particular along with Cubby West, a remarkable artist and person also living in Atlanta. In just 1 week we’re going to be hosting a dinner with some of Atlanta’s most creative and exciting people. In March, we’re embarking on a tour of the Southeast to discover the creativity of those cities and the people that are assisting in allowing said creativity to exist. I’m so grateful to know these two wonderful women.

Finally, thank you to all of the creative people I’ve been fortunate enough to meet in Atlanta, some of which I’m able to call friends. Y’all are the best.

___

PS. Every friday, Vince and I celebrate FTF (French Toast Fridays) at 11am at The Highland Bakery (on highland). Join us!

The future of 12 fifty two

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:08:00 -0500

The future of 12 fifty two:

Friends,

I began concepting the 12 fifty two project over 1 year ago. Then things were a bit easier. I was 6 months in to Cardinal & Company, home for Christmas and just wrapping up my 365 Initiative. I wanted to do something to keep me busy creatively after just committing an entire year to creation. Little did I know that 1 month after 12 fifty two began, TripLingo was founded. I found myself in a balance where Cardinal took precedence during the day and TripLingo became my night gig. This left little room for personal projects. Still, I pressed on. I sacrificed sleep in order to create and pursue projects that truly interested me.

But, as time progressed, my babies (Cardinal & TripLingo) began to grow and needed more time from me. Daddy had to focus on those and slowly the 12 fifty two project faded to the background. Even when, sadly, Cardinal left the nest this past July, I had to compensate with freelance in order to maintain the ability to pay rent and eat.

But, fear not little 12 fifty two, because I haven’t forgotten about you. I’ve spent the last couple months thinking about how I can carry on the projects that I began a year ago. And my solution is:

To do them. I’m going to continue these projects without a limit on time in which they all must be completed. But rather, a limit of time in which I pursue each. For example, one of my projects is called The Clock Project. Rather than think that I have the entire year to work on this, I’m going to define a deadline for it. I’ll treat it as a real-world project, with milestones that must be met. This will allow me to work a little bit on my own things, even though TripLingo, Freelance & other great projects will be happening concurrently.

So, please continue to watch everything unfold. And, please leave feedback on projects as they progress. Thank you so much.

Photo

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 01:00:56 -0500

@joncontino being awesome.

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:53:57 -0500

@joncontino being awesome.

Answers Magazine Cover Illustration by bartondamer on...

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 22:20:19 -0500

Answers Magazine Cover Illustration by bartondamer on Flickr.

wow. this is legit.

behindsip: hand. blue. sip promo.

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 01:52:45 -0500

behindsip:

hand. blue. sip promo.

"Give yourself and your team permission to be creative. Permission to try something new, permission..."

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:41:55 -0500

“Give yourself and your team permission to be creative. Permission to try something new, permission to fail, permission to embarrass yourself, permission to have crazy ideas.”

- Ben Chestnut (via mailchimpcreative)

"If you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever turned..."

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 01:09:40 -0500

“If you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever turned out and sent rambling. You must write every single day of your life. You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads. I wish you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime. I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon you. May you live with hysteria, and out of it make fine stories — science fiction or otherwise. Which finally means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.”

- Ray Bradbury