Iris Kao Design

I have been blogging on the Eastside Life Community Blog for a few years now.
The site owner, Joe Kennedy is the publisher of the Eastside Business and Eastside Life Newspaper.

Joe’s intended the blog to be a community space where anyone could come and share their thoughts and events on the Eastside. I have posted a lot of things up there, green cleaning tips, money saving tips, Eastside events, sometimes even clients’ promotional events (of course, these were located on the Eastside.) It’s also a wonderful place to promote your charitable activities.

A few weeks ago, Joe promoted made me the volunteer designer. Joe never tried to tell me how to design and he always shows appreciation with kind words. I am thankful for the chance to play and create something useful for my neighbors.

People on the Eastside, you could be a stay-at-home parent, a 9-5er, a freelancer, a CEO, a clark… Everyone is welcome to register. If you would like take it a step further and become a blogger there, please contact Joe, the friendly Hair Farmer.

Tell us how YOU live on the Eastside!

Author: Andy Clarke

When clients come to me for a web site, they sometimes assume a designer will just plastered everything on a digital wall and be done with it.

At this point, I ask them to write down everything they want to tell people. After we gathered the contents, I help them simplify and organize information, figure out what other functions they would need, design the navigation and back end structure, then I create the site layout.

To find out that a great web designer like Andy Clarke thinks the same way was very encouraging to me. In the book, he takes you through a content-based process, break the information down in blocks, then put it back together in a beautiful package.

In the inspiration section, he shares ideas on the creative process. He reminds you designing for a web doesn’t need to be different from designing for prints. You can get ideas from all kind of places.

And when you are done, you will have a site that is well structured and neatly organized inside and out, exactly what search engines love!

I find myself pulling this book out whenever I start a new site. I hope you will, too.

As adults we know what kind of a learner we are. You often hear people say, I am a visual person or I do better with audio books. For children, they don’t really know. As parents, you want to give them all the options to help them learn while they figure it out. Here is where Write Way To Learn multi-sensory learning cards come in.

My friend Angie Sharp from Bainbridge Island, a brilliant artist and a lovely person, came up with this idea to help her children learn. Not being a parent, the part I like the most about these cards are that kids see actual image of objects, not a cartoon version.

These card are interactive in so many ways. You can even customize the cards for your children, making the cards relatable and relevant. Take “My Family” set for example, why should your kids to point at a photo of a strange person and learn that is Mom or Dad? Put your own photo on the card and cut out the confusion.

With the “My World” set, you can use the photos of their favorite toys and places. Would it be fun for you and your children to have a photo session or pick out the photos together?

For your eco conscious folks, printable cards are also available for download. That means no use of fossil fuel. If you would rather have a ready-made set, the cards are printed in USA, on recycled paper. Even the tote bags are made with recycled materials.

Since I am not a parent, I will stop here so you can actually go explore the Write Way To Learn.

Do you visit the Eastside Life Community Blog (formerly The Eastside Community Blog)? It’s not there anymore!

Don’t be shocked! Joe Kennedy (the famous Hair Farmer and Eastside Business and Eastside Life newspaper publisher) decided to give it a new life. Now the it lives at http://blog.theeastsidelife.com/wordpress/.

If you are a blogger there or you want to become one, you will need to e-mail Joe [at] TheEastsideLife [period] com. Don’t be shy, it’s open to everyone. Let’s make Eastside a even better place to live, online and in life.

I am the luckiest girl in the world! Miss Lady made me a custard pie!

Hazel (Miss Lady) at My Sisters’ & Me is one of my clients. You might think my view is bias because of that. If you don’t know me, I don’t joke about good eats.

Let me tell you about Miss Lady’s Egg Custard Pie.

The custard is firm like the cheesecake yet light and refreshing. The crust is flaky with just the right thickness to make a crust loving girl happy.

My perfect bite consists of the fragrant custard and the flavor infused pie bottom, the sweetness of the filling and the pie dough taste better with every chew. Every bite is precious to me so it always takes me a long time to finish a piece.

While I was taking pictures of the pie, I wished I was a good enough photographer to capture the goodness in this pie. So, don’t judge the pie by this photo. If you like egg custard pie, call Miss Lady! If you like a honest homemade dessert, you really should call Miss Lady!

Came back from a nice walk,
	something hanging on the door.

A cake box in a paper bag,
	cute cup cakes rolling around inside.

Who was this from?
No name, no note, no clue!

From 2nd aunt? 4th aunt? Youngest aunt?
From cousin Grace or cousin Chin?

Fingers dialing numbers,
	no, was what they answered.

One added,
	don't all of you try it,
	one of you have to stay alive.

The case of the mysterious cup cakes,
	would a neighbor be missing them?

					-- written on 6/24/2008 --

Most people who knew me have hard about my Mac G5 blue. Everyday I would get a least a “please reboot” gray overlay screen. And it could happen at anytime, no matter what software I was using.

I kept thinking it’s the memory but when I test it with TechTool Pro, it never detected anything. And sometimes even the TechTool dies. One day I mentioned this to a friend, Mark Hennon, he pointed me to this freeware RAM test.

Rember: http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/15837/rember

Sure enough, it was the memory I installed. If your Mac dies and you can not recreate it with a set of actions, try this memory test. (Thank you, Mark!)

For the longest time I resisted going to Maggiano’s because it was such a hype when it first came to town. A few days ago, I was craving for the classic spaghetti, so I finally tried it. I was pleasantly surprised. The sauce was just right, not too salty, not too tart. They even put in some mushrooms just for me.

Their great attention to details shows in the smallest place. When I open to bill folder and was expecting the boring thermal paper. Instead, I touched the cream color laid paper. How classy! It was perfect for an italian place. I loved it so much, I saved the receipt.

One slight suggestion though… the Maggiano’s mark was printed in a shade of red. On my receipt, the ink was light, so the text printed on the red make is harder to read. Maybe make the red even lighter, or consider changing the red to a cream that is slightly off from the paper?

Also, for business people who need to copy their receipt, this could be a problem as well… since red copied as black, then everything will blend in to be a block of gray…

So, for people who don’t think graphic design makes a difference, please reconsider!