The minute any food shows up in the kitchen at work, a fascinating anthropological event transpires.

First comes the discovery: Someone walks by and sees the plate, which has appeared as if by magic. The alert is instant, epic, and never detailed. “FOOD IN THE KITCHEN” is broadcast with the aplomb of an archeologist who just discovered a T-rex skull.

But sometimes alliances form. If its you that discovers the food, who do you tell? Is there a group you alert first? Perhaps those working directly above or below you, or maybe an individual. You’ve got the power, and giving a few people a head start can be awfully good office karma.

Once the announcement is made, everyone makes a mad, Pavlovian dash leaving an office full of empty, spinning Aeron chairs. Even if you aren’t sure what’s available you go, just in case it’s something awesome on which you don’t want to miss out. It’s the scarcity that creates the demand.

Because it’s free, and in short supply, it doesn’t matter if all that’s available is cold, soggy onion rings (as was the case most recently in my office.) It might as well be gold dubloons the way people clammer for it.

So you made it, you’re among the lucky first few to get some. Now you have to decide how much to take. What percentage of the whole does each person deserve? You look around, wishing that the announcement wasn’t so loud as however many people are gathered around, that’s by what number the bounty must be split. In a group, you exercise chastity and charity. You take one or two, or just half a slice. But if you’re alone, suddenly you’re entitled to half.

Then it’s over. Like the chaos when a crocodile snags its prey from the river edge, the frenzy ends as fast as it starts, and all is peaceful again with only crumbs left, and maybe a spinning plate.

Chuck came back this week. What a strong opener it was. That Josh Schwartz knows just the right music to use in his TV shows. Last year we saw Band of Horses used to a pleasing effect. In the premiere we got a taste of an equally great track from an even lesser known band.

The song in question played as Casey stalked Chuck in his home, ready to fulfill his mission. The song is called “The Twist” by Frightened Rabbit. Check out the album, all the songs are really good:

And here are the lyrics:

Do the twist in the twisting outfit
The loose tie with, the loose limp wrists
Lift your dress enough to show me those shins
Let your hair stick to your forehead

Did you blush then when our hips touched?
I can’t tell, you’re already red
Am i right? you give me the signs
Is that pink mist or just lit dry ice

You twist and whisper the wrong name
I don’t care nor do my ears
Twist yourself around me
I need company I need human heat
I need human heat

Lets pretend I’m attractive and then
You won’t mind, you can twist for a while
It’s the night, I can be who you like
And I’ll quietly leave before it gets light

So twist and whisper the wrong name
I don’t care nor do my ears
Twist yourself around me
I need company i need human heat
I need human heat

I need human heat
I need human heat
I need human heat
I need–

Twist and whisper the right name
I’m David, please
Twist as if you’re just like me
You need company, you need human heat
You need human heat

So in the years this blog has existed it’s been a number of things. All of them inspired, none of them that well executed. To be honest, if I didn’t like the design so much, I’d probably take the whole thing down right now. But I do like the design, so up the blog shall stay. It’s not that I don’t want to write, or even that I don’t have anything to write about. It’s just that I’m changing and growing up and so is the web. People don’t want a personal blog shoved on them. Blogs should be focused, so that they may be sought out. So here’s the plan:

For now, I will create a single portal page that will serve as my “homepage” on the web: basic, with links to all the places I can be found and things I’m working on. From there I’ll link here, since I’m sure I’ll still write occasional gems of wisdom and who knows, might even become more prolific (there I go getting inspired again.) In a perfect world I’d run my blog the way Jason Santa Maria (who lives in Brooklyn. Who knew?) runs his, art directing everything. But then I’d have to change the design. And actually do more designs all the time. That’s a little ambitious, even for me. At least right now. Mostly I’m just loving what he’s doing and find myself jealous as fuck that I can’t/am not doing the same.

Why don’t I use this blog to link to everything? Because I don’t expect everyone who looks for me on the web to care about anything I have to say here. It seems presumptuous all of a sudden. People will most likely be looking for me to a) hire me b) see what I’m all about or c) check out what I’ve been working on lately. For those who want to read what I write about here, subscription’s on the sidebar.

I’m going to keep the Tumblr going because I really like it and think it’s a great service. This will be another link from my portal page. That way the people who want to see all the weird shit I look at online can do so and those that don’t care aren’t deluged with it.

I’ll have a portfolio linked off my personal domain. That way I can showcase my work outside the blog and can channel traffic to that directly when I’m looking for a job or whatever.

Rounding out the list will be links to any projects I’m currently a part of (I’ve got a few things cooking) as well as links to all the social networks in which I participate.

It’s really Twitter that’s done this to me. I can better share my feelings 140 characters at a time than in random blog posts now and then.

I feel good about this change. Let’s see how it goes.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how much I dislike phone calls. I don’t mind a quick call here or there (though I prefer a text message,) but any long call that involves important decision making or conversation I dread. I wasn’t sure if it was just me, or even why I felt that way. It seems like I’m not alone as D. Keith Robinson recently discussed a similar dislike and got a resounding response in the comments. Here’s what I’ve figured out:

1. I love email and even text messaging.
2. I love talking face to face.

For a long time, I dismissed my dislike of the phone as an affectation of my shyness. Why then do I like talking to people face to face? It would seem that that would make a shy person even shyer. The more I think about it, the more I realize there are two other factors that make me hate the phone.

Turn Based Communication

I think one of the biggest issues that arise when two humans communicate is the understanding and respect of whose turn it is to talk. It’s easy to talk with someone when it’s clear when they’re done speaking and it’s my turn. Then there aren’t interruptions, and the conversation goes back and forth, like a game of pong, without error.

With email, this concept of turn based conversation is taken to the extreme. Your turn isn’t up until you’ve finished a thought and hit send. When you get an email, you know it’s your turn to respond when you’re done reading. There’s no interrupting each other. Maybe this is why I love long email chains.

In a face to face conversation, you can use body language to signify you would like to add to the conversation. This lets the other person know they should pause, that you would like it to be your turn. It’s also much easier to graciously interrupt if you have something pressing to say or the other person is getting long winded.

On the phone there’s no way to tell if you or the other person wants to take their turn. Anyone who’s been on the phone with a salesman knows this. Salesmen love the phone because they can just ramble on and on and on (see Boiler Room.) As someone who was raised not to interrupt, this adds to the stress level since I don’t want to be rude but would like to put in my two cents.

Ramble On

Many people are verbose. I’m as guilty as the next guy for often going on, and on, and on. If someone sends you a long email, you can skim through it, omitting entire sections, to get to the heart of the matter. When you’re in person it’s much easier to be interested in what someone is saying—you can make eye contact, laugh, and more easily offer witty asides and quips. On the phone, I feel trapped. If the person I’m talking to launches into a long diatribe, I’m stuck, locked into my seat until the ride is over. This feeling leads to stress and anxiety, especially if I see a call coming in for a notorious rambler.

So it seems that my dislike for the phone isn’t based in some deep-seated social phobia, but rather in my need for structure in a conversation and a love of efficiency.

FiLife.com, a personal finance site for people who don’t like personal finance, had its public launch today. It’s already being written about as its status as a partnership between Dow Jones and IAC gives it a lot of visibility.

This is where all my time has gone over the past few months. We’ve all worked very hard to get the site up and running (it’s a small staff) and I’m quite proud of what we’ve accomplished.

So go check it out, sign up and take some stackers, rate your bank and credit cards, and ask some questions. I’d love to know what everyone thinks. If you’re shy and don’t want to send feedback directly through the site, feel free to drop me a note with your thoughts and I’ll make sure it goes where it needs to.

Now that it’s launched, maybe I’ll have more time to write. There’s a couple of site features I’m quite excited about and I’d like to feature them here.