Category: Uncategorized

Locals call the Amalfi Coast “magic earth,” a terroir sheathed in rock and ash from the 79AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeii.

One of the towns that dot the hills of the coast is Ravello. Founded in the 5th century, Ravello is known as the City of Music. Throughout history, musicians, artists, and writers have made the picturesque coastal town their home…people like Richard Wagner, M. C. Escher, Greta Garbo, Gore Vidal, Joan Miró, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, and Leonard Bernstein.

And Pasquale Sorrentino, the artist and owner behind “Ceramiche d’Arte by Pasqual.”

While strolling through Ravello this summer, we — my wife, Jennifer, and daughters Allison and Taylor — stopped into Pasqual’s studio. His son showed us around and explained how his father carried on the hundred-years old tradition for the art of ceramics using the locally-distinctive sulphuric soil of Vesuvius.

All of Pasquale’s work is handmade and personalized for his clients. Each piece is shaped by the expert hands of the foggiatore who, with a handful of clay, magically create the ceramic artwork. They are meticulously painted by more than 70 artisans. Oprah Winfrey, Julia Roberts, Richie Sambora, and Bruce Springsteen own pieces of Pasqual’s artwork.

And now The Maney Family does, too.

A table in the courtyard kept calling to us. Pasqual emerged from his studio and we talked about his creative process. We talked about what we liked and how he might incorporate it into a table. No drawings. Just words. And then some signed papers, the exchange of funds, and a few months of anxious waiting while Pasqual worked his magic from the magic earth.

It was 9 o’clock on a Saturday with The Entertainer himself, Billy Joel, performing his 125th sold out, one-night-a-month concert at New York City’s iconic Madison Square Garden.

Images from today’s Rally for Abortion Justice in Doylestown, Pa.

Years of language classes. Countless lessons. Endless rehearsals. All culminating in an hour long solo performance at Temple University’s Rock Hall in Philadelphia. So proud of the passion and commitment Allison put in over the past four years to get there.

In a bit of professional news, I am excited to announce that I have accepted a role with Akamai to lead global cloud and developer communications — the core of Akamai’s new Compute business following its acquisition of Linode.

The combination of Akamai and Linode sits at the sweet spot of much of what I’ve done throughout my career. Marrying Linode’s experience in cloud computing with Akamai’s leadership in scale and security creates the world’s most distributed compute platform – from cloud to edge. As someone who has been around several industry inflection points, it feels like we are at the cusp of another.

I’m immensely proud of the work my team did at Linode. We built a communications function from the ground up, scaled it smartly and efficiently, and established a new category that the industry now embraces. We now have the opportunity to do it better, to do it bigger. 

Stay tuned for more as I kickoff this next chapter.

My legs may not be fast enough to keep up with my friends on the Bike Works p/b Fred Beans pro bike team, but my camera’s shutter speed is.

Always fun to see one of my images in the local weekly newspaper. Especially when it’s a shot of my friends from the pro cycling team sponsored by the best local bike shop in the country.

I went to the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden when I was in high school. Had my camera bag with me. Saw a press pass on the ground. Picked it up. Tied it to my bag. And with all the confidence of a teenager, started following the other photographers heading toward the track. The security guard at the gate took one look at me, looked away, and let me in. He knew.

I was near the landing mat when Sergei Bubka set the pole vault world record. And in the press conference afterward when he saw me and threw me the tape off his wrist from that very vault. I was on the escalator standing next to Carl Lewis, at the time the most spectacular and perfect human specimen I’d ever seen. I met Edwin Moses, who, in my mind, is one of the greatest athletes to ever walk this planet. All because of the kindness of a stranger.

So when you watch these 40 seconds of Usain Bolt interacting with normal, everyday people — strangers — remember that all it takes is a moment of kindness to have a lifetime of impact.

Another year, another…well, another something. Right? Without further ado, highlights from these past 365 days navigating a global pandemic.

Let’s see, where to start. Well, there were a couple of bucket list-level things that happened in 2021. For starters, a portrait I created during an on-site assignment in Basel, Switzerland, flashed on one of the big electronic billboards in Times Freaking Square!

I interviewed Vint Cerf, the father of the Internet, and Christopher Aker, one of cloud computing’s pioneers, about the history of cloud computing and where it’s headed.

Work my team and I did created a new category in the technology industry, the holy grail for those who do what I do for a living.

I recorded 7 new episodes as the host of the Craft of Code podcast.

I did what I could to help good people get elected to our school board.

I had my third biggest year riding my bike in terms of mileage and number of days I got out, which also saw me cracking 100,000 feet of climbing for the second year in a row.

I had the pleasure of watching Olympians and world champions race bikes at The Velodrome. And witnessed the spectacle of friends racing custom-built high wheel bikes around the oval.

Had some stickers printed.

Introduced the neighbors kids to Spaceballs!, covid-style.

Speaking of, they also put in a new pool, but were less than thrilled with the new bathing suit I picked out to celebrate.

My youngest daughter turned 18 and my oldest turned 21. I continue to defy aging (okay, defy growing up).

I saw a few good movies:. Don’t Look Up, In the Heights, Westside Story, Tick! Tick…Boom!, Palmer, 14 Peaks, The River Runner, War Dogs, Bo Burnham: Inside, and Pele.

Despite the limitations of the pandemic, the boob tube created some really good shows this year: Ted Lasso, Schmigadoon!, The White Lotus, Hacks, Only Murders in the Building, Mare of Easttown, Ghosts, The Great, The Least Expected Day, The Lost Pirate Kingdom, Cobra Kai, Dickinson, The Handmaid’s Tale, Kevin Can F**K Himself, and Yellowjackets.

I finally got around to reading Anthony Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential” and Peter Sagan’s “Sagan: My World.”

I listened to a hilarious podcast called “Smartless” with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett. I highly recommend the George Clooney episode.

And I created a few photographs. These are some of my favorites from 2021.