Weekend forecast: Partly cloudy with a chance of snow. Highs in the mid-30s, dropping to the mid-20s at night. Snow continuing into the following week.

My flatmates convinced me it was time I learned to ski. So for the next week I will be in stunning Lake Tahoe doing just that.

Tucked in the Sierras of Nevada, Epic Mountain and the surrounding valleys and basins were carved from glaciers... for those perfect sweeping slopes. The 1960 Olympics helped put Tahoe on the map, as the base of operations for the downhill ski events. In fact, Jean Vuarnet of France won the gold in downhill, being the first Olympian to use metal skis instead of the traditional wooden construction.

Don't worry: I only have plans to get down the mountain in a slow and steady pace all week. I'll report back March 4th with pictures and stories of diamonds, bunnies, snowplows, and hot chocolate. Cheers!

Update: Watch my Flickr photostream for new pictures daily...

Welcome to the new Refresh... I'm excited to share this facelift with you as I take my freelance design work to the next level. Highlights: an in-depth portfolio and case studies of my recent work, a new profile page, and the start of my largest curatorial project yet, nearly a decade of my creative archives. Why February 14th? Read on...

Valentine's Day 1998 was the start of something big. Really big. Armed with nothing but optimism and pizza, a group of college students created an online community portal, unrivaled on any college campus: the Student Information Network (SIN for short, much to the chagrin of many a college administrator, concerned parent, and confused local). Almost a decade later (yikes I feel old), SIN is a local household name, providing the College of William and Mary and the greater Williamsburg, VA area with an incredible array of online services.

I'll save the full story for my upcoming case study, but in the meantime, this major site update to Refresh pays homage to the project that kept me up countless late nights, taught me to lead a passionate team, sharpened my understanding of the web's potential power, drove me into a design-focused career, and still to this day, makes my heart sing and lights my fire for the importance of community.

It cannot be understated that the Olympics are a big passion of mine. The emotion, artistic and athletic performance, creative style of the host nation, and the exquisite grandeur of the world stage. All for the high ideals of understanding, fair play, shared community, and peace in times of adversity... are the very heart of the Olympic Spirit.

Starting this weekend, we can hold witness to something extraordinary: the Olympic Truce. For over 2,700 years, this ancient Greek tradition calls for all nations to cease hostilities during the Games. Two weeks without battles or political arguments; where everyone can be reminded that unity, tolerance, reconciliation, and forgiveness are possible.

What hope! What passion! What excitement! Celebrate the games: La Passione Vive in Torino... passion lives here!

Did you watch the Superbowl? Todd Wilkerson starred in Locker Room, a hilarious commercial for Sprint about a new feature on their new phones: crime deterrent. Todd's the one in the green sweater. Be sure to check out the 'behind the scenes' footage for more laughs. Congrats, Todd!

On another ad note, the spot for United Airlines was stunning. Dragon was the vision of Jamie Caliri (director of the highly celebrated title sequence for Lemony Snicket) and part of United's first campaign since 9/11, "Time to Fly".