Hey gang,
Nearly every year for more than a decade, I have watched my children grow up next to a giant anthropomorphic soybean at the Indiana State Fair. Starting in 2013, with Addie looking forlorn because she was all alone (and being side-eyed), the Sharp fam has shot up around this magic bean.
Timeless, enthusiastic, ebullient – just some of the adjectives that come to mind when I consider my friend Soybean Sam (note: name likely not officially recognized by the Indiana Soybean Alliance).
A child’s life can be tracked in many ways over the years – by pencil on poorly painted trim, clay handprints hung on a wall, or by the insane number of Kroger bags you’ll repurpose to contain disposable diapers.
My family marks the years with a magic bean named Sam whose magic power is bringing us together each year – how does your family measure the years?
The work
As a resident of the Indy area, I’ve long felt that we needed something like this – a website dedicated to arts, comedy, dining, and all things culture. Several months ago we had a chance to take on such a project and jumped at it.
We worked with the fantastic team at Destination Indy to bring their idea to life from the ground up. We built a custom event engine that pulls in events from more than 100 cultural organizations, makes it as easy as possible for their admin team to curate thousands of events, while preserving usability and site speed. In other words, we all worked hard so you can effortlessly find out about all the awesome things things our city and surrounding area have going on each and every day.
If you live in central Indiana, I think it’s a website you’ll want to visit whenever that age-old question comes up – what’s going on this weekend?
Other stuff
Gang, I have been on a complete tear lately creating stuff that I (and likely only I) can certify as interesting.
My newest creation, which I haven’t announced anywhere else, is a game called Saw You.
In my game, you take on the role of an architectural millworker (probably exactly what you were expecting me to write), and over the next hour, you’ll cut wainscoting for some of the finest buildings in town. Unbelievably, that really is the premise, and even more surprisingly, the game has four endings.
If you have a hankering to use a digital protractor and need to quench your thirst for the next iteration of Grand Theft Auto, I’ve got you covered (as long as the new GTA has a text-based story component about custom woodworking).
You can play it using only your browser. I recommend using a desktop or laptop with your sound turned up to really feel the weight of the wood…and your choices.
If you’re looking for simpler fare, which most people probably should be, check out my bee-flying game, Backyard Bee. You can play it and be done with it in a minute or two, and it’s honestly a ton of fun on a mobile device.
Let me know what your high score is – the highest score in our house belongs to my 9-year-old, who hit 453 (and continues to remind me daily she’s better than me at it).
That’s a wrap
Finally, let me know what’s going on in your world. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in stories about magic beans that I lose track of what’s important.
Cody
