I'll be the first to admit that my approach to the creative process is as scattered as anyone's. Perhaps most detrimental to me getting anything done is that my "on" and "off" modes are so polarized and intense that when I'm "on" and working, I usually work until physical exhaustion takes me down over the course of a week or a month. And when I'm "off," attempting to get back on track is like trying to push a buffalo onto a ski-lift.

I'd like to think there is some way to achieve a balance, but I'm beginning to give up hope on that idea. Still, to just go with what comes, riding the waves until they break or push me back up, can be frustrating and unproductive.

With cannedcoffee built and David handling all the editorial, and with little need for immediate updates or backups at buzztracker, I finally have some time in front of me to dedicate to designing our second physical book.

I don't purport to be any sort of expert on designing books in any conceivable sense of the word. Nevertheless I'm going to try, somewhat masochistically, to document the design process of Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans. I know that even just mentioning the goal of this series upfront is a recipe for failure, a jinx. Much like saying that it's a jinx is a jinx. Let's just hope I've double jinx-nullified the jinx and that watching me stumble through making a book will be entertaining and fruitful.