Hey there, I'm Jared. I design mobile & web apps and enjoy music, gaming, & landscape gardening. →
Featured Work
TaxAct Xpert Help
I worked with the TaxAct Assisted Help team to design the next iteration of their efforts to promote a new expert help service. Xpert Help connects the customer with a knowledgeable tax expert to help answer questions that can’t be answered by Google or TaxAct’s own general-audience documentation. An initial design had been launched to a small set of customer during the previous tax season, and the business was ready to take it to the next level as they planned to roll it out to all customers in the next tax season.
Latest Writing
Blushing at Andy’s Bar, Denton TX
I went to see Blushing play in Denton again last night. I really like Andy’s. This is the same venue where I saw them for the first time back in March. I don’t know if it’s the narrow, shotgun shape of the venue, the PA, the sound guy, or something else, but the sound was once again dialed in really good.
Blushing was great, as usual. This was the last stop on their tour, and they seemed to be in good spirits and having a lot of fun. Just like last time, attendance was pretty spare, with maybe 20-30 people throughout the night, including the bands. It didn’t matter, though; the small crowd meant it was all people who really wanted to be there.
The revelation of the night was Unwed Sailor. Holy crap. I listened to all of the bands’ recent material before going, and Unwed Sailor’s Mute the Charm was a really enjoyable listen; all instrumental tracks hopscotching a space between shoegaze, post-rock, and 80’s alternative. I was pretty sure I was going to enjoy the hell out of their set, but I was not prepared for how true that would be. They played about six songs with minimal stage banter, a projector painting the stage with abstract, trippy footage. Good artists know how to maximize the physicality of live music to their advantage, and this band killed it. The vibe was real. Band leader Johnathon Ford plays bass, and the songs grooved so hard. When they played “London Fog” about halfway through the set, the feeling was so sublime I thought I was going to cry. I mean… what? Took me by surprise. It was so beautiful.
Latest Links
Sigur Rós - Popplagið (Live in Reykjavík)
Recently, for some reason, I'd been feeling the pull to watch Heima again. I hadn't seen it in quite a while, but I remember it being soothing and beautiful—just the thing I needed. What I hadn't remembered was the closing performance of "Popplagið". The slow, repetitive, buildup to the explosive end of the song is nothing less than spiritual.
Softcult on Audiotree Live (Full Session)
We finally get the full Audiotree session recorded back in March 2023, and they played the version of “Uzumaki” with the poem intro. I don't know who hurt her, but she gives them both barrels.
she's green - "Purple"
Minneapolis band she’s green makes songs inspired by the natural world. “Moss rock”, they jokingly call it. Their EP, Wisteria, is lovely. “Purple” is my favorite track full of all my favorite things: breathy vocals, thick rhythm section, textured guitar, and soaring keys.
The best way to spot an idiot? Look for the person who is cruel.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker dropping truth.
COLLAPSE - "PATH"
COLLAPSE leans to the heavier side of shoegaze, and their newest release doesn’t deviate. “Path” locks into a tight groove right away and layers on chiming guitars until it all gets thrown into the most beautiful wood chipper halfway through the song. When the melody to “Row, Row, Row, Your Boat” comes out of nowhere and seeps in under the roar? Hot damn, that’s weirdly nice.