Ken Zinser

Near where I was born in Connecticut, there’s a hilly mountain like formation called Sleeping Giant.

It’s not a system.

I always thought it would have been funny to have used that name for something substantial somehow.

I firmly believe branding is, at its core, a form of storytelling.

I took M into town on the bus this morning.

Coddling your child is all about banking up the good bonds between you, in order to spend those good bonds by being there for them, by their side, in their scariest moments.

Sometimes I send short emails to folks I bump into online who are making stuff or doing things or being ways I appreciate.

Washington DC is a remarkable city to grow up near—even more so to live in.

What if your next months-long life experiment were to find a therapist that clicks with your particular ways of being?

I’ve been afraid to reach out.

These are my yearnotes for 2025.

You are the robin sat in the branches of my tree after all its leaves have fallen and been raked up and away.

You go in for a regular handshake but then you each do a “sike” with your hand and bring it up to your face with your thumb nearly touching and your fingers pointed up like a rooster and you wait a beat and then wiggle your fingers while you scrunch your…

I met a kid at the playground.

Have you ever done a hundred miles per hour?

I met my back alley neighbor for the first time when his mother in law drove her car through my fence.

Some people keep a sketchbook and draw things they see or think up.

Today I talked with my Little™ about guns and gun violence.

A poetic collage of phrases (found, mostly) that start with the same two words.

After I was diagnosed with latent autoimmune diabetes, there was a good long while where I felt I had control over my blood sugar.

A compilation of random thoughts and observations on parenting, fatherhood, etc.

These are my yearnotes for 2024.

Sometimes I’m scrolling through the photos app on my phone and I see a thumbnail of what looks like this ultra modern and minimal kitchen or studio and I’m like to myself where was I when I took that photo but after I squint long enough I realize it’s just

Or, Starting yearnotes So I’ve been thinking and I decided I want to try and start writing some kind of year-end round up.

A friend asked us if we were going to have M believe in Santa.

A sort of living poem, made up of headlines seen on the text-only version of NPR.org.

Early in my career as a designer, I placed a great deal of value on impact at scale.

Just chill out, take a beat, and breathe.

M was born in June.

If you’re like me you have some innate desire to read more books.

In 2011 I visited Birmingham, Alabama and parts surrounding as part of a design project.