We made a doctors appointment that Monday, she confirmed we were pregnant and gave us some advice on how to get started. A few of the things we described to her warranted concern and she asked us to get an ultrasound that day at the hospital, we of course went. The ultrasound technician did her thing, searching the screen for something, with very little narration of what she was seeing or what she was looking for she finished and said the doctor should review the ultrasound in the next few days and get back to us. As we were leaving I asked, “did you find what you were looking for?” and the technician automatically replied, “I can’t make diagnosis, the doctor will be in touch with us in a few days”. Though her response didn’t imply anything was wrong, it certainly wasn’t re-assuring, and provided no answers as to why we were rushed to the hospital. The awe and amazement of being pregnant had just turned on us, we left the hospital on a roller-coaster of emotion.

We hadn’t told anyone that we were pregnant, and after our very un-resolving visit to the hospital we were apprehensive to get excited about a pregnancy that seemed to possibly be experiencing complications. We were instructed to come back the next day to have Lindsey’s blood drawn and once again two days after that to analyze levels of HCG in her blood.

Lindsey and I would spend the next week pretentiously continuing on with life, though we felt we had been sentenced to wait in limbo. The next week we finally heard back from the doctor, and they found Lindsey’s HCG levels were doubling like they should be, the fears of an ectopic pregnancy were settled, we were pregnant and everything seemed to be progressing well.

We looked around to find an OBGYN and made an appointment for the Friday the 3rd of December. Our first visit was surreal, Dr. England was agreeable, and the baby was healthy. We weren’t able to hear a heartbeat, but we were able to find a gestational sac, just where it needed to be at just the right size. A baby was coming. As we discussed our questions about the pregnancy the doctor reminded us that Lindsey would start feeling morning sickness before our next appointment. I asked, “Will it start between Christmas and New Years?” because this would be the time we would be in Hawaii for the holidays,Dr.England replied in the affirmative.

One month later, we returned to the hospital for our next appointment, we had just returned home from the beautiful (rainy & cloudy actually) beaches of Hawaii and were excited to get an update on the development our clump of cells.

On January 3rd, 2011 the above photo was taken of our growing baby, measuring 3.8cm long approximately 10 weeks 5 days old we were able to also hear out baby’s rapid heartbeat at about 167bpm. It truly a remarkable experience.

By now had gotten more comfortable with the idea of having a child, we had spend extra time with our lovely nieces, we had talked about our ‘family’, spent alot of time imagining a baby in our howe and as a part of our live together. the trouble was, at this point the baby was merely an it. This made it difficult to identify with and with our next appointment scheduled

Our next appointment is for another ultrasound to check on the baby’s anatomy and peak at the baby’s sex. By now excited to find out what it was, we thought it would make the idea of the baby more real, the baby was merely an it, which was hard to identify with. Lindsey was convinced that knowing the sex of the baby would make it more real.

So, on January 29th we went to the Fetal Photo in the mall, to find out the baby’s sex. My brother and his wife, Lindsey’s sister and husband came with us, both bringing their little girls, and Lindsey’s mother as well. My parents were out of town for the weekend, and mother, we thought about waiting for you but Lindsey couldn’t wait. The experience, not the “photo studio” which lacked in every quality (but I won’t elaborate further) was incredible. The technician was able to tell the sex (above) but was also able to get her to move. To see a 5in long baby, my baby, move inside it’s mother, my wife, was amazing, inspiring, unbelievable!

Since then, my thoughts have been less on the awe of having a child, I’m really starting to like that idea, but rather, more on what it will be like to be a father. I’ll write more on that later.

Over the past few months I’ve been collaborating with my friend Jeremy Crane on his new startup venture, JCCRANE Agency, a full service marketing and advertising agency.  The many conversations we’ve had on the topic, ranging from the industry as a whole, the current trends, and it’s future have all been quite rewarding.

Back in 2007 when BluFrog opened it’s first office in Orem, Jeremy was working with a start-up pest control company Caden.  I had been friends with his younger brother for year at that point and friends with Jeremy’s family which is how we had known each other.  His work at Caden Pest Control was, as with most any start-up, pretty much everything.  They were engineering custom data support centers (systems far beyond my comprehension), branding and identity, messaging and marketing, while at the same time recruiting their sales force and a implementing a world of market research into a business plan.  It is sufficient to say his work was impressive.  I’d like to think he was a fan of BluFrog, I was certainly a fan of Caden and Jeremy.  As such, we would regularly check-in with each other. He eventually left Caden to peruse other ventures.

A few months ago Jeremy called me with his plans for JCCRANE.  Jeremy and I saw eye-to-eye on the market trends and both shared a passion for data, gathering it, organizing it, and making practical application of it. The goals of JCCRANE were clear, and in my mind the extra attention to detail, and the use of data were key things that BluFrog was lacking (…along with a long list of others) and I wanted to be involved.

Earlier this month Jeremy asked me if I wanted to be a partner with him in JCCRANE, and it didn’t take too much thought to definitively answer yes.  As of yesterday, November 17th 2010, I am Partner at JCCRANE Agency.

Twitter | @JCCRANEAgency

Web | JCCRANE.com

Phone | 949.467.9258

And if you’d like to connect to Jeremy:

Twitter | @jeremyccrane

Phone | 770.367.1168

Email | Jeremy@JCCRANE.com

VIEW TEASER

OFFICIAL SITE

Jmills ENT. (Jeremy Miller) and crew created ELEVATE motorcycle film as an outlet for the industry’s best hillclimbers to showcase their talents and style to the motorcycle community.  Hillclimbing is one of the industry’s oldest sports dating back to the early 1900’s.  ELEVATE, is an avenue for motorcycle enthusiasts and core moto riders alike to take a snapshot into the lives of the most prominent riders in the industry.  Jmills partnered with dactylcam flying camera system to create an HD cinematic experience the motorcycle world will surely enjoy.

DIRECTOR, D.P., EDITOR | JEREMY MILLER
PRODUCER | DEREK CLAIR
ADDITIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHY | AUSTIN BALLS | BRAD OLSEN
DACTYLCAM | TYLER WIESZ
PHOTOGRAPHY | SKS | ERIK SEO | AUSTIN HOLT
GRIP | CODY JOHNSON

A Jmills ENT. Production

STARRING:

ROBIE PETERSON | JASON SMITH | BRET PETERSON
A special guest appearance by Mike Metzger “The Godfather”

LOCATIONS

MONTANA, WYOMING, IDAHO, UTAH
Nitro National Columbus, MT | Big Nasty New Plymouth, ID

DECEMBER 2010
AVAILABLE ON ITUNES

]]> http://derekclairbrown.com/2010/11/elevate-film-official-teaser-release/feed/ 0 http://derekclairbrown.com/2010/10/bts-of-the-jmills-ent-photo-shoot-with-sks/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bts-of-the-jmills-ent-photo-shoot-with-sks http://derekclairbrown.com/2010/10/bts-of-the-jmills-ent-photo-shoot-with-sks/#comments Wed, 13 Oct 2010 04:34:08 +0000 Derek Clair http://derekclair.com/?p=72

JMills recently had a photo shoot with SKS last night, some web and marketing content.  Thanks Balls’ for the…. styrofoam (you know)!  Here’s some of the behind the scenes iPhone 4 photos.  Stay tuned to jmillsent.com for the real photos.

SKS, we’re anxious to see what you got, hurry up!

It’s actually the oldest sport in Motorsports, were talking before there were 4 wheels on cars there were motorcycles, and they would race them up hills. The sport used to be hills, these days the terrain is certainly more along the lines of un-passable mountains, literally!  In Idaho’s event we filmed, they call the hill “The Big Nasty” (yea, it says something about the sport but whatever) and really, at one point of the day getting to the top was the real challenge, and we’re not talking a regular joe motorcycle, these are tuned machines, some are pushing over 200HP.

The project stars Jason Smith of Team Action Machine and Bret and Robie Peterson of Team Peterson Racing.  It has taken us to New Plymouth Idaho, Columbus Montana for NAHA competition and a Mountain View Wyoming for a freeride with our riders in some beautiful terrain.  We also got to collaborate with, aside from the NAHA and their riders, the boys from Dactylcam who fly a cablecam rig out of Colorado that got some shot I don’t think have ever been seen in Motorcycles, they will be worth seeing.

As the film develops I’ll be sure to update you with trailer posts and the distribution of the film.  For now, I’ve got to thank personally; as always JMills, particularly on this project Jeff and Jason Smith it wouldn’t have happened without you guys.  Austin Balls and the Balls family, you guys have a lifetime of favors in the bank with me and I’ve only known you for just over a year.  The dudes at Dactylcam, you really came through and the footage shows what the future will hold!  Sean, the photos are rad, next time they should be better organized (haha) Eric Seo as well.  Brad Olsen always a pleasure, Cody, I think you’ve got a future with this crew for sure, just don’t touch the rachet!!!  Team Peterson, I know you guys see the value in this project, I am working to be sure that value is realized, and the photos are on their way.  The whole Team Peterson crew, you guys are super good, and quite hospitable too (except for that driver….. WTF).  The whole NAHA and anyone else I may have missed, thank you.

Facebook has become ubiquitous with the internet, and the internet’s primary benefit, keeping people connected.  What I find interesting is that Facebook is mentioned on a majority of national brand TV advertisements.  Also, it’s Facebook Connect is integrated with all sorts of everyday sites, it’s Like button and future plans to introduce it’s own currency are, just a Cuban states, “Facebook is putting out trojan horse after trojan horse and no one seems to care.”  The reaches of it are even creeping into our cars, and not via a mobile application but as a build in feature (more details).  The question is, to what end?

The “new” internet is in many ways being defined by Facebook.  At the heart of it is personalization.  The complex network of information that is the internet is not compatible with humans.  At the end of the day, even the most “wired” person is still human.

I have the conviction that the future of the internet will be in some way tied to a personal profile, one that enables us as humans to be connected, mobile and aware.  Geo-tagging for example is the future of mobile, their success will be dependent on their ability to render pertinent ads to users in real time.  That is essencial for the business model to work.  That or a subscription model, but I wouldn’t count on any successful implementation of that business model, unless/until congress decides to implement a social network (which, yes I could see in several generations).

Yes, the future internet is, just as any technology is, a system that automates a portion of processes and/or tasks that we as humans depend on in our social responsibilities.  Currently, Facebook is the winner.

The evolution of the “new internet” has, as it’s major obstacle Privacy.  For society to trust in a system/network that has access to the amounts of data that it would be feed by an entire populous presents clear and present dangers, I believe this is at the core of Cuban’s remarks.  However, just as the internet is evolving, we humans are as well.  For example, my little sister, only 8 years younger than I, comes home from school and listens to music as she does her homework.  I sit down to talk to her, ask who she’s listening to, turns out she’s streaming them on YouTube, AMAZING!  To get music while I did homework only 8 years earlier I would have the FM tuner on, or be pirating music for days.  No, she is listening to music videos!  MTV and VH1 were the only source of music videos 8 years earlier.  The whole thing amazed me.  Anyways, the upcoming generation will live a life that is wired from day one.

For example my brother’s one year old, will be taking typing classes in elementary, probably have to be trained on using a mouse, as she will be more familiar with touch interfaces and trackpads than actual mouse interface (if she will need a mouse at all).  Around this same time in her life she will see a photo journal of her life from day one, rich with photos and video episoding nearly every week of her existence.  She will live a portion of her life online from the very beginning.  That generation will be trained on it’s uses, pitfalls and dangers and have the capacity to utilize social networking like never before imagined.  They will also have our experience to learn from for responsible uses (i.e. this current event), and their reality will be one that is seamlessly integrated into mobile devices and the internet.  I imagine that as the baby-boomers moved to post war suburbs they experienced to a degree a of loss of privacy.  They were now surrounded by neighbors who were next door, always there, and in some way encroaching on their privacy, but they agreed to it, and their children accepted it as reality.  Perhaps it’s not the best example, but the point is, we’ve already adopted it, and I believe it’s here to stay.

The trojan horse of social networking is already inside the city gates, it is Facebook. The “new internet” is not Facebook, but the Facebook will be marked as the beginning and if Facebook can play it’s cards right, it will be a major player in the new internet.

It was fantastic, we were married on the 3rd floor covered balcony of at Noah’s, a beautiful event venue in South Jordan.  It was a beautiful, rather warm day (and I’m just glad the balcony was covered, or it would have been way too hot).  The decorations were beautiful, thank you soo much Brittany for everything it was a dream.  We got the photos back from the photographer, Nichole Carman (nicolecarmanphotography.blogspot.com) and they we amazing, Lindsey and I both were amazed by everything.  Thank you everyone for coming, my family from Arizona, and her’s from all over.

Marriage, if anyone is wondering, is a dream.  Life has seemed to find it’s self, and I’ve been lucky enough to come along.  I think that is all in part of my wife Lindsey, but either way…. I love her and look forward to the rest of life with her.

I’ve got a blog, I need now to be posting content. Recent news for anyone who hasn’t yet heard (and reads this, which I doubt there are any) I’m engaged, as of December 31st, 2009 to Lindsey Marie Freed. I’ll go on about her another time but the reason I wanted to post this tonight is this…

Her and I went to eat at Macaroni Grill in Murray this evening, thank you mom & dad for the gift card, and just as we got home she realized she had left her purse at the restaurant. Here was the funny part, she had some homework to finish tonight (she’ll graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in nursing next week) and I volunteered to go back to pick up her purse. On my cruise home I asked mysel

f a question, “how long will it last?” I asked her the same thing as soon as I got home.

Not, how long will it last, as in “how long will her and I last”, but how long will the dysfunctional having to be together every minute thing last. It has seemed to be that every minute we are not absolutely required by circumstance to be away from each other, work, (well that’s really it) we both insist to be with the other?

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s the greatest thing in the world. But I do know that that will be one of the first things to fade, life will find it’s groove. I’m confident that that time will be the best, most successful time of our life but i don’t know if I’m over anxious for it….. I don’t really know.

Any ways she’s the love of my life and our wedding will be on June 4th, 2010 at Noah’s in South Jordan and if you’re reading this, I really want you to come.

Welcome to the Official Derek Clair Blog, comin’ at you from the one and only Derek Clair Brown, subscribe and stay tuned.  For more information on me and how to better connect with me, visit DerekClair.com.

Thanks, and welcome!