Imagination of Ryan Simmons

Think. Create. Love. Evolve.

Now Open! Gifts That Keep On Giving Store

This year’s Gifts That Keep On Giving Campaign benefits Kickstarter campaigns! The premise remains the same. Old gift cards are turned into guitar picks, they’re sold on Etsy then the proceeds are given away. On Kickstarter.com, we’re always reminded that every dollar counts. That means every time you buy picks from the Gifts That Keep [...]

‘…With a Side of Cute’ Series

When you meet someone special, you have this overwhelming urge to document every aspect of your time together. You save ticket stubs, notes, cards, you name it, you save it. There is this desire to keep each and every memory as if these little momentos will eventually become important artifacts for future anthropologists. As life [...]

Announcing “Talula Red” 2/5/12-2/18/12

I’m proud to announce ‘Talula Red’! Happening 2/5/12-2/18/12, the show will take place at Who’s On First in Ocean City, NJ. It is a collaborative effort of several Ocean City artists centered around 3 words: Sinew. Fiber. Heart. I’ll be displaying a piece there. Below you can see the 2 teasers and the one sheets [...]

WordPress Theme Test 2

Here’s part 2 of the test

WordPress Theme Test 1

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Goals for -ion Summit

January 27th, 2012

Ryan Simmons

Tonight’s meeting of the minds has been a dream of mine for quite sometime. In an effort to share with you my expectations, here is a brain dump of things I’m hoping to accomplish.

Make friends and celebrate the underestimated South Jersey art scene

Discuss how to get paid to do what you love

Help one another meet our goals through collaboration in the future

Network. Network. Network. Bring business cards.

Share our work

I’ll have 2 laptops there, one of which will be hooked up to a larger monitor. I’ve also purchased a case of water, 2 cases of soda, some adult beverages, a cheese platter, popcorn, fruit tray and candy! Please feel free to contact me on Facebook or via email Rysimmons@gmail.com or on Twitter @IONRyan

Event begins at 7 at Who’s On First in Ocean City, NJ (1st and Asbury)

SJSL Dodgeball Recap 1/24/11

January 26th, 2012

Ryan Simmons

New hoodies with design by Sean Kolman (@KolmanDesign)

As jerseys were handed out last Tuesday, one of South Jersey Sports League’s own, Chris Fipp was on hand to snap photos of our teams. If you want to put faces to names, you can check out our official team photos of Chris’ page! If you’re a member of the league, you can order a print directly from the site at a special discounted rate. Also, Jon distributed hoodies to those who ordered them. Headbands and other shirts will be in next week! Now onto the recap…

Last week I mentioned the evolution of the strategy involved in dodgeball. What was once ‘aim and throw’ has now become so much more! Teams are now methodically approaching every aspect of the game. The biggest difference I’ve noticed? Utilizing the catch. While winding up and throwing a blazing ball seems to be the best mode of operation, teams have recognized how the catch can be even more beneficial. According to South Jersey Sport League rules, when a player catches a ball thrown by the other team, the player who threw the ball is out and the team who catches the ball gets a player back. That brings us to last night, The Night of the Catch.

Lightning Donkeys versus Terror Squad

In a series of unfortunate events, the Lightning Donkey Ladies found themselves down to 1 play vs 5 as the Terror Squad took advantage of early mistakes. One lady Donkey stepped over the center line at the beginning of the game, forcing her to step out immediately. Another female from the Lightning Donkies found herself eliminated when she threw from the safe zone after repeated warnings. Then the precision of the Terror Squad girls knocked out two other players in seconds! That type of luck and skill continued all night for the Terror Squad as they were able to grab another big victory!

Honey Badgers versus Ghostbusters
In one early match up, Lauren of the Badgers pulled out a circus catch to even the playing field at 2 on 2. As the Badgers looked to mount their improbable comeback, Celene of the Busters made a circus catch of her own to once again take the (wo)man advantage. The next time the girls met, in was catch galore! As quickly as players were eliminated, they returned thanks to a catch. At one point, the Badgers were able to return to full strength! Honey Badger newcomers Brian and Jonathan each made snags of their own to win the 16th game in the match. Even with those impressive outings by the Badgers, the dominance of the Ghostbusters shined through again allowing them to pick up the victory.

WordPress Theme Test 2

January 26th, 2012

Ryan Simmons

Here’s part 2 of the test

WordPress Theme Test 1

January 26th, 2012

Ryan Simmons

This is a test for my new WP Theme. Ignore it

test testesfss

adadwqwewd

adasdasdasfewrewwerewrwe rwerewrwrw rwerewrwr

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The Other Ryan Simmons: NASA Rocket Scientist

January 26th, 2012

Ryan Simmons

Birthday: April 1963. Let me know if you find a Ryan Simmons older than me.
Occupation: I’m a mechanical engineer at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Specifically, I’m a structural analyst. I make sure the satellites we launch into space don’t fall apart on the ride up.
Smarts: I have two Bachelor of Science degrees from the University of Michigan, Aerospace Engineering 1985 and Mechanical Engineering 1989. I earned my Masters degree from the University of Maryland in Mechanical Engineering in 2003. i’ve also studied German in Giessen, Germany back in 1988.
Website: RyanSimmons.net Being the oldest Ryan Simmons I own both RyanSimmons.com and RyanSimmons.net. I originally had RyanSimmons.org as well, but gave that up.
3 Words to describe myself: Liberal Rocket Scientist

What was your coolest live music experience?
I don’t listen to much commercial music. I’m very much into independent singer/songwriters. It’s always better when you can actually get to know personally the musicians whose music you love. I actually have hosted house concerts in the past and will be doing so again this summer. If you’re not familiar with house concerts, yes, they are literally concerts in someone’s house. Of all the concerts I’ve ever hosted, I think my favorite was a father/son blues duo called Beaucoup Blue. The talent and energy these guys brought to my house was unbelievable. Add to that they were the nicest guys you could ever meet and it was a magical evening all around.

Does creativity play an important role in your life?
As an engineer, there are many aspects of job that are just numerical right/wrong calculations. However, we engineers do have to be very creative trying to solve our problems. There is never a single way to solve something. So the best engineers are the ones who search for the “elegant solution.” We have to look at every aspect of a task and understand it from all perspectives so we can really come up with the best answer. So yes, creativity is a huge part of my work. Probably in the rest of my life too, but that’s not as interesting.

Is there a story behind your name?
Nothing particular other than it fit a pattern in my family. My father’s initials were RAS. When my oldest brother was born my parents also named him with the initials RAS. Then my middle brother was born and he too was RAS. So when I came along, my parents needed another “R” for the family. They liked Ryan. So I’m RAS too. I kinda like the name Ryan because there are no inherent nicknames. I like being just Ryan.

Anything else you’d like to tell us?
I live in Ellicott City, Maryland and have for over 21 years. I’m widowed, lost my beautiful wife to breast cancer 2 years ago. I live with two cats (Melyanna and Loreley) and a a beagle (Beau). Love to run and bicycle. I’m a huge University of Michigan football fan. Go Blue! I also have season tickets to DC United, the professional soccer team in the nation’s capitol.

Introducing WWEdnesdays with Ryan

January 19th, 2012

Ryan Simmons

Left: Me - Halloween 2011/Right: the real CM Punk

A few months ago I came clean with all of you: I love pro-wrestling. Yes, you read that correctly. A gainfully employed, romantically involved, college educated guy loves watching the WWE every Monday. You can check out the afore-linked blog post to see my reasons or I can sum it up for you right now: it captures my imagination. It’s a never-ending story with a rich history and mythology. In recent years, the WWE product has shifted their attention from in-ring action to telling their story with interviews and video promos. Each one of those segments are carefully crafted by the WWE writers and the athletes are asked to execute them to perfection in front of live audiences upwards of twenty thousand people. A quick look in the mirror reminds me that I’ll never be on the microphone or in the ring, but I’ve started to realize that maybe someday I could be in the writer’s room. So here it is, the beginning of my portfolio for my application to WWE!

This weekly feature will begin in February. The goal of this feature is to embrace nostalgia, keep fans updated, offer my hypotheticals or best guests for upcoming shows and most importantly, make pro-wrestling more accessible and interesting to the large and diverse audience I’m so fortunate to have. Maybe this will segue into a position with the company I so admire or maybe it will just be a fun hobby, either way I’m looking forward to sharing with all of you one of my greatest passions.

For a preview of what to expect from this new feature, you can check out my work with ProRasslin.com.

SJSL Dodgeball Recap 1/17/12

January 19th, 2012

Ryan Simmons

Designed by Sean Kolman (twitter.com/kolmandesign)

Week 2 of South Jersey Sports League’s Dodgeball season began with the distribution of team uniforms. The reigning champion Ghostbusters donned their familiar lavender shirts citing superstition as their reason for retention. Last season’s runners-up, The Bonsai Executioners, have traded in their light grey shirts for a dip into royal blue. When asked about the change Ed Shepard, owner of league sponsor Bonded Babysitters and team captain, said, “We asked for Superman blue. I was expecting the red tights and cape as well. Maybe next season.” Newcomers Vicious and Delicious, the first team in league history to opt for hot pink shirts, are obviously not afraid to stand out. V&D player and owner of Doo Wop Coffee Shop, Jason Kramer told me this about his team’s uniforms, “The shirts say a lot about our team. The name says the rest: The guys are vicious. The girls are delicious.”

As the league continues to grow, it’s interesting to see evolutions in how teams prepare for their match. The first fifteen minutes, which used to be spent wandering around chatting with friends, have now become practice time. This week, Vicious and Delicious predominantly practiced catching high-speed balls. The Ghostbusters began with simple long tosses before working on higher velocity throws. Realizing that velocity is meaningless if accuracy isn’t at a premium, the always hard tossing Executioners lined up their teammate Eric against the wall and unloaded on him. Terror Squad directed their attention towards strength and conditioning with ample amounts of stretching and cardio.

The first match of the night was a rematch of last season’s championship with Ghostbusters and Bonsai Executioners seeing one another for the first time since their hard-fought battle last December. Last season’s Executioners had no girls on their roster which forced all their players to play in every game. After adding 5 females to the rotation this offseason, the Executioners hoped to cut down on fatigue and increase their success against their rivals. Unfortunately for them, the skill level of the Ghostbusters was impossible to overcome. The champs jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back. Seeing the ‘Busters work with such precision shows that they are in a league of their own. Following their undefeated season last year, it’s becoming increasingly likely that the Ghostbusters are destined to become the SJSL’s first ever dynasty.

Tuesday’s other match featured Vicious and Delicious meeting Terror Squad for the first time. Between the teams, more than a dozen new players took the court. The inexperience didn’t hamper the intensity of this one though as the teams traded hard-earned wins early on. The highlight of the match came during game #8 came when Jason Kramer and Rich Davis were the final participants. Rather than dodge one another endlessly, as is the case with most one on one match-ups, Kramer called Davis to the center of the court and the two had a draw reminiscent of something you’d see in an old western. Kramer won the showdown proving that he had the fastest hand in west (side of the gym) but in the end it was Davis’ Terror Squad who were able to pick up their first victory of the season.

The Honey Badgers took on the Lightning Donkeys in the late match, but the desire to consume BBTs at Charlie’s was too great for me to stay in the gym any longer. Fortunately, Joe D’Agostino, Honey Badgers team captain, always put together a great recap on his blog. You can check that out here.

In addition to all the action on the court, South Jersey Sports League was honored to welcome Claire Lowe of the Ocean City Gazette. Claire did a great interview with Jon Smith, the owner of the league! The video is available here. The media coverage of SJSL didn’t stop there! Jon called into Mike Gill’s SportsBash to discuss the expansion of the league and the opportunity it offers to adults in South Jersey.

Thank you to the Ocean City Gazette, Claire Lowe, 97.3 ESPN Radio, Mike Gill, our graphic designer Sean Kolman, all the players and all the refs! We’re so grateful to have your support. This league wouldn’t be possible without you!

Ryan Simmons is the new Highlights and Features Editor of the South Jersey Sports League. On a weekly basis, he’ll be serving up recaps, photos and even some video. His work will be posted to this site as well as the official South Jersey Sports League page. To follow his numerous other endeavors, be sure to become a fan of him on Facebook. If you want more information on the SJSL, follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

-ion Summit: Meet Fellow Creative Minds in South Jersey 1/27/12

January 12th, 2012

Ryan Simmons

Since I’ve moved to Ocean City, I’ve had the unbelievable pleasure of meeting dozens, if not hundreds, of creative people. I wish there was time in the day to sit down with each and every one of you but we’re just always so busy! So I’ve decided to have this big event and invite every creative, intelligent and passionate person I know!

I’ve deemed it the ‘-ion Summit’ because -ion is the word I use to describe the individual passions we all possess and live for. Be it imagination, education, illustration, animation, communication. There are thousands of different -ions. Please come out and share your -ion with the world.

With this many amazing people in one place, I can’t wait to see what types of projects are born. If you’re interested in presenting a project or having the attention of the room for a bit, please contact me and I’ll do my best to accommodate!

Here’s the Facebook invite with more details!!!

Think. Create. Love. Evolve.
-Ryan
RySimmons@gmail.com

Netflix Pick of the Week: “Sherlock Jr.” starring Buster Keaton

January 12th, 2012

Ryan Simmons

“Sherlock Jr.” (1924)

Starring: Buster Keaton
Plot: A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meagre skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend’s father’s pocketwatch.
Run Time: 44 minutes

In Sherlock Jr., Keaton puts on an Oscar worthy performance without the benefit of sound (and 5 years before the Oscar awards were even created!) By the end of the film, Buster’s acting transcends into art. With sci-fi undertones and whodunit overtones, the film is brilliantly imaginative.

The soundtrack provided on the Netflix version is quite good, but silent films offer you a unique movie-watching opportunity that I don’t suggest you pass up: the ability to score the film yourself. Open iTunes, create a 44 minute playlist then start your movie and music at the same time. You will have dictated the pulse of the movie. I’ve watched Keaton with ambient bands like Do Make Say Think and I’ve watched Keaton with the likes of Kanye West. You may have to go back to the drawing board a few minutes into your viewing but you’ll eventually figure out a pace you enjoy.

October 19th 2008. That’s the day I saw Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr. for the very first time. As I watched the film unfold, I came to realize something: this was the film I was trying to make. I no longer aspired to be Spielberg, Zemeckis or Nolan. I wanted to be Buster Keaton. Keaton’s influence on me is best exemplified in my one man film trilogy Moving to the Moon!

Ryan Simmons: Social Media Directory

January 11th, 2012

Ryan Simmons

With so many social networks, we’re often left asking ‘I wonder if (your friend’s name) is on this one?!’ So I’ve decided to collect all my most important social networks in this one little post. I’ll keep it updated as new sites pop up! To go to my pages, just click on the image from each social network…