About Us

KIRSTEN

Soon after my husband and I moved to Chicago last June, we thought it would be a great idea to start a blog. I was going to start a new communications positions that was entrenched in social media and web 2.0 and Shane was off to start work on a documentary series. In August, we bought a domain, got a host, and in no time - had WordPress up and running (Thanks Chris!).

Well it’s now April 17th, a little over eight months later, and I’ve finally decided to write the first post. What took me so long? With any new project or idea, I often get stuck in the creative/beginning stages and want everything to be just perfect.

I’ve been to blogging conferences where incredibly successful bloggers have already made a living out of their passion and advise newbies to stick with a theme, have a central topic, know your audience, get savvy with SEO, etc. I quickly learned that there could be oh so much more to blogging than just sitting down by the computer and writing what’s on your mind.

I came up with a theme of sorts… and a domain name. Couple/think - musings of a creative, committed couple. I didn’t want to begin just another blog by another girl about her life. My husband constantly inspires me to think out of the box and go for what I want - so why wouldn’t we tackle this project together and make it ours? The more we discussed it, the more we fell in love with the idea.

However, months passed by with no blog posts from either of us. Heck, we were even charged for the next six months of hosting and that’s when I thought - O.K. this goes beyond procrastination - I’m paying for something I’m not using. So here I am finally writing and committing myself to this idea - this blog that for better or worse, will not be one of those sad little blogs that fall into the great black hole of blogs that only have four posts or were last updated in 2003.

While I don’t have a central subject, an awesome handle on SEO, or a knack for what words make the best tags, I’m starting Couple/think today because it will evolve into what it should be. I’m vowing to quit over analyzing what makes a successful blog… because I think I just realized the answer is pretty simple…blogging makes the blog. And if you don’t have good content and a committed author(s), you’ll never have a good blog.

Here’s hoping the next eight months are filled with that resolve.

SHANE

Welcome to Couple/think. I’m Shane, one half of the equation that it takes to make this duo, and I see you’ve already met Kirsten, my wife, and as the old maxim goes, the better half of our couple. We’ve been meaning to start this blog for some time, but now are finally jumping in. Kind of like going to the pool on the first day it opens, you know it’s going to be a cold shock, so stop thinking about it and take the plunge.

To go forward I should probably go back and tell you a little about me. I work in documentary production, and my convoluted career path started in 2002 when I was already a junior in college and discovered digital filmmaking. The confluence of storytelling and technology completely captivated me.

In the years since I’ve pursed producing in various angles, but finally took the leap completely in 2005 and entered graduate school for documentary production. I graduated nearly a year ago, finished my thesis film First Letters, got married and moved to Chicago.

Another year has passed since and blogging seemed like a great extension for creative development and storytelling, especially as a couple. As this site evolves, we’ll cover a myriad of subjects like careers, interests, hobbies, news and how we connect with those ideas as a couple.