On Design

Just a snippet from Debbie Milman's The Essential Principles of Graphic Design:

As we progressed into the twenty-first century, Americans were regularly exposed to 1,500-3,000 advertising messages daily from online, print, outdoor, and broadcast media. From 1999 to 2003, we created and stored more information than all the information produced since the beginning of mankind.

It goes on to say how the cram of information and super-fast lifestyle is taking a toll on our bodies: stress and stress related problems, ADD, sleeping disorders...

To survive this fast, constant, and sometimes debilitating information stream, we automatically edit out 85 percent of the information that comes our way. The information that penetrates these filters and is retained tends to be information that is symbolic, relevant to our lives, and meaningful intellectually and emotionally.

Welcome to the world of design. Among the slew of media, images, messages...how do you create something meaningful?

A few things about Portland so far...

1. I love rain! But...when walking to a job interview, glancing at your reflection, and seeing the frizziest hair ever, one starts to wonder if it might be time for an umbrella. I know, not a true Portlander, you say. But a hood flattens it, and rain frizzes it. Maybe a really cute polka dot one? Or one with owls?
   
   
   
2. Why the smoking? Portland, with your vegan restaurants, your ubiquitous bikers, your parks and trails and ski slopes...didn't anyone tell you that smoking kills? And seeps into the lungs of everyone near/in the room below/with the windows open in the apartment next to you? And don't act like throwing a cigarette on the ground isn't littering. 'Cause it is. So get with the times, Portland. You're almost perfect, why not go for the gold?
   
   
3. I went to a piano concert yesterday, a duet on one piano. I get there, and they introduce two elderly ladies--complete with white, tightly permed hair and floral sweaters--as the pianists. Great, I think, and wait for some cheese-o medley or something. I nearly jumped when they started banging out this atonal piece, complete with rubber bars used mid-song to play half the keys on the piano all at once. Clearly, these were not your typical old ladies. Turns out the piece was written by some 23 year old kid, and these ladies were playing the premiere. (Hmmm...such opportunities for young composers...) Then they played some Schubert and more goods. All for free! Yep, music to my ears.
   

Po-ort-lan-duh.

No posts for a while. Sorry about that. But, you know why? I've been moving! Yes, packing tiny bits of paper, concert tickets, CDs and DVDs (do I take the cases or not?), sweaters, hats, scarves, frames, photos, scads of books, and all other random paraphernalia found in my room.

Hauling everything up in a trailer covered with a flimsy tarp that looked like a hula skirt by the end of the trip, Mom, Dad and I drove up on Friday. Almost nine hours after leaving 112 degree Redding, we started unpacking in 106 degree Portland (how could you DO this to me!). We got everything settled and the place looks really cute, thanks in large part to cool wood floor and Ikea. So, I've got an apartment. "Job?" you say? Ha! I laugh in the face of jobs! Until tomorrow when I beat the pavement to find one. May the employment gods shine down upon me.

Super cool Ikea kitchen rack system. Neato.

Strobist Jet-Pack?

Check out Jesse's stellar strobist how-to video. Informational, as well as entertaining...and I got to ride a really sweet bike for it. Starring super-friends Kallie and Josh, and, of course, Jesse himself, and shot by muscley-armed-camera-girl Lyn.

Redwood forest how I love thee!

Look at that. Need I say more? And the wonderfully rocky coast, the angry waves, the 60 degree weather, the camping hair (Kallie wins!), the s'mores with burnt marshmallows, Adele's chicken apple sausages, crunchy coffee, banana slugs, snipes, ferns, elk, frisbees...

So, all you who've never been out here...GET MOVING!

See all the fun camping pics by Jesse and his unpaid intern--here.

Make way for Momma.

My incredibly child-savvy mother has posted her first e-how article on how to have fun reading with your kids, using the book Make Way for Ducklings. My mom's a pro at this, so if you have kids, or have friends that have kids, or have friends that have friends that have kids, read the article or point your friends or friends of friends to it. I think the plan is to post on a new book every week, so check back for new articles. And now....story time!!!

Time for Some Campaignin'

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

The latest piece of genius from JibJab. Look for a special guest citizen (i.e. my mom) at the voting booth at the end. I love these guys.

Dot Matrix meets Radiohead

Big Ideas (don't get any) from James Houston on Vimeo.

What happens when you use ancient printers, scanners and such to remix Radiohead? Well...this.

Be patient, the actual tune starts about a minute in, after the TV fuzz prelude.

Remind me: Why do people live here?

Welcome to summer in Redding. Brutal.

The view from here.

So, the smoke's finally starting to clear up, but lest we forget what a matchbox Northern California is, here are some pics from last week, just down the road from our house. Admittedly, smoke does make for some cool photos.

Fireworks have been canceled because of fire danger, so we're fleeing the smoke this weekend and taking haven in the redwood forest. Ah, what a haven! Much thanks to all the firemen who are working their tails off to put out the fires!

Some people watch sunsets. We watch fires.

Yep, those singed bushes are from the LAST fire, about two years ago.

Coolest. Website. Ever.

Marketing and branding gurus One Trick Pony created this website for TCM: 31 Days of the Oscars. It's a visual tv program guide, dividing the Oscar winning flicks by decade and day of airplay. The 31 Days have passed, but this dandy of a website lives on. It's even got a mini video jukebox that plays famous themes and clips from each movie. Oscar movie night anyone?

It's a Lensbaby, baby!...too many babies...

My friend and fellow photog, Betsey Walton, (sometimes known as Big Betsy, not because of her girth, but to differentiate from me, Little Betsy, her junior by a couple years), loaned me her Lensbaby, one of the sweetest lenses around. Fast glass? Wide angle? Super zoom? Nope. Just plain ol' distortion. And who wouldn't love a lens that bends and curves like the trunk of an elephant?

I took it downtown to try it out in the quasi-blazing heat (just wait until August...ugh). Click on the Stardust Motel to check it out.

Wedding Fun

Last weekend, the fam drove the windy roads south to Sonoma County to attend my cousin Rachel's wedding. The wine country was picture perfect -- row upon row of vineyards dotted with tiny cottages and farms, with the occasional quaint town to stop in for some cute shops and good eats. I'd say almost the most beautiful spot in beautiful Cali (of course we all know the redwood coast tops them all...hehe, I'm biased). The rehearsal dinner and wedding were at two different, but equally stunning, wineries. The food was phenomenal, the company jovial, the wine was...well, wine (I'm sure delicious to a more trained palate...I'll get there some day), and an all around good time was had by all. Congrats Dan and Rachel! Check out the pics here.

Don't get any ideas, Dad.

Best blog post title ever: "A Father's Day Reminder: Shoot Your Kids"

Also happens to be a great blog entry on a great blog...check out this guy's pics of his kids. Best family photo album ever?

The Future Glenn Goulds

I have the coolest nephews EVER!!! Miles and Damion both played perfectly at their recital and looked so dapper in their new suits. I'm sooo proud of you both!

(For those of you who don't know, Glen Gould is the greatest pianist ever....or at least the greatest player of Bach. Check it out. He's the man.)

Kits of Convenience

I was at the store the other day and I saw a S'mores Making Kit, a plastic tube with packaged marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate and roasting sticks that looked sort of like real tree stems, if it weren't for the mass-produced uniformity of them all. Handy, yes. But something about it rubbed me the wrong way.

Kind of like BAF's Fort Kit with ropes and camo blanket. Isn't the fun of a fort in using the random things that are lying around your house and creating your own wonderful sanctuary with them? Are we so paranoid about germs that kids can no longer go hunting for the perfect marshmallow roasting stick around the campsite? Am I freaking out over nothing, or are we squelching our kids' creativity in our efforts to simplify things?

I think the inside of my mind is something like this...

Honestly, if you haven't seen this vid for Sigur Rós "Glósóli" you must watch it. Heck, even if you have seen it, watch it. Actually...go to YouTube and watch it full screen. Yeah.....Absolutely beautiful.

Papyrus? Futura? Baskerville?

Hey, everyone should take "The Rather Difficult Font Game". It's fun for all levels of nerdiness. I got 26 out of 32. Huzzah!

And speaking of great typography (which I'm obsessed with these days) check this site out.

This is what I want to do.

Hanging at Starbucks

No, literally. I've got framed prints hanging at the Eureka Way Starbucks in Redding. So, if you're in town, grab a tall no-water, 2 pump, soy chai (I know, one of those ridiculously long orders, but trust me, it's the best!) and check it out. If you're not in Redding, I hear tickets are cheap...