a jar and an unwritten note.

Some pics I took this week. And, I finally got a job! I'm working at J.Crew in support/visuals and raking in a crazy awesome discount. Should be a fun place to work for the time being. And now I can have my heat and electricity turned back on...

Ron Paul = Substance

Ron Paul seems to be the only candidate to bypass all the sycophantic fluff and just tell it like it is.

How do we get this guy on the ballet???

Why *everyone* should read The Fountainhead.

"...why do they always teach us that it's easy and evil to do what we want and that we need discipline to restrain ourselves? It's the hardest thing in the world--to do what we want. And it takes the greatest kind of courage. I mean, what we really want."

From Peter Keating, of all people, comes the crux of Ayn Rand's book The Fountainhead. What if we disregarded what others thought of us, stopped wearing the clothes that make others turn, buying the toys that make others envy, pursuing the profession we thought others would approve of? What if our actions were determined solely by our own convictions and deepest desires? Maybe the "virtue of selfishness" would make the world a better place, because behind every job done, every thing created, every action made would be the greatest passion and the most ardent aspiration for the best in ourselves.

Don't worry. I'm a proffetional.

Happy.

Some people are made happy by ice cream. Others, by kittens. For me, it's by changing the default font on my browser to Futura. Craig's list is looking a whole lot better these days.

Ah, those summer days...

I forgot I had these...reminders of the fabulous camping trips I took this summer.
This particular one had everything:

family (above)

burgers

danger

fire

firecrackers

photo fun

a beached whale (really!)

Obama momma

Eric's butt...er...footprints

waves and sand

strange plant life

and really cool contrails.

which one?

Click on the image to see the fonts in their true glory.
For most of these fabulous, free fonts, go here.
For I Quit's beautiful font, go here.

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.