For a very long time I had believed (I have believed?) that there was some intrinsic value to language used well. An idea expressed clearly and well seemed more believable or persuasive or true or than one half-formed or blurted out incoherently. But this assumption of mine is only an assumption. It hasn’t been subject to cross-examination or logical analysis. I realize now that I’ve not tested it. Read the rest of this entry »
Didn’t think I’d manage to get another set of envelope sketches done. The last six weeks have been busier than I’d expected. Between trying to offer an itty-bitty bit of assistance to a noble publishing effort, starting a new gig in an office on the south side of the river, and all that business of trying to live like a modern human, I haven’t been so good about posting. So here, have some more envelope sketches.
Such as they are.
I think the third one is my favorite, but I do seem to draw that 3/4 view kind of a lot. I wonder if it’s because most of the photos I pick have that pose, or just that most photos taken have that pose.
Last week someone found a drawing I’d made back in school, some 15+ years ago, and posted it on Facebook. If you’ll excuse a little retrospective modesty, it wasn’t a great drawing, more of a cartoon, really. Not much in the way of depth or shading, limited use of colors, and showing only a rudimentary grasp of anatomy. It was meant to be a small comment on the impending end of our time in high school, and a small nod to a couple of good friends. But in the few comments that followed, it seems that other people thought I used to draw and doodle and make little cartoons all the time.
So what happened? Why don’t I draw anymore? Read the rest of this entry »
Most people have got things to do, right? Well, I’m people too, and also have one of those lists. During the next couple of weeks I’m going to be working on:
And just because I can’t see you doesn’t mean I’m not actually talking to you. This is an official statement of intent, see?
So now that I’ve alluded to some of what I’m working on, what’s on your list? Let me know how you get along with it. I hear there something to be said for mutual encouragement, so let’s get some stuff done, yeah?
It occurred to me today that I can’t recall the last time I heard a new joke. Strangely enough, when I was in Japan I would hear and tell jokes with some frequency. Between classes, on the way to and from the izakayas, waiting for the trains; it sometimes seemed like jokes were a currency that kept our reserves of native language topped up against the drains of living and working in a foreign culture. In a place where an employer could, with a straight face, say they’d like to encourage “skinship” between staff and customers when they meant they’d like you to put up with and even encourage seemingly personal relationships to improve business, an intentional double entendre was a welcome relief.
But I don’t hear jokes so much these days, and it’s kind of a disappointment. I mean, if a man walked into a bar, I don’t think I’d expect him to say much apart from his drinks order. Which is kind of sad for a former class clown.
Last week I was fortunate enough to be able to visit Poland in the company of some interesting writers and creative types, and the whole experience was thought provoking in a way that I hadn’t expected.
Because it was primarily a working trip, I wasn’t expecting to do much in the way of sightseeing or tourist-type stuff. And since I’d been trying to attend to other matters that seemed fairly pressing beforehand, I didn’t really have, or take, any time to research where we were going; no learning train routes, no memorizing phrasebook questions, not even taking the time to look closely at a map. I was going to try and treat Poland like a blank slate.
As it turns out, I thought I knew a few things that turned out to be almost completely unhelpful in terms of providing a scale or context for understanding where I went. What did history class teach leave in my head? A much desired, ice-free port on the Baltic, serious population losses during WWII, something or other about cowboys and unions in 1989, and not much else of use. So being confronted with both present realities of life and explanations from different people about what they thought had brought the present was fairly overwhelming.
For a week I had the opportunity to meet some fascinating individuals, eat some of the heartiest meals eastern Europe has to offer, and to be looked after with good humor and hospitality by people with starling explanations for some of the ways their country came to be the way it is. But it will take some time to digest. Particularly the food from some of the milk bars.
Facebook means that now I can get little updates from virtual strangers, usually written as if everyone reading was intimately familiar with the details of their current lives.
“Oh, that’s just a regular night at Spolmans.”
“Can’t believe what Jilby did on this week’s panel! : P”
“I am sooo excited about the start of DFWBSE! This year it’s understanding!”
It was that last one that got me. What the hell is DFWBSE?1 And what does it understand now that it couldn’t grasp in 2008? Google, the first and last refuge of a scoundrel who wants to seem knowledgeable, only confused the issue… Read the rest of this entry »
I’m currently working on a book layout for OFF_press. Sometimes I prepare written materials for printing. It’s one of those things I do from time to time, like calisthenics, recycling, or eating a whole large pizza in one sitting. Anyway, the point is that I’m currently thinking about what makes a book readable. Not about the text inside, but about the letters on the page, the sheets of paper inside the cover, and how they should all be arranged and assembled for ease of reading. Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with my thoughts on the use of italics to indicate dialogue, or the increased use of the ellipsis.
But it occurred to me that books are tangible items with at least one intended use; books are tools. Which means that a reasonably perceptive person could deduce something about our culture, and perhaps about our species, from the way these tools are made, presented and used. A well-thumbed novel from the used bookstore says something entirely different than a hardback dictionary with a dent in the front from supporting a short-legged couch. A Greyhound bus ticket left in as a bookmark is not the same as an expired commuter rail pass.
Take a look at whatever book you’ve got handy. How has it been put together? How did it get to you, and what do you do with it? When future archaeologists dig us up, what is that book going to tell them about you?
So, people in the US are upset about the prospect of… what? Creeping socialism and not being able to choose which doctor they can’t afford anyway? And people in the UK are upset because… why? Some people, most of whom already have top quality, privately provided health care, have said that they don’t want a health care system like the UK has?
Perhaps I’m oversimplifying things, but the debate in this form is beyond stupid… Read the rest of this entry »
Perhaps you’ve noticed the new look on the site. The changeover has not been without some difficulty, as I’ve had to tear down just about everything, and re-install everything else. A couple of times, I’m afraid. Apologies to those of you who took the time to comment in the past. But I’m still happy to hear from you.
So, here we go again. To work!
