What happens when 2 type nerds live in one apartment?

Conversations like this (on AIM):

(Backstory: I switched from futura to verdana as my IM typeface and she switched from verdana to futura without either one of us knowing.)
M: it's funny that we switched
K: yeah.. odd but it's probably b/c we've had our other fonts for far too long
M: probably
M: don't get me wrong, verdana totally works at that size which is why i like it
K: hehe, and don't think i still don't like futura! i just needed a change
K: hahah, i'm breaking up with a typeface!
M: you need to meet my friend gotham
M: it's deeeelicious
K: he'll just be a rebound

Art Through Editing

The charming gentleman in the above picture is my friend Dave who drove out to visit (all the way from Chicago).

Last night I tried a trick that I learned from James at Atomicdust. He would often have his digital SLR with him and would randomly take pictures without looking at the LCD or through the viewfinder. He wouldn't frame the shots at all but would just literally point and shoot. He had a lot of awful pictures to sort through later but oftentimes there would be that *one*stellar*totally*unplanned*sporadic shot that was beautiful. So I shot about a hundred shots last night while Meg, Dave and I drank on the porch heckling the drunken "sparkle" girls. (Yes, the shots got increasingly worse as the alcohol had its effect...) And while I don't think anything I shot was really stellar, I now have a lot of oddly framed shots that I wouldn't have taken if I'd had the chance to think about it. And that feels sort of freeing. Art through editing. I suppose a lot of different artists work this way.

Why Kids in Required Arts and Sciences Classes are LAME.

AND NO ONE LAUGHED! NOT EVEN A GIGGLE!! NOTHING!!! (I had to do a presentation on Blakemore and Cooper's research in learned pattern recognition, mildly interesting stuff if you've got 5 spare minutes. It really does have to do with kittens in goggles. Anywho, to spice up the presentation a little I designed a poster to go behind me while I spoke. It's a kitten! In goggles! That's inherently funny!)

Sushi & Me

Tonight's a stay-at-home-drink-a-glass-of-wine-listen-to-sigur-ros-and-paint-in-photoshop kindof night.

Design Matters

What follows is an imaginary conversation between me and Bob (my design professor).

K: (after presenting an idea for a project) So this will be another save-the-world project.
B: You do a lot of those.
K: I like save-the-world projects. If I could out of school I'd like to work at a save-the-world kindof firm.
B: You'll be broke and unhappy in 5 years.
K It might be youthful ignorance/arrogance but I don't think I will. I can't live without thinking I'm doing *something* to better this world. I can't be aware of it and do nothing to better it. Which is why I like the structure of this curriculum, I get to create, figure out, and do save-the-world projects. Not, say, do ads for the Jolly Green Giant or develop yet another brand of children's cereal. Enough of that shit! I mean I realize that people need shit and are willing to trade money for shit and services and that's not the part of capitalism that I'm worried about. It's that WHY do we need another brand of children's cereal?! What possible niche of the market could they be missing right now?! And I don't need ads for green beans! If I need green beans I'll get green beans! Which is why I'm pissed that you're letting that other kid basically redo the audible.com site. I mean, that problem has been solved! Find something new! Improve a real problem! All he's doing is taking their site and putting it in new clothes. And I HATE when design gets relegated to that; style. ARG! Design is so much more! It can be so much more!!

Dishwashing and Loneliness

I've lived in two apartments without dishwashers now: once when I was living with Brad in Lancaster and this current one. (Sidenote: odd, huh? Seems like just awhile ago it would have noteworthy if the apartment *had* a dishwasher.) And I can honestly say that one of my favorite parts of the day is washing the dinner dishes. Especially in this apartment. Meg has graciously set up her stereo so that there are speakers in most rooms and I can play music (just like I used to in Lancaster). Around our kitchen sink we have small paper lamps that have the softest glow. I love the light, I love the music, I love the feeling of the warm soapy water. I love the calming nature of the whole experience. Of course it matters which music one plays. My all-time top 3 dishwashing albums are Doug Martsch's self-titled release, Beck's Sea Change and Sufjan Stevens' Seven Swans.

Come to think of it, these past few weeks have felt a lot like that summer in Lancaster. Not entirely bad, not entirely good either... Two years later and 300 miles to the north, I feel that same pang of loneliness. Most everyone I knew at Syracuse University graduated last May and I just want to rush through this year to get it over with. It all feels like purgatory, some interim period where I feel like I belong nowhere.

Let's play the silver lining game (a quote from cat and girl): At least it will be a productive year for work ;)

La tierra de los muertos

This afternoon I biked around the graveyard on Comstock Ave. For those that don't know, this graveyard is massively huge. I got back into my kid-like sense of exploration. The graveyard has a lot to offer explorers too. There seem to be hundreds of different sections of the whole thing: cliffs that overlook the city of Syracuse, areas where there are no headstones just metal markers on the ground, areas where the monuments are little cathedrals unto themselves. I even found an old dilapidated barn where someone is storing used oil drums and beat-up furniture. Needless to say, lots of photos were taken. Some of my favorites are above. I've vowed that until the snow sets in I'm going to have to have regular Saturday afternoon treks.

Later in the afternoon I walked up to Westcott Street to visit the bead shop there. Vices, curse you! I spent $10 on beads and findings, but to my credit I got some really stellar beads. Most are being transformed into assorted types of jewelry as we speak (the apartment reeks of epoxy). The irony here is that I don't wear much jewelry, I just enjoy making it. I bought two bone beads that look a little like small wiffle balls that I'm not sure what to do with yet. Something will come.