Month: January 2008

  • Helvetica

    Some people care about shoes.  They buy them often, they consider carefully which pair to wear, and they notice other people's shoes, perhaps even judge others by their shoes.  I notice fonts.  I just do.  For the most part, I notice the gag-me awful ones and the perfectly fitting fonts.  A realtor in our small town just established his own business: his signs are the most artless, ugly, horrific, disaster of graphic art.  My daughter-in-law and I just point and groan when we see them. 

    I used to make the common mistake of using multiple fonts in a document when so many first became available. (cringe) I remember my first encounter with Helvetica back in 1988: the Director of Admissions sat at my desk and rhapsodized about the clean lines, sans serif, readability, attractiveness, etc. etc.  I don't fuss with fonts much with blogging, but with other documents I spend time clicking, trying different fonts, judging their appeal.  I will not use Times New Roman.  Comic Sans seems too childish, a good choice only if you're typing a thank you note from a six month old. 

    Using Netflix's Watch Instantly, I enjoyed Gary Hustwit's documentary, Helvetica.  The 80 minute film gives the history of the font designed by Max Miedinger in 1957 in Switzerland. You meet two dozen graphic designers, who discuss their use or non-use of Helvetica. 

    The parts I enjoyed the most were the three-minute sequences of signs --street signs, business signs, slogans on clothes, billboards, civic signs-- which were interspersed between the interviews with the designers.   Helvetica is truly ubiquitous.  Even the IRS tax forms are printed with it!  Here are some tidbits I scribbled down as I watched:

             ~  "Creating order is typology."

              ~  the DNA of letter forms (these designers are passionate; but I loved that turn of phrase)

              ~  "Graphic designers can't see historical movies because the fonts are always wrong."

              ~  If you are heavy in the middle you wouldn't wear tight tee shirts.  Helvetica is heavy in the middle and needs lots of white space around it.

              ~  ABH = anything but Helvetica

              ~  Helvetica came out of modernism.  Grunge typography came out of postmodernism.  Designers today are swinging back to Helvetica but are using it in unique or more creative ways.

    Now, it was an enjoyable DVD for a cold, January Sunday afternoon while my husband napped, but I wouldn't spend money to watch it.  There was a sprinkling of salty language and a few salty images (especially in the grunge section.)  If you get off on graphic design and fonts, you may enjoy it.

    What is your favorite font?

  • Nobility in the Mundane

    I long to accomplish a great and noble task,
    but it is my chief duty
    to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.

       ~ Helen Keller

    Umm....I'm cleaning my refrigerators today...among other things...

  • Borrowing Books, Lending Books

    What do you think about borrowing and lending books?

    Here's my received wisdom on this topic:

    On borrowing:

    1.  Make a discrete (not discreet) place to keep borrowed books.  DO NOT intersperse them with your own books.  A section of a shelf, a basket, a tote -- a specific spot solely for borrowed books is essential.  No Co-mingling Allowed. 

     Ahem.  It is amusing to cruise through a friend's library and find one of my books firmly ensconced in the midst.  Alternately, it's a bit of a shock to find a book with a friend's name in it sitting quite comfortably in the middle of my collection.

    2.  Establish a time-frame for the length of the time you plan to have the book.  "When do you need this back?" If your friend needs it back by Monday next [I'm practicing my Britishspeak], either take it and return it by Monday next or don't borrow it.  A sticky note on the cover page: borrowed [insert date] might help track times.

    3.  If it will take you longer to get through the book than you estimated, check in with your friend and ask for an extension.  Your friend may have forgotten that you borrowed the book.  "I still have this book: is that okay with you?"  Problems arise when folks with a comme-ci, comme ça attitude about their own books assume that their friends are similarly inclined. 

    4.  Return the book in the same condition you borrowed it.  If there is a change in condition, point it out to your lender friend and offer to compensate her or replace the book.  Most people understand normal wear. Do not underline, dog-ear, coffee-ring, bath-humidify books which do not belong to you.  [some friends have my permission to underline - I love to note what they noted.]

    5.  When you get a reputation as an avid reader, folks will thrust books into your hands and insist that you read (and enjoy) these books.  Discretion is the key.  If the relationship is a priority, read it.  If it is an acquaintance, read a chapter or so and return the book with your thoughts on that chapter.  Don't let other people's taste dictate your reading.  If you cannot in good conscience read the book, explain in a gracious tone why.  Be honest.  Be brave. On the other hand, a request to read a book can be a great opening to a deeper friendship.  If it is just not your preference, consider setting your preference aside for the sake of the relationship. 

    6.  A small note of thanks, even a sticky note, is appropriate.  Feedback of any sort is usually welcome.

    On lending:

    1.  Don't lend a book unless you are reconciled to the fact that you may never see it again.  If it is a precious book, it is better not to lend it than to become resentful when it is not returned.

    2.  I don't keep a file or list of books I've lent for two reasons: first, I'm lazy.  Also, I'm embarrassed to say, that when I've kept a file card, I've hounded someone about a book, asking repeatedly if he had it.  One of us was wrong; it is wasn't important enough to cause a rift in the friendship.  Keep a list, if you are interested in following-up.

    3.  Write your name on the flyleaf, and/or on what is called the tail or the bookblock/textblock. 

    4.  Let the lender know upfront your expectations for the length of the loan.   If you say "whenever" don't be upset when you buy replacement books shortly before they (finally) return them.

    5.  I've learned not to initiate book loans, as in "Here, read this book!", except with a very few distinguised friends. 

    6.  If the book doesn't return, let it go.  It's just stuff.  Very, very few books are irreplaceable.  (see #1)

    My favorite book lending story:  early in our marriage Curt and our pastor, Amos, were tooling from one end of the town to the other.  Spotting a garage sale, Amos pulled over and they cruised the tables.  Seeing a cool book, Amos picked it up and examined it.  It had his name on the flyleaf!  The seller at the garage sale wasn't the one who had borrowed the book, so he bought it back.  A true Hosea moment. 

    My gratitude:  to my fellow home schoolers who passed around home school books, tapes, videos, and curricula like nobody's business.  We considered keeping a collective inventory at one point - before the internet and LibraryThing. I cannot say how much money I've saved by borrowing books.  A personal library is a treasure to more than one person.

    A good idea: to look through every book in your collection on a bi-annual basis.  When it is shelved you can't tell if it belongs to someone else. 

    Any stories out there?

  • Wedding, Friends and All Things Wonderful

    Wedding music.

    I have seen a spectrum of styles, various instruments, a few many-splendored glories and a few fiascoes (including the soloist who had pitch issues to begin with and ended with my threat to boycott accompanying his free-style, note-bending, ad-libbing, Donna Summersesque rendition of The Lord's Prayer).

    But nothing will ever surpass the clarity, the simplicity, the potency of one cello playing The Church's One Foundation as the bridesmaids walked down the aisle. 

    ... from heav'n he came and sought her to be his holy bride;
    with his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died.

    All the joy and solemnity of the incipient ceremony, the thrill of anticipation, the relief of arriving at this place in this moment with these people, were distilled in the dulcet tones of the cello.  A hush descended; the sisters radiant in their turquoise dresses entered with regal dignity; the words from the hymn echoed and re-echoed in my thoughts. That was the defining moment for me.  It was the first time I've thought about Christ while I've watched a procession of bridesmaids.

    The wedding sermon was superb.  You, gentle reader, are blessed because you may read it here.  I timed it:  six minutes to read.  Print it out and read it with your family.  More beauty.  More wonder. More mystery.  

    The entire day was magnificent.  A coming together of friends and families near and far to witness the ceremony and rejoice at the reception.  Both families delighted with their new son/daughter/sister/brother.  A traditional southern New Year's Day meal -- and I l-o-v-e-d the steamed collards and black-eyed peas, not to mention the pulled pork.  I think I could be very happy living in the South. 

    A glorious wedding brings to fruition all the years of labor and prayer and care and guidance that went into the bearing and bringing up of a child.  It is such a day of rejoicing for the parents and grandparents and all the onlookers who have watched the growth in the bride or groom's life.        

    Our beloved pastor and friend, the groom's dad, giving a father's blessing

    The bride's mom, a jewel beyond compare


    Lindsey and Jon


    You know these people don't you?

    And I was blessed to meet, in real life, Dana of Hidden Art.  Who can say when or where we met?  I think her first comment here was on March 9, 2006. At that time we didn't have a clue that there were connections lurking underneath the framework of our online friendship.  Dana is every bit the gracious, classy, articulate woman you would expect.  Being with Dana makes you want to sit up a little straighter, because you want to, not because she's giving you a look.  She inspires you to be a lady, to be beautiful, to be articulate.

    We didn't have the freedom to just sit and talk non-stop until the evening after the wedding.  I loved relaxing together and letting our conversation meander where it would. Another bonus was meeting her parents, lovely folk.  I am inspired by her mother who took up painting after she turned 50 and is now an accomplished artist.  I loved introducing Dana to my loved ones. 

    I plan to join Dana and Cindy and others reading Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt. 

    2008 began gloriously.  I believe it's going to be a great year.

  • Rattlesnake Travelog

    "Are you going Rattlesnake?"

    AAA and Mapquest won't direct you to this road,
    the most direct way from point A to point B,
    which traverses a series of canyons.

    See for yourself why the highway is called Rattlesnake.

    In the left third of the picture below the highway snakes around the mountains.

    It is a fun drive in the summer in a itty-bitty sports car.

    Even in the winter, it is SO worth it for a wedding.

    Tomorrow: the wedding and another blog friend story.

    "What I had experienced was a symphony in the wilderness.
    Those who never learned to walk
    will never know its beauty.
    Only those who choose to get lost in it,
    cutting all ties to civilization,
    can know what I mean.
    Only those who return to the elemental world
    can knows its beauty and grandeur--
    and man's essential unity with it."
    ~ William O. Douglas