Just one of the many nifty Valentine’s Day cards my father-in-law gave out this year. He discovered these treasures in an antique co-op in Mifflin County.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Valentine Post Card
Just one of the many nifty Valentine’s Day cards my father-in-law gave out this year. He discovered these treasures in an antique co-op in Mifflin County.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Love Knows No Bounding Box, Pt. 2
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| The final four! |
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| The ambigram printed 8-up on a sheet of temporary tattoo paper from http://temporarytattoopaper.net I let it dry for 36 hours. |
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| I trimmed the paper and the adhesive sheet in half, and the peeled back the the adhesive sheet to begin to apply it. |
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| I gently rubbed the adhesive sheet with my fingers, and used the tip of an X-Acto knife to poke any air bubbles and worked them out. I gave a good final rub with an 30-year-old burnisher used in the past for transfer lettering sheets. I let this dry for 18 hours. |
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| Cut apart |
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| And trimmed close to the edge of the artwork. It seemed like leaving .187"+ around the artwork is the best idea, since the adhesive material can sometimes tend to curl back on itself when you remove the clear backing. Things you learn upon “doing.” |
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| My first attempt failed as it was way too humid in the bathroom after our shower, and the tattoo curled up on itself. My second attempt -- success! |
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Shorpy: Poe House: 1930
“Richmond, Virginia, circa 1930. Edgar Allan Poe’s mother’s house. 8x10 inch acetate negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston.”
View full size.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Highlights
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| I think I actually remember this cover! |
“Last night, on the way home from dinner, I asked Anne, ‘Do you remember Highlights for Children?’
‘Of course I do,’ she said, ‘I remember how I hated going to the doctor when I was a kid, until I started reading Highlights in the waiting room.’ ”
. . .
Read the rest of this fantastic post by Will Wheaten here. I had a subscription to Highlights as a child though I do remember seeing copies in the dentist’s office. I actually know one of the illustrators that works for Highlights — Anni Matsick. We first worked together back in the mid-1980s when she did freelance black-and-white fashion illustrations for me. She’d supply the finished artwork of models wearing the clothing we were advertising for sale at Danks Department Stores, and I’d create the color “mechanically” with dozens of overlays of amberlith and rubylith that would then be supplied to the newspaper for printing. It is still crazy thinking about creating color combinations in my head, using reference books of percentage combinations of CMYK inks, but all physically amber and red on clear plastic sheets designated to be shot in the darkroom as percentages of C, M, Y, or K. It was always exciting seeing the finished printed piece right off the press.
Image of the Day: Snow and Ice
Mr. Frisky's Pre-Press Quiz
via raintree
“Now hold still—this won't hurt a bit . . . maybe! Mr. Frisky wrote a few questions covering some of the more problematic areas we’ve encountered with client-prepared files over the years. Simply answer all the questions and click the button at the bottom and Mr. Frisky will score your quiz. If your score is 70% or better, chances are good we won’t have too many problems with your files. A lower score generally indicates that it may not be wise to try to design and prepare your graphic files on your own. This quiz is for informational and entertainment purposes only. No wagering, please.”
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Walking versus running
via bobulate
“It was 9AM and too early to be walking there on a Sunday. Walking down Central Park West in a satisfied way, the way you do when you’ve finished something, when much of a city is still asleep, when it’s too early for blocking the box or street cleaners, and pigeons are still meandering, and sound and light rise like hot symphonies from the grates.
But that didn’t stop the looking. People, out to get a part of that morning — catching the best of it before the rest of us use it up. Looking. Some who passed gave an odd once-over. Unusual.
What makes one suddenly noticeable? What makes something suddenly stand out?
Grabbing the pole on the train home, regarding the stares of now others who joined, I looked down. Bronze medal and ribbon around my neck and still holding token wilty carnation, I was in running gear. Covered in awards that every runner gets decked out with when she finishes a mini race around the park.
The difference between other runners and me: I forgot to remove these before leaving.”
Read the rest of Liz Danzico’s post here. As Miles contently slept on my lap this morning, I really enjoyed reading this post which reminded me so much of my wonderful wife.
Bizarro: The Gift
via BizarroBlog“. . . Here’s a cartoon about that person (or people) in your family that give you gifts that they think are perfect for you but could not be further off base. I once mentioned to my Aunt Sharon that I liked ‘kitsch art’ and for my next birthday she sent me some ceramic tiles with food printed on them, the sort you're supposed to hang in your kitchen. True story. I wouldn’t tell this story if there was any chance of hurting Aunt Sharon's feelings, but she's in solitary confinement now with no access to the Internet, so it’s safe. Hope you're warm and well-gifted today.”
Read Dan Piraro’s entire post here. This cartoon, and the story behind it, rings so true with the relationship I have with my mother.
Flying Wish Paper
via santa“Think of a special wish. . . your fondest dream, your deepest desire, your ambitions, concerns or burdens—and write it down on the Flying Wish Paper®. Shape your paper into a tube and place it on the Wish Platform®. Light the top edge of the tube and watch it burn down in a small, beautiful flame. At the last moment your wish magically lifts off the platform and rises to the heavens!”
Santa discovered this present at The Nittany Quill, a fun little shop nestled in the heart of State College. Learn more about Flying Wish Paper on their site.
Toynbee Tiles: A Mysterious Puzzle that Spans the Globe
“Though these modern days of the 21st century are filled with many puzzles, there seem to be few true mysteries anymore. As a professional puzzle designer and follower of puzzle hunts, I have personally witnessed how drastically the connectivity and community of the internet, the power of Google, and the sheer volume of information readily available to all makes the solving of many brainteasers almost trivial. Throw in the fact that most puzzle memes, alternate reality games, and online mysteries invariably end up just being marketing campaigns for soon to be released (and too often forgotten) films or television series, and one begins to wonder if any modern day, genuine mysteries truly are left.
The existence of the “Toynbee Tiles” might be just such a mystery. This world-spanning puzzle does not involve a musty old map from a remote archeological find. It is not written in an ancient language that few can read. It is not trying to get you to by a ticket to an upcoming summer blockbuster. And it is not giving up its answers easily.
Rather, these linoleum plaques which have been embedded in the asphalt roadways of major cities throughout the world for over two decades are a true conundrum of the present day. They are written in English (though proper grammar and syntax is often lacking), they are fairly easy to access (if you know where to look), and they have attracted the attention of many puzzle enthusiasts in the age of the all-knowing World Wide Web. However, despite all of this, no one really knows what the hell is going on.”
Read the rest here. More on Toynbee Tiles can be found here, a NPR story here, and a trailer for the film “Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles” can be watched here.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Jesus Chicken, Ethics, and Gay Rights
Chick-fil-A controversy shines light on restaurant’s Christian DNA
“The ongoing Chick-fil-A flap—which has gay rights groups blasting the restaurant chain for donating food to an anti-gay marriage group—may be a fleeting controversy for a privately held company that is more accustomed to fiercely loyal patrons and generally positive press coverage. But Lake Lambert, author of the book Spirituality Inc., says the flap may be a sign of more turbulence ahead for Chick-fil-A as it attempts to hold onto its conservative Christian business culture while expanding its chain beyond the Bible Belt. “If you have a faith-based corporate identity and you want to function in the national marketplace, you’re going to continue to encounter resistance to those values because not everybody is going to share them,” says Lambert. “The only other option is some sort of secular identity and that’s not where Chick-fil-A is going.” Lambert says Chick-fil-A is the most visible example of an American corporation trying to foster a specifically Christian identity. The company is privately held and family-run, making that task somewhat easier. Lambert says Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy signed what Cathy describes as a “covenant” with his children when they took over the company, to help preserve its Christian DNA.”
Read the rest here.
. . .
via nytimes
A Chicken Chain’s Corporate Ethos Is Questioned by Gay Rights Advocates
“. . . Nicknamed “Jesus chicken” by jaded secular fans and embraced by Evangelical Christians, Chick-fil-A is among only a handful of large American companies with conservative religion built into its corporate ethos. But recently its ethos has run smack into the gay rights movement. A Pennsylvania outlet’s sponsorship of a February marriage seminar by one of that state’s most outspoken groups against homosexuality lit up gay blogs around the country. Students at some universities have also begun trying to get the chain removed from campuses.”
Read the rest here.
. . .
in Time
Controversial Chicken: Chick-fil-A’s Gay Rights Rumble
“Chick-fil-A has long-been transparent about its Christian values. They close their stores on Sundays, a practice that has helped the chain garner the nickname ‘Jesus Chicken,’ and have even gone so far as to consider a potential employee’s marital status and civic and church involvement in their hiring process. But while the company’s beliefs come as no surprise, in sponsoring the Art of Marriage Conference, some say the restaurant empire took its evangelizing to a new level.”
Read the entire article here.
. . .
from change.org
“Take a look at an event scheduled for February 2011, co-sponsored by Chick-fil-A and the Pennsylvania Family Institute, the leading anti-gay group in the Keystone State and a group that has worked hard to try and pass a constitutional amendment in Pennsylvania banning same-sex marriage. The February event co-sponsored by Chick-fil-A is called The Art of Marriage, and it’s intended to be a launching point for Pennsylvania to return to ‘the biblical definition of marriage.’ Given the work of the Pennsylvania Family Institute, it’s hard not to see where this event is going to go—straight for the jugular of anyone who supports marriage equality for same-sex couples.”
Rest of the article here.
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Pennsylvania Family Institute’s site here.
On February 11-12, 2011, Pennsylvania Family Institute is sponsoring 2 conferences happening in the South-Central Pennsylvania region: Harrisburg/Camp Hill: Christian Life Assembly, Reading: Glad Tidings Assembly of God Church.
. . .
More can be found on the Advocate's site here. Chik-fil-A has a location in State College and on the Penn State campus. So far, I have not heard of any local news or ramifications of their sponsorship of the Pennsylvania Family Institute’s conferences, which surprises me.
Why Are Barns Red?
via the daily heller“In American Barns and Covered Bridges (Dover Publications, 2003), Eric Sloane notes that weather was an important consideration in planning a barn. The early builder mapped routes of sunshine, wind and water drainage. He paid careful attention to the health and comfort of his animals, as well as to the protection and preservation of barn timbers and stored grain. Early 18th-century bridges and barns went unpainted. The right wood in the right place, it was discovered, needed no paint. Even houses in the earliest settlements were not painted. Until . . .
As Grit (the magazine you could make extra money selling in your spare time) points out: ‘By the late 1700s, the art of wood seasoning gave way to the art of artificial preservation. Virginia farmers were the first to become paint-conscious. In Pennsylvania, the Dutch settlements latched on to the custom of red bricks, red barns, red geraniums, even reddish-brown cows.’
Red paint combined with linseed oil was also used to prevent certain organisms from decaying the wood. But there is more lore…”
Read the rest here.
Business Cards: Page V
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
“I wonder what drawing board manufacturers go back to...
via absurdoverheard “I wonder what drawing board manufacturers go back to if they fail.”
—Dr. J. Adam Moore
Absurd Overheard is Karen Kurycki’s “illustrated collection of absurd / funny / silly statements overheard . . . kind of like ‘Kids Say the Darndest Things’ for adults.” Visit her site here.
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