Practicing Typography

yfrog.com/oeu3wepj typography practice tonight

— Ted Rokitowski (@tedrok) April 30, 2013

I've Been Merging All Wrong

One of my biggest pet-peaves of driving is when a lane is about to end- for construction or whatever - and I make my way over immediately into the proper lane only to see folks racing up to the merge-point ahead of me.  I curse them!

However, I've been doing it all wrong.  Apparently, the right way, and the safer way, is not to merge immediately, but to continue using the lane until it ends.  It's called the Zipper Merge and if you can stand these Minnesotian's accents, they'll make it plain for you:

Rob Bell at The Seattle School

Rob Bell Interview and Q&A at The Seattle School from The Seattle School on Vimeo.

I really like hearing him speak.

Assassin's Creed 3 Trailer

I'm not a follower of new video games, or even music for that matter, but every so often I take some time to see trailers of the upcoming games.  I'm blown away at 1)how amazing games are becoming - I mean from everything - lighting, rendering, choreography of characters, to directing; and 2)how well these trailers are produced and directed.  They're so much more than just commercials - they're short films.

Anywho, I've been taking a liking to Imagine Dragons, and this Assassin's Creed 3 trailer is sweet!  I really like history and especially American history.  Animal renders in video-games always seem to disappoint me, but seeing that eagle was spectacular!  This is an over-all great art piece, even if you don't care for the game itself.

"Sugar Is Hitler"

Good interview on The Colbert Report with pediatric endocrinologist Robert Lustig on sugar, processed foods, etc.

The Colbert Report
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Why Is Everyone Always Giving My Kids Junk Food?

By YONI FREEDHOF

I have three lovely little girls who range in age from 3 to 8. All three go to school, participate in organized, after-school activities, enjoy birthday parties and play dates, and have a cadre of friends. And everywhere they go, they're being smothered with junk.

Last week my 3-year-old's pre-school had a "color war." An email sent to parents explained that there would be a fruit snack and "a treat of course." It's not so much the treat that's the problem, it's the "of course."

As many defenders of pushing junk food on kids will tell you, "one treat isn't going to kill them," but it's the societal "of course" attitude that might—as if 3-year-olds wouldn't be thrilled to pieces to just play all day and enjoy some fruit on its own.

Last week also saw Valentine's Day. Raise your hand if your child's backpack haul of candy and chocolate was more reminiscent of Halloween than the Hallmark holiday of love. When I was a kid we gave out cheesy little cards with Disney characters—when did candy take over?

And birthdays? I can't imagine a birthday party without cake, but when did it become the practice to have in-school junk food to celebrate? And it's not just the kids' birthdays either. When my 5-year-old's undeniably lovely teacher had her own birthday roll around, she brought junk for the kids too.

To be fair, I can at least see where junk food and holidays and birthdays come together, but I truly scratched my head when my 8-year-old joined a reading club, went to the opening meeting excited to talk about books, and came home to tell us about the candy they were given to commemorate the event.

For us anyhow, it never seems to end. Saturday skating lessons often include lollipops, kids' grab bags from community races regularly contain chocolates, loot bags from friends parties might as well be renamed candy bags, libraries host events with names like "Donuts and Dads," bending a blade of grass with soccer shoes leads to sugar-sweetened sport drinks on the field and often ice cream or popsicles when the final whistle blows, and so on and so forth. And don't even get me started on juice. No doubt too, each and every time I speak up, there's someone out there telling me I shouldn't be so frustrated, as it's just "one" lollipop, it's just "one" ice cream sandwich, it's just "one" chocolate bar. If only it were just "one."

My conservative estimate is that my children, no doubt with the best of intentions, are being offered an average of at least 600 sugar-spiked calories of junk each and every week–junk that we had never intended on giving them in the first place, and in many cases, couldn't decline if we wanted to, since we wouldn't have been present at its offering. Assuming a conservative 70 percent of that junk's calories are coming from sugar, that's 26.25 teaspoons of added sugar a week or more than 14 pounds of the white stuff a year.

It's never just "one."

Somewhere along the line, we've normalized the constant provision of junk food to children. It seems no matter how small the ship or short the journey, sugar pretty much christens each and every voyage on which our children set sail.

There's simply no occasion too small to not warrant a junk food accompaniment. But for me, the strangest part of all is the outcry that occurs if and when I point it out. My experiences have taught me that junk food as part of children's' activities has become so normalized that my questioning this sugary status quo genuinely offends people's sensitivities and sometimes even generates frank anger.

Despite incredible medical advances over the course of the past 60 years, I would argue that the world is a less healthy place than it once was. Cooking has become a lost art, unstructured active play is on the endangered species list, and candy, which certainly has always understandably enjoyed a coveted place in children's hearts, has somehow become the normalized cornerstone of their culture.

People other than their parents giving children junk food shouldn't be considered "normal," and until that attitude changes, I guess I'll just have to keep pointing out how crazy our new normal has become.

What's the craziest candy or junk food tie-in you've seen with your children?

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This.

Really cool project by Fabian Oefner.  Paint spun on a dowel, powered by a little dremmel tool.

More pictures, description, and video here.

I'm a Sucker for Good Labels

These wine bottle labels are great!  A good label always draws me in at the grocery store.

Found (also more to see) on Jeanie Jeanie.  Labels are by Stranger & Stranger packaging company.

Happy New Year!

Learn to Draw

Good video and response:

@hesir Not sure I 100% agree. Everyone should know how, but skirting around the obvious solution often yields more interesting work.

— Olly Moss (@ollymoss) January 3, 2013

Powerful Teacher Resignation

My heart breaks for so many reasons.  My mom is a teacher, and a good one.  I watch this video and I see a teacher who care - someone who, when you say "What is a teacher?", he exemplifies it - of course, I don't know him from Adam, so I temper that thought, but I know there are teachers out there that struggle all the time to be creative, want to go an extra mile, and have that tug-o-war of values on what they should do, what they can do, and what's going to get the fired or not - all for the sake of kids they may never see again.

I have so much respect for teachers and I shake my head how they are 'treated' - low pay for the effort, confining and limiting their skills, and taking them for granted.  I remember the good teachers (and they're not all good, of course), but I know who I am today is because of teachers who cared about my future.

This subject gets me fired up.  Go hug a teacher or something.

Now Playing: O Come Emmanuel by David Crowder

Pacific Rim - Want to See!

Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim.  Coming next summer.

Robots and alien monsters - eeeeek!:D

Christmas List: Trappist Westvleteren XII

Made by Trappist monks in their Abbey, Sint Sixtus, in Belgium.  They're in need of money to help expand their Abbey, so they're offering this beer, for the first time, internationally to raise funds.  $90 a brick (6 bottles, plus beer glass).  Yes, please!

The Creativity of Diane @ Our Vintage Home Love

I really enjoy crafty things as well as larger home decor projects.  I don't do very many, but I still like them.  I know the restoration-style decor is the in thing, but I'm all aboard this bandwagon.  The fusion of classic and modern items really intrigues me when it's done right and Diance @ Our Vintage Home Love blog does it right.

She recently opened up a shop, Vintage Accents, Antiques & Architectural Salvage.  Diane sells hand-crafted bread boards from reclaimed wood in her online shop.  Here are just a few of her creations.  If you are fan of salvaged and reclaimed creations, please head over to her blog.

Really dig this ruler headboard!