The clever type – that daidala is a tricky trickster.

I'm late! I slept straight through my alarm, a number of times most likely. I can't remember any of it – but it must have happened. I set it for 6am and I remember waking up at 6:14 and venturing to the restroom. I then crawled back in bed and re-set my alarm for 6:45. I woke up at 9:45. This is the way my mind works sometimes: since I am already late, I might as well be really late. This coffee sure does taste good.

The really funny part, is that some of my teachers read my blog. moooaaahahaa ha ha. ha.

I spent much of the day keeping mental notes from my observations made on buses, trains and long treks down rainy sidewalks. However, by the end of the day I couldn't remember more than two, and the best one has vanished from my mind (Damn, I remember thinking to myself at the time how awesome it would be to remember this so I can post it in my blog). Let me point out the two I can remember. Men/guys should never, I repeat, never wear those crazy D&D trenchcoats. Ya know, the kind with the shoulder flap thingies? And please, don't pair them up with a fedora hat, aka Indiana Jones hat. This is a frightening look, regardless of your hidden charm and wit – you will scare all in your path, and believe me, this jacket will not help in your search for the princess. And my second thought, women/girls at any age, should never, I repeat, never walk the streets, the aisles, the whatevers in high heels unless you can walk the walk. Seriously, if you must learn, practice in your home – you are making me uncomfortable and I am getting horrible cramps in my legs from watching you stumble down the street with the stiffest of limbs, watching your feet and making sure they are still attached to the bottoms of your seemingly numb legs. Some humans are not built nor meant to walk in very high heels (I'm talking stilhettos) and you should just accept that. Fashion is not about being uncomfortable so that you can look sexy or cool – I get somewhat embarrassed for the girls who cannot graspe this concept, because regardless of your clothing, if you aren't comfortable in your shoes, it shows and it isn't sexy. Never.

It feels really nice to pick up some pencils and a pad of paper. I have completely taken for granted the therapy in drawing, as much as I talk about how much I want to sit and draw, I still have the tendancy to forget about its importance. I am trying to promise myself that I will fit in at least one drawing per day – regardless of the content or quality.

Some sketches and doodling done early this morning, click on them for a larger version.

This is so awesome – beware eBay shoppers. When buying items, look closely at the reflective surface (if applicable), there may be a naked fat guy hidden behind the shadows.

oops.

It has happened to all of us, the random deaf person bugging you for change, trying to sell you some dope – pretty common. However, many of us non-sign language knowing hearing people, don't have a clue what they are trying to say most of the time, unless of course they came prepared with little cards attached to kechains. Well we are all saved, here is a website that will help you in all of these uncomfortable deaf person situations.

The next time you are making travel plans to countries like Amnesia and Critterton, try using this airline. Their website is delightfully easy to navigate and their use of a sunset orange is reminiscent of Easy Jet and their bubbly, young image – however, it seems the CEO and her dog were just jailed for various reasons and one of their planes recently went down from uhh, excessive drinking in the cockpit. oops!

Finally, more photos from Amsterdam! There are still more to come, those taken in London, though they aren't even developed yet, so don't count on seeing those anytime soon.

Today was exciting. There were different levels of excitement, some of which I've almost forgotten about and will by tomorrow, others that I am still a little shaken up by. The sun was amazing this morning, as I listened to my song on my bike, watching the giant bald eagles float above the bright blue water and little sail boats, not paying mind to the annoying gulls trying to knock him off course. I got to school on time, but something, or some one (like a little green guy sitting on my shoulder, telling me to do bad things) forced me not to go to class. I did work for another class instead, so I don't feel so bad. Got to play video games at Radical today, that was exciting. After a meeting my marketing group had with one lead designer and one producer, both of whom who very nice to us and told us all about the new CSI game coming out next week – I got to raid their soda cooler. Did I mention I played video games? Yeh, they were mounted into the walls in the main lobby, PS2, XBox, Sega something (high above the pool tables, air hockey tables, more video games, massive community kitchen fully stocked and a giant indoor log cabin, complete with wooden outdoor furniture on a large wooden porch – I have no clue what that was about but it was filled with gaming consoles and giant TVs). It basically rawked. If we had only put more money in the parking meter we could've stayed there all day long. Had fun with some food photography – is pretty gross and will make anyone decide that fast food just ain't right.




As it poured rain, I was welcomed by a very pleasant e-mail, one that could very well be a major turning point for me, but I won't talk about that just yet, it is simply far too exciting for you to handle, nor myself.




The rest of my day was spent in a sea of computers – tweaking, kerning, printing, saving, etc… the whole time thinking only about my excitement and whether or not the rain would stop before my long journey home in the dark. I was happy to find the skies free of rain clouds and one giant mountain beaming its alien-esque, ski-resort lights on the remaining bits of fluff. It was kind of like a scene from a science fiction movie, the mountain being covered in a giant alien-infested ship, scientists lurking about outside, testing the soils and awaiting some sort of communication – all mathematicians and translators standing by for first contact… Yes, it was kinda like that.

I cannot stop listening to this song! I have been enjoying it while working at my puter, while working at my desk, while walking down the street, while getting all sweaty on the stairmaster, while cooking dinner, while working at my puter and while working at my puter. I cannot wait til tomorrow morning so I can listen to it again and sing really loud while I am on my bike headed for the island. OOps! Did I press repeat again? The beats are cheesy as hell, but that Ben Gibbard has the sweetest voice, the sincerity just drives me nuts. Good nuts, like cashews.

yeh, mm – if you still want to buy me a birthday present, it isn't too late! It is never too late to buy me presents. There is this purse, that I really like and want – and it is so cute and I like it and I think I need it. It is here and click on "purses" then "peek peek". Yeh that is it, use yer paypal and send it on over to canada, go on – don't be shy.

I'm practically speechless. Well, perhaps that is an exaggeration, but LOOK at this amazing type project! It won the typography award at the Flash Film Festival. I am SOo drooling and rockin out at the same time! Baskerville, WOOoo! Helvetica, RAWK! Times New Roman, Kiss My Ass!

The sun was shining down today, and there were babies everywhere. Something about good weather brings out all the little children under 2. Mommy or daddy pushing around over-sized, sports utility strollers – babies securely fastened under a weather-proof, see-through plastic sheild just in case it rains, or god forbid a sea gull shits on its head. Yes, babies were out in full force today; riding on buses and trains, eating ice cream, and shopping for earrings… er, no maybe that was me shopping for earrings while trying to get around the babies as they screamed and sat there being smelly. Freakin, frikkin babies. All over the place. stoopid spring.

In other news, I got my beautiful hand written letter today from mr Craig over @ By Return Post! It is such a great feeling to get home after a very long day of dodging babies, to find a lovely penned letter from a stranger, sitting on the kitchen counter! I am so pleased! And he actually takes the time to make it personal, referencing things I had written to him in my e-mail request, acknowledging that he does care about each and every letter he writes, so nice. He must write many. I want to write a letter. In my shiny new earrings.

Oh, and speaking of letters, look at my pretty letters! They are my very first – as in I drew them out by hand with a broad-nibbed pen (based on an existing typeface, points to whomever can guess which one) and then vectorized the jeebies out of them with bezier curves! This was done in under one day, mind you, so there are some serious flaws – but look a them , they are pretty and I am very proud of them, they are my first little babies, but they don't move and I like that.

OMG, this andre is HILARIOUS! I love finding people who have the same odd sense of humour as myself.

Happy St Patty's Day! It was purely accidental that I wore green today, the small bit of green on the face of my watch, I simply had no clue it was the beer holiday. I can't remember the last time I celebrated to be honest. It may have been about three or four years ago when I joined some co-workers for a couple of beers after work, ya know, just to warm up before the big night of beer-garden surfing in downtown Portland. Before I knew it I was stumbling out of a cab at 5pm onto my front steps, and I passed out shortly after. It has always been important to drink heavily on this day in most major North American cities, especially Portland, having the "we will celebrate absolutely anything so that we can drink more beer" mentality – and please don't think I am pointing this out as a negative trait. Any city that puts great tasting beer before all else, to me is a city worth living in.

The National Post did a wonderful full page article on one of my very favorite and inspirational illustrators, whom you, my faithful readers, should know by now as Danny Gregory (become very familiar with his site, it won't let you down). The article seems to be unavailable at the Post, but if you read this post, check out the scan of said article. I don't think I have seen a newspaper layout with such fabulous color nor animated quality. Only Danny's drawings could give newsprint such life.

The differences between Helvetica and Arial are very subtle, though it is imperative we learn to discriminate between the two because a) One of them is evil; b) you never know when you are going to be stuck in a situation where your life will depend on your knowing which of the two has a spur on the capital G. Get learned. After you get learned, go here and take the quiz.
I know I have posted this before, but it is so fun! Kill Arial.

Via Moleskinerie, via a great article in the Glouschester County Times, I stumbled upon a man, Craig at By Return Post, who will, upon request, write you a handwritten letter and send it to you the old fashioned way; ink, paper, envelope and stamp. He is trying to keep something alive, that has always been taken for granted, communication through words, on paper, by hand. So simple, so easy to do, yet we have almost completely forgotten how important it is to have this ability to write. Remember how great it feels to get a letter in the mail? Something tangible, something you can tear open, stick in your purse, save for later, or read on the bus? Looking at the scribbles, the white out, the ink bleeds on soft paper. Remember when it would rain on your letter and how desperately you would try to shelter it? Visit byreturnpost.com and request a nice letter from him, I did and I will be counting down the days until I get it. Spread the love, write a letter, with your hands.

I am so tired of being sick, and being sick is making me so tired. I think a quick trip to the ole doctor might be in my schedule for today. After desperately trying to get over my cold, yesterday allergies from hell appeared, allergies that even the strongest of my medications could not cure. Apparently there is some tree that is blooming right now, causing my nasal passages to become inflamed and sore, making my eyes itch and burn and increasing the pain of my pre-existing sinus headache. Stupid tree. After a good sleep, I woke up a freakin snotty mess, no longer just allergies but now a really bad sequel to the first cold, making its way into my chest, looking for the last little bit of uninhabited real estate. But I am going to fight it and I am going to kill it, with chocolate first, then maybe some vitamins or something.

Over at The Skinny (aka Veer), something really interesting is going on, check out their Lightboxing, where two designers are invited to create a masterful design using only a selection of images and typefaces, chosen by the Veer creatives. The two contestants are then critiqued, discussed and deemed the winner or the loser.

Now that I am back in N. America, shit is boring, basically. School is getting tough once again, there is much to be done, I am beginning (or rather continuing) to feel burnt out, I just realized that I lost my fancy little coconut shell ring somewhere between London and Vancouver and I miss my hair a little. However, the world is still a great place because, thanks only to me ole' china plate in so cal with a taste in music that is comparible to my own, I have two new great bands to listen to, they make me happy and I tend to forget about the hard work, and my missing ring and my hair, just a little.

This is amazing, all of Springfield has been mapped out, right down to the store listings in the Springfield mall. Well worth the look for all you Simpsonites out there. Thanks itchy robot for the links.

Brand spankin new photo page, up and ready for your viewing pleasure, all from my recent trip across the water. Watch for broken links, as I have yet to complete everything – should be running smoothly by the end of this evening. Many more photos to come, so keep checking back! Go Now!

It is my birthday, and my friends that have stopped writing me, are now hanging out on Friendster. It feels so good to know where their priorities lie. Yup, you guessed it, I am a bitter old woman.

We all learned the questionable practice of placing a double space behind a period, typophiles explain its history here.

Tomorrow my age digits increase. I wasn't going to celebrate, but since my friend is throwing her belated birthday party tomorrow, I will be crashing her party and turning it swiftly into my very own. The Railway tomorrow evening – be there. I bought a new outfit to commemorate the occasion, I didn't mean to, it just happened. On my way to the train, I was thinking about how lovely my skirt was, a beautiful and stunning skirt which I bought in London, and I thought about how good it felt to buy it, my thoughts were completely obsessive over the sheer perfection of this skirt. As I walked past the underground mall, I thought, since it was about to be my birthday, wouldn't it be nice to feel that good again? To feel the warmth of new clothes against my aging body? That was a good enough excuse for me, and I redirected myself immediately towards the birthday gifts. I bought a pair of black pants and a black shirt, my ideal outfit. Very simple. I own, perhaps a dozen, no, four dozen black shirts – two pairs, no, six pairs of black pants. But these were different, they have cuffs.

Funny story #30 Calliope and I were walking the streets of Amsterdam in the middle of the night, searching for the perfect pub in which to consume pannenkoek and fries,with a side of beer or Genever, aka Dutch Gin. After passing up a dozen venues, of which were just not the perfect environment for our jet-lagged arses, we ended up in a bitty lil' place filled with peanut shells and cherubs. Chaos Cafe (on the Looiersgracht) was its name, chaotic it was not – our presence was certainly known, the room was small and four people sat at the bar, three of which I presume resided there. We silently glanced at one another, quietly questioning it's environment and whether or not would find the food we so desperately were searching for. As if reading our minds, a Liverpoolian bloke at the bar spoke out, breaking the eerie silence within, "Christ, this place is fookin straange!" He continued with a comment on how he knew the two girls that entered must have second thoughts about the joint and figured we would turn and leave, but on his cue we decided to stay and experience the strangeness of this little hole in the wall. It was simply hilarious that he said this with such perfect timing, he himself, having stumbled upon this litte Dutch bar and finding it quite curious. We had a really delightful time in Chaos Cafe, no they didn't serve food, but peanuts and beer fed our hunger. Gary, the boy from Liverpool, now residing in Amsterdam, kept good company and taught us a lot about the mystery of that city. A bell rang into the wee hours, my immediate reaction was that of the bell representing last call – quite the contrary, the bell represents empty glasses, those of mine and Calli's – they filled our glasses on the house! We left sometime near 2:30 or 3:00am, the cafe closing when it's patrons were done, lovely! With our grand fill of beer, and a little of the young genever in Calli's belly, we departed, wandering the streets of Amsterdam till maybe 4? After passing the same giant plastic bathtub twice, we realized we were lost, roaming the city in circles, half the time desperatley searching for a place to pee. It wasn't so bad in the end, we saw much of the city we wouldn't have otherwise, and were pleased to listen to the sounds of the Westerkerk (west church) bells at 3am while in a small bicycle filled alley and eventually found our temporary home via Prinsengracht.

After being down almost all week, I am recovered and ready to take on the day. There is much to be done this morning, I have to get a booklet to the printer for an afternoon critique, and of course get my film in to be processed! I think I want to to get that fancy little white border on the prints, wouldn't that be nifty.

I think that my body is now in the correct time zone, I have started sleeping in again. In London, I was waking up at 5:30am on the nose, I was kind of hoping it would become habit and travel back home with me, I would love to be able to wake up that early every day. Public transportation just isn't going to be any fun now, knowing how much better it is in London, no more Tube, no more giant red double-deckers. Have you ever rode on a double decker bus, on the very top, in front? Well, after a few drinks it can be a little scary, fun as hell, but scary. Not only are you on the wrong side of the road, but it looks as though you are running over absolutley everything in your path, a very bumpy path. Grand Theft Auto would be awesome in a double-decker. I also like that you can hop on in back and hang off the side of the bus.

Funny story, we'll call it Funny Story #12, since there will be more to come I am sure. I was reminded of this funny story this morning as I was blow drying my hair. In London, as you know, the electricity is different, the voltage much higher. The converter provided to us was only 50 volts and well, I need at least 150v for my hair dryer, 50v hardly made a hiss – so I decided to just use the outlet adapter I had brought along, with no voltage conversion whatsoever. It seemed to work just fine on the LOW setting, high almost exploded, but LOW was about right. My hair is frighteningly curly, and frighteningly short, my current hairstyle consists of a bit of a faux-hawk, therefore proper straightening via hair dryer is required, and believe me, I have it down to an artform. Before I start, it is imperative that a nice layer of flattening cream be applied, so that the heat won't make the hair frizz out uncontrollably. This being said, when you apply heat to a product, such as flattening cream, it smokes a little, nothing new. So as I was drying my hair, in the very particular way that I do, I noticed a very high amount of smoke coming off my head. I also noticed parts of my hair turning different colours. At one point, I saw this huge chunk of what looked like a white smear on the front of my head, I turned the dryer off and ran my fingers through – out came about a half inch of burned hair! The heat was so intense that it was just melting my hair away. Thankfully, my hair is always in such dissarray that it really doesn't make a difference if there are shorter and longer sections, it all adds to the texture and complexity of the style. But it was funny, I laughed, people laughed with me, at me, whatever, and I waxed it into place, the end.

Missing school today could come back to haunt me, but I am so terribly ill that going anywhere is absolutely out of the question. I'm a little confused at exactly how much time had passed since I got back from London, the minute I arrived home I placed all my necessary medicines next to my bed and crawled under the covers, sleeping for roughly 30 or so hours, off and on of course. So, I think two days have passed, though I will have to wait until my head is clear enough to do the math.

I haven't had much energy to put together my digital photos, and still most of the photos I took are 35mm, though here are just a couple of what I have uploaded so far. One shot is from the Tate Modern in London, the Weather Project; Museumplein at night in Amsterdam; the Gill Sans drawings, held at St. Bride Printing Library. There will be many, many more to come.