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Monthly Archives: December 2008

Me on Chank

Monday, December 29, 2008

A piece I did for MnArtists.org has been published, a profile of fontmeister Chank Diesel. Rereading it, my pedantic tendencies are striking. Hopefully readers will machete through to the better parts. Even if you don’t give a flip about typography, Chank’s art-from-everyday philosophy is inspiring. Here’s an excerpt: Putting the tools of type design into [...]

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X-Mas LIVE

Thursday, December 25, 2008

It’s 9:30 Christmas morning and we’ve already lapped the emotional track: elation, surprise, appreciation, mild embarassment, then weariness. We’re slowly building to enjoyment again: doing the puzzles, soaking up the books and music, pouring back that third cup of coffee. The blinds are open now and the smell of crepes is wafting from the kitchen. [...]

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Staring at the sun

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Our bit of holiday travel, now complete, consisted of a 40-hour visit to Des Moines to attend a baby shower, exchange a few gifts and spray paint a room full of shutters. It wan’t like our plane crashing at takeoff or anything, but the trip was harrowing this year. 250 miles of ground blizzard white [...]

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Frozen time

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Gift wrapping, company parties, tree trimming, tutoring, invoicing, watching people draw and other distractions have conspired to postpone Part 3 of my China slideshow. I need a week off in here somewhere before 2009 and tie up 2008. I DID squeeze off a few fancy shots of Johanna through her toy kaleidoscope.

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A few of my favorite GIFs

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

I’ve created a permanent page for animated GIFs to help bring attention to this underappreciated artform: The GIF Box.

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KUNMING: City of Crazy Lights

Monday, December 1, 2008

As my trip began, Austin was working on a follow-up story about the earthquake in Sichuan and Kirk was helping his American teachers get settled at their Chinese schools. His program places teachers in cities across China, from industrial shitholes like Shijiazhuang (Sister City of Des Moines) to the picturesque southern capitol of Kunming. After [...]

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