A little Twitter:
Be nice
I love everything about these Japanese posters encouraging good manners on the subway. I'm especially in awe of how easy they are to understand without words, and how they manage to be friendly and not primly critical. Also, I wish more people actually took these lessons to heart.
And you're crawling like a...
In these grim times, let us not forget some of the sublime pleasures of the lesser Jacksons:
I'm not even being funny. I love, and have always loved this track. Embedding is disabled for the video on YouTube, but you really ought to check it out.
Busted!
This year, I finally got sucked in and become one of the "ironic non-idiots":
I also gave into peer pressure and reactivated my long-defunct Facebook profile, even though the whole tign still kinda gets on my nerves. Between that and The Apprentice, I think it's time for me to completely abandon any kind of indie cred I've been clinging to.
Special note: Let's all pretend that I decided to ignore this site for the entire month on purpose, like some kind of summer vacation, OK?
Poseurs
See that Sex Pistols flyer above? It's being auctioned by Christie's with a starting bid of $2,000-$3,000. The thing is, though, it's totally a fake. You know how you can tell? Typeface analysis. And the gratuitous use of Comic Sans isn't the only clue.
Update: Thanks for the link, BoingBoing! Hello people of the internet!
TDi: intensive typeface design
This July — as in, soon — Reading is offering a week-long version of the MA Typeface Design course. I wrote a little more about it over at I Love Typography.
Subway Stories
It only dawned on me yesterday that the videos from the WYSIWYG Talent Show were still languishing on our old web server, which is rather a terrible waste considering how much more easily you can handle video on the internet now thanks to YouTube. So without further ado, here's a clip of me from March 2005, reading my bit at "The City That Never Shuts Up: New York Stories".
Related:
Subway Smackdown: the written version of the clip above
Mix It Up and Do the Do: from November 2005's show, "I'm With the Band"
I'm So Gay: from June 2004's show, "That's So Gay! Tales of Extremely Gay Gayness"
Table for one, please
I am a pretty intensely introverted person, which can be a challenging thing now and again. As long as I get a little time to myself to regroup and unwind, I'm perfectly comfortable being sociable or doing far more extroverted things like teaching or going out, but situations where I am around other people for long stretches of time really wear me out. No matter how much I treasure good company and enjoy being around interesting people, dealing with more than a few people at a time — or any number of people for a long stretch of time — usually requires a conscious effort, a way of slipping into a different, more outgoing mode for a little while, and then getting some serious rest afterwards. (This, as family members may be suspecting at this moment, is why I always retreat tot he solitude of long naps in the middle of holiday get-togethers.)
Travel has always been particularly challenging, or at least traveling with other people. Travel on its own is pretty tiring, what with all the new things to take in and explore at every turn, but it's really tough when I can't get a chance to just be alone and let my brain settle down for a spell. I really like traveling on my own, actually, just so I can follow my nose and take things at my own pace and decide for myself how much I feel like diving into my surroundings. It's also wonderful to see someplace new with people you can talk to and enjoy it with, but it only really works if they're happy to go off on their own and leave me to myself now and then.
It was lovely, then, to come across "Confessions of an Introverted Traveler" and "Six Tips for Introverted Travelers", a pair of articles that finally acknowledge how introverts handle trips and vacations differently than their more gregarious friends, families, and colleagues. This little bit is perhaps the best summary of my whole attitude about such things:
I'm not opposed to traveling with others — a good travel companion is a joy and an extroverted companion can make connections for you on the road. But I'm also not shy about eking out time to myself as necessary. An hour walking alone, some solo time in a museum, an hour in a hotel garden with a book can provide a very refreshing break from interaction. Anyone who doesn't respect your need for downtime is probably not the right travel companion for you.
Oh, Hitler
He's freaking out about fonts again:
I like the shout-out to I Love Typography in that one.
Photos officially OK in NYC
Finally, common sense prevails over security theatre and knee-jerk paranoia:
Faced with complaints from photographers and tourists alike, the NYPD has issued a department order reminding cops that the right to take pictures in the Big Apple is as American as apple pie.
"Photography and the videotaping of public places, buildings and structures are common activities within New York City . . . and is rarely unlawful," the NYPD operations order begins. [From the New York Post]
[Click the image above to enlarge and print for yourself to carry around, if you're so inclined.]
Let's hope they finally drop the anti-photography here in the UK one of these days.