I'm amazed that I never stumbled across this interview with John Waters before, since it was in BUTT years ago. However, I've worked about 14 hours today and I'm too tired to concentrate even on a pleasant surprise like this, so I'm just pass out and leave it linked here for you to enjoy until I get a chance to come back to it.

Update: Best quote from the interview: "You can't get AIDS from sitting on a pie."

But at least two of my favorites still made the list -- My obscenely stylish Typejockeys shirt (note that mine has an ever better color combo):

...and my sassy gold-foil punctuation shirt that everyone always asks about:

Filed away for future use after all those moments when thigns get to be a bit much. Thank you, Peggy Olson, for making this visual punctuation mark possbile.

Confession time: This is basically what runs through my head most of the time. I have moments of slightly more self-confidence, but they're fleeting, and generally decimated by the stark reality of my day-to-day life.

[Another gem from Comically Vintage.]

And these are great fun!

[From the always spectacular Comically Vintage]

It basically means I don't have to look for work all that much, since it tends to find me through more casual channels like momentum, word-of-mouth, networking, yadda yadda. (It's the actual money that's hard to pin down, tragically. The work keeps piling up.) The trick is that now I only get a couple of sentences to sum up everything as well as highlight the relevant details for the task at hand, rather than letting a amore complete picture come together from the full details.

For instance, here's one for my current job:

Daniel Rhatigan, a 2006 recipient of a Monotype Imaging Ltd. scholarship, is working at Monotype Imaging Ltd. as part of the UK's Knowledge Transfer Partnership. KTP is a country-wide program that allows graduate students to partner with industries to help improve business productivity and competitiveness. Rhatigan is working at Monotype Imaging's Salford's design office under the direction of senior designer, Robin Nicholas. Rhatigan is chartered with applying his academic experience to a commercial project, while Monotype Imaging intends to benefit through Rhatigan's development of intellectual property.

But here's my bio for the teaching gig in the Netherlands I've had for the last couple of years:

Dan Rhatigan is a graphic designer from New York City, now living and working in London. He has worked as a designer and consultant for arts organizations for over 15 years, and has taught and lectured at the City College of New York, Central St Martins, and the University of Reading.

Dan Rhatigan, grafisch ontwerper uit New York City en woont en werkt op dit moment in Londen. Meer dan 15 jaar werkt hij als grafisch ontwerper en adviseur voor organisaties in de kunst- en grafische branche. Verder heeft hij les en lezingen gegeven aan het City College in New York, Central St. Martins en geeft nu regelmatig les aan de Universiteit van Reading in England.

But I do freelance work, too, now and then!:

Daniel Rhatigan worked as a designer and typographer in Boston and New York for 15 years before coming to study typeface design at the University of Reading. He also lectures on typography and branding in the Netherlands and here in the UK. You can look at some of his previous design work at ultrasparky.org.

And then there's the occasional bit of writing:

Dan Rhatigan is a typeface designer, graphic designer, teacher, and long-time blogger at ultrasparky.org. He received an MA with distinction in Typeface Design from the University of Reading in 2007, and he's now working with the Typography Department to research and design non-Latin typefaces for Monotype Imaging.

Once in a while, too, the emphasis shifts to my little side project:

Daniel Rhatigan is a typographer and typeface designer, originally from New York City but now based in London. When not teaching or working on a vast family of Indic typefaces, he publishes a zine called Pink Mince -- "for the confirmed bachelor of exceptional taste".

My squeal-inducing find of the day was the blog of Todd Klein, who has been working for ages as a letterer for comic books, and producing outstanding work. It's a bit inaccurate to say that his site is just a blog: he's mostly using the blog format to pull together a vast body of writing about comics and letters, peppered here and there with other things that catch his fancy.

The blog -- and in fact his entire site -- is packed with gorgeous images (the images of original paste-up art, like the ones shown above, get me especially giddy), and a lot of insightful commentary and analysis. This entry alone, which gathers links to all the posts specifically about the logo designs for a wide variety of comic titles, is the gateway to enough research material to start a research degree on the subject. Todd Klein, I salute you, sir!

As I find myself watching fewer and fewer movies, I'm becoming convinced that filmmakers should approach each movie like it's a scientific publication. 'What am I adding to the literature', they should ask.

— from Rotten in Denmark

Having a root canal was a lot more pleasant with Teen Dentist back at the NYU Dental School than it is with the NHS. There, you get discounted versions of thorough, cutting-edge dental treatment performed by eager, cute (and thankfully smart and capable) youngsters. Here, my dentist sees me for 20 minutes and explains exactly what corners are cut if you pay NHS fees instead of the exorbitant private-practice fees, and then leave you to ponder how much you;re willing to pay for your vanity. It's grim.

(And since I am employed but poor, I'm in that uncomfortable middle-range where I still have to pay but can only afford ghetto treatment. Be sure to ignore my silver molar next time you see me, or I'll cry.)

Now, I'm not automatically opposed to the idea of a lasagna sandwich. In fact, I'm intrigued. Until I remember this isn't something from a great NY deli, something that involves a crusty roll and hot, fresh-made Italian food. No, this is the British take on it:

Between two thick slices of white bread, you'll find a generous filling of diced beef in a tangy tomato and herb sauce, layered with cooked pasta sheets and finished with a creamy cheddar, ricotta and mayonnaise dressing.

I think I'm sick already. It's bad enough that cheddar cheese is a common ingredient of Italian food here, but I've been trying to adapt to that. And their idea of "thick" white bread is nothing of the sort. It's just clammy and tissue-like. The fucking mayonnaise, though! Ugh. I can't even bear to think about it. Tesco regularly offends me (and leaves me with little to eat at lunch besides hummus and bread) with their generous use of mayonnaise on unlikely foods — cheese salads, Southern fried chicken, sushi — and it seems that this madness has no end in sight. The writer of that article about the lasagna sandwich gives a pretty good indication of what horrors lie in wait, but as he points out, there's a market out there for even the unlikeliest concoction.

I just want a decent grilled cheese and bacon. Is that so much to ask?

[You know, you can get a license for Sodachrome, too, if you like. Just get in touch.]

Not to pander to a certain demographic or anything, but you can now get that little graphic — based on an idea from Mr Moore, using his typeface Leyton (which you should buy) — from the Pink Mince t-shirt store, on a grey or brown shirt.