The rambling thoughts of an author including art, rants, words, book reviews, not-so-subtle suggestions, and more…
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Illustration Fiday – Flavor
Raisin Bread…
In my previous post, I mentioned that my parents were children of the Great Depression. Another story from my father's childhood revolves around my grandmother and her method of making raisin bread. Having very little money and being frugal to boot, it is said that Nana would make the bread dough and put it on the table across the room. Then she would pick up a solitary raisin and throw it across the room at the waiting dough. If it stuck, they had raisin bread that week. If she missed, she would pick up the raisin and save it for the next loaf to try again.
This week’s assignment was a bit difficult for me and as I tossed and turned in bed last night, I remembered how my Nana added a bit of flavor to her family's meal.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
The Lugwah Prize
There's a post by an old cracker writer who sometimes calls himself Old Folks about a journalist who gave himself the Lugwah Prize.
The Lugwah Prize is a commemorative silver dollar showing George Drouillard, the interpreter, scout, hunter, and cartographer, hired for Lewis and Clark's Voyage of Discovery. The coin depicts him pointing to the 'lugwah'. From the French "la gloire" meaning "over that mountain yonder". So all Droulliard had to do was point west and cross the next mountain until he reached the Pacific. And he looked like a genius. All he had to do was keep focused on what was in front of him. But once he achieved his goal, what next? Turn around, retrace your steps, and head home. Old Folks and probably Art Brew himself, would tell you that glory is a foolish thing and that the way back home is more important. For me, family and friends and the experiences in life are more important, but you do have to keep your goals ahead of you and strive to reach them, so you can see what is really important to you.
I have my own Lugwah prize. My parents grew up during the Great Depression. For them, and most people, money was tight at best. My father was the youngest of six. Even then, he wanted money, and what it could provide, of his own. So, at a very young age, he crafted a shoebox from scrap lumber and shined shoes for whatever people would pay him. He was a street kid and an entrepreneur. I still have that wooden box. It may be the one thing I have left that my father made with his own hands. It reminds me that with hard work and determination, anything is possible.
The box is very worn.
The Lugwah Prize is a commemorative silver dollar showing George Drouillard, the interpreter, scout, hunter, and cartographer, hired for Lewis and Clark's Voyage of Discovery. The coin depicts him pointing to the 'lugwah'. From the French "la gloire" meaning "over that mountain yonder". So all Droulliard had to do was point west and cross the next mountain until he reached the Pacific. And he looked like a genius. All he had to do was keep focused on what was in front of him. But once he achieved his goal, what next? Turn around, retrace your steps, and head home. Old Folks and probably Art Brew himself, would tell you that glory is a foolish thing and that the way back home is more important. For me, family and friends and the experiences in life are more important, but you do have to keep your goals ahead of you and strive to reach them, so you can see what is really important to you.
I have my own Lugwah prize. My parents grew up during the Great Depression. For them, and most people, money was tight at best. My father was the youngest of six. Even then, he wanted money, and what it could provide, of his own. So, at a very young age, he crafted a shoebox from scrap lumber and shined shoes for whatever people would pay him. He was a street kid and an entrepreneur. I still have that wooden box. It may be the one thing I have left that my father made with his own hands. It reminds me that with hard work and determination, anything is possible.
The box is very worn.
Friday, December 23, 2005
Illustration Friday – Holidays
Friday, December 16, 2005
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Moelf
Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye
"I really thought that love would save us all." — John Lennon, October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Off and Running
I do my fair share of reading things that other people post on the internet, web sites, forums and blogs, among other things, mostly to expand my knowledge and partly because I think we all have a little bit of voyeur in us. The content of the web sites and blogs run the gamut, but the forums are generally business related, specifically advertising, marketing and design. Most of the time I am truly impressed by what people are willing to share with complete strangers. But every once and a while, I come across a post that gets my blood boiling. For instance, a recent post titled "Why Is Branding Important?" sounded a bit intriguing. I thought that it was a marketing ploy to get me involved in a discussion about branding. After reading the post, I had one of my greatest pet peeves reinforced. The post reads "I would like to ask the following question....if you have a good product...at the right price...is branding really that important?"
I could begin this blog with a rant. It deserves it. But marketers who have to ask the question probably would never understand the answer.
I could begin this blog with a rant. It deserves it. But marketers who have to ask the question probably would never understand the answer.
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