A Review

I haven't finished reading this yet, nor do I want to.

It's that good.

The short story is harder and harder to find in a format that you can get cozy with. This issue is doubly good as it it the 60th anniversary double issue. There are stories by M. Rickert, Stephen King, Albert E. Cowdrey, Geoff Ryman and many more. As with all anthologies, some are good, some aren't. Some will make you miss a meeting. Others may make you want to throw the book away. But all of them made me think and see things in new ways. That is how short stories have always made me feel. And that is why I like them so much.

As I skimmed through the magazine, I stopped here and there reading a story or review. The Visionaries by Robert Reed lulls the reader by starting out as just another story about an author. And not a very good writer at that. But then it becomes something so much more. Stephen King touches us with a call from the afterlife. I have always liked King's work and some of my favorite stories he has written are his short stories and novellas. This should not disappoint. Going Back in Time by Laurel Winter is an odd little tale about quantum physics. And so far, my favorite tale is Albert E. Cowdrey's tale of post-Katrina "Noo Awlyunz". It starts out great and then gets a bit caught up in scifi kitsch, but it is still a great read.

Even the regular articles and reviews are worth the read. And while I don't agree with Lucius Shepard's take of this summer's "Iron Man" movie he did offer some insight into things that I overlooked. Don't overlook the real science features. The information on asteroids is really interesting.

Overall, I would have liked to read a little more fantasy but it's still very enjoyable. And one day, I may actually find that last story… but I would have to actually have time on my hands.

Sugary - Illustration Friday

What can I say? We eat too much… the food giants peddle their wares creating bigger and bigger portions. The food contains more and more sugar… not to mention chemicals… uggghhhh!!!!!

What Song Is It You Want To Hear?

I heard it then…

I admit it. I am a geek. I read fantasy, scifi and comic books when I get the chance… just for a little entertainment and maybe for a bit of an escape from the rat race. And I do like most of the geeky shows now on TV – Lost, 24, Heroes and the uber-geek show Chuck.

So finding connections in weird things and in weird ways shouldn't be that freaky. Coincidence shouldn't catch me off guard. But this one did. When I found "Sawyer's Nickname Generator" I had to try it out. So what it come up with? It's there on the screen. So how does that tie into geek-dom. It doesn't really, except for all the troubling coincidences. And it sure does hit home with me. How did it know?

First off, I live where Lynyrd Skynyrd is/was from. And in a wacky way I am related to the Van Zants. Coach Leonard Skinner got in a bidding war for one of my paintings at an auction. And if that wasn't enough, before they made it big the band used to jam on the sun porch at the house I just sold. So there is a time/space thing going on. That's just too much coincidence. Maybe it is a LOST thing. There are way too many coincidental things happening there as well. Can't wait for the new season.

Go on. Click on the picture above and see what your nickname is.

Logolove

Somewhere along the way I feel like I have lost a little bit of who I want to be. I started working at the Museum over two years ago and, at the time, it was almost like a dream job. The pay wasn't great, but I didn't expect it to be. I did it for the work. And the people. And for the inspiration. Somewhere along the way, all of that was either lost to the madness that is non-profit in REALLY tough economic times or all of the turnover here just changed the atmosphere. Either way, things that are important to me got buried and sometimes lost in the shuffle. I won't go into any of those things. People who know me probably have some sense of the changes in the last year… and people who know me really well… probably already know…


That said, it was really nice to feel some love from this industry. The MOCA Underground logo will be included in Logolounge 5. It is just one of the 33,000 entered worldwide that made the cut. The book will be published by Rockport Publishers in the early Summer of 2009.

Illustration Friday - Packed

It's so hard to believe that I moved way back in April… and guess what? I'm still mostly in boxes…

soon…

AIGA Jacksonville is continuing its 2008 Designer Lunch Series by hosting an “In-House Designer Roundtable Luncheon” on Thursday, September 25 from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. at UNF’s University Center. Jacksonville creative professionals from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Harte-Hanks Direct Marketing, CITI Group and the University of North Florida will share their tips for success, and answer questions on keeping the creative spark alive when designing in the corporate world.

In-House Panelists
Michael O'Connell, MOCA Jacksonville
Jim Pieretti, Harte-Hanks
Jim Dustin, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida
Mary Ann Rosenthal, University of North Florida
Doug Reston, CITI

WHEN:
Thursday, September 25 | 11:30 am to 1 pm
Lunch served at 11:30 am
Speaker starts at 12:00 pm

WHERE:
UNF University Center
12000 Alumni Drive
Jacksonville, FL 32224
(904) 620-4222
Parking is FREE in the University Center parking lot
Get directions

It's A Strange World Out There

I find it amazing how small the world has gotten recently. With all of our technological gadgetry we are now only a click away from our neighbors on the other side of the world. In the poorest of countries, far from the reaches of what we would call civilization, one can find all the trappings of capitalism.

As a designer, and one who specializes in branding, I should take heart that my sisters and brothers are doing their jobs so well. Nike, Pepsi, Apple and Starbucks are no longer the just property of the USA and they haven't been for years. Quite possibly the world belongs to them now.

So it never ceases to amaze me when I see a story that challenges merely because it is so radically different from what we understand in the "civilized world". This story comes to me by way of Neil Gaiman's blog.

A Little Humor From One of Our Own

More Freebies!

Check this site out for some great graphics, backgrounds, icons and even tutorials so you can learn to create your own. They also have a blog with some interesting posts. It looks like they are just getting going but I am sure that there are more great things to come.

And if you want to add some foreign flair, try out Mujka. Not only will you find an assortment of talented contributors offering free graphics but you'll also find brushes, borders and produt news.

And for fun icons or myspace tokens to add to your mix, try out boredsketchbooks.

Creativity Can Save the World

Guy Kawasaki brought this story about a creative solution from PlayPumps that just could save the world. Frontline also had a story about this. It is amazing what we could be doing for our world instead of to it. And how much less money would it cost us if were made these kind of investments in the people of the world instead of how we are currently doing it?

Free Fonts!

Many times, free fonts are more trouble than they are worth. The kerning is bad, there are incomplete character sets and a phlethora of plain BAN design. But… there are always exceptions to the rules. Below are two places to find very nice examples of font swag. Make sure to read the fine print. Blambots has some pretty serious restrictions for usage, but Exlibris has very generous licensing.

On display here is Vaporized, Blambot's new free font for April 2008. It was designed as a sound effects font for comic art and works great for smoky/cloudy effects and sizzling energy beam blasts. The font includes Regular and Italic. Blambot is a great place for all the inspiring graphic novelists. In addition to frequent free font giveaways, they have a few articles about creating and publishing your graphic novel.

Exlibris has a number of well designed fonts ready for download in Mac and PC formats. These type treats are ready to go and should be a fine addition to your already overstocked font folders. And if you really like Jos Buivebga's fonts, visit his blog and subscribe to his feed so you can be the first to hear about any new offerings!

The True Face of Leonardo Da Vinci

Say No To Unwanted Mail

Are you tired of all the mailbox clutter? Do you dread going to your mailbox because you know most of what is in there is unsolicited mail from advertisers? Do you hate wasting your time sifting through the clutter just to find that tasty bill? Do you shudder to think of all the trees that were sacrificed only to end up unwanted and unread in the landfill?

If you answered yes, help is as easy as a click away.

Direct Mail
The key to stopping all that unwanted advertising mail you receive at home is getting your name off the mailing lists. Of course, that's a lot easier said than done because there are, literally, thousands of commercial lists out there. Register here to remove your name & address. And Call 888-567-8688. This single automated phone line takes you off the lists of all major credit bureaus. You can also do this online.

Catalogs
The National Wildlife Federation (NWF), Natural Resources Defense Council and the Ecology Center have developed a new website called Catalog Choice. This site provides a free, easy to use service to allow individuals to opt out of unsolicited catalogs that arrive by mail. The website has already reduced catalog mailings by 5,682,372.

A Thought for the New Year

The common man sees the world as nature sees it, 

yes and no, good and evil, on and off — 

the artificer, the scholar, the intellectual 

sees the world in threes, and makes a full time occupation 

of explaining the unnatural.

— attributed to Kilroy

Illustration Friday - Little Things

My goodness. Time sure has found a way of getting away from me. And I am still slammed. My initial happy little stress-free job has grown legs and arms and has gotten to be quite a needy little monster. But as luck would have it, I just completed an illustration for a promo at the Museum for "The Santaland Diaries" and it seemed to fit perfectly with this week's topic.

So, in the sprit of the season, merry Christmas to all who believe. May your God be kind to you in the coming year. And may PEACE find us all!

Unaobama?

There is an interesting article over at Slate.com about serial killers and politicians. Below is a list of quotes about both. See if you can figure it out. Of whom was it said:

A) "He was a gung-ho type of person."
B) "He was the straightest guy I knew. The most we ever did was go to a party and drink beer."
C) "I always knew that [he] was going to do something great."
D) He was competitive, even in fishing. "It was, 'I caught seven fish and you only caught six.' "
E) "He's so smart. His mind just works a lot differently than others'."
F) ''He was deeply competent, organized, and good at what he did."
G) "Just a nice guy, like a big teddy bear."

Check out the article for the answers. Due to the nature of the story, I'm sure that they won't surprise you, but they're still pretty amazing.

Illustration Friday – Wired

It only seems fitting to get back to Illustration Friday after a three month absence with this week's topic. And I hate to dig up the past but this old illustration seemed perfect because it relates to my current situation so well.

We live in such a wired world. Almost all of us are glued to some sort of wired technology — screens, circuitry, light waves, audio-visual sensory overload. As I sit at my desk, my computer screen stares back at me all day long, all 23" inches of it. It's in my face all day. My phone is right there next to it. It is rather old fashioned. We are a non-profit here at the Museum despite my amazing screen. My cell phone is in my pocket and I am wearing a headset to drown out my cube neighbor's nose blowing. And if that wasn't enough, I seem to be mainlining caffeine and sugar. And through it all, I believe I am more wired by the work load. And I took this job to get away from the self-employment rat race. To have more free time with the family. And instead, I am busier than ever.

So, I hope you will forgive the recycled drawing. It is my whole-heated intention to return to a weekly post at the very least.

Thanks for visiting. I do hope to see you soon.

Shame on Ashley!!!

I received a very well intentioned e-mail from my cousin yesterday about a missing girl. I did a quick Google search and quickly found out this was a hoax. I responded to my cousin and told him and everyone else on the list that if you get an e-mail like this, the best thing to do is check places like Urban Legends or Snopes to see if they are real or not.

Usually with these kinds of things people are fishing for e-mail addresses. So, even if you feel you have a real e-mail it is best to copy and paste the pertinent info into a new post and send that along.

So once I found that this was indeed a hoax (a joke by a girl in Philadelphia) I sent an e-mail to my cousin and all on his list to let them know. Below is a great response to use should you ever see something like this again.


Everyone,

This is one of those things, I have two baby sisters, not that they are babies anymore, but nevertheless, I have two younger sisters. When I see an email like this I never hesitate, and I certainly don't think to check, cross reference, or research whether or not the said email is true. I see a missing little girl who obviously could not defend herself against a violent malicious world and my heart simply goes straight out to her and her family.

I try very hard not to forward or send spam email to all of my friends and family. When I hear, when I find out that something like this is a hoax it breaks my heart. I think about all the real missing and abducted children out there who might have a chance at being saved, and when I find out that pranksters are playing a practical joke it just kills me.

It is because of emails like this that people become skeptical and pessimistic. This is also the reason that these kind of emails do not get sent on or forwarded.

The sad truth of the matter is this, like the fable of old about the boy who cried WOLF, after you hear it so many many times and you find out the "cry" is not real, you stop to believe.

So when the time comes, when a child REALLY goes missing, no one cares, and no one listens.

This is the damage that these fakers have done to all the missing children, to all the parents of those children, to the community at large, and to all the people of the world.

The next time we hear "CRY WOLF," we will never believe, and that one time, that one time will be the time it actually matters. That will be the one time we as a world internet community could have made a difference.

But, like I said, No One will believe the alert is true.

So here and now I ask all of you to send this forward so that we can make the guilty parties involved actually feel guilty about what they have done.

My cousin was the one who did a little research before passing this on and found out the truth; THIS ALERT IS AND WAS A SCAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let us all hope and pray that the decency of humanity will never let this happen again.

Just imagine if this girl was your daughter.........your sister.............your friend. How would you FEEL if you knew someone out there in the world had ruined the chance of her survival because of a hoax???

Let us all stand up right now, stand proud, and stand true. Let us all stand tall and say, "We will not tolerate this kind of behavior anymore!!"

It is time we bring morals back to the American, no, to the World population.


PLEASE


Send this email forward. Let everyone know, this type of behavior will no longer be tolerated!

With any luck, and with all the hope that I, and you can believe in, this email will get back to the original person who sent out this false alert so that the individual who started all this insanity will know how destructive there actions have become.

Just so that everyone knows, this is not a forward, ( granted I hope it will become one because of the severity of the issue ) but know this...... this is not a forward! These are my thoughts! These are my words laid out on the page and I believe in them.

Remember....

this is your DAUGHTER.......

this is your SISTER......

your MOTHER......

your FATHER.....

your BROTHER.....

your AUNT......

your UNCLE.....

your GRANDMA......

your GRANDPA.......

Any one of these people could be the missing person that YOU and your FAMILY are looking for.

So let us stand together and let these cyber pirates of the moral human spirit know that fake alerts about missing persons are not a practical joke!!!!

As I said earlier, PLEASE, send this forward. It is far past time we all began to stand tall and proud on a pinnacle of moral ground.

We have all, myself included, let it slide for far too long. And this is why I am drawing a line in the sand here and now.

Enough is enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No More!!!!!!!

Still trying to CLEAR my Schedule

Work is getting a bit insane here. We just had a name change. We are now known as the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville. It is a MUCH better fit for us as we only have two pieces of work that can be classified as modern. It has been loads of work just to get the name approved and now I have the logo and all the brochures, stationary, posters, signage to design as well as a new web site. I also landed a few freelance illustration gigs and web sites. And on top of all that, I am going on a much needed vacation next week so I have to cram two weeks of design into one.

Hopefully, by the end of next month I will be back at it. Thank you for sticking with me through it all. Good luck and happy pencils to all of you!

Illustration Friday – Wind

It's hard to believe that it has been two weeks since I found time to post, but time has a way of blowing right past you. I got busy with some new projects at work and had a freelance project to keep me busy and both had me winded. When I saw the latest topic for Illustration Friday, I couldn't figure out if I would attempt wind, as in wind the watch or the wind blows. As I contemplated that, the museum kept me busy as well as the weeds in the yard. I have gotten very friendly with tillers and jack hammers recently as I work to, FINALLY, get my yard in shape.

With ALL that going on, I really didn't find any spare time to get the pencils out. HOWEVER, the big freelance project that I had actually was perfect for the topic.

I had to do a series of three illustrations for an Office max training presentation. I can't go into the topic any further but I can show you the illustrations.

They were challenging.

They were fun.

They are my addition to Illustration Friday.