esprit de l'escalier

Typographic annoyances

 
Oh, about 6-7 months ago, maybe more, I sent my boss an article from Slate that was very firm in its condemnation of the use of two spaces after a period. I sent it to him because there are a couple of style-related rules that he always follows, one of them being two spaces after a period. Actually, that isn't his most stringent style rule. That is his deeply held belief in the Oxford (or serial) comma. That he demands we use (which I agree with, so it's easy enough to follow). The space thing he lets us young-uns do as we please.

I was not expecting the angry email I got in response. What I had forgotten was that there are certain style items that, well, make people really angry. He was actually upset about the article's tone and that the space issue seems to him to be truly a personal aesthetic choice, not something people should be ridiculed for using. He also apologized later for his response. (Thankfully, it has not affected our relationship.)

The double or single space issue is a hot button issue for many people. I was reminded of this because I have been working on a grant application at work and the text is justified, which drives me nuts. The funky character spacing that results from justified text does not validate the nice squareness of the text. Out of aggravation I tweeted, "1 space, 2 spaces after a period, normally: WHATEVER. When the text is justified, for the love of god, ONLY ONE. #justifiedtextisjustwrong." My friend Heather tweeted back, "Always ONLY ONE SPACE! #yourcomputerisnotatypewriter." See? It brings out ire.

Then my friend Blue Girl and I got in a tweet and email conversation about our personal typographic bête noires. (Full disclosure, as a graphic designer, BeeGee loves justified text. Personally, I like a jagged edged text, but she likes her boxes of text. I have decided to love her all the same.) It started with her sending me this article about fonts and magazine covers, which I enjoyed. Here is our email exchange that ensued.

ME: Ha! I actually loved that article. You know I was a journalism nerd in high school, right? I love page design and am the biggest font nerd! You know what drove me nuts about it? NO CURLY QUOTES. Stupid internet and it's NON-curly quote ways! Speaking of that, recently a co-worker abused the mass email function and sent out this STUPID forward that said this: "Hope you can open these power point pictures that only could be painted by GOD." I was emailing with another co-worker about it. There were 45 "lessons" and really cheesy fading ins and outs. But the thing that annoyed me? NO CURLY QUOTES! GAH! I asked my friend if he thought it was too nerdy a thing to get annoyed with, but it's possible he doesn't know what curly quotes are. (You know what I'm talking about, right?)

BG: Ha-ha! No! What are curly quotes? Like "curly quotes" -- like -- " -- ?

ME: Oh! Maybe I am in some little niche nerdom. Okay, so those are straight quotes. The internet loves them. I hate them. REAL quotation marks (and apostrophes & commas) should have little fat dollops attached to them. See this for more info.

Curly quotes are also known as "smart quotes," if that gives you any indication of the validity in my belief in the curly quote. Here is a good rundown of the typographic limitations of the internet. Blue and I are getting together soon to make dinner, drink wine, live-tweet our adventures, and most likely talk some dirt on grammar. Or politics. Or whatnot. She's pretty awesome. Even with the whole justified text thing. Stay tuned.

My propensity to tour guide

Today was just plain, old gorgeous. It was about 70 degrees out, sunny. My co-worker Dan and I took the new guy out to lunch. (We have a new guy. It's no longer me! He's from Bloomington, IN, which is where I went to school, which is exciting for me. Dan is also from Indiana, so we had a little Hoosier lunch.) I suggested the Brown Bag Deli in German Village, and for us to dine al fresco in the park. (I am always full of good ideas when it comes to lunch.)

I was blathering a bit about German Village, and Columbus, and apologized for tour guiding. Sometimes I can't help myself. My whole life I've been soaking of information about the places where I've lived, usually coming from my parents, details about architecture and history, people and places. I love the history of places, especially ones that are special to me, or are where I live.

New guy made me think about the good tours I used to give on IU's campus. (Not officially or anything, just for visiting friends/family.) That made me think about other places I gave unofficial tours of. I gave a good one in Prague when I studied there almost a decade ago. I still give downtown Chicago tours for any newbies who might happen to be with me. (One place I always bring people: the flagship Marshall Fields store on State Street to see the Tiffany moasic ceilings. I lead them into the crush of the department store and then stop them and make them look up. People swirl around us and it's like looking up into the heavens.)

But then I was thinking, this guy is new in town and doesn't know anyone. Maybe he *would* like a tour (or maybe I'm using this as an excuse for a little project). So I think I'm going to put together a little tour of Columbus, or at least of some of its neighborhoods. I'll take photos and share them with you.

Travel envy

I'm about to put my mother on a plane, bound for London for the next 10 or 11 days. While I was double-checking the weather for her, we started talking about how she didn't have any plans yet. She's meeting my father, who's been working over there for a couple of weeks, and will be there til almost the end of April. We went over some of the museums she could go to, and the parks and neighborhoods she could wander, when she said they might go to Paris and she wants to go to Stonehenge. My eyes watered up; tears of envy. It's a little silly to be welling up at the prospect of someone ELSE'S trip, but that's what I was doing. You see, I had big plans for my 30th birthday. Plans that involved Paris. As many plans do, they dissolved with reality. That's why we have to be flexible, right? Because life intercedes and ruins your plans. Besides, my passport is full to the brim and needs to be renewed. I do have plans to get to Europe this winter, but London and Paris in springtime? Oh dear, I might have something in my eye again...

My childhood escapes

When I was a kid, I loved unicorns. Really, really loved unicorns. My Dad was moving some furniture around this summer and found these two bookmarks of mine, from an elementary school book fair. NPR had a story today about why girls love unicorns (and horses and dolphins). I can't say I disagree with it. Unicorns made me feel connected to something magical and special; two things I wanted to be. I like what the article has to say, about how these creatures are connected to power and transformation. Unicorns perfectly fit with my young self's want to escape, which I usually accomplished through books.

Once, when we lived in Connecticut, we went on a ferry ride and my parents bought me two porcelain unicorns from the boat's gift shop. I was never very good at expressing what I wanted, and I must have made it clear that I wanted these figurines, because I got them. I loved them. Several years later, my brother and I got in a fight and he broke them. We were living in Columbus at that point. I took their broken pieces up to our treehouse and sobbed over them - I remember that clearly - that heartbreak. They were my most beloved objects. For years I kept their broken pieces in a special place.

Finding these bookmarks took me to another time, which I appreciated. I'd love to go back to those days spent in my imagination.

Following the winter sun

This winter I have become obsessed with tracking when the sun rises and sets. Every day I click onto Weather.com, check the day's temperature, and see what time the sun sets. Since the solstice, that time has been making minute steps upwards. Of course leading up to the winter solstice was rough, watching the days get shorter and shorter. Even now thinking about it makes me a little sad. But I have found one good thing about February (and living in Ohio): it's almost 6 when the sun sets. Of course, since I *am* in Ohio, I don't see the sun set every day. Today I did though. Tomorrow is supposed to be clear, too. Now maybe some of that ice will melt.

New TV addiction

Hello blog! I have been neglecting you, so far this year. I apologize. I would like to blame it on a newly acquired television addiction. You see, I returned from my new year's trip to Chicago with a borrowed copy of Season 1 of Fringe in my bag, and I haven't looked back.

My friend Shana (hi! thanks again!) lent me the first two seasons of Fringe when I met up with her for brunch. She had told me previously that I should watch the show, but it wasn't until Natasha sat me down and made me watch the pilot that I got what she was talking about. Natasha had spent her Christmas getting hooked on the show with her mother. (Shana, Natasha is finishing S2, and she's bringing it to me next weekend. I can't wait to get to it.)

Now, as some longtime readers and friends will know, I am the couch potato of my family, so me getting sucked into a television program is not exactly big news. (Although, I am the biggest reader of my siblings, so I like to think I balance myself out with the amount of tv I watch. Others may disagree.) What has been most fun about this newly found addiction is that I'm sharing it with my mother. Who has never been known for her tv watching.

One thing that has been fun about living with my parents these last 3 years has been watching a couple of tv shows with my mother. Namely, I got her hooked on Doctor Who, because as she was just telling me, she's been obsessed with time travel since she read Jules Verne as a child. She's been known to fall asleep during episodes, though. We've moved to other sci-fi shows, namely Primeval, which has not lived up to its potential, though we still watch.

I have never, ever, seen her this rabid about a television show. We started watching Season 1 last Sunday and finished this past Sunday, averaging 3 episodes a night. She is really not happy we have to wait on Natasha to get Season 2. (I'm going to get the first disc through NetFlix.)

What is it and why do we love it? It's a little like The X-Files, except for the helpless Scully constantly needing saving. Olivia Dunham is a FBI agent who gets sucked into solving crimes that have to do with fringe science. To help her is Walter Bishop, a literal mad scientist who has just been sprung from a mental hospital after 17 years, and his adorable, genius, ne'er do well son, Peter. Episodes deal with things like crazy viruses, animal mutations, mind control, etc., all pointing to some greater scheme. The pacing is fast. It's always nice to have a strong female lead who can take care of herself.

The acting is great. (Although Anna Torv, who plays Olivia, is Australian, and sometimes her American accent sounds wooden to me. It sort of works, though, for her part.) Walter is played by John Noble, who gets the arrogance, vulnerability, glee, and sadness of that character down perfectly. Walter is trying to remember things, and trying reconnect with his son, Peter. Peter is played by Joshua Jackson. Natasha and I argue about this casting. She thinks his babyface doesn't fit with his tough guy character. I think it fits just fine. (I was always more of a Pacey girl.) I love his interactions with Walter, and his growing feelings for Olivia.

In the end, I would whole-heartedly urge you to go check this out. My mother and I are annoyed that Season 3 is currently playing, and that we'll have to wait to catch up.

Here's a quick interview with Fringe creator JJ Abrams.

Hi

What are you all up to this weekend? I'm thinking of going to the state fair. I haven't been since I was in high school. It should be hot, sticky, full of fried food and who knows what. I can't wait.

New-to-me

Last month, I had a really good day. I came home from a second interview for a job and felt fantastic. It seemed to go really well. To celebrate, I allowed myself to do a little poking around on ebay. I have been planning on getting myself a Yashica Mat G124 once I finally found a full-time job. (You may remember my friend Sharon lent me hers for quite some time, but I gave it back last summer.) I figured there would be no harm in following a couple of auctions and making some low bids, just to see how much the cameras were going for.

Well, needless to say, I ended up getting caught up and buying a camera. I kept thinking, if the seller is accurate in his/her description, this is amazing! Thank god the seller was! I got a beautiful, clean, fully functional, camera of my dreams for a steal! And then a couple of weeks later I got the job! Hooray! I start Monday!

I took the camera with me to Chicago over the Fourth long weekend. These shots are actually from the Fourth, but from Columbus, when I got back that night. They are the last shots from my second roll. I am already deeply smitten with this camera. If anyone is nearby and wants to go shooting, or play model for the day, let me know. I'm itching to go.

'Roid Week 2010: Day One

It's that time again - the week that Polaroid nerds wait for all year. It's 'Roid Week! I'll be posting my shots here. Check out the whole pool here. I thought I'd celebrate the first day of the week with a little ice cream and some music.

Playing around with PX100

Recently I finally got around to playing with some PX100, the new film for Polaroid SX-70 cameras that was recently released by the Impossible Project (aka "TIP"). My mother bought me three packs as an early birthday gift (thanks again!). The photo above is my favorite of the 7 I've taken, but they all haven't been very successful shots. (You can see all my shots from my first pack of film here. I uploaded all of them for my own note-taking purposes.)

The new film is black and white (sometimes the shots come out a bit more sepia-toned, seemingly dependent on heat applied during development). Several years ago, Polaroid stopped making film for its instant cameras and the chemicals for the film also stopped being made. In about a year's time, the people at TIP have created new film for our beloved instant cameras from scratch. One of my Flickr contacts said it was akin to baking a cake with entirely new ingredients. There are a handful of people working on this film. It's amazing what they've done in a year.

That being said, the film is not particularly stable. It's more photosensitive when developing and is very sensitive to temperatures. People have been coming up with work arounds, and after reading other people's notes I figured out a system that seems to work for me. I tape a darkslide (the black slide that shoots out when you first load a pack of film in the camera) on the end of my camera and then immediately transfer slide and shot into my pocket. I think some of my shots were washed out because they didn't get enough heat while they developed.

There are some people who are not happy (understatement) about this film. (You should see certain discussion threads in the Polaroid group on Flickr - eesh is it ugly.) They think this film will tarnish TIP from here on out, because the film is so artistic and niche. People are also pissed about shipping costs, which are expensive, especially for most countries. TIP is still working things out. I disagree with the haters, but there will always be haters. And unfortunately the internet very easily allows people to indulge in their inner asshole.

In the end, I'm happy I have some new film to experiment with, and I'm glad I caught up on the learning curve. I'm also happy to contribute to TIP so they can keep on keeping on, because I want some new color film in the future (due out this summer). This film also makes me think even more about this camera and try and figure out its quirks more, which is something I really have not done much of.