I am a graphic designer. I make what you see, from business cards to billboards. But more frequently, I am a production artist. I work on what you don’t see: Bleed/trim/live areas. Kerning. Leading. Line breaks. Color builds. Correct use of open or closed single quote marks. If you can spot my handiwork, that means I’m doing it wrong. To the untrained eye, it should be invisible.
I am a ninja.
Filed under day job, design, pet peeves
Dice bracelets. I originally made them just for my own use, but someone said I should sell them, and so I started adding them to my Etsy shop in early ’08. I wound up bringing a pound or two of them with me to VLV10 for my gal-pals and I to mix and match with our wardrobes. They’re fun, and handy for covering up those vinyl wristbands which can mar an otherwise cool outfit.
My bracelets are made with real, new, game-play dice. Not casino dice, which are not only expensive but also bigger, heavier, and have very sharp edges. Those edges aren’t something you pay attention to until you want to wear them for a few hours. I specifically buy dice with rounded edges because of their contact with delicate wrists. And I drill each and every single die myself with a corded drill. One. At. A. Time. It’s a tedious process, and being “off” with my pressure can break or, more commonly, chip the dice. But the most frequent issue that I run into, as shown above, is that my drill bits heat up enough to melt the acrylic content of the dice, and seize within the confines. There is no way to get a seized drill bit out, save for application of a hammer. It wastes a heckuva lot of time, not to mention the dice that are murdered for the cause.
I’ve conferred with The Guys At The Hardware Store about ways around this unique problem. I’ve tried bits made from different compounds, I’ve tried dipping the bit in cold water between each pass, I’ve tried drilling slower and faster and upside-down and sideways (no, not really). Drill: seize. Drill: seize. Drill: seize. After a few years of this, I am, as the kids say, Over It. I do not make enough money on these bracelets to outweigh the loss of materials, let alone the manual labor.
I’ll leave any existing listings in the shop until they sell, but they will not be replaced. I’m keeping my supplies on hand for special requests or for other projects that may come up, such as Chop’s occasional solicitations for “danglies” for his custom bikes. However if you’ve been thinking about getting one or two but can’t decide on colors, now would be the time to act. I’ve already started letting some listings expire, so if there’s a color combo you want but don’t see, don’t hesitate to ask. I may very well still have it available.
Filed under fashion, jewelry, pet peeves, vintage, Viva Las Vegas
This is driving me crazy. I often see individual people do it, but in the last week I’ve spotted the error on in-store signage at King Soopers,* on a catalog insert from Real Goods, and just now in a banner ad for Philadelphia® brand cream cheese. When 100+-employee-companies do it, that’s just irresponsible. Not only did someone have to type it out, but I’m guessing that in each of these cases, at least three people read and approved it. That’s a minimum of four employed adults in each instance who have forgotten a lesson taught in grade school.
Everyday. Every day. They are two different things, with two different uses. Everyday, as one word, is an adjective. It should be followed by the noun it’s describing. Everyday occurrence. Everyday tasks. Everyday people (yeah, yeah). However, if you’re writing about something you do/have/get every day, it’s, well, every day. Two words. Handy hint: If your sentence or phrase could be rewritten as “every single day” without sounding awkward, that’s your clue to use two words instead of one. Everyday Low Prices, but Low Prices Every Day. Not “Low prices everyday.” Not “Save up to 70% everyday.” Not “Philly makes it easier everyday.”
The Oxford American Dictionary puts it very neatly: “The adjective everyday, ‘pertaining to every day, ordinary,’ is correctly spelled as one word ( : carrying out their everyday activities), but the adverbial phrase every day, meaning ‘each day,’ is always spelled as two words ( : it rained every day).”
Sometimes I’m right, but I can be wrong
My own beliefs are in my song
The butcher, the baker, the drummer and then
Makes no difference what group I’m inI am everyday people
Yeah, yeahThere is a blue one who can’t accept the green one
For living with a fat one trying to be a skinny one
Different strokes for different folks
And so on, and so on and scooby-dooby-dooOoh, sha, sha
We got to live togetherI am no better, and neither are you
We are the same, whatever we do
You love me, you hate me, you know me and then
You can’t figure out the bag I’m inI am everyday people
Yeah, yeahThere is a long hair that doesn’t like the short hair
For being such a rich one that will not help the poor one
Different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and scooby-dooby-dooOoh, sha, sha
We got to live togetherThere is a yellow one that won’t accept the black one
That won’t accept the red one that won’t accept the white one
Different strokes for different folks
And so on, and so on and scooby-dooby-dooOoh, sha, sha
I am everyday people
*A large supermarket chain. You may know them in your area as Kroger or City Market or Ralph’s or Dillon’s or Smith’s or Fry’s or Baker’s or… the list goes on.
Filed under grammar, pet peeves
shoes and pie 