Belgian Dark Chocolate. Type junkies, peep this site: Mark Simonson and his font studio MS Studio. Lots of good information on typography, examples, and fonts for buying.
This morning I got an email from a student at SCAD about using some of the photos I posted of the signs in Perry, OK for a class project, which means I’ve got to go into the archives and find the negatives so that I can re-scan them at a higher resolution. (what this really means is that sometime tonight I have to dig through six or seven Tupperware containers, my “file cabinet”, and several boxes of unlabeled stuff, then go through about eighty sleeves of unmarked negatives to find them.) It’ll be worth the effort—hopefully he’ll be able to use what I have, and I’m curious to see the results.
Vanilla. Jen and I watched the debate last night, curious to see the outcome. In my opinion, Kerry clearly came out on top. Every time he hit Bush with a good point (Healthcare, the deficit, religion, the draft, Homeland security), Bush went back to “education.” At one point, when asked about creating new jobs, Bush went off about community college and No Child Left Behind, dodging the question entirely. While I wanted Kerry to simply ask him how going to college and incurring even more personal debt is going to help people get jobs today, it clearly showed how out of his depth the President is, and how he has absolutely no plan for the U.S. economy besides going to war. It also was good to hear Kerry appeal to women voters directly and state his opinion on Roe V. Wade clearly. I also felt that Bush did a hamhanded job of attempting to tag Kerry as a Liberal, and I hope that some of the swing voters saw through that. While the claims thrown around by both men were misleading, I got a much better read off Kerry than Bush.
Rocky Road. After taking the cover off the Base Station, I have an hour of connectivity before it goes feet-up. The capacitors are hot to the touch and the WaveLAN card is cooking hot. I’d have to hack some kind of heatsink or fan onto the thing to get it to stay cool—something I might do later on but don’t have the time for right now.
Friday morning we woke early to get packed and ready for our California trip. I had an appointment with an alarm company to estimate the house after a second break-in at our neighbor’s house; for considerably less than I thought, we’re having the place wired next Tuesday, with the option of adding smoke alarms later. We hopped an American flight to Dallas and made it out to San Francisco by dinnertime, pulling up to the curb out front of the hotel just in time to meet Rob and Karean, who were getting back from a long day in the city. Opting for room service instead of fighting for a reservation outside, we hit the rack early in preparation for drinking with the professionals over the weekend.
Saturday we met up with the other two Baltimore couples and got breakfast across the street, then roamed out in the direction of Chinatown. On our own, Jen and I stumbled across a neighborhood parade complete with dragons, band, and politicians, and not long after that, a funeral procession led by a brass band, New Orleans-style. Walking the length of the area brought us to the famous City Lights bookstore, where we picked up two good design books, and then walked back to meet up with Rob and Karean. Stopping in to the Paul Frank store, we got our monkey on, and then at a Ghirardelli store we got our chocolate on. Then it was back to the hotel to get gussied up for the party.
After a hilly ride out to the Log Cabin, we found a tuxedoed Matt greeting guests and an open bar, making this the first time I’ve sipped wine during the ceremony, which was not a bad way to start. Vows were exchanged, songs were sung, and two of my oldest friends from college were married. Then, there was drinking, dancing, eating, drinking, drinking, and suddenly we were waiting for cabs to the after-party. And waiting, and waiting… My intelligent wife suggested waiting close to the road to be the first foursome picked up, and her intellect paid off—but by then it was too late to party further, and we decided to retire to our hotel bar for a quiet nightcap of cucumber martinis.
Sunday began with breakfast at the hotel restaurant, and continued with a trip to the Exploratorium, a huge science center devoted to hands-on learning for kids and adults. What started out as a fantastic time slowly became overload as the sheer number of exhibits overwhelmed our pickled brains. I left with a headache, and we all decided some hair of the dog was in order, so we got some drinks at the swanky bar across from the hotel and recuperated. Then it was off to the after-wedding barbecue, where Matt and Soph get the award for Thing I’d Never Do The Day After My Wedding: cooking a pile of food for their out-of-town friends. We hung out at their house in the Castro, caught up with everybody, and had a mellow evening before catching a cab back to the hotel to grab some sleep—our shuttle to the airport pulled up at 5:15am.
Leaving San Francisco was hard—not only are a bunch of good people out there, but the city left us feeling energized, cosmopolitan, creative, and recharged. There are a number of differences between S-F and D.C. (I’m not going to mention Baltimore, because it just doesn’t compare) with the greatest one being the respect for history. San Francisco is dripping with old signage, restored houses, and design, while much of the East coast is homogenized. It was hard to leave that funky mixture to come back to McBaltimore.
Hey, I should elaborate a little, lest you think I’m another hater: One of my first loves is the goofy, off-the-wall history of Baltimore, its blue-collar roots, and the hometown vibe it still has. Most people don’t notice these things, or would rather drink a Coors Light at the bar in an Applebee’s rather than brave the smoke at Mrs. Bonnie’s Elvis Shrine, but I love Baltimore for its quirky treasures. There’s just such an international, electric feel to San Francisco that it’s hard to come home.
Success. After buying capacitors locally that were much too big, I ordered some different ones online and got them in yesterday. A little practice with the soldering iron, some delicate work, and…nothing. The Base Station would not wake up. I brought it to work this morning, followed some better directions, and got it to reset, then uploaded new software. It’s now working like a charm next to my desk. Update: The Base Station dropped out after 45 minutes—same problem as before—the case was hot to the touch and the network died. I have more research and testing to do.
We are back from San Francisco, firing on about three cylinders, and somewhere between happy and depressed that we made it back. The weather was beautiful, the city was bright, and the wedding was wonderful. more on that later. Now: coffee.
Later. OK, here are some pictures of the trip.
This guy needs a job. (via metafilter)
HOLY CRAP. I ended out the day yesterday listening to my spotty Pogues collection (I haven’t replaced my defunct cassette collection with CD’s yet) and it took me Back To The Day. My college roommate Chris had the entire catalog, and the first side of Rum, Sodomy and the Lash takes me back to the fall of 1990—National Bohemian, cigarette smoke, lousy food, and wandering back from the Tavern singing Sick Bed of Cuchulainn. One of the things that first attracted me to Jen was how she looked in a well-worn Peace and Love tour shirt. To my shocked surprise, I read this morning that lovable, drunken Shane and the rest of the gang are reuniting for a tour this christmas! Additionally, their back catalog is being reissued including previously unreleased tracks!
So let us pray that Mr. MacGowan lives long enough to make it to the New World, and that he’s sober enough to remember the lyrics when they come through the D.C.-Baltimore area.
I’m not sure who “won” the VP debate last night. It’s pretty obvious who actually runs the country, and that Dr. Evil Cheney is an extremely intelligent man. I thought Edwards came off a little too cloying and anxious, while the VP was more reserved, informed, and deadly with his attacks—he got in a few very quiet, very deadly jabs, where Edwards swung more wildly and with less skill. I have to say, I’d be afraid to go up against the VP in a debate, especially since his dark minions sent him in with at least two pages of very damaging accusations and falsehoods against Edwards which he used with great skill. He’s a mean SOB. One thing’s for sure— it’s going to put the next Presidential debate in stark contrast, especially if Kerry gets Shrub on the ropes like he did last week. (There was one minor blunder the VP made, which is hilarious…)
Repairs. For the low, low price of $20, I picked up the parts I need to do surgery on my Airport Base Station last night. (Disclosure: I had to spend $10 for a new soldering iron.) This week is way too busy, but next week I’m going to crack the case and see if I can’t revive the dead. BTW, my experiences setting up a client’s Airport Express were nothing but excellent. Without configuring buttons, setting jumpers, or invoking the Seven Holy Names Of Satan, I was able to get their wireless network set up, sharing a USB printer, and locked down to intruders in about five minutes. No kidding.
Our house, since we moved into it, has been a dark stain on an otherwise bright street. We have a streetlight out front which lights the sidewalk, and two lights on a timer beside the door, but other than that, our property was darker than an alley in Calcutta. Yesterday evening I got a spotlight installed on the east wall, which means that you can actually find your way to the front door from your car without tripping over the curb. Hopefully this will also make the house look like somebody lives here, as opposed to strangers using the driveway for parking and wandering down to Bar for a drink.
After a long day of getting things done around the house, nothing could have been better last night than grilling a thick steak, steaming some corn and fresh beans, and cracking a bottle of red wine to share with our friend Sara, who we haven’t seen in a long time.
I spent most of a rainy Saturday consulting for some friends, who just bought a shiny TIBook and an Airport Express; unfortunately, the Apple-suggested alternative to 1st-gen Airport cards proved to be less than successful (the now-discontinued cards have recently spiked in price on the second-hand market) prompting another visit.
Sunday we took advantage of the sunshine and worked outside on the house. I got half of the atrium windows painted and prepped for storm windows; I also made a hole in the atrium wall in preparation for installing a security light over the driveway. This house is made like a tank: there’s ¾ sheathing on the inside of the walls and ¾ on the outside, which means the bolt that shipped with the light is too short, and the light isn’t installed. Meanwhile, our neighbors’ house was broken into Friday afternoon in broad daylight—a neighbor called the police and the burglar barely escaped—but an alarm system has bumped its way up to first place on the priority list, followed closely by glassblock windows in the basement.
Last night I found myself simultaneously watching the Navy/Air Force football game and the presidential debate on closed-captioning while a latin dance beat played over everything. While I couldn’t hear the candidates, I caught the gist of their conversation. This morning, I’m listening to the radio clips of the debate, and it’s pretty obvious that Kerry crushed the President. I’ve been cringing at some of the “points” Bush tried to make and applauding Kerry as he systematically took them apart. It was sort of like watching a college professor debate a grade-schooler.
Meanwhile, we had a farewell celebration for one of Jen’s coworkers; she and her husband are leaving Baltimore for North Carolina and sunnier climates. A crab feast with Corona, followed by pool and Dos Equis across the street made for some creaky Lockardugans this morning.