Stuff from July, 2004
This is the archive of tumbledry happenings that occurred on July, 2004.
This is the archive of tumbledry happenings that occurred on July, 2004.
Typographica - My favorite journal of typography, a field into which I occasionally delve. Typographica serves as an excellent portal to other typographic resources.
Zeldman - Few in this small sphere do not know Zeldman - author of an excellent book on webstandards, he’s a heavy hitter. New York pragmatism coupled with over nine years of service to the internet public.
Kottke - May favorite source for up-to-the-minute links of interest, smart blogging, and excellent design. A must-read.
Stopdesign - With an absoluting stunning redesign (circa June of 2004), Stopdesign took a huge evolutionary step forward. Already an excellent blog, I know go there simply to admire the design. Unrealievable.
Mezzoblue - Love mezzoblue. Great design, consistently thoughtful conversations, Mr. Shea really knows his stuff. The Zen Garden, a product of the mind that built this site, is a must-see.
Heather Champ - I do not usually visit photographic sites regularly, but Ms. Champ stands out as a leader in the photo-blogging field. She has gotten me interested in pin-hole cameras and an excellent filter called a Lensbaby. However, you do not have to be interested in photography to enjoy the wonderful art that this site provides on a daily basis.
F-Train - Great writing. Like, really great writing. I mean, Paul Ford of F-Train could write about mold and it would be enthralling. Something for everyone here.
Defective Yeti - Consistently hilarious site. Great writing. Highly recommended. One of my favorites.
Asterisk - D. Keith Robinson’s site has one of my favorite color schemes. Beyond that, he opens up some excellent topics for discussion in addition to his wonderful musical recommendations. One of the best use of Google AdWords (a necessary evil for some of the bigger sites) I have seen.
Fray - Storytelling which utilizes the unique presentation that web media can offer. Always touching.
Daring Fireball - Well-informed, well-written, razor-sharp commentary about Macs, etc.
Andy Budd - Best header image and best site name. Refreshing viewpoints.
Eric Meyer - Eric Meyer really really knows his stuff. Read his book, it is very good. Refreshing to hear from someone who is an expert yet does not toot their own horn too much.
Hicks Design - By the creator of the Thunderbird (Mozilla email program) logo - Mr. Hicks gives great advice, and is quite fun to read. Note his consistently innovative use of CSS in his designs.
Jason Santa Maria - Clever design. Eye-catching design. Lovely design. Creative design. Great design.
I, Cringely - Occasionally pompous, always thought-provoking.
Worth A Thousand Words - Photoshop hilarity.
Tin Foil Prank! - cred: kottke
Kite Aerial Photography - I want to try this.
SUV In Pool - cred: kottke
Astronomy Picture of the Day Archive - Years of awe-inspiring space photos.
Snacks - Undies! Undies!
Lindkvist Postcard - I want to send this to somebody.
GigaSwiz - I laugh at the caption, “Mr. and Mrs. Swizcore” every time I visit.
Your Voice - I love this poem. I love this music.
This past Sunday I came back from a run and promptly tumbled down the stairs into the cool sixty six degrees that our basement offers in the summertime. I quickly checked my email and IM messages as sweat descended in rivulets down my arms, chest, and back. It had been a long run.
Casually, I glanced over to the clock and realized I had almost no time to prepare for church. In a frenzy, I ran upstairs and hopped in the shower. I got out with one of the worst feelings one can have in the summertime: post-shower sweat. Yes, I had taken a shower and was still sweating after the end of it. “No time to worry about that” I thought, as I pulled some clothing on and high-tailed it to church.
Rhino Orphan Profile - He’s just so damn cute.
Classic Tie Knots - Now maybe my ties will look normal.
World’s Longest Palindrome? - At risk of redundancy: holy crap that’s a long palindrome.
Hotmail Ups Storage - 125 times what they have now.
Two Point Five Alive - Waferbaby overhauls profiles: wunderbar.
John - John’s life! I like the different colored paragraphs and fonts - it isn’t something I would think of, but it just works.
Rinse First - My superb friend, excellent mentor, and reliable host. His life and times.
Graham Colton Band - Listen to the preview of “The First Week”
Halo 2 - Read what Jason Jones has to say.
Scissor Sisters - ‘Take Your Mama’ - Delightfully weird song.
Snow Patrol - Final Straw - Listen to ‘Run.’ Thanks, Nils.
Lock Down IE - I have to keep IE on my computer for proprietary online quizzes for classes. So, I locked it down using this, so no one will accidentally infect my computer. Really useful.
Wandering over to Airbag yielded a link that brought me to a lovely pattern for a paper cut-out project. The result was supposed to be a miniature Apple G5, complete with fold-away panel revealing the dual G5’s powering the little beast. I guess I didn’t know what I was in for.
Sony PremierPro 23” Display - Same LCD as the 23” Apple Cinema display, but completely PC compatible. Breathtaking.
musicOMH - Excellent reviews of albums, singles, and movies. If you have your ear to the ground for music beyond the scope of your local radio stations, pay a visit.
Hotmail Too Busy Error - Must be Microsoft servers.
Jon Stewart’s Commecement Address - He was funny then, he’s funny now.
Columbine Perspective - From Kottke, via Sun Times, via Roger Ebert.
Matt Online - Matt Online! He’s a funny writer, he really is. Oh, and we are getting him a domain name soon. Expect great things from my good friend with whom I have no quarrel!
A few weeks back, I picked up Book 1 (The Magician’s Nephew) of the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Years ago, I received the entire series as a present and voraciously tore through the seven volumes. Therefore, this July, what began as a casual opening of Book 1 ended today with the completion of Book 7. What is it about these books? The style is conversational, gentle, and fit for children; nevertheless, the trap of stripping language bare in order to accomodate younger readers is avoided. But, it isn’t really the literary style or the deeper symbolism that held my attention then and now. The fantasy is so well anchored with insight into the human condition, you see the world around you more clearly by looking at another.
This past Sunday, Valley Fair came together in a twelve-person gathering of fun. The new coaster, Steel Venom (say it like the monster truck rally announcers), proved a great ride. You start out horizontally, with your feet dangling. Then you are accelerated to 60mph in a matter of a few seconds, and sent spiraling straight up. Gravity takes over, and you slide down the spiral, backwards across the original launch area, and then you are greeted with a surprise. Out of nowhere (you are going backwards, after all), you pivot 90 degrees and see the ground dropping away as you fly up. This goes on for three cycles. One caveat: the coaster stops dead at the top of the final backward ascent, and this sudden jarring can be painful on certain areas of the male anatomy. A sign saying “Crotches, Beware!” should probably be posted.
Semisonic’s Drummer Wrote A Book - And it’s good.
Cold Turkey - A must-read. Vonnegut’s still got it.
Things have been veering a bit at tumbledry lately. Recently, I’ve decided I do not want to write about technology, computers, and the web. Not for a bit anyways. I’m too busy to deal with this all (though you may be getting some tech updates as I am currently employed in developing a section of my school’s website), so I am going to return to our roots here and share my life. Things are moving along at a rapid clip. Thus, it isn’t a big deal to me if I bore everyone and my traffic drops from the 100 or so kind souls who visit a day to none (0). When I read back to these years, I want to understand how Alex was, and not how the current development of web-standards were. This sets my goals nearly diametric to most of the blogs I regularly visit, but such are things.
Me Talk Pretty One Day - I still have to read this book.
Been rather hot lately. A wet-blanket pulled-up-around-your-ears kind of heat. I do most of my work on school and for St. Thomas here in the basement, so I live in a sweatshirt and 69 degrees Fahrenheit. Though yesterday, I decided to take the longest run I have ever embarked upon. Why do I do things like this? Certainly a question I ask myself about a wide variety of activities, and most definitely a question I was asking at around mile three.
Time out for two musical recommendations. I heard these both on Drive 105 recently, and was impressed in spite of myself (radio really is not that good for listening to real music). Since there is only a tape player in the car in which I commute, I do occasionally turn off the limited number of albums I have and scan the dial for something of worth.
DDR + Crutches - Having played some DDR myself, I think this is completely incredible. Thanks, John.
Ummmmmmmmmmmm. Umm. Ummm! Ummm? Ummmmmm. Hum. Erm. Barrrrgh. Edet. Deeee bop. Burrrrr? These are the sounds of me debating whether to start a hidden version of this site, one where I share everything that is on my mind in a completely straightforward no-nonsense manner. In reality, it would not be that hard, I would take the current “life” posts and any future ones, and password-protect their viewing. Any hard-core hackers who really did want my personal logs could probably force their way in, and that wouldn’t particularly bother me; I wouldn’t post social security numbers or my current location via GPS coordinates. But really, Erin made a great argument for journals: they help you clarify your thoughts and realize what you are really thinking. Thing is, the front page of this site really used to be traffic-free: no one visited. Now, traffic has certainly increased, but it’s more that people I know visit. One possible option could be to wait for the people I know to get bored with visiting and then I could resume personal details. However, I do feel I could be more honest about my life if I knew that everything I said would not escape the confines of the digital realm.
The Container Store: Acrylic Wipe-Off Boards - You’ll never buy another white board.