July 27th, 2010
Let’s set the record straight. I have never been a big fan of tattoos. But I must say, my position on the subject has been wavering some since we’ve reached the South Pacific. This is, after all, the cradle of tattoodom, and well, the tats are pretty good here.
I am a visual person at heart, and as a designer I love logos that render well in black and white, making creative use of positive and negative space to create a unique, simple image. Unlike Western-style tattoos, which feature semi-realistic or graphically stylized illustrations, many times in multiple colors, Polynesian tattoo uses sharp lines and edges, rendered in one color, with little to no shading or blending at all. It is the purist’s tattoo, eliminating all the bells and whistles and depending solely on form of the design and the traditional significance of the pieces it comprises to make it beautiful. It’s not just there to be pretty either. Traditional Polynesian tattoos send historical messages and hold meanings that tell a person’s story, serving a cultural purpose in the same way graphic design can tell a story about a company or organization.
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July 26th, 2010
CoupleSpark is a social media site that allows couples to post a conflict that they’re struggling to move beyond and put the issue to a vote among the CouplesSpark community. Supposedly, the service allows couples who may not be able to afford relational therapy a way to work out their difficulties, but I wonder at the effectiveness of airing one’s dirty laundry to the public, as it were.
In a perfect world, this community could lend some helpful benefits to a quarreling couple, saving their relationship and yielding a happier, more vibrant couples experience for the partners in question. However, as I crawled the site exploring conflicts, it seems like the site lends itself more to hateful criticisms and public aspersion supported by the volume of “thumbs-up” you receive for your point of view on the dispute, which would in turn lead to further angst.
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July 26th, 2010
The fourth season of my favorite show on television started with an off-camera voice asking “Who is Don Draper?” It’s a question that has been at the heart of the sublime AMC series Mad Men, a show that brings to vivid life the world of 1960s Madison Avenue advertising. It’s also a show that asks brilliant questions about how we brand ourselves — namely, where does image end and true identity begin. With that in mind, I found a really cool little quiz that fans of Mad Men will probably find enlightening. Find out which show character you are.
For the record, I’m Betty Draper. Yuck.
July 23rd, 2010
Feast your eyes upon the BloodhoundSSC, unveiled at the recent Farnborough Airshow. Richard Noble (designer) and Andy Green (driver) are hoping that it will break 1000 mph. If anyone can do it, it’s these two. They broke the sound barrier and the land speed record using their previous “car”, the ThrustSSC, with a top speed of 763 mph. The new BloodhoundSSC is to be powered by a jet engine/rocket for a combined 130,000 horsepower and 47,500 pounds of thrust. The official run is scheduled to take place in a dry lake bed in Africa sometime in 2012. Here’s wishing them a safe, successful, and speedy trip.
July 23rd, 2010
I’m a sucker for cute, needy things in distress. Seriously. One of my most vibrant childhood memories is of me jumping out of my kiddie pool, ambling across the street and picking up a sad, bedraggled looking kitten that was mewling piteously. The kitten (now soaked-through, thanks to me) merely seemed relieved that she’d been heard and allowed herself to be carried (perhaps a little too tightly for comfort) back across the street to my worried parents. Mittens was my first of many rescues.
It is perhaps serendipitous that I’m drawn to these furry transients, as I seem to have attracted a rather startling collection over the years. From the baby fruit bat I rescued from my church in junior high school to the several full-grown 100+ lb. pit bulls that I rescued with my husband in Tallahassee, I’ve had quite an assortment of species and temperaments over the years.
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