Swordfish

No, I'm not talking about the world's most obvious password. I'm talking about the fencers over at Hooked on Fencing (HOF), or more accurately, I'd like to speak about the space they fence in.
HOF has the largest (and nicest) fencing facility in Northeast Ohio, which is pretty impressive considering it's non-profit and most of the members are teenagers. I've been fencing with HOF sporadically for three years or so. When I first met them, they were fencing out of a church gymnasium (which is more common that you might think for a fencing club) which wasn't really ideal for anyone. They had to carry all the electric equipment around which means they were only ever able to set up maybe three strips (this is kind of like the court where two fencers spar) at one time. Often times they were fencing around cafeteria tables which at least made it easy to find a place to set your bag.

Near the end of 2005, HOF signed the lease for a space of its own. It was a good sized space, a warehouse, and a huge improvement on the church. The downside of the space was the concrete floors, which are brutal to fence on: painful for older fencers (and by older I mean anyone over the age of 18) and harmful in the long term to younger fencers who are still growing. Mostly it's bad on the knees, but it's not really good for the feet, ankles and back either. This changed this summer, when the club teamed up to build a new floor out of plywood. I'm not sure who lead the effort, but it's well built (meaning I don't feel like I'm going to fall through) and a huge improvement. In addition parents of fencers have been volunteering for more minor renovations since the new place opened. Early on someone realized that while the utilitarian men's room would be just fine for the guys, girls are a little pickier. So they painted it a bright color, hung up a couple posters and put some fancy soap on the sink. It's amazing what a difference it made, the room actually looks cute, inviting and modern. I realize I'm making a big deal out of a bathroom, but in any sport, which is typically dominated by men, it's nice that they made the extra effort to welcome women. More paint jobs prettied up the waiting area and changing room with some nice artwork on the walls. One of the bigger changes they made was in opening up the waiting room so parents had a nicer place to sit, where they can still watch their kids fence.

And Walt (the guy who runs the club) says sometime next year they're aiming to get aluminum strips installed. If you are not a fencer you need to understand that metal, grounded strips are sort of the ultimate goal for a fencing club, ESPECIALLY an epee club (which HOF is). Having grounded strips means that when a fencer accidentally hits the floor, the light (which indicates a point scored) will not go off so there is no (or less) confusion over whether a touch was scored. That's KEY, and to me it's the number 1 difference between a fencing space and a space where people happen to fence.
They've already made several points in that direction. They have overhead reels (this is what a fencer plugs their weapon into for electric scoring) as opposed to floor reels. I don't find floor reels that much of an annoyance but a hanging cord system is sort of a mark of a professional salle (that's what the French call a fencing gym). More importantly they have a good number of strips, I wanna say ten but I'm not sure. The fencing gym at Notre Dame had fourteen, and that's one of the top college fencing programs. The floor is painted grey, which looks surprisingly cool on the particle board, with strips outlined in blue.

The only downside is that in spite of lovingly hung artwork, the place still looks like a warehouse. I'm not complaining, It's by far the best place to fence in Northeast Ohio, but I'd like to take this opportunity to describe my dream fencing salle.

The main room is 75 feet by 200 feet. One entire wall is a mirror. Think a dance studio, only four times bigger. The ceilings are insanely high, which is perfect for the loft that houses a sitting area for guests and spectators. Over sized lights and score boards are hung at the center of each strip with a number attached so that watchers can easily keep track of the score of their favorite fencer. Two more pairs of normal sized lights hang at each end of the strip. The walls are painted a calm medium toned color with framed fencing art placed periodically with The Wall (an evil footwork pattern) painted artistically directly on the wall in several places.

Under the loft there is a snack bar with healthy snacks, and maybe a smoothie store (I'm dreaming here, remember?). In fact, the smoothie store serves meals as well, so fencers that didn't have time to eat can make up the difference. No food or non-water, non-Gatorade drink in the salle please. There are no benches or seats (or at least only uncomfortable ones), because fencers don't sit, they fence! There is however plenty of storage space tucked into the walls for fencing bags and water bottles. There are five rooms that split off from the main fencing gym. One is a large room with two elevated strips and bleachers around the edges. Two rooms are mens' and womens' bathroom/changing/shower rooms. The last room is an exersize room with aerobic equipment, light weights, and an open area for various exersizes; a book of suggestions for those and general fencing games will be included in the room. The last room has four strips, not set up for electric fencing. This is used for lessons.

Maybe one more room, while I'm thinking about it. This is a comfortable room, closed off from the rest with desks, tables and couches, where fencers that arrive early can drink their smoothie and do some homework or socialize with other early comers. Because of course, my ideal salle is open from 10am-10pm everyday. Hey, I can dream.

Drawing of the Day

Starting today I'll be posting a new drawing every day (except possibly when traveling: for example this weekend I will probably not be posting drawings). This one is a political cartoon inspired by yesterday's veto override!

$100 Laptop (for just $190)

Joke's aside, two hundred dollars isn't all that bad. About five years ago a group of participants in MIT's Media Laboratory (led by founder Nicholas Negroponte) came up with the concept which would become a non-profit organization called One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). Their goal was to provide children from third world countries with a laptop specially designed for child development and education. The theory was that the computers would be cheap and durable, and would be able to provide the primary education to children who have none available. They aimed to produce each laptop for $100 (According to OLPC's Chief Technology Officer Mary Jepsen this is the average textbook budget for developing worlds) and the project became known simply as the $100 laptop.It's a pretty cool idea. In pictures I've seen the computer is bright green and white, looks very kid friendly. The display swivels, making it a convertible tablet. It is also kid sized, with a slightly smaller keyboard, display, and I would presume, weight. It's obviously meant to be lugged around and occasionally dropped. They've used open-source software (software that can be, and is allowed to be, modified with published source code) so that, as the children learn to use the computer they can rebuild it. "Children program the machine, not the other way around[,]" is one of the more common statements quoted by the program, and is included in their Software statement online.

They actually created their own interface called "SUGAR" which is far more graphical than the GUIs (Graphical User Interface) we've gotten used to in Macs and PCs. They've provided a demo, here. The computers can be wirelessly networked, and are intended to be used for collaboration among fellow students and teachers. This is a design that is all about cooperative learning, and kid fueled study.

Today they finally started production, with their first set retailing at $188 a piece. Their first order is from Uruguay for 100,000 laptops. According to their website, as of November 3rd Ethiopia had recommitted to an order of 50,000 (though they've not yet ordered) and many other countries are interested, though not yet willing to commit. If they get enough orders Negroponte believes that the $100 would still be obtainable.

The very things that make this an ideal design for kids in developing countries would make it a wonderful first computer for a kid who wants to play with Dad's laptop. It's cheap, durable and intended for learning. As of November 12th, people who are a bit better off can buy a laptop at twice cost to donate a laptop to the children who couldn't otherwise afford it. At $376, that's still solidly below the cost of a "real" laptop and what an amazing opportunity for your kid, to have such an innovative toy to play with. It's certainly a better investment than an ipod. By the way, if anyone's looking to get me a $400 Christmas gift, Matt and I want to play with one too.

More from Ikea

Everything we bought from Ikea this Saturday is now in use. Except for the puppets, but more on that later (I promise. And sooner or later I'll get around to posting about Dragon mating as well). For now I'd like to talk about putting together our new furniture.Ikea has a diabolical business model, unlike stores like target and home depot that make their money by setting up in every city with more than two cows, Ikea's appeal is that it a little ways away. Ikea is right now building a store in West Chester, OH but that's nearly four hours from Cleveland. The closest stores are the one in Pittsburgh (2 hours, 20 minutes), where we went, and a store in Canton, Michigan (2 hours, 40 minutes). Ikea will never build a store in Cleveland (unless they change their business model) because we have three stores that are an easy day trip away. They want us to make the day trip. It could be argued (and has been on unrelated topics) that I'm just a paranoid freak, but the fact that many of their products are not available either online or by mail-order supports the idea that it's a conscious global design plan on Ikea's part.

The reason they do this is that they have a unique enough group of items that they know people will recognize the Ikea "brand" (without the necessity of a label), this makes their furniture more desirable than say Target's upscale furniture (which I have to admit, I do like) or other more generic designs. This means when you drive three hours to the nearest store, you're more likely to make impulse buys because, hey, who knows when you'll be back? Everything about their floor plan encourages those impulse buys. Before you get to the large rooms dedicated to JUST beds or chairs or kitchen gadgets, you're assaulted with teaser looks at nifty furniture in the room displays: "find this lamp in the lighting section!" Smaller items such as bathmats and wooden hangers are packaged haphazardly around with giant yellow bags close at hand.

Matt and I had several things we intended to pick up and we stuck to the plan pretty closely (except for the puppets). We've been wanting bedside tables and Ikea carries tables made of, wait for it... ACTUAL WOOD at a comparable price to the shitty particle board ones you might find most places. We got two of those and a bench for the entry way. We looked at bedside lamps but didn't see any we liked enough to impulse, and we decided we ought to wait since we weren't really sure how high the tables would be once assembled. We'd also been looking for a dish-drying rack for our dishwasher-dangerous items such as wooden handled knives and a rack to hold up the cutting boards, which tend to slide down the wall without proper supervision.

In the kitchen section we found the drying rack and cutting board rack (which is technically a dish rack, but I can't see the practical use of a rack that holds only four dishes, taking up as much horizontal space as the dishes would, and more vertical space than dishes stacked) without any trouble. I was sort of childishly delighted at how solid the cutting board rack was, putting it together made a sound like a toddler playing with building blocks. The drying rack probably wouldn't be that exciting to any normal human being, but it turned out to be the perfect size to hang over the sink, and doesn't take up any of the highly coveted counter space (or stove burner space, which is where I usually rest the drying knives and spoons. For some reason I think that since it's on fire most of the time it must be more sanitary).

The solid wood construction of the end tables made me giddy in much the same way as the cutting board rack (only more so). We entirely failed to match the stain with any of the furniture in our bedroom, but we don't really mind. We're both much happier to have a place for mid-night glasses of water, kleenex and I'm happy to have a place for a journal, notebook and my vitamins. The wood actually doesn't look too bad with the red comforter on, but the green quilt brings out the yellow and really makes it stick out. One of the coolest things, which we noticed as an afterthought, was that the back bottom corner is taken out so that the table can sit right flush to the wall. Smart design.

The bench in the hallway worked out even better than we expected: Matt was able to move some of his shoes from the bedroom closet because the shelf is wider than we thought. Ikea actually intended the bench to be for the bathroom (it's cedar, or a wood that's meant to look like cedar) and the red tone of the wood is a beautiful contrast to the green walls.

All in all it was a successful trip. We didn't spend too terribly much money, we didn't pick up anything that we didn't plan to (except for the puppets) and everything's built now, and helping us get crap off our floor and put AWAY where it belongs.

Display Idea

Matt pointed this out tonight at Record Exchange in Lakewood. Kind of a clever way to display buttons or anything small and flat really. I'd suggest coins, stickers, leaves you collect on fall walks (not much time left for that), funky photographs or magazine clippings. With a CD stand that's a bit less obtrusive you could take the display idea and turn it into interactive artwork: maybe use some colored sand (you'd have to seal up the cracks) or paint and mirrors on the bottom. Probably that's taking it a bit far, but still, a cool idea from Record Exchange.

Shadows and Light

The other day I read an article called "In Praise of Shadows" by Japanese writer Junichiro Tanizaki. The essay was originally published in 1933, but except for a few mentions of technology that now seem antiquated, the translation feels fresh and modern, I think even more relevant to post-WW2 Japan than it was at the time it was written. It was a fascinating read that brings up questions of design possibilities and unfulfilled potential.*Tanizaki begins his essay with grumbling, that is very nearly humorous, about what a shame it is that the Japanese no longer have their toilets outside and must ruin the beauty of traditional Japanese homes with ugly modern invasions like plumbing and furnaces and electric fans. However the commentary is never quite a complaint and the observations are tempered with the admission that modern conveniences make life better and are, in many cases necessary. His point is not that he wishes furnaces and flush toilets had never been invented, he simply wishes they had been invented by the Japanese. He comments, "... I always think how different everything would be if we in the Orient had developed our own science... had we devised independently at least the more practical sorts of inventions, this could not but have had profound influence upon the conduct of our everyday lives, and even upon government, religion, art, and business."

As he continues his tone seems to become more condemning, comparing Western and Eastern elements with a certain distaste for the Western, saying for example, "We do not like everything that shines, but we do prefer a pensive luster to a shallow brilliance..." Reading carefully however, it can be understood that this tone is not dismissive, rather wistful for the lost opportunity in borrowing technology. Different is not the same as better, but Tanizaki clearly believes that this different would have been better: for Japan.

The main cause of difference according to Tanizaki is light. In the West everything is brightly lit where as in the East things are dim and subtle. He explains, "...in the Gothic cathedral of the West, the roof is thrust up and up so as to place its pinnacle as high in the heavens as possible... In the temples of Japan, on the other hand, a roof of heavy tiles is first laid out, and in the deep spacious shadows created by the caves the rest of the structure is built... Even at midday cavernous darkness spreads over all beneath the roof's edge... There are of course roofs on Western houses too, but they are less to keep off the sun than to keep off the wind and the dew... they are built to create as few shadows as possible and to expose the interior to as much light as possible."

He goes on to explain how this effects art and theater, and how the introduction of bright electric lights have destroyed both. He speaks unfavorably for example about Kabuki, "...whatever they may have been in the past, the gaudy Kabuki colors under the glare of the Western floodlamps verge on a vulgarity of which one quickly tires." Gold gilt Buddha statues were not "...mere extravagance. It's reflective properties were put to use as a source of illumination." In other things, such as the decoration of lacquerware dishes, the gold was meant to be a subtle glow from a shadowed corner, likewise paintings were meant to sink into the edges and clothing that seems gaudy with expensive gold and silver threads in full light would twinkle calmly in, "...the flickering light of the altar lamps[.]"As his essay continues he talks of the shadow qualities of Japanese people as well as their art. Skin tones, he says, are more opaque than European skin tones, independent of darkness. "Taken individually there are Japanese who are whiter than Westerners and Westernsers who are darker than Japanese, but their whiteness and darkness is not the same... Among the Japanese were ladies... whose skin was whiter than theirs. Yet from across the room these ladies, even one alone, would stand out unmistakably from amongst a group of foreigners. For the Japanese complexion, no matter how white, is tinged by a slight cloudiness." So to Tanizaki, it is the in the physical nature to tend towards the shadows, where they are at their most beautiful, like the misty paintings, the subtle play of gold just at the edge of vision.Reading Tanizaki's essay, it becomes apparent that he is not talking so much about shadows as he is mourning a lost culture. His history has been dragged out into the light and as such it is being transformed for the worse, then disappearing. While he accepts the necessity of modern technology he asks why it is necessary to throw away the old ways while bringing in the new. "I did wonder at the time why they could not be designed with a bit more consideration for our own habits and tastes[,]" he asks towards the beginning of the piece. I wonder the same thing, for I would expect if there were any culture capable of adapting rather than absorbing, it would be the Japanese. If there is any condemnation in the tone, I think it is directed inwards, asking, why have we allowed ourselves to be lost in the new, in that which is not ours?

I think it could be fair to say that Tanizaki is speaking as much about the character of people as of their culture. At risk of stereotyping, light also makes a good metaphor for the differences in Western and Eastern people. While the Bush administration makes a lousy example of transparency, Westerners, and especially Americans are typically straightforward, sometimes to the point of being rude or over simplistic. Asian cultures on the other hand tend to be anything but direct. Early this year, China tested a missile by destroying one of their own satellites. Some speculate that this was a warning for the US to stay out of Chinese affairs in Taiwan. I can't think of a less direct way to send a message, but it is a subtle, and yet undeniably strong statement. Words from the shadows. Perhaps Tanizaki is lamenting the loss of the gentle, the polite dealings that seem inappropriate and extravagant in the light of Western directness.

Sub-meanings aside, I think it's enlightening to contemplate design possibilities that might have been. Tanizaki asks an interesting question, what would the toilet or the furnace or the electric light have been were it invented by the Japanese? In the modern world we are so interconnected that creativity free from intervention is impossible. While different cultures may come up with new solutions, those solutions are quickly stolen by the rest of the world so that technology is built up one tier at a time and we have only single new solutions, no different solutions to one problem. The only groups which are more or less isolated, such as groups of aboriginals in South America or reservations of Native Americans, are crippled by history and unlikely to come up with a unique line of technology. Of course there are exceptions, but for the most part the world is too interdependent to see any kind of diversity in design. For design and technology to thrive, a certain amount of sharing is necessary, but also the freedom from constant influence.

*All photos came from Flickr searches and are linked to the photographer's site.

Ikealand

Yesterday Matt, Amy and I drove up to Pittsburgh to get a few things from Ikea. This was only my second time going to Ikea, which means it was really only the first time I was able to process the experience. Ikea is so huge, so packed with so many different things that the first time you visit all you can walk away with is a vague sense of the scale. For anyone who is not familiar with Ikea, it's a Swedish furniture company that specializes in modern styles for cramped spaces. Of course the American stores have been adapted to US customers: Real Americans like their houses big. Real Americans also like to own a lot of stuff however, so Ikea's organizational solutions are still welcome and relevant to a US market.

As far as I know, Ikea started out in the US mainly targeting college students. It makes sense: the furniture has simple lines, very Euro, and more importantly it's relatively cheap, but still good quality. The small-space conscious design also helped in the college crowd, a huge bonus in the dorm rooms. These days however, the group of people who first fell in love with Ikea are in their late twenties and early thirties: moving from small dorm rooms to small apartments or small houses and trying to start families. Ikea's adapted beautifully, with upscale looking furniture alongside the stark utilitarian, and a huge section devoted to kids and babies.

The charm of Ikea is that it's so smart. Scattered throughout the store are stations with foldable maps, large yellow bags to lug small items and, best of all, paper rulers to make sure that dresser will fit in the wall space you have in mind. Rather than making you drag larger pieces of furniture all over the store, they give you a chart and a pencil so you can write down the code and pick it up from the warehouse before you leave.

The design itself is also smart: while the store has a Ikea-unique style, the individual pieces are easy to blend into other feelings if Ikea-style is not your style. After even a first visit you'll start to realize that nearly everything in those "organize your life" and "quick storage solutions" is stolen from Ikea (although lately it's more like they're stolen from each other). Even in design magazines not dedicated to organization you'll start to notice that Ikea furniture is turning up everywhere, though for some reason they don't bother to tell you that this is where you can pick up the chair or shelving unit of interest.

The cost of furniture in Ikea is kept low partially because everything in the store requires assembly. Personally I find it satisfying to assemble my own furniture, though I realize this may be a drawback for some people. Ikea assembly is a striking contrast to crappy target/walmart bookshelves or cube units, both because it goes together so much more easily, and because the quality is so obviously higher. About half the furniture in Ikea is made of gasp actual wood, and the units that are made from plywood are so cleverly veneered that it's nearly impossible to tell. The furniture is satisfyingly heavy and doesn't shake once it's put together, a refreshing change that makes construction all the more fulfilling.

Ikea intelligence is evident in constantly evolving solutions. My favorite piece from yesterday was a TV stand with a gap in the back for wires. I realize this doesn't sound all that innovative, but the table is also beautiful, they managed to make the wire gap a part of the design so that you might like to use the table even if you didn't need a way to hide your wires. Most tables I've seen that give access to outlets are ugly or try to hide it in back. Instead, Ikea does the smart thing and incorporates it into the lines of the table.

Another solution I enjoyed was a slotted headboard designed to allow shelves and other helpful hangers on to clip on. It's attractive enough that it would fit in any bedroom without looking ugly, the kind of ugly you sometimes get from furniture that is far too functional (think of wall to ceiling built in shelving in a bedroom). I think this would be best though for a teen, or even a preteen.

Here's yet another: you know how when you wash a mug in the dishwasher it gets that shallow pool of nasty water trapped inside the bottom lip? Ikea built in dips, making the bottom of your coffee cup look kind of like a castle tower, that allow the water to spill off so you don't have to deal with it.

Then there's the cafe/restaurant, brightly lit with a funky, extremely Ikea lamp hanging over each table. The food is much better than you'd expect from the cafeteria style in which it's presented, and they provide cute plastic kids' utensils right next to the normal silverware. They were so cool looking that Matt and I each used the kiddy knives instead of real knives and I was actually a bit disappointed that they didn't serve my food on one of the brightly colored rectangular plates. To further accommodate families they actually have a "stroller parking" section just outside the cafe in a design that is both functional and really cool looking.

Even the packaging at Ikea exudes brilliance. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's gone to the drugstore for allergy medicine, bought a giant box, opened the box to find that three quarters of it is closed off with card-stock paper. The last quarter contains a three inch tall pill bottle which is stuffed with cotton and at the bottom you find twelve to sixteen tiny pills rattling around, taking up only two percent of the bottle's volume. Over packaging is out of control but Ikea not only doesn't over package; their disassembled pieces are packed up nice and tight with just a thin layer of foam to keep it scratch-free; when reasonable they'll change the shape of the packaging to better accommodate its contents. I saw some tetris shaped boxes containing table lamps that did not just better fit (and therefore protected) the lamps, they also locked snuggly together to protect themselves during shipping.

I guess I'm overwhelmed again by Ikea, but this time with hero worship. If there's one thing I love it's intelligent design (not the kind they have in schools in the South mind you) and Ikea is constantly making me smile. A few weeks ago I stumbled on a website called Ikea Hacker which takes it a step further. Ikea furniture tends to be so modular that it's easily changed into other things entirely, and people from all over can exchange ideas to come up with insanely creative concoctions. One piece I especially liked isn't all that innovative, but it's just so freaking cool that I can't wait to do it in my house of the future. It's just a set of shelves that has that perfect balance of clean modern lines and industrial cool that I love so much. I'm wondering how long it will be before I'm contributing to this site myself.

Ugly-cool

There is something fascinating to me about industrial architecture. This won't be the last time I post on this but I thought I'd make an introduction today.

I don't think I'm alone in this attraction, it's strange, but there is beauty in the ugly, in the fallen or the half constructed. I was reminded of this while paging through photos of Scotland, when I came across some visually stunning scaffoldings on a failing section of Edinburgh Castle. They seem to stretch into eternity, a strange but fitting contrast to the nature surrounding them. You would think that they would look out of place, if not against the greenery than next to the aged walls of the Castle I have to admit that the six-year-old inside me was deeply tempted to sprint up the hill and climb them, but I resisted.

Industrial structures aren't the only ugly things that attract people, ruins are an excellent example of an ugly aesthetic that is so accepted as beauty that most people would argue that they are not in any way ugly. I would argue that ruins are ugly by nature, consider what ruins are. Symbols of deterioration and failure, ruins are nothing but broken remnants. There is not even certainty that what they once were was beautiful, we take this for granted because the ruins still stand as mementos. A sense of awe overcomes us when we look at the scraps of something that might have been great, it is this sense that lets us see them as beautiful.

Then there's the funky, the truly ugly, a push that is rising in popularity. Decorating magazines are beginning to celebrate trash-picking, broken furniture rebuilt into something new. This may be a manifestation of the trendy green movement: don't throw it away, reuse it, the more obvious the better. The rise in DIY also contributes to this trend, it's all the more cool if it looks handmade, and that means ugly. Craftsters, no longer sweet and feminine, but rebellious, young, hip, embrace the ugly as well with large clumsy stitches that once would have been considered inelegant. Now they scream out, "I made this!" The perfect example of this is the Ugly Doll, cuddly and adorable exactly because it is so proudly hideous.

The beauty of the Cleveland Flats is entirely industrial, and I'm sure that there are those who would argue that there is no beauty. There are railroads that seem to go everywhere, with nothing behind them but the sky. Bridges to nowhere, graceful archways shadowing us as we walk beneath them. Most striking perhaps are the bridges that were once raised or swung aside to let through barges, and then one day they were brought up for the last time. There they stand, heavy and black against the clouds, reminding us of their past purpose. So strange to think how long they've sat in disuse, the materials not reclaimed, just left to take up space and glare down at us. The old and ugly sits next to the new, the fashionable until they blend unintentionally into one style. I think the hard edged metal, right on the river, touches something in us that we try not to think about. It's a monument to the past, a reminder not so different from the crumbling ruins people will line up to photograph.

Trick Or Treat?

I've seen a lot of blogs lately about what's "ok" for kids to do on Halloween. There's quite a lot of talk about taking a child's candy as soon as they've gone trick-or-treating, to prevent them from gorging themselves sick on chocolate. Or of "trading" candy for toy bribes, or sometimes just throwing the loot away.

Now I understand what parents are afraid of, rotting teeth, obesity, sugar crazed brats. But for crying out loud it's HALLOWEEN. These precautions might make sense if you have a kid with allergies, or even a kid who's too little to understand trick-or-treating in the first place, otherwise it's just cruel. Way to ruin the fun. Nothing's wrong with a little gorging, the kid will gain a pound, make himself sick, and be unable to eat anything the day after anyhow, balancing the whole sugar gain. Or maybe not, but at any rate it balances in the end and one day of celebration isn't going to make a lifetime habit of overindulgence.

Then there's the question of "trick." I've read a ton of comments about those damned vandals, throwing eggs which create permanent property damage, and other sorts of Halloween tricks that bring no end of nuisance and hurt feelings. The question of whether it should be allowed is sort of irrelevant, more important is why it's happening in the first place.

When I was a kid, the charm of Halloween had nothing to do with tricks, or even really the treats. It was all about the feeling in the air. There was a feeling that anything could happen, ghosts could come up behind you, you could discover an ability for magic, maybe meet a vampire. And all that mystery was all the more delicious because I was young enough to feel secure, safe, automatically protected. I was ready to witness these things because I knew I'd survive them, any other consequences just added to the sense of yummy danger. The idea that someone out there was up to mischief made it all the more fascinating, but I myself never had the temptation to throw eggs or toilet paper, or smash pumpkins on the street.

Why didn't I have the temptation? Because I continued trick-or-treating until I was fifteen or sixteen, in other words, far too old. To my mind, that's the real trick: teenagers. I could (but won't at this time) talk for pages about the problem of teenagers in general, a created class of people that is neither here nor there, and utterly confused because of it. Instead I'd like to talk about this chunk of people on Halloween.

When a five or six year old says: trick or treat? he probably doesn't realize what he's saying. Even as we get older we don't really consider that phrase a negotiation, and consciously it's not. On the other hand when a sixteen-year-old comes to your door with a plastic pumpkin and says "trick-or-treat" most people will give them the: "aren't you too old for this" glare, and in a way, it's these skeptical neighbors that are pushing the trick-or-treat towards the "trick" half. I was encouraged to stop trick-or-treating when I was about twelve, not that I did. You don't even have to tell them they're too old, a child realizes this the first time he or she is asked, "are you going trick-or-treating this year?" as though it were an option, as though the possibility not to go actually exists. We expect these kids to grow up in the course of a year, but they still want to dress in costumes, want to be a part of Halloween magic like they always have been. So when we tell them they're too old, and provide them no other way to be a part, they find their own way. Somehow we are still surprised to when our trees are covered in soggy toilet paper, or the paint job on our cars are ruined by eggs.

I'm not saying vandalism is ok, but aren't we kind of asking for it when we, as a society, tell kids we aren't going to give them the "treat" any longer? Personally, when I have kids, and they start to indicate a reluctance to go trick-or-treating, I'm going to buy them a whole bundle of TP. If they're going to go out playing tricks, I'd rather it be the huge nuisance kind than the permanent property damage kind.

Happy Halloween

Ever since I was a little kid, Halloween has been my favorite holiday. I'm not sure why, it wasn't the candy, which always struck me as a bit anti-climactic, I think it was just the joy of pretend, the one day of the year that EVERYONE has to pretend to be something else. Preferably something spooky. Of course I've gotten a bit lame lately, but it's not my fault. Since I've been at that media conference for the last three years I've consistently missed, if not the actual day, the weekend where everyone has the big Halloween party, which is a real bummer for someone who thinks Christmas is the second rate holiday. This year I actually managed to get some Halloween activities in, and it took me unprepared. The weekend before last there was a Halloween party which was supposedly really a party for the pagan holiday that inspired Halloween (don't ask me what it's called I don't remember), but mostly it just felt like Halloween. Although it wasn't your typical party by any means (one of the reasons it was cool) there was a drum circle, and belly dancing and a friend of the hostess doing henna tattoos. I love Henna.

Last weekend of course I was in DC for the conference, but I was surprised to get a little taste of Halloween even there. The zoo was all set up for their version of "Boo at the Zoo" (does every zoo do Boo at the Zoo?) so we got to see some fun spooky decorations. Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of my favorite decor: hanging from the long metal bridge that takes you to the main part of the zoo were a line of ghosts, swinging in the wind. Presumably they were the souls of people that had been hung, but since the Boo @ Zoo thing is geared partially towards kids I'm thinking maybe I'm not supposed to think that deeply.

I got back in town about 4pm Sunday afternoon and at 7pm Matt and I went into Lakewood to visit friends and carve pumpkins. Much fun holiday spirit (or spirits) was had by all. My big brother had decked out the house to look quite spooky, much better than many of the houses on the block, with high class bones that actually kinda feel like dried out bones, like driftwood from Lake Erie. Meanwhile Kim is still hard at work in the garden (even though it's freaking October) which is looking cooler every time I go over. I'm sure this wasn't her intent, but the mass of plants and colors went much better with the haunted feel than the boring grass lawns lining the rest of the street. Brian (brother), Amy, Matt and I all carved pumpkins, but Kim didn't get the chance between gardening and roasting pumpkin seeds.

And tonight we all went over to Kim and Brian's for trick or treating. Amy handed out the candy, apparently with the wisdom of Solomon since we ran out almost exactly at 7:55 (trick-or-treating ends at 8). As an added bonus, the garden kept the kiddies from stomping through the front yard. Unfortunately Kim had volleyball and missed out on most of it, Matt had to stay inside and get work done, but it was still a fun time. Lots of cute costumes and only a few crying children. Scary award goes to the toddler in the Elmo costume... carrying an axe.
I'll post pictures of costumes and pumpkins etc. as I get them...

Zoo-A-Riffic

While I was in Washington, the one thing I wanted to do above all else was visit the National Zoo. I went to three sessions the first day, four plus a critique the second. The day before the convention I did have some downtime, but by the time we got checked into the hotel and settled there wasn't much time to kill before we needed to register. I made it to the grocery store to stock up on granola bars and fruit, then crashed in bed to watch part of the crappier Willy Wonka. It rained all through the first three days, particularly on the third day (second convention day) which worried me, because if the trend continued even I, Oregon Duck blooded as I may be, wouldn't have wanted to brave constant downpour. Fortunately the last day of the convention was beautiful, I chucked my convention schedule aside (nothing interested me anyway) and set off for the zoo. It was a 30 minute walk from the hotel and, to my surprise, I was sweating by the time I got there. The sun was out, I wrapped my hoodie around my waist, walking comfortably in just a T-shirt. I was there from 12:45 or so to 4 pm.

Andrea, one of the girls from the Cauldron, was with me, and at her request our first stop was to see the Panda's. They didn't seem all that happy, but it was the first time either of us had ever seen one in person (at great distance, granted). Andrea wanted to go in the enclosure and cuddle with it. We both know better, but I have to admit, laying over the rock as he was, the Panda did really look just like a big floppy stuffed animal.

My first impression of the zoo was that it was kinda dinky. Sure, there were Pandas, but otherwise the size alone made it kind of disappointing. Finally, thinking we'd seen nearly everything, we took the last path available, guessing it would lead us to maybe another small exhibit, maybe just a different vantage point.

After crossing the bridge we realized how greatly we'd underestimated. This zoo is HUGE. Of course, as the National Zoo it had really better be, but it's amazing how hidden it is, how impossible it is to understand the scale from within. I'm still enamored with the Cleveland Zoo, don't get me wrong, but the Smithsonian Zoo really kicks its ass.

Cleveland does a pretty amazing zoo, the animals seem well cared for, there are tons of yearlong activities to get kids interested, a membership is cheap and pays for itself quickly. There are also a pretty good variety of animals and a pretty vast space. The zoo in DC though is just so much bigger, obviously better funded, and for crying out loud it's free. There is a subtle difference in the environments designed for the animals: I think those in Cleveland are just as carefully crafted, but in DC they're bigger which really does make a difference to the captives. The animals also just seem happier and healthier (except for the Panda which looked pretty depressed). I don't think that's necessarily because we aren't taking care of our animals, I think these animals are just younger. Our lions, especially the male, look pretty ancient by comparison. This may also be due simply because of the problem mentioned before; we just have less space to give each animal.

Something really cool the zoo in DC is working on right now is a project for the elephants. It sounds as if they're planning on building enclosed paths all through the zoo for the elephants to wander. That way they get a larger territory without turning the whole place into an elephant zoo. I think that's an incredible idea and I can't wait to hear how it turns out. In fact I'll probably be back in DC next year and I'm hoping they'll be well underway by then. Obviously I'll have to go back when it's finished, and see how the elephants are enjoying their paths.

Possibly my favorite exhibit wasn't even an animal. The zoo had a building called the "think tank," there were some assorted monkeys behind glass, but mostly the building was one of those learning exhibits, you know: the kind that have all these tiny wooden doors you pull aside to see the answers to trivia questions on the front? Well running all around the room there was tall glass shelving full of resin made, to scale, brains. I want this in my future library. Seriously, they had, maybe not every animal you can think of, but a good handful, to compare to the size of a human brain. I tried to get a picture but it didn't really turn out. The biggest brain was not surprisingly the blue whale, but it wasn't as large as I expected, only maybe three times, maybe four the size of a human brain. In fact if you averaged the size of the blue whale brain and a human brain you'd get the elephant brain, which, when you consider the relative sizes of a person, to an elephant, to a blue whale, is pretty interesting. Canines and Felines on the other hand had fairly small brains, again smaller than I would have expected. About the size of a fist (we're talking lions and tigers and wolves, not Fido and Socks). This was less surprising when I got a good look at a cat skull and was reminded how much of a cat head is probably 70 percent MOUTH and these creatures have much thicker skulls than we do. At any rate it was a fascinating exhibit and as I said, I will someday replicate it in my personal library.

There are a ton of things to see in DC, next time I'm there I want to see the Aerospace museum, natural history museum, art museum... but I think I'll have to make revisiting the zoo a priority. Andrea and I wandered, much more quickly than a family with children would, for over three hours and were unable to see all of it. We kept thinking we were near the end of our circle, then we'd see a sign to an area we hadn't even seen a hint of before. There were even sections we could see, but couldn't figure out how to get to, suggesting that we missed even more than we thought. The zoo was more than worth the wait, I'd like to go back soon. Next time I'll wear hiking boots.

Color Craze

I've been playing around with color on this blog for the last couple days. I'm not sure I really like this but I suppose it doesn't matter since I'm going to redesign in the end anyway. I do like the layout up top and I'll probably keep something similar when I change everything else around.

Colors are important, they can completely alter the mood of any piece, whether it's the frame color of a watercolor or a room, or a website. On the blog I discovered that a color I really liked, an energetic blueish, hurt to look at for too long which is obviously a bad idea. Another color, a sort of tangerine, was easier to look at although it was just as bright. I didn't like the overall effect however: it was too much like a party style which isn't exactly my style. Eventually I realized I needed something dark to sort of calm down the design. A dark purple looked nice with the other colors but the result was a bit too girly. It ruined the clean technical feel that drew me to this template in the first place. A dark orange is really just a brown, it might have looked ok but I didn't even try it: The limited template of cool colors (no blues mind you) is pleasing here, a balanced color palette is both unnecessary and undesirable.

I played around with all sorts of background colors for my portfolio site. Since the subject matter tends to be a bit dark, eventually I'll probably return to a dark color or a dark grey, but for now I've settled on just white in the background. This leaves it feeling clean and free of distraction, allowing the focus to settle on the artwork. Of course that's all destroyed by the fact that I have no logo, so instead the top of my website just says: "logologologologoHADESARROWlogologologlogologo." I've found it's more amusing if you imagine saying the logologos to the tune of "BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER" and the hadesarrow can be the "MUSHROOM MUSHROOM!" Someday I'll make myself a real logo, but even when I do I think I'll leave that text as the scrollover because it makes me laugh.

For this blog I settled on a background color of dark grey. I tend to like greys. Most people think of greys as boring, too neutral and symbolically dull. I guess I like neutral colors, and grey in particular I've found has a lot of potential for background space. The walls in the studio/computer room are painted a pale grey/brown color, a color that looked much warmer on the sample, but on the walls seems an almost icy smoothness. I love the color, it's the perfect tone for a workspace: not so glaring and blank as a white wall, not so energetic as a bright color, to make me restless or agitated. Instead it's cool and awake. I won't go so far as to say it makes me want to work, but it doesn't give me an extra excuse not to work either.

Our bedroom is also painted grey, dark dark grey, I am constantly greeted with skeptical faces when I describe it. Believe me it's lovely, someday I'll post pictures. I can't remember what the color is called, I think it's the color of thunderstorms. There's an ugly aqua carpet on the floor that I can't afford to replace, and next to it the dark grey walls look like the same color purple that I rejected as too pretty for my blog. For a bedroom it's perfect, the comforter and curtains are deep red and there are several lights in the room to fight the darkness. At some point I'll have to put up crown molding, just to finish the effect, dark and light. The wood of my bed is stained a dark red, adding warm and cool to dark and light. The rest of the furniture is either dark stain or raw and unstained, and somehow they all blend together just right. Matt's red-brown leather recliner sits in one corner as a reading spot, the whole effect is calm and luxurious, just like a bedroom ought to be.

In other living areas grey would surely be boring, ugly, pathetic, but in areas where the walls should not invade, grey works quite well. I've found the same is true when matting drawings, sometimes white is just too boring, too like everything else. Black on the other hand can be too dramatic, overcoming the drawing in the center which is delicate and small. Grey again, strikes the perfect chord.

A little while ago, some scientists did a study showing that children prefer food in McDonalds cartons to food in unmarked, brown packaging. They used this study to prove that children are easily targeted by marketing, but I think it proves something else entirely, that we probably already knew. Kids like bright colors. In fact people like bright colors, and marketers have been taking advantage of this for ages. We are bombarded with color, screaming buy me, have me, you need me today! In a world where everything is bright and fast and exciting, I think that when I'm home, it's nice to just surround myself with grey.

Conventioning

I just returned from Washington DC where I spent three days at a student media conference. This is the third year I've been to this conference, (different location every time) and while I'm never really excited to go, I always end up getting valuable insights in spite of myself. This year I was particularly reluctant. For once it was being held in a city I actually wanted to visit (haven't been to DC since I was 12) but I was a bit burned out on the conference itself, and hated leaving home, going away from my fiance. I realize that's a bit pathetic, but there it is.

Since I was pissy about being there, and had attended the majority of sessions in various incarnations over the last two years, I concentrated entirely on topics that interested me personally, instead of those that related to the Vindicator. I'm glad; first I attended a couple sessions on writing for magazines that I think were really helpful (we'll see whether anything comes of it long term). I also went to several web sessions that sort of inspired me. In particular, there were two sessions on blogging that made me sit up and listen.

I should mention at this point that over the last few years I've been putting together a weird collection of skills for a job that I didn't think existed, but I guessed would exist sometime in the next couple of years. From the University of Notre Dame I have a BFA in studio art, which isn't really useful at all, but it does mean I spent four years training an artistic eye and I did manage to scrape a class in multimedia: web design. Once I came to Cleveland I landed a student position as a web assistant which was really more of an education than the class. At about the time I started my MFA program I switched jobs, starting work for the Vindicator. So basically when I graduate I'll have an artistic eye, limited web skills, creative writing, and editing skills. I'll also have a year of work experience as a web... person, and three years experience editing. Even if it is all student work. I've been keeping an eye out, waiting for jobs like... web content editor or something to show up.

Of course it didn't occur to me that that's almost exactly what a blogger is. Or that people are actually starting to pay bloggers and that I expect this will become more standard in the future. The trouble is I don't bother to update my blog all that often. And I KNOW there's no one reading this. However, I expect if the one changes, the other may follow, so here's my promise: from now on, with the exception of emergencies or other unforeseeable obstacles, I will update this blog at least once a day. Sometime this winter I'm going to get rid of (most of) this template and replace it with my own web design, hopefully increasing my technical skills in the process. In about a week I'm hoping that Matt (fiance) and I can get some extra shelves for my art desk built. Once I've got the table cleared off and have space, I'll start posting a sketch/drawing a day as well. So if you are reading, come back! I'll start being interesting any day now.
As far as a theme, I have in my head what this blog is going to do, but it's a little hard to describe. This is going to be an idea blog. I'm loosely calling it "living in space" because it will be about living, in small spaces, in relationships, or in my head. I'll post many of the weird ass ideas I get that have no practical application in reality. Come back here tomorrow and you may read about things such as dragon mating, hunting elephants with range rovers and building cat furniture.