Write More: Notebooks

I'm developing some stationery in an ongoing effort to get people to write more letters, diary entries, grocery lists, ransom notes and requests for Jesus. It's called "Write More" because I exist in a dimension parallel to yours in which everything is obsotively, posilutely, literally literal. "Write More: 'Cuz, y'know, you ought to." We've got our very best admen working on that bullshit slogan. I plan to throw myself into all efforts fancy paper after January. Until then, here are a few prototypes that I whipped up. They're Moleskine Cahier notebooks and they come with ruled or blank pages. "Write More: 'Cuz it's high time you made that Japanese girl on the train next to you insanely jealous." Bit better.

(flickr)

App'velopes

These are the finished envelopes that hold some of the material for my applications. In some cases, my recommendation folks have to mail material in boring old white, pre-addressed, stamped envelopes so some of the presentation is lost. But my favorite schools are getting the whole shebang. For my personal statement letter, I picked a few of the synonyms used by different schools and threw in a few of my own. I will circle the appropriate noun that corresponds to each school's usage. Blurgh.

Nice Ass!

This is the digital mock-up of the rear of my grad school app. pckg. It mixes spray paint, cardboard and screen printing. It'll rule. Pictures next month!

Pleasing to Your Ears, The Lost Podcast

I miss podcasting. I promise that there is an episode in our respective futures, I just can't promise when it might arrive. Near the end of my previous run, I was tacking on so many extra features in addition to prepping two streams and beefing up the enhanced cast, that the production time was pushing 3 hours. Lately I haven't had that much time to spare.

And so I continue to compile tracks to play for you. And I continue to compile letters and complaints from those of you who are left high and dry on Monday mornings. One thing I can guarantee is that once I finally scrounge up the time, you can guarantee that it is gonna be fucking long and fucking amazing. Promises xOne Jillion! In the mean time, listen to an old episode and re-discover your love for Blondie, Bjork and Beirut all over again.

Corporate Yoke

Dubbs asked me to design some placemats for her company's holiday party. I was at first reluctant to take on more work during the apps season, but then I got the idea of slapping some paper crafts on the reverse side, complete with perforation so that people could play with them at the dinner table. In a perfect world, the mats would be distributed with a 4-pack of Crayola crayons and people would, for a night, rediscover their playful inner child. But it's an accounting firm, so I'm not holding my breath. Click on the images below for a detailed view.



This is one of those handjobby things where you have someone pick a color/number and then spell/count it out and reveal their fortune. So awesome.

A mask of the boss, perfect for taking the piss.

I'm working on an alternate version with a Manhattan version of M*A*S*H. Delight!

Happy Accident

I'm working on this series of posters for my applications/portfolio which utilize this extreme pixelated drop shadow. While I was fucking around with the style and degree that I wanted to use in the final versions, I stopped for a nosh. When I came back to the project I was struck by the scratch pallette. While I don't intend to use this text as is, I really like it.

Meteorological End Times

It's 20 degrees cooler in my hometown which is in South Fucking Texas! New York is muggy and cool and my office is balmy. It snowed a bit in Dalls. You might want to consider renting this.

Envelopes for Recommendations (Portfolio_1)

This eve I'm printing this text on a set of business envelopes that are being sent to the folks who agreed to write the recommendations for my grad school apps. The third recommendation is a video and will therefore be represented by an envelope with a cautionary warning and a treasure inside. Blurgh.

Upcoming

Holy shit, my beautiful babies! It's been so long. In the past week I've moved a few steps closer to completing my applications but I made no headway on a new podcast. Sincerest apologies, particularly to those of you who greeted last week's absence the same way you might the death of a parent.

Hyperbole. But there were plenty of e-mails and snide comments via phone and promises made, so I'm going to work on one for this week(end?). It will blow your mind out of your ass, that is all I can promise. I have so much new music to share. So stay tuned for new cuts from Bloc Party, The Blow, Joanna Newsom, Prototypes, Teddybears, Cold War Kids, Damien Rice and more. Balls!

New Record Design

I'm printing this design on some vinyl records today. Each record comes with two custom-cut vinyl stickers that adhere to the wall, creating the illusion that the artwork continues beyond the canvas. Flickr photos are just around the corner. Hooray!

Listen: Podcast, no18

Sort of thrown together. My regrets. The tracks:

“Alec Eiffel” by Pixies
“Comeback Kid” by Silversun Pickups
“Stray Dog and the Chocolate Shake” by Grandaddy
“Nuclear War” by Electric Six
“99 Luftballoons” by Nena
“Playgirl” by Ladytron
“Just Like You Imagined” by Nine Inch Nails
“Breakfast in NYC” by Oppenheimer
“In the City” by The Jam
“Exotic Talk” by RJD2
“The Same Fire” by Bishop Allen
“Above You” by The Whitest Boy Alive
“Hey Now Now” by The Cloud Room
“Islands in the Stream” by Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers
“Strange” by Built to Spill
“Walking With a Ghost” by The White Stripes

As usual, the podcast is available through RSS or iTunes. Here are the appropriate links:

* Subscribe to the enhanced podcast. (rss)
* Subscribe to the mp3 podcast. (rss)
* Click here to visit the "Pleasing To Your Ears" page in the iTunes Music Store, where you can pick and choose from available episodes.
* no18 :: We Got Dem' Fever (mp3)
* no18 :: We Got Dem' Fever (enhanced)

Here's some link(s) I mentioned in this episode:

* Trailer for Frank Miller's 300
* Track listing for all songs played to date (Excel)

Here are the supplementary tracks for this week's episode. They'll only be live for a week, so grab fast:

* "Bone Machine" by Pixies (mp3)
* "Destroy Everything You Touch" by Ladytron (mp3)
* "Ghostwriter" by RJD2 (mp3)

That's it for episode 18. Please tell your friends. Please tell me what you think. Please post a link on your blogs. Please use the hotline: (206) 202-3142. Please tune in for a new episode next weekend.

Rick "Man on Dog" Santorum

While Daddy was conceding, it dawned on young Samantha that he would be spending a lot more time at home with Cuddles, the family beagle. In his office, behind a locked door. Making "grown up noises".

Cover Songs

Hey folks. I'm throwing this request out there for a podcast I'd like to do in December. The idea is quite simple: "Transcendent Covers". I want to compile a show of unique, beautiful cover songs. There is too much ground to cover so you'll earn points for originality. But overall, I want covers that are (and this is open for debate) better than the original versions. Think "Wonderwall" by Ryan Adams or "Mad World" by Gary Jules. Cheers!

Puttin' It Down on Wax

I've finished my latest silkscreening experiment and it is drying on the bookshelf. Well, hanging from the bookshelf is more apt. I printed a design I posted here a week ago on vinyl. They look fucking brilliant. Unfortunately, vinyl presents a problem when drying so I followed Dubbs suggestion to suspend them from the bookcase. Stick a chopstick under a heavier tome and slip a few on and dry all day and night. I'm going to print a few more designs before I move on from the vinyl. If you'd like to secure one of these for your very own send me an e-mail. More shots on flickr.

Listen: Podcast, no17

I get a headache once a day. I could stop sitting in front of a computer for 15 hours at a stretch, but then I'd have to kill myself. Until that day, I podcast away. The tracks:

“Here’s Your Future” by The Thermals
“Public Warning” by Lady Sovereign
“The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living” by The Streets
“Gotta Reason” by Hard-Fi
“Jellybones” by The Unicorns
“Hitman” by The Fags
“Amsterdam” by Peter Bjorn and John
“Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect” by The Decemberists
“XR2 TURBO” by M.I.A.
“Tripped” by The Oohlas
“Roll With It” by Oasis
“Country House” by Blur
“Steal the Blueprints” by +/-
“We Share Our Mother’s Health” by The Knife
“I Buy the Drugs” by Electric Six
“My England” by Lady Sovereign

As usual, the podcast is available through RSS or iTunes. Here are the appropriate links:

* Subscribe to the enhanced podcast. (rss)
* Subscribe to the mp3 podcast. (rss)
* Click here to visit the "Pleasing To Your Ears" page in the iTunes Music Store, where you can pick and choose from available episodes.
* no17 :: Brilliant, Innit? (mp3)
* no17 :: Brilliant, Innit? (enhanced)

Here's some link(s) I mentioned in this episode:

* Video for "A Pillar of Salt" by The Thermals (YouTube)
* Video for "We Share Our Mother's Health" by The Knife (YouTube)
* Track listing for all songs played to date (Excel)

Here are the supplementary tracks for this week's episode. They'll only be live for a week, so grab fast:

* "Gatheration" by Lady Sovereign (mp3)
* "I Don't Wanna Die" by The Unicorns (mp3)
* "The Island/Come And See, The Landlord's Daughter, You'll Not Feel The Drowning" by The Decemberists (mp3)
* "A Pillar of Salt" by The Thermals (m4a)

That's it for episode 17. Please tell your friends. Please tell me what you think. Please post a link on your blogs. Please use the hotline: (206) 202-3142. Please tune in for a new episode next weekend.

But You Promised

Today, while watching marathon runners jog down 4th AVE and listening to Claire and Dubbs shout out to every runner with a Texas flag/Runtex/UT jersey on, I thought of an idea for Reagan's b-day present. I'm gonna print her a custom shirt:

On another note, no residents from any other states felt it necessary to rep their homes on their jerseys. And there certainly weren't people rooting on Montanans from the sidelines. Fucking Texas...

Pervasive [WEB] Presence

A year ago this week:

R.I.P.

Med School Mania!!! is officially offline Med School Maniacs. We had a great run. Gotta go, I'm late for a tea party.

XOXOX Unicorns, Glitter, Cuddles XOXOX

You Are Wasting Your Life

In news related to my post yesterday about NaNoWriMo, I give you NaBloPoMo. If you can't muster the time/energy to write a novel, at least you can compose a fucking blog post. Also, my sister passed the Bar (extreme congrats!) and my girlfriend is editing her own novel. Stop wasting your life.

NaNoWriMo!

It's November, which means it's National Novel Writing Month. From the website:

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

I wanted to take a moment to send some good luck vibes to my Dad and Chris who are both scribbling in the dark of night to hit the 50,000 word mark. G'luck.