We all learned that Joe Biden is Obama's choice for VP running mate.
But just who the hell is this guy?
I have to admit: my recollection is his "clean and articulate" description of Obama during the primaries, but more that he was the anti-Edwards. Shoot-from-the-hip, wise, seen it all before, really knows his stuff kind of guy - that's Biden. And here I would've loved to vote for Edwards more than anyone, and found out what a disaster that would have become, Biden become the next best possible VP choice. If his mouth doesn't get him in trouble again.
Anyway, to learn who this guy is, I recommend a big GQ profile on him, written during the primaries, that handles everything in a nutshell.
Other than McCain, this is the guy that has a handle on the way the world works. Obama having him on the team is a boon for both of them, I think, because - like McCain - there's a certain sense of having earned where they are today. I dig meritocracy, and there's enough merit in this race now to banish any thoughts of none-of-the-above voting (as I've mentioned before).
It all makes sense. We finally have a couple of guys who know what the hell they're doing when it comes to intelligence and industry and hard work - everything that Bush lacks. We also have a VP nominee who would whip Mitt Romney's fake fucking ass in a debate, and I can't wait to see it happen.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Take your font and shove it.
Today I went off on someone at work over a font.
A few years ago, it was excusable to go off on someone over the Comic Sans font. It was everywhere. And unless you were a daycare or a school, you had no business using Comic Sans. In anything. It was tacky, and overused, and it made no rational sense to use Comic Sans. Unless you were a child, in which case you still should've been scolded and sent to the corner.
Today, that font is Papyrus. It's everywhere. And unless you're a salon or Egyptian, you have no business using Papyrus. It's become so prolific, in fact, that's it parodies itself.
A non-profit has me working on a banner for a golf outing. The organizer asked if I could use Papyrus in the banner since "that is what the rest of our golf lit uses."
Excuse me, but a golf outing does not call for the dusted, desert-ish, foreign-looking font. This is golf tees and carts and cases of beer - not the fucking sphynx.
Here's my response:
In this age of everyone's-a-designer, mysterious and stylish mutants like Papyrus come along every few years and dash any hope of progress or enlightenment in our dark age. I found instances of Comic Sans used throughout our corporate intranet, and I puked blood for a week straight. It's horrific, and barbaric, to use a child-like font like Comic Sans anywhere other than where it's intended. But thanks to cretins like Microsoft Word, Comic Sans and its playful style was unleashed upon the world with no consideration of common sense or taste.
And now that Papyrus is out there - even on fucking real estate signs - there is little hope of stemming the tide. Little hope, that is, until some other useless fucking font comes along and steals the spotlight. Like Chinese character tattoos ("hope," "dreams," and "creativity" - that last one's ironic - permanently in Mandarin text) or those little Calvin windshield stickers, where he's pissing on something, the American sensibility can't handle anything that's mass-marketable enough to be placed on stationary or logos or, Jesus Merciful God, body parts in mass quantity.
So it goes with Papyrus. Most probably hope to appear edgy or, even during wartime, desert-dwelling enough to be considered innovative and stylish. It doesn't work, because everyone else thinks the same goddamn thing - and then the whole thing becomes cliche.
Papyrus is the trans fat of the design world, and should be limited to graphic projects that involve mummies, camels, or maybe a kangaroo somewhere.
But a golf outing? Don't you know what the Egyptians did to the Jews?
A few years ago, it was excusable to go off on someone over the Comic Sans font. It was everywhere. And unless you were a daycare or a school, you had no business using Comic Sans. In anything. It was tacky, and overused, and it made no rational sense to use Comic Sans. Unless you were a child, in which case you still should've been scolded and sent to the corner.
Today, that font is Papyrus. It's everywhere. And unless you're a salon or Egyptian, you have no business using Papyrus. It's become so prolific, in fact, that's it parodies itself.
A non-profit has me working on a banner for a golf outing. The organizer asked if I could use Papyrus in the banner since "that is what the rest of our golf lit uses."
Excuse me, but a golf outing does not call for the dusted, desert-ish, foreign-looking font. This is golf tees and carts and cases of beer - not the fucking sphynx.
Here's my response:
I'm sorry, but I am philosophically opposed to Papyrus font.Not as harsh as I had it in my head, but keeping my cool over issues like font usage is a big step for me. Especially when the goddamn font is Papyrus.
Not kidding - I really think you should consider another one, even if you donít like mine. Look around town sometime and tell me how many places use it. Everyone uses it.
I can see it for salons or if youíre doing something Egyptian. Otherwise, we can be more creative than that.
My two cents.
In this age of everyone's-a-designer, mysterious and stylish mutants like Papyrus come along every few years and dash any hope of progress or enlightenment in our dark age. I found instances of Comic Sans used throughout our corporate intranet, and I puked blood for a week straight. It's horrific, and barbaric, to use a child-like font like Comic Sans anywhere other than where it's intended. But thanks to cretins like Microsoft Word, Comic Sans and its playful style was unleashed upon the world with no consideration of common sense or taste.
And now that Papyrus is out there - even on fucking real estate signs - there is little hope of stemming the tide. Little hope, that is, until some other useless fucking font comes along and steals the spotlight. Like Chinese character tattoos ("hope," "dreams," and "creativity" - that last one's ironic - permanently in Mandarin text) or those little Calvin windshield stickers, where he's pissing on something, the American sensibility can't handle anything that's mass-marketable enough to be placed on stationary or logos or, Jesus Merciful God, body parts in mass quantity.
So it goes with Papyrus. Most probably hope to appear edgy or, even during wartime, desert-dwelling enough to be considered innovative and stylish. It doesn't work, because everyone else thinks the same goddamn thing - and then the whole thing becomes cliche.
Papyrus is the trans fat of the design world, and should be limited to graphic projects that involve mummies, camels, or maybe a kangaroo somewhere.
But a golf outing? Don't you know what the Egyptians did to the Jews?
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