the pure interest

Are all my posts going to be titled something about mornings this week? Anyway I woke up this morning with very intense stomach pains and cramping. They were almost debilitating at moments, feeling like knives were stabbing me from the inside just under my rib cage, and gradually over the morning it spread downwards.  But suddenly around 1pm they subsided well enough that I could eat. It was so bizarre - my doctor wantd me to go to the ER, but I really didn’t think it was necessary, so I waited it out and I am hoping and praying it doesn’t return. Brian is gone now so I’m on my own. Truly, I’m more concerned about my good friend Danielle who has been sick for days and is just not getting better. I hate feeling helpless… I just want her to be better.When I upgraded to Flickr pro, I got some free MOO cards. I was so excited for them… they are cute! I will not give them away…. becuase I like them!!  Here are some photos.While catching up on LOST and American Idol from last night, I was surfing Youtube watching old American Idol videos, (name Katharine McPhee’s audition - she’s still my favorite) and came across this girl named Savannah. She looks about 12, but sings and plays guitar pretty amazingly. I don’t even like Jordin Spark’s song Tattoo, but acoustically and with this girl’s style, I really do like it! Anyway I thought I would share. <EDIT> I just clicked on her myspace… is she already famous? Where have I been? She’s probably a bit young for my taste but her music seems pretty mature. Oh well.While browsing youtube, I also got sort of freaked out by the ridiculous amount of girls/people out there who just video tape themselves singing or doing basically anything to get on youtube and be the next “sensation”…. like when they post a “video response” to someone’s song… their version which most of the time is NOT good. I don’t know. How do you all feel about that? Tomorrow is coming a new desktop background. Are you excited?

It was so windy here in Erie and surrounding areas in the middle of the night…. I woke up around 4:15am to hear a noise that I thought was a car hitting our house. But it turned out it was our old porch windows slamming open and closed from the wind. I went down and could feel the ice and snow on the floor of the porch from where the windows were open and tried to close one of them, but to no avail. I then moved over to the main windows to slam it shut, and it SHATTERED. Standing there, 1/2 asleep in only a tank top shivering, there wasn’t much I could do about it. So now we look like we don’t care about our house and someone threw a rock through the window. And, our fence door is also broken so that was flapping and hanging on for dear life. So I went back up to bed where Brian was stirring and Tycho was up and about meowing and wanting to play and suck on blankets (no, i’m not kidding lol). Then Zelda came in and the cats ran on a rampage around the house.

After about 20 minutes I still couldn’t fall asleep, and Brian woke up and we were both sort of laughing about the kitten, then I told him about the windows on the porch and he went to deal with the situation. He came back to bed and we cuddled, then we both couldn’t fall asleep so ended up waking up together and spending some much needed husband and wife time with no distractions. Then we made breakfast at 5:45 am!! Scrambled eggs with garlic salt, mozzarella and american cheese (over easy ones for Brian) and chocolate chip pancakes that were bursting at the seams with gooeyness. (Not great for my waistline but great for the marriage) We hung out and talked and then watched a Simpsons episode while Tycho played on my lap. So what started out annoying turned into a beautiful early morning.

Sleep is good but quality time is better.

I used this beautiful pancake image from this yummy blog

This is what my Illustrator Toolbar looks like right now:

I was asked to photograph a small wedding for two friends from church. It was their second marriage and very sacred and emotional for both of them. She wore a brown gown and made her own pink roses, and their children played an important role in the ceremonies. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day.

And my favorite photo:

From FONTS.COM, this list got sent to my email yesterday of the hottest fonts of 2007.

I’ve definitely used at lesat 1/2 of them this year, mainly Frutiger, Gill Sans, Futura, Optima and Helvetica. I was a bit disappointed to see that Papyrus and Monotype Corisva are being downloaded and used so  frequently because… well, I don’t like them that much. Although Monotype Corsiva has it’s uses, I’m sure. (like on a candle layout in graphic design, hint hint Michelle?)

But I thought this list isn’t really accurate to what fonts were being USED the most in 2007 overall. If I had to guess though, I would bet a steep amount of money that the Myriad Family would top the list. It is given out standard with all the Adobe programs and…. EVERYONE IS USING IT CONSTANTLY. Including us at the design agency. I have  made a concious decision to not use it in any new projects about 6 months ago, because I was so plain SICK of seeing it anywhere. I admit it is a great typeface, and with so many variations to choose from, it’s hard to not rely on it. I think my main issue is that people often use the regular versions and the condensed versions together, and to me, they just don’t go. I don’t know what it is. But I see it, especially in Erie, all over billboards, newspaper ads, even on TV commercials.

Myriad Regular

Myriad Condensed Regular

Anyway - today at work I have a newsletter layout to work on and it’s sort of a tricky one as the client has given some suggestions already, but I’d like to take it in a completely different direction which means doing 2 layouts, the one requested and the one I want them to pick, which means double the work! So I need to get cracking.

I hope everyone has fantastic weekends! I know I am looking forward to mine. I got a tone of freelance work done last week and there is a lot to do this week, but I hope to have a bit more relaxation time over these 4 days. Thanks for reading, and tell me

what fonts have you relied on recently or used the most? And what is your FAVORITE typeface?

(right now I do love Frutiger, even though it is used so frequently. I’m trying to find another sans serif that works as well for me that isn’t Myriad….)

It is… very very white outside. It’s my fourth day shoveling our driveway and sidewalk myself (the joys of having a husband with a two herniated discs in his back). Luckily this morning, the snowfall was so much that hubby did brave it and come out to help me. By the time he got out though, I was mostly done with my side of the drive anyway - so I left him to fend for his car/side.

I have to admit, it is beautiful outside and it is the kind of snow that is peaceful and serene when it falls. But I’m a little exhausted of the constant shoveling as it is starting to take a toll on my back. We’ve discussed hiring someone to handle our snow, but it seems silly for such a small area. .04 acres to be exact. But I can’t explain to you just how much snow we truly get, and how a lot of the snow from the street and the parking lot ends up on our lawn (the joys of living on the corner of a very busy intersection). At this point, a few more inches and we’re actually going to have a space problem as far as where to put the snow. But we’ll manage, I know it got worse then this last year!

Some pictures from todays snowfall:

Everyone stay warm and only go out if you have to. Even my boss is working from home until 10am!

Can’t we have 2-hour-delays at work?

I’ve searched far and wide for the laptop bag of my dreams. I think I finally found it with this Trixy Laptop bag in brown and pink from Acme Made. You can purchase it at a few different places online, but I chose Kolo Bags because at the time the stock was running low in some other places. It was a bit more then I wanted to spend on a bag, but I think it was worth it to house and protect such an important piece of equipment.

The pros:

• It’s adorable
• It has that leather smell (because parts of the trim are leather)
• It is roomy
• The laptop sleeve is so nice and protective
• The matching accessory bag is great to house pens/notepads or even your mouse and some cords
• The pockets inside are roomy and hold tons

The cons:

• No shoulder strap to wear it like a messenger bag. This has already caused me to pull a muscle in my shoulder once
• No pen/pencil type sized inserts inside to tightly hold writing utensils.

But the cons are small in comparison. I’m very happy with it. *love*

I don’t know why but this hit me and made me lose my breath. How sad and tragic.

Keith Ledger, dead at 28. That’s our age.

Update from a Time Article:

There are no immediate answers to how Ledger died. The city’s chief medical examiner’s office was unable to ascertain the cause of death based on an autopsy performed Wednesday morning. “We did the autopsy today and it was inconclusive,” Ellen Borakove, an office spokeswoman, told TIME. Further toxicology and tissue tests were needed to determine the cause of death, she said. It will be at least ten days before results become available.

Ledger’s body was discovered Tuesday by the housekeeper, who entered the bedroom of the fourth-floor loft he was renting in order to alert him that his masseuse had arrived for a scheduled appointment. (According to the New York Post, she said that at around noon she could still hear the actor snoring in bed.) Sleeping pills were found near the 28-year old actor. The actor had told the New York Times in late 2007 that he was having trouble sleeping; he also said slipping deep into character for his roles often exacted a personal toll. TMZ.com reported that the anti-anxiety medications Xanax and Valium were found in the apartment. According to the Times, police spokesman Paul Browne acknowledged that prescription drugs and a rolled-up $20 bill were found but denied the money had narcotic residue on it, as an earlier news report had alleged. The NYPD spokesman was adamant that no narcotics were found in the apartment. Nevertheless, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the bill was being tested further because of the way it was folded.

Police suggested the cause of death could be an accidental overdose and confirmed to TIME that foul play is not suspected. In a statement given to reporters in the actor’s hometown of Perth, Australia, Ledger’s father, Kim, denied the death was a suicide, calling his son’s passing “tragic, untimely and accidental.”