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Posts Tagged ‘I like to draw’
We Can Be Heroes
Welcome to the big leagues little rabbit. Last week both MTV and CNN reported on a project that I was lucky enough to work on for Warner Brothers/DC Comics while at Studio Jelly: a campaign titled We Can Be Heroes that was created to bring much needed relief to the Horn of Africa. The face of the campaign is not just one, but seven, superheroes. Together they comprise the Justice League, with each superhero representing a trait necessary for the triumph of good over evil.
My role working for Studio Jelly was to help set the tone and create initial artwork for the print campaign, shown in the snapshot above. Striking a balance between comic book cool and a cause helping humanity was a good challenge, and I think the end result is both badass and respectful. A short video was also created, directed by Benjamin Reece with creative director Jelly Helm and writer Kathleen Lane. The girl in the red coat is basically me and every other pre-teen at that age, and we’ve been trying to make up for it ever since.
Thanks for having me, Studio Jelly. I also want to thank Aquaman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, The Flash, and Cyborg for standing so still for their group portrait. Barring one small kerfuffle when Superman stepped on Batman’s cape, their composure and professionalism was excellent.
Well Vegan (Hold the Pickled Herring)
The most recent project I’ve been working on, Well Vegan, just launched at the New Year. I enjoy eating healthy food frequently and on a regular basis, so when my friend Katie asked if I would help make it easier for vegans to do the same, I jumped on board. I’m not a vegan, but I have some vegan friends, and seeing some of them struggle with finding a variety of things to make that were also meeting their nutritional needs made this project hit close to home. Katie’s personal motivation to start Well Vegan stemmed from having her young daughter suffer from food allergies that were only ameliorated by switching to a vegan diet.
The first task was to create a logo for Well Vegan. After a short design brainstorm, the theme of “it’s in the greens” bubbled to the top, and resulted in a happy pea pod bursting with, well, veganism.
Well Vegan logo in various color ways.
The second and main task was to design a website. Katie wanted the site to reflect her healthy, simple, and homespun take on veganism. Visually, this is reflected by using the approachable and versatile font Skolar alongside rough-edged and spare illustrations.
The font Skolar pared with a simple illustration style.
Basically, Well Vegan is a repository of vegan recipes that are partnered with shopping lists and weekly meal plans that take all the hassle out of planning how you are going to sustain yourself. Sure, some people take joy in shopping and figuring out each and every meal, but others just want to get the job done without spending hours poring over recipe books and making lists. Using Well Vegan for $9.99 a month gives you all the tools necessary for eating home-cooked meals most every day. And if that’s what it takes for some vegans to eat healthier on a regular basis, I’m all for it.
How the Well Vegan plan works. Pretty simple, and then you're full. Also, beets are pretty rad.
Some people might have the misconception that vegan food is bland, but with the right recipes it can be anything but. A series of illustrations were made to let the ingredients take center stage and focus on the uncomplicated nature of the vegan diet. I’m not sure eating a tofu cube that large is realistic, but it gets the point across! Send me some giant chopsticks and I’ll let you know how it goes.
Food for giants! Or very hungry vegans!
I even got to use my new favorite phrase on the error screen, making this my favorite error screen second only to the consolation trout I made for Under the Table with Jen.
If you’re interested in checking out the site and what Well Vegan has to offer, visit www.wellvegan.com, or follow them on twitter at @wellvegan.
Last Year’s Wrapping Paper
Each year when we receive our Christmas package from my Danish grandparents, my sister and I marvel at the wrapping paper that is almost as old as our grandma. With a soft fabric like quality from years of folding and re-wrapping, some of the prints have been in circulation as long as I can remember. There must have been a wrapping paper sale in 1962 that she has been carefully meting out paper from since. Past tape marks and rips are carefully covered, but often too plentiful to be obscured completely. While I admire her resourcefulness, I am also thankful that the presents inside are always new…I think.
Since it’s been a busy month here at the Bureau, I decided I would take a cue from Grandma. Not worse for the wear, here are five winter wallpapers from last year for use on your digital devices.
All The Future Is New
Download options for All The Future Is NewDancing Pole Rats
Download options for Dancing Pole RatsWhite Noise / Let It Snow
Download options for White Noise / Let It Snow (three colors available!)Warm Fuzzies / Cackle Crackle
Download options for Warm Fuzzies / Cackle CrackleMerry, Happy, Joy & Tidings
Download options for Merry, Happy, Joy & Tidings (five colors available!)Keen “Green Thumb” Type
Here is the last of the type and illustration I did for some Keen videos for their Recess is Back site. The work was done through North, a local design/advertising agency. I am more of a black thumb, but I still enjoyed creating this vine-like typography.
Keen “Get Naked” Spot
When somebody calls you up and asks “Hey, want to draw a troll for money?”, you say YES. That is the short version of how I was pulled into a project North was working on for local shoe company Keen – a series of videos offering suggestions for healthy outdoor activities. My role was to illustrate a hot spring scene for Feel Good Anyway, my downstairs neighbors in the Povey Building and moving-picture-makers extraordinaire.
FACT: this image got caught in my spam folder.
After some character sketches and a few tweaks back and forth, we arrived at this diagram. The guys at FGA were great at pulling out the best parts of my illustration and extrapolating on it. It was like they had a magic wand that they would wave at things to instantly make them cooler. Or a BOX of wands. They’re that good. Or magic.
Where the the hot water comes from and where the water gets hot.
During this project I let it slip to a colleague that I was drawing a troll. On a bike. For money. He told me that was how I knew I was a made woman. RIGHT ON. To see the video Feel Good Anyway put together, check out Keen’s Recess site.
Far away, there is a troll pedaling furiously.
The Density of Things
Recently an acquaintance posted a Google maps comparison of where they grew up and where they currently lived. The contrast in density was stark, and made me think about the places I have inhabited – from a small farming town in Central Oregon to a city in Danmark known for its rowdy bar scene.
So I made simple map illustrations of where I’ve lived, presented below in the same scale and in chronological order. Reflecting back on my dwelling places was an interesting study of how I felt in relation to what the maps showed me. Maybe the next step is to make a more interpretive version of these?
Then: an idyllic confinement. Now: a confining respite.
Wayfinding and hope.
Hurry up and wait.
Work, work, work, play. Repeat.
Happy Projects Are All Alike
“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” So starts the novel Anna Karenina, which was the subject of a poster project I completed a while ago. It was the first time I had worked directly for another creative entity (a local theater company), and I was excited to be working on a topic of literature with a fuzzy deadline entire months away.
After talking about the creative process we decided that we would volley ideas back and forth in various levels of completeness, ranging from very rough sketches to more refined digital comps, until we arrived at a final poster design. The first round of creative went over well, focusing on some main themes from the book.
Round 1 Sketches
The art director and I decided the strongest idea was the smoke type (upper left sketch), and that I should explore that further before we chose a final executional style.
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Elephant Summer
This summer in Danmark elephants were everywhere. First off, I stayed with my cousin in Frederiksberg in an old Carlsberg beer silo that had been renovated into apartments. The view from the apartment looked out onto the old Carlsberg brewery, whose elephant mascots grace the entryway to the old factory as well as marketing materials and their Elephant Beer.
Welcome to Carlsberg.
What a happy elephant. Looks like he has had one too many...
One of the main art attractions while we were in Copenhagen was the Elephant Parade. Over 100 five-foot elephants were placed throughout the city, each individually designed by famous and upcoming artists. The goal was to contribute to the conservation of Asian elephants and raise general public awareness about the elephants’ dwindling numbers. As a souvenir, I bought a small figurine of Lars Pugholm’s entry.
Elephant #17: Poetry by Lars Pugholm
The Royal Copenhagen elephant out in the city. (photo from tokyorevive.com)
Lastly, during a scenic drive on the east coast of Jutland we spotted a REAL, LIVE elephant outside SuperBrugsen. It was there to promote the visiting circus, which we only learned about later. In the US, this would be like seeing an elephant outside your local Safeway.
As an ode to this summer theme of pachyderms, I decided to make my own elephant portrait.
For Champion Eaters Only
Being a champion eater doesn’t come without some drawbacks, including a paltry wallet and an overly developed mid-section. In celebration of the latter, I made these face stuffer buttons for the launch party of Portland’s 100 Best Places to Stuff Your Faces.
If you want to make absolutely sure you finish 2011 with a muffin top, beer belly, love handles AND a spare tire, download the Eat Sheet to mark your progress on foraging your way through the dining spots included in the guidebook.
Tre Trin Til en Festlig Dag
This summer my Aunt Nete is turning 50, and I am very excited to visit Danmark for the event. The Danes like to celebrate, and this will be no exception! The “three step” party will include a sailing trip on a boat named Dagmar, a luksus picnic at Skanderborg Sø, and finally a live band at their home terrace in Århus so everybody can really party down.
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Ralph Dances
As a child I desperately wanted a pet horse. If not a horse, a dog. If not a dog, a goat. All of my spare time not spent reading Walter Farley books was spent plotting on how I could turn my backyard into a pasture. My birthday wish lists consisted of listing every animal I could think of and rating them with stars and check marks depending on how much I desired them. I think a horse was worth 17 stars and a rabbit garnered 2 stars. How times have changed.
Instead of equines or canines, my parents decided that pet rats were the ticket for their 8-year-old daughter. Small, easily caged, and with lifespans lasting about 2 years, they were low commitment pets. So ensued my doting upon Ratty, Rocky, Rufus, Rex, Ralph, Rascal & Peaches. Later I did own a horse and several dogs, but the rats will always hold a special place in my heart.
So, I drew a little rat and who likes to sing and dance.
Portland’s New Food Pyramid
Enjoy a good gastro-challenge? Love making tiny checkmarks? Need more refrigerator swag? Don’t we all! That’s why my friend Jen compiled the Eat Sheet, a stalwart Facestuffer’s best friend, to go along with her new guidebook. Affix it to your fridge, steering wheel, elliptical machine, or antacids bottle, then Go Forth And Eat!
You can download your very own Eat Sheet right here.
Portland’s 100 Best Places to Stuff Your Faces
For the past five months I have been working on a side project that IS…NOW…FINISHED. Written by Jen Stevenson, it’s a guidebook of all the best places to eat in Portland, Oregon. Between her hilarious writing style, meticulous research (seriously, who else eats three dinners a night?) and single-minded obsession with food, I think this one is a keeper.
Your chance to become a champion face stuffer.
Jen writes the blog Under the Table, and follows the mantra of “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all”. It’s refreshing to work with somebody who focuses on the positive, and we all know it gets a bit tedious to sift through thousands of polarizing Yelp reviews. Instead, Jen only features what she considers is the best, and leaves the rest up to you. How you decide to stuff your face is, as we all know, a personal preference.
Primary Diagram: How to Properly Stuff Your Face.
This project was a labor of love in many ways. As a fledgling self-publisher the budget was in the pro-bono range, so instead of cold hard money I accepted a few free meals, a flexible timeline, and a fair amount of creative freedom in exchange for my efforts. Having a single pro-bono project at a time is also a good way to get some kicks that you might not otherwise get from paid projects. Kicks like hand drawing maps of Portland…
Put a bird on it, Southeast Portland!
To Jen’s credit, she chose the high road in the production phase by printing the book at local Brown Printing instead of producing the book in China or through an online vendor with less material options and size limitations.
With 220 pages of reviews and tips, over 80 illustrations and the afore-mentioned custom maps of Portland (whose streets do not care if you want to be orderly and label things in a consistent manner) this project was an undertaking, but well worth it. If you’re interested in the guidebook, you can buy it directly at www.bestplacestostuffyourfaces.com. If you’re competitive or like checking things off of lists, you can track your face stuffing progress with the Eat Sheet. Enjoy!
Much More, Coming Soon
Here’s a sneak peek at a very large side project I’ve been working on for the past 5 months. Much more, coming soon!
Super Fresh Type
Summer is almost here, and you know what that means…BBQ season! So I’ve created a miniature ode to the two most common condiments used at outdoor soirées, picnics, beach bonfires, camping excursions, tailgate parties and Fourth of July fests. Here’s some typographic ketchup and mustard for all your summer celebration needs.
Island Mist Logo and Illustrations
I’m excited to finally share a project I worked on at the beginning of 2011 for Boyds Coffee. The project entailed updating their logo and branding for Island Mist, a line of iced teas. Their previous logo used the font Papyrus, and the people at Boyds wanted to nix it…I felt like I had hit the designer jackpot! The new logo is a refined version using a “cool pool” border and some slightly retro island-inspired type.
Left: old logo in Papyrus...Right: new logo NOT in Papyrus
Another portion of the project was to create flavor labels for dispensers in restaurants and convenience stores. Most of the competition used giant images of iced tea in a glass, usually splashing out of it with lots of ice everywhere. It kind of looked like watered down coke. It’s my belief that you don’t always have to SHOW people watered down coke to make them want iced tea. So for Island Mist’s new dispenser wraps we chose the next closest thing to induce thirst: a series of summer beach illustrations.
When I see a tropical beach scene I want two things: sunblock and to know how to swim with my head underwater. But I'm guessing people less peculiar than I will probably want a drink of something refreshing...like maybe an iced tea.
A bevy of spot illustrations were also created to populate the wraps and be used in various point-of-sale and marketing materials. Here are a few of them…
Sunshine Farts
When I saw this page in the recent Urban Outfitters catalog, I knew exactly what I was going to do with it. I imagine the photographer shouting directions at this young impressionable model…”Pretend like you’re eating the sunglasses and farting sunshine!”. We’ll probably never know what really happened, so let’s go with it.
I've been told that people like fart jokes, so...
Paper Ponies
Recently I submitted some 3D paper ponies to Portland Paper City, a collaborative art show. All around Portland there are old hitching rings in the sidewalks from days gone by. Tied to some of the hitching rings are toy horses and ponies, thanks to The Horse Project. Whenever I see them they make me smile, so when I was asked to contribute something “Portland” to the show it didn’t take me long to decide on these little curbside ponies. It didn’t hurt that between ages 6 and 16 I spent 98% of my waking hours drawing horses, thinking about horses, and riding horses. Yep, I’m a horse girl.
(click on the images to zoom)
Did you know that there are two classification of Paint horses, or Pintos? Overo and Tobiano. Now you can surely use this information to win at trivia night sometime!
I think this one is on steroids. I hope he didn't get them from Snoopy.
Being a horse girl, you can bet that I researched this thoroughly. There is a great Flickr set called “All The Tiny Horses” from which I picked my charges. I hope to draw some more of the horses later, because frankly, I spent wayyyyy too many hours as a child developing my equine drawing skills to let it go to waste. Yes, and after that I’ll re-read all of Walter Farley’s books!
I had a few of these fuzzy horses as a kid. Apparently this one got stolen from its ring shortly after being put out to pasture.
I thought it was a little too morbid to recreate the decapitation scene.
The process of putting my pony drawings into 3D was a challenge. After some prototypes and a short stint of being sidetracked by origami, I decided to put the ponies on display using an open-air type diorama with a built in stand. Below are the dioramas without the stand.
Here is a shot of Charging Steed mounted to the wall at the show.
SXSW Steer for IFC via Feel Good Anyway
You never know what job will come your way next as a free-agent designer. Case in point: drawing a cow (I really mean steer) diagram for Feel Good Anyway’s IFC promo for SXSW (appears at the 30 second mark).
This short stint of steer-drawing took me back to my childhood because I grew up in Steer Country. Every summer we would spend endless days near Grass Valley, Oregon on our friend’s farm for the annual castration/innoculation/slaughter. We played in the hay barn, took Bubba the lab with us into the hills to sic rattlers, counted how many young calves got their nuts cut off, and hand-ground pounds and pounds of beef for the year ahead.
Enough reminiscing; check out more of Feel Good Anyway’s work for the Independent Film Channel – it’s good entertainment from some very talented dudes.
A Sticky Shadow
This page from my sketchbook is a long time coming. The character was inspired from a stint I spent filing at a previous job. After about 3 weeks, I felt like my own head had turned into the very same label maker I was using so diligently to organize an entire room’s worth of documents. I started drawing this poster in memory of what I called File-a-palooza, but never finished it. I probably had some banner ads to design, or something.
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Update: the finished sketchbook is filed under my side projects at Sketchbook Project 2011: Things That Stick.Peanut Butter Pattern
I especially like this page from my sketchbook, part of my participation in The Sketchbook Project. I remember as a kid my mom always bought Adam’s peanut butter and I just wanted JIF, because you didn’t have to stir it. Now, I feel the opposite.
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Update: the finished sketchbook is filed under my side projects at Sketchbook Project 2011: Things That Stick.Stick ‘Em Up
(Click image to zoom) Here’s another spread from my sketchbook, some smoky shady type from an embroidered gun. Yeah, I imagine someone shouting “Granny, get your gun!” and then an 80-year-old lady whips out her crochet hooks and makes this.
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Update: the finished sketchbook is filed under my side projects at Sketchbook Project 2011: Things That Stick.Campfire Smell
One thing that sticks is campfire smell. Isn’t it great? Here’s another page from my sketchbook, part of my submission to the Sketchbook Project organized by Art House Coop. The type was traced from Telephone Gothic.
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Update: the finished sketchbook is filed under my side projects at Sketchbook Project 2011: Things That Stick.Boys and Girls
(Click image to zoom) The theme of my sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project is “adhere to me”. So I titled my book Things that Stick. Variegated hand drawn hair, wooden eyes and fiery words.
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Update: the finished sketchbook is filed under my side projects at Sketchbook Project 2011: Things That Stick.That One Song
Another page from my submission to The Sketchbook Project, a community participation based movement that involves taking thousands of sketchbooks on a book tour. Yeah, I’m a groupie. Are you?
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Update: the finished sketchbook is filed under my side projects at Sketchbook Project 2011: Things That Stick.Pins and Needles
It’s the in betweens that are a stickler. Somebody told me they wanted to eat this page – I think it was a compliment. I thought, that’s going to hurt going down. Just another page from my sketchbook, part of my participation in the Sketchbook Project.
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Update: the finished sketchbook is filed under my side projects at Sketchbook Project 2011: Things That Stick.Late Nights, Lost Time
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Update: the finished sketchbook is filed under my side projects at Sketchbook Project 2011: Things That Stick.A Good Book
Months and months ago I signed up for a project put on by Art House Co-op called the Sketch Book Project. The gist is that artists receive a blank moleskin, fill it with whatever they want, send it back. Then the collection of books go on a tour similar to a concert, but much more quietly. Well, I’m just now starting to fill my sketchbook, and here is one of the first pages.
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Update: the finished sketchbook is filed under my side projects at Sketchbook Project 2011: Things That Stick.My Gift To Santa: Pole Rats
Free Wallpaper Week at the Bureau is wrapping up. Today’s wallpaper features Rascal, Ratty and Rufus – three very talented pole dancing rats. Inspired by the pet rats I had as a child and some party straws that a friend gave me, this one doesn’t make much sense. But it’s fun to look at. You’re welcome, Santa, now bring me that dobro I wished for!
Download “Pole Rats” in the following sizes:
320 x 480 (iphone) • 640 x 960 (iphone4) • 1024 x 1024 (ipad)
1440 x 900 (laptop) • 1600×1200 (full screen) • 2560×1600 (wide screen)Please share these wallpapers following the guidelines of the Creative Commons “Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives” license. Basically, you can share the heck out of these, but always remember to attribute the source and please don’t alter or sell the art. Thanks!
White Noise / Let it Snow
Just another day of Free Wallpaper Week at the Bureau. Spending hours shopping for the holidays or putting up with your drunk Uncle Charlie’s antics while decorating the tree/menorah/yak hut can drive many a sane person batty. Sometimes you just want to tune it all out. Now, instead of staring for hours at your computer’s default screensaver, you can use this white noise pattern to take a mental intermission from the stresses of December (or any other month). Enjoy!
Download White Noise/Let it Snow in Blue
320 x 480 (iphone) • 640 x 960 (iphone4) • 1024 x 1024 (ipad)
1440 x 900 (laptop) • 1600×1200 (full screen) • 2560×1600 (wide screen)Download White Noise/Let it Snow in Silver
320 x 480 (iphone) • 640 x 960 (iphone4) • 1024 x 1024 (ipad)
1440 x 900 (laptop) • 1600×1200 (full screen) • 2560×1600 (wide screen)Download White Noise/Let it Snow in Charcoal
320 x 480 (iphone) • 640 x 960 (iphone4) • 1024 x 1024 (ipad)
1440 x 900 (laptop) • 1600×1200 (full screen) • 2560×1600 (wide screen)Please share these wallpapers following the guidelines of the Creative Commons “Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives” license. Basically, you can share the heck out of these, but always remember to attribute the source and please don’t alter or sell the art. Thanks!
Like a Glove: A Love Story
A personal project I’ve been working on this fall is finally complete! It’s wintry tale of smitten moose, fuzzy creatures and a house in the woods. Is it a drama, documentary, romantic comedy or porno flick? The verdict is still out.
Printed on a variety of colored papers using white flocking (fuzzy stuff, fun to touch), the poster is for sale in the newly constructed Bureau Shop. You can see more pictures and read about the process here.
Merry, Happy, Joy and Tidings
Yep, it’s Free Wallpaper Week at the Bureau. For the season of giving I’ve made some wallpapers that you can use on nearly any mobile device you can think of! Today’s wallpaper is available in 5 colors of holiday orientation (except for strawberry, which is more of a June color, which I guess is good for folks south of the equator). Each of the color combinations can be downloaded as a spot illustration or a tiling pattern. I hope you enjoy them, and spread the wallpaper cheer!
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Sneak Peek: Like a Glove – A Love Story
Here’s a quick peek at something I’ve been working on that I’m very excited about! A giant pallet arrived at my loading dock the other day, soon to be disbursed in the mail for your enjoyment. For now, I’ve got to get back to work, but you can be sure that I’ll be posting more on this very soon.
MMMM, FOOD
Did I ever mention that I like to eat? It comes up every once in a while, so I thought I’d share a compilation of all the illustrations I did for “Under the Table with Jen”, an online compendium of all the best places to eat in Portland, Oregon. Check out the site at www.underthetablewithjen.com.
Waiting in the Driftwood Room
While waiting for some friends at Hotel DeLuxe, I used my extra found time and Draplin’s field notes to draw a picture. Of note were a crazy chandelier, a stuffy chair, and two dachshunds that arrived with a man who ordered a gin and tonic. His wife got a double.
Happy Pony, Dance Pony
The second attempt at following a friend’s advice, which was to relax more when I drew things and not worry about the end result. The first try was a bit gloomier. I’m not sure how long this experiment can go on before the watercolor police shut it down.
Scared Pony, Run Pony
A friend told me I should relax more when I drew things and not worry about the end result. This is what happened. Maybe I’ll try “Happy Pony, Dance Pony” next.
How to Make a Pocket-Size Bird Guide
My Dad sure liked his digital bird guide that I made him for Father’s Day, so a few days later I repurposed it into a paper version for my officemate’s 6-year-old daughter. I used a form factor that I learned at Em Space that allows you to create an 8-page pamphlet out of one 8.5×11 sheet of paper printed on one side.
To make a small guide for scouting fowl, download and print a PDF of my Pocket Size Bird Guide. Or you can make any kind of miniature booklet using this template for reference. Heck, make a whole library!
Also, here is a quick video tutorial on how to fold the booklet. I use a bone folder to crease the edges of the paper, but you can use the back of a spoon if you don’t have one. Likewise, a scissors will suffice instead of an exacto blade. I recommend you put on some nice background music while watching this.
The Original: Mr. Rankin’s Foolproof Bird Guide to Central Oregon
Mr. Rankin’s Foolproof Bird Guide
Since you now know about my friend Mark’s wily ways, you’ll understand the motivation behind my Father’s Day present this year. Like every other dutiful 7-year-old daughter, I drew my Dad a picture.
My Dad is retired and one of his joys is to watch birds from our Central Oregon home. A bird book and binoculars are always perched at the living room bay windows which look out on no less than 3 bird feeders and a bird bath.
When Mark discovered Mr. Rankin’s love of bird watching, it took him about .00017 seconds to find a way to torment him with the very thing he enjoyed. While standing at the window Mark would shout “Wow, check out those birds!” to the effect of Mr. Rankin scrambling to the window to see whatever winged creatures were available. Of course, there was never a bird in sight as Mark stood by and took pleasure in my Dad’s gutted reaction to the bleak, birdless landscape.
So, for Father’s Day this year I made my Dad a foolproof digital bird guide, so no matter what Mark does, my Dad can always have some birds to watch. Happy Father’s Day Dad!
What Not to Wear?
Not every day can be a fashion hole-in-one; I thought it was OK to tuck my teal sweatpants into my cowboy boots until I was fourteen. Admittedly, middle school was not kind to me. Luckily those days have passed, but traces of my oblivious self still remain, and made a reappearance when I emerged Sunday morning in my special Sunday outfit.
Within 0.3 seconds my husband bleated in dismay. I think his exact words were “No, no, no…no, nooooooo!” He bullied, he cajoled, he pleaded with me to change into something more norm-pleasing. But I was adamant. My beloved puff paint souvenir t-shirt from my 4th grade birthday party was not going to be shoved to the bottom of the drawer. Nobody puts baby in the corner!
Drawing this outfit in pen and ink just wouldn’t do it justice, so I went the extra mile to give you this graphic representation of my technicolor fashion clash.
I rode Portland's Sunday Parkways in this outfit. I estimate about 750 people saw me. At least.
Last Friday, in Food
I tend to metabolize quickly, to the point that I consider it a defining feature of myself. As far back as I can remember, much of my waking time is spent thinking about food. Having a Danish mother reinforced the importance of food; being raised in a culture that reveres Julefrokost isn’t quite sane, or so I’ve been told. Which might explain my actions last Friday, in which I consumed enough food for a bus full of teenage boys.
I admit, it wasn’t the first time I’d overdone it in the food department. One time my uncle Henrik asked my sister and I what we wanted for dinner, and we simultaneously yelled “fried octopus rings” and “stuffed turkey”. So he made both, and threw in some bacon-wrapped pork chops for good measure, because he’s nice like that. After our menagerie of meats and their appropriate side dishes, we feasted on a solid marzipan cake until my aunt brought out a liter of ice cream, plopped it in front of me and declared “If you don’t eat it, it will melt!”. You can’t argue with that logic.
So, yes, I tend to eat a lot. If I had traversed the Oregon Trail I would have been the first left behind, huddled next to a barrel of flour and a sack of jerky. Put in perspective, last Friday’s trail of foraging doesn’t really compare to my previous gluttonous episodes, but seeing as I was out of eating shape, it sure made my gut question my mind. Would I do it again? No questions asked. Now, I think it’s time for some pie.
Remote Explosion
When Sudafed, NyQuil, Emergen-C and the neti pot just don’t get the job done, you might resort to more drastic measures.
Don't try this at home, kids.
Book Bot makes his first appearance in print
Stumptown Underground’s 8th Issue “Everybody Do the Robot” is in production, and Book Bot made the cut! Come to the release party Thursday, April 22nd at 8pm at The Fez. Book Bot’s evil cousin, shown here using his books for nefarious purposes, will NOT making be making an appearance. He had to stay home and polish his shoes, because he’s vain like that.
Stumptown Underground Submission
Stumptown Underground sent out a call for submissions for their 8th issue, all about robots, and I answered. Book Bot had a few iterations but ended up in this get-up, which I equate in human terms to yellow tube socks and a strategically placed towel. He has his books, what more could he need?
