The Big Blank

Sigh. I keep writing, in various ways, how I have to lay off the web. It's difficult, because I work on a laptop and some of my work requires research. I have a curious mind, and so there is always some wonderful, or banal, thing to discover. Then, of course, I have to see what my "friends" are doing on Facebook, and if that's not exciting enough, I can check Twitter, check friends' blogs, check the various websites I read. It's never ending. Honestly, I feel like I have a bit of a virtual headache.



Today I really went nuts on the Bruce Sterling/Virginia Hefernan New York Times thing. (OK, I am about two weeks behind the really cool people who are in tune with this stuff, but whatever.) It got me to wonder whether I really am impoverishing my brain in general with all the web consumption. I mean, in some ways, I feel like I learn alot. I expose myself to new ideas. I also tend to saturate myself in old ideas, or, ideas I already have. I saturate myself in information to validate or confirm these ideas. Or, I go in search of conflicting ideas to rile me up and about which I might react to in some way. Whatever the case may be, I am finding myself a little bit mentally exhausted.

After some surfing last week, I came across an excerpt from and decided to read Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed and Other Economic Mysteries. I found myself almost in tears on the bike at the gym because while it's very well-written in such a way that non-ecomomist lay people can understand, it's just so heavy. I want to be smart and learn new things, but I feel a little weighed down right now. I wish I was into romance novels or the Twilight books or something, but I'm just not. All the things I am attracted to are so...hard.

I came across another article today in the New York Times by Peggy Orentstein about how kids are growing up too fast and being pushed, evidenced in this case by homework being assigned in kindergarten. I was intrigued and found out more about Orenstein, and that she'd written a book several years ago that seems like it would be of interest to me Flux: Women on Sex, Work, Love, Kids, and Life in a Hald Changed World. I could go get that out of the library, too. But, I wonder how that might weigh me down?

This happens to me, like, every day. There is some new thing I find out about online that I get interested in. It's cool, yes, but it's also making me tired, I think, and unable to just chill and play with my kid and be in my own life. It's like my brain is always somewhere else. Always.

And so, that is why today's "logo" is for something I think I need to try—the big blank, or a "supercleanse" of my brain and spirit. I use my daughter's eyes and mouth in the imagery because they are so beautiful and pure. I want to purify my own head. Somehow, I will try, try, try to refrain from doing any web surfing not related to something that needs to be done for work. For the week. Next week, I will be on vacation, so that will be even easier because I will be actually out and about exploring real things in the world. Now, off to sleep.

A new kids' band!

One of the things my daughter said before she learned real words was "ne ne." It sounds like "nay nay" but I thought the letter forms of "n" and "e" looked better, and I wanted to use two letters only in the name of this faux kids' band.

This is just one of the many nonsensical things that is floating in my head from living life with a toddler. Hopefully, I can find more time to develop some of the other ones into quick "logo" exercises.

But first, a word on the definition of "logo" because I realize these things I am creating are not really logos as much as postcard-type-things. I suppose elements could be pulled out of some of them that would serve as the logo, which could be reproduced easily in different sizes and colors and used in carious applications.

Like just the text part of the above design, for example:




It's interesting to go back to the basic definition of things—like a logo—to be refreshed in one's understanding. Here's the start of wikipedia's entry:

A logo is a graphical element (ideogram, symbol, emblem, icon, sign) that, together with its logotype (a uniquely set and arranged typeface) form a trademark or commercial brand. Typically, a logo's design is for immediate recognition. The logo is one aspect of a company's commercial brand, or economic or academic entity, and its shapes, colors, fonts, and images usually are different from others in a similar market. Logos are also used to identify organizations and other non-commercial entities.

Well, enough for now. My little one is clamoring rather emphatically for my attention, and if I am going to be the ultimately productive idle parent I aspire to be, I have to give her her five minutes when she wants it, using the wonderful counter-intuitive strategy of saying yes all the time. That's the way it works. I wish I had a ne ne & the nu nus DVD to put on, but I will have to be the entertainment for now.

Liquid assets

UPDATE: See my mom-related blog entry on a recent controversial breastfeeding article.

Any parent will tell you that dealing with a toddler involves the adept handling, dispensing, cleaning and otherwise dealing with a variety of fluids. There are sippy cups, and in the case of extended breastfeeders like me, there is nursing and the call for milk; there are scientific experiments in the form of purposeful spills, there are accidental spills from wildly flailing arms and wrists just learning to be under control; and of course, there is pee pee and potty talk.

So, these latest "logos" celebrate the use of household liquids to approximate a couple common toddler-related liquid themes.

Can you guess what the stand-in substances are?

Work takes over—again

So, I've shirked my hobbies/enrichment to work and take care of my kid again. Bad designer!

Here is a recent logo project...a "makeover" of a couple event logos that were a few years old.

Before



After





Before




After

My Top Ten Albums of 2008

OK. I banged this out in really, like 10 or 15 minutes. I just wanted to get my Top Ten list out bright and early for New Year's. Maybe now one of my resolutions can be to keep up better with this blog!

To add to my post here, I'll show the holiday card I came up with for 2008 (the animated GIF version). I had a budding artist help me out...

Ready for the holidays?

Again, no time to create a logo just now...but, it dawned on me that I better get crackin' on my holiday card for this year! Before having a baby, I had a tradition of doing some kind of art card for the holidays. Now that I can rely on cute baby pictures, there's way less pressure...and it's a good thing, because there's less time, too. Still, I'll want to do something creative with the picture.

Click on the collage above to see a collection of past cards I've created. And, I always make time for new business, so if you want custom cards for yourself, for any occasion, e-mail me!

Keeping your little ones warm and cozy...

This is one I thought of on a cold morning getting ready for a run with Ava in the stroller. All parents know it can be a workout in and of itself to get little ones suited up for fall and winter days outside. We've already lost a pair of boots that have been kicked off somewhere between mile 3 and 4 on one of our recent runs! Wouldn't it be easier to just be able to spray your kid with a gentle, non-toxic, insulated foam and go? Now you can! Snuggle Spray is the breakthrough baby product for active, busy parents. Just spray the safe, proprietary blend on your naked child and it dries instantly (especially aided by the wind created as they run away from you). Pop them in the stroller...and you're off! If only!

(p.s.--click here to check out the cheesy animated version)