I’ve just published a short illustrated essay here on SV called “A Matter of Perspective” about how a college class in technical illustration literally changed the way the world looked to me. It’s also a paean to analog drafting tools, amid which I grew up:
“I unscrewed the top of the bottle and took a deep whiff, and was instantly transported into a pre-computer world of drafting tables, T-squares, long-legged fluorescent lamps, color-coordinated pen points, nylon vellum, and polyester erasers. For what makes Rapidraw India Ink special to me is not its superlative quality, but rather its unique odor. How do I describe it? Like salty wet plastic, with just a tinge of bitter citrus. It’s a cousin to the heady virgin-vinyl scent of a new LP, or of a freshly-opened Star Wars figure.
“Along with the hot-rubber smell of fresh eraser dust, for me the smell of Rapidraw is the smell of art.”
I hope you enjoy!
Comments Off on New Essay: “A Matter of Perspective”
Over on Channel 37, I’ve just written an allegorical short story in the style of The Twilight Zone called “One Percent Inspiration” about a typewriter repairman who wakes up one day in a world that has forgotten about typewriters — and who discovers that someone out there wants him to forget, too:
Now, this kind of thing went on for several years. I would fall asleep and some amazing technology that I remembered would be removed from the world, and everyone would be getting along just fine, as if everything had always been like this. But other technologies would still be there — electricity, fans, lights, things like that. (These words probably don’t mean anything to you now, I bet.) And typewriters.
See, if I was some kind of really smart guy I could probably reinvent each of these things myself and get all the credit and the money for them, but all I know is typewriters. I don’t know how a radio works beyond you turn a knob and sounds come out. So I couldn’t build one to save my life. Or to become rich and famous. Like I said, all I know is typewriters. So I just kept my head down and made do, sometimes lying awake at night wondering if I was really just going crazy.
Then I met Horace.
I hope you enjoy my story!
3 Comments
Comments Off on xkcd on Formal Languages
One of the reasons I fell in love with Mrs. Sotto Voce, and fall in love with her again all the time, is because of the way she always finds fresh joy in geeking out. Yesterday, for example, we celebrated the Fourth of July by treating ourselves to a leisurely morning and afternoon — brunch followed by Office Depot (to indulge our mutual office porn fetish), then quality computer time, dinner, Burn Notice, and Hustle. We were planning to go see the fireworks, but we were snuggled on the couch comfortably with the cats, and you just can’t top a moment like that.
So during the quality computer time, as we sat at the dining room table, Mrs. Sotto Voce on her lapotop and me on my iPad, I finally took the time to start a project I’ve been planning for a while: a subway-style map of the major streets and destinations of Annapolis. Using the well-designed (and dangerously fun) TouchDraw app by Elevenworks, here’s what I’ve come up with so far:
Comments Off on Holiday Mapping
When you’re dealing with a bunch of seemingly intractable problems, the trick is to figure out where they belong:
Focus on the stuff in the lower right quadrant and forget about the rest.
The quarter drawing is so called not because of the way the drawing is divided, but because you can trace the circle with a handy coin when you’re trying to console your buddy in a bar. As introduced to me by LM, the executive director of an advocacy nonprofit, client, friend, and very wise soul.
Comments Off on The Quarter Drawing
So this morning I ran across yet another “Is Blogging Dead?” post (on a blog, ironically). I think we’re up to, what, two a month on average now?
A consensus seems to be forming around the idea that blogging is plunging headlong into obsolescence due to the popularity of shorter, faster social media.
Blogging, in other words, is too slow. And blog posts are too long.
Those sound like pretty good reasons to keep Sotto Voce around.
Thanks for the encouragement, folks. Keep those “Death of Blogging” articles coming.
6 Comments
Something I whipped up this morning for my Facebook avatar. Click on the graphic for full-size version. Free for distribution with no restrictions.
1 Comment
