here is hazel
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“I don’t know what the hell is going on. Neither do you, and neither does any one else. We’re all lost and improvising, making things before we know what they do, and breaking stuff before we know what replaces it. We’re all tinkering and speculating, listening to see if our shovels hit something hard while we’re digging. I suppose that’s what world-building is, though, so let’s get used to it. We need to learn to tolerate ambiguity.” —Frank Chimero, telling it like it is. I suggest you read the whole thing. Here’s another nugget of wisdom:
Increasingly, our way is to fake it and assume that others are doing the same. We fein interest in work, speak sarcastically, buy things that are new reproductions of old things, and often presume someone is selling us something. Skepticism as a default state is a hell of a thing. We’re a hungry culture starved for sincerity, authenticity, and honesty. What does fixing it look like? It doesn’t look cool. In fact, it probably involves being so passionately enthusiastic about something that it is the exact opposite of cool. By caring intensely, we can connect to one another in more meaningful ways.
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“ Oliver said it well as we took up our plates and began heading back downstairs: “I’m glad I’m not dead.” This came out rather loudly, as he is a bit deaf. Even so, he looked surprised by his own utterance, as if it were something he was feeling but didn’t really mean to say aloud — a thought turned into an exclamation.
“I’m glad you’re not dead, too,” said a neighbor gaily, taking up the refrain. “I’m glad we’re all not dead,” said another. There followed a spontaneous raising of glasses on the rooftop, a toast to the setting sun, a toast to us.
I suppose it’s a cliché to say you’re glad to be alive, that life is short, but to say you’re glad to be not dead requires a specific intimacy with loss that comes only with age or deep experience. One has to know not simply what dying is like, but to know death itself, in all its absoluteness.
After all, there are many ways to die — peacefully, violently, suddenly, slowly, happily, unhappily, too soon. But to be dead — one either is or isn’t.
The same cannot be said of aliveness, of which there are countless degrees. One can be alive but half-asleep or half-noticing as the years fly, no matter how fully oxygenated the blood and brain or how steadily the heart beats. Fortunately, this is a reversible condition. One can learn to be alert to the extraordinary and press pause — to memorize moments of the everyday.
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An ode to the wonderful Debbie Millman and this quote from her recent interview with The Great Discontent. If you’re not tuned into her podcast, you’re missing out.
On a side note, I don’t make enough gifs! Will rectify this ASAP.
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“Naive optimism is everything. I think a lot of people approach the world thinking that things are reserved for people who are qualified in some official capacity. Some people assume they could never be as good at something as some master, which makes them self-defeat before they start. I think some things that are really incredible were achieved because people were really naive when they began—they had an idea, set out to do it, and learned along the way.” -
I’m not completely happy with this but I forced myself to stop nitpicking and just post it here. The bottom line is: I had fun making it and that’s all that matters.
Just don’t be surprised if you see updated versions cropping up at random intervals.
Advice comes from Aaron Draplin, creator of Field Notes in this ace interview.
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One of my summer goals is to work on my typography, so I made this to give to two friends for their birthday today. Initially I was going to use more typefaces but it got way too busy, so I opted for something simple and clean. I also adjusted the leading, kerned some letters, and moved a few wisps of clouds to satisfy my OCD-ness.
I first saw that Carl Sagan quote at Veerle’s inspiration stream and the photo was shot near my house almost two years ago using a cheap disposable camera.
I may or may not sell prints of this depending on the level of interest, so let me know if you guys want it!
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I started this a year ago as a portfolio piece to show to a couple of schools. Didn’t end up finishing it in time so I decided to stretch my Illustrator muscles for a bit and refined it this morning.
I’m considering making this a regular thing; creating an illustration for a random quote. What do you think? Any suggestions for good quotes?
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“… in order for design to really matter, designers need to think and know more about things besides design.” — William Drenttel (via ericellis) -
“A symptom of the revolution: When we state something is impossible in theory, but then change our minds when we discover that it is possible in practice.” -
“Procrastination most often arises from a sense that there is too much to do, and hence no single aspect of the to-do worth doing…Underneath this rather antic form of action-as-inaction is the much more unsettling question whether anything is worth doing at all.”
