Ever Green

In case you've been wondering, our tree is still up.

As I mentioned last year, it's been up since 2009. I am sure this seems ridiculous to most people, but it's become a bit of a totem for me.

The tree has stood through job loss, an earthquake (albeit a tiny one) and two massive storms, the loss of two of our beloved cats and bills, bills, bills.

As the pressures of adulthood (which at 42 years old I have decided I will never get used to) continue to mount, the tree stands in defiance of it all.

Somewhere, deep in the recesses of my mind is a much younger me, probably in footsie pajamas, wishing the tree could stay up all year even as pine needles littered the carpet like prickly confetti.

This tree stands for that part of me that thought, "some day, when I grow up, I'll keep the tree up for as long as I want."

Of course, 10 year old me wanted more from life than just to have a the tree up all year. So if anyone has a spare light saber lying around, you know where to send it.

Hail to the Tree!

My tree has been up since 2009.

Sometimes we call it Hal (or whatever name comes to mind at the moment). Wookie refers to it as our boarder--though I can't remember it paying rent.

It makes me happy.

When 2010 rolled in and most people were taking down their trees, I decided it should stay. It's one of those things I thought of as a kid--when I'm grown up I'll be able to keep my tree up as long as I like--and you know what? I was right.

Last year, Christmas came and went again. Hal stayed his ground. I thought of taking it down over the summer but the holidays were only six months away and we'd only have to put it up again anway.

Over the last few years, the stresses and strains of adulthood have, more often than not, outweighed the advantages my childhood self expected a 'grown-up' would have. I'm sure it's the same for families everywhere dealing with unemployment, financial stress, and all that goes with it.

This tree has brightenend our home through some tough times. When our house flooded, not one drop of water touched it, even though it's in one of the rooms that saw that internal rain. This tree, in its enduring cheeriness stands as a constant reminder of the kind of fun I remember as a kid, that anticipation of good things to come and a countdown to a bright future.  It's also a reminder of one of the promises I made to myself as a child--that I might have to become an adult, but I would never be a 'grown-up.'

In fact, now that I think about it, maybe that's the one advantage to being an adult that too many of us neglect to exploit. As adults we can choose not to be grown-ups.

So I say, whatever your symbol of happiness, let it stand year' round. Keep your tree up! BBQ in your backyard in January! Wear white after Labor Day!  Find those little things that make you happy and keep doing them. Because the world can use all the happy it can get.

Words Can Be a Thousand Pictures

I've made a living with words my entire professional life. I am often disappointed with the limitations of expressiveness of the written word as we most often use it today.

Most of us are limited, when we type, to expressing tone with bold face or italics. I might underline for emphasis or combine what's available.

I might be rude and SHOUT with caps.

I might go really wild and use a different color or point size.

In the end though, my attempts often fall short of the tone I am trying to convey. I come across as amateurish and the nuances of spoken language are lost.

But who has the time to write by hand any more?
And writing by hand is not great for editing, or producing longer works.

Back in the day, I used to work at a company that printed wedding and other invitations. I could identify fonts by sight. I could tell you by name if it was a serif or sans serif font. But sadly, that's as far as my ability with type goes. I'm more the wordsmith and proofreader. I can tell you when something is wrong with type. Whereas my sister has the gift for design. 

It's something of a family tradition. Our grandfather worked in printing. It's nice to know we both carry that on in one way or another. I recently told a friend that I am genetically predisposed to reject broken type.

This bit of design envy I have concerning the limitations at my end of the medium is why I've been enjoying a blog I came across this morning.

 All rights reserved by Hannes Beer

Typeeverything is eye candy for those of us who like to see how expressive type can be.

The first entry I saw was this one, which sums up my attitude on many a day--usually when arguing with my cats. I like the expressiveness of the "Hell" and the absolute firmness of the "No!"

http://friendsoftype.com/

This entry makes me envious because I tend to be a huge fan of well placed sarcasm, but it's often lost in translation when I'm writing an email.



And it led me to another site http://friendsoftype.com/, which is full of more fun visual distractions.

Both of these images need to be up on the wall in my office and I could spend the whole day scrolling through these sites if I didn't have important work to do this weekend. 

So back to work it is, but I've added these sites to my list of blogs to read. I'm looking forward to more typesetting deliciousness later.