There was the convulsive urge to spit, vomit, curse, rant, scream into the pillow. There was the agonizing, water torture description of hope going down in flames like the Hindenburg, plummeting to earth in real time, the cool promise of something kinder, gentler turning to cinders, spiraling away, borne aloft by an inferno of hate, ignorance and fear. A story told in numbers on a graph. I woke early […]
A visitor politely pointed out to me that a piece of content in my “DIY Kombucha” infographic was incorrect. And technically, he’s right. And being the stickler for geographical accuracy and REALLY wanting NOT to be one of those Americans who can’t point to any of the countries we’re currently at war with, let alone anywhere else on the globe besides Hawaii and Mexico, I’m re-posting the infographic along with
Fun Fact: Ukraine is not Russia. Read More »
This quote comes from a snippet of dialog from an old Spencer Tracy movie in which Tracy was admonishing a young, beautiful socialite who was down on her luck and feeling sorry for herself. I offer it here because it’s a reminder that an effective antidote for depression can often be a shift of focus away from our own interior struggles and toward others. Or to just be of use in the world, in
It’s hard to be sad and useful at the same time. Read More »
We have a lemon tree in our front yard that produces all year around, which is great and we encourage our neighbors to partake of said fruit, but occasionally, we’ve noticed some said neighbors get a little too enthusiastic in their harvesting practices. Thus, this sign, made from an unused cedar grilling plank.
When life hands you lemons…give some away. Read More »
Stuff you’ll need if you want to try the techniques in this tutorial: A smartphone or tablet running the Adobe Shape app A copy of Adobe Photoshop CC and/or Illustrator CC A Creative Cloud subscription (in order to make use of CC Libraries) . Here’s an FAQ page. (Sorry to any legacy Adobe application users. This tutorial relies on features only found of the Creative Cloud Libraries.) Hey kids, there’s
Tutorial: How to convert your hand-lettering into vector shapes using Adobe Shape Read More »
I read this quote in a recent article by scientist/philosopher Nancy Ellen Abrams on the NPR website and let out a “bwaaa-hah” that sent my cat into the next room. Love the pull-no-punches ideas from this author and this quote from her is both inspiring and a little sobering. And because I can’t help from spilling my guts about new hand-lettering techniques, here’s the deal with this one: I
Without aspirations we are nothing but meat with habits :: Nancy Ellen Abrams Read More »
I’ve been a serious Kombucha drinker for some years now and started making my own in 2013, partly to save money as store bought Kombucha runs about $3-4$ per 12 oz. bottle, as opposed to around $.50/gallon to make it yourself, but also because it’s just big nerdy fun to make a bunch of tea, stick a gelatinous frisbee thing in it and end up with some weird, fizzy
How to Make Kombucha in 6 Easy Steps :: Anatomy of a Runaway Infographic Read More »
I don’t believe in astrology because I try to be a rational, reasonable person. That said, I swear I can predict when Mercury has gone retrograde. For you uninitiated who may not be familiar, the term “Mercury going retrograde” refers to a celestial phenomenon wherein 3 or 4 times a year the planet Mercury appears to “catch-up” to the Earth’s orbit and appears to be moving in an opposite, or
And not just because they commissioned and published an illustration from this blogger, but I won’t lie, it does go a long way. Would I have so passionately recommended Portable Restroom Operator magazine (a real publication…I Googled it) if they’d bought an illustration? Not likely. Okay maybe. But seriously, Flow is the real deal. If you’re not familiar, Flow is a Dutch publication directed mainly toward women seeking to
Flow Magazine is the finest publication in the world… Read More »
One really nice perk of doing this blog is meeting really nice people like Dawn-Marie Dugan of Maison Rouge Creative, if only virtually. Her 1-year old Leo had his first birthday party back in March and she used one of Foolish Fire’s hi-res backgrounds as a base for the invitation design you see below. The typography is a combination of hand lettering and “chalkboard font” and the artwork is
Chalkboards in Spaaaaaaace Read More »