Author: Heather Meadows

I had the best time at my internship today.

Actually, if you’d asked me at around 2:30, I would not have been as cheerful. Because the reason I am ecstatic right now is because I got some major work done, stuff that is actually being used for something. (You won’t see it anywhere, but people in a meeting will…) And the road there wasn’t easy by a long shot.

Yesterday, I was asked to do a project that would take two days, and asked if I could come in today to finish it up. I accepted; if I get a job soon I might have to stop going to the internship, so I want to get as much out of it as I can. Plus, I was feeling challenged by the project–and my first impulse was to duck out. My stubborn streak said No, Heather, you are not going to be a wuss about this. You are going to do this thing.

And so it was rather reluctantly that I got up this morning. I left early to run an errand in Evans and wound up arriving downtown at 7:30. I spent the half hour before the office opened wandering around Riverwalk, starting this time at the Marina. The morning light with its long shadows made for some beautiful scenes, and the weather was cool and not too muggy. I’m glad I was early.

I finally headed to the office, arriving exactly on time, and got to work scouring various resources for stock photography (again). This was what made yesterday so tiring, and I wasn’t looking forward to any more of it. Amazingly, I found a resource I hadn’t known existed yesterday, and was able to fill out my requirement of images easily. I finished with that just before lunch.

It was with a feeling of accomplishment and relief that I headed out to eat. I didn’t pack a lunch today, thinking that I would treat myself to a restaurant since I was doing extra work. When I started out, I went to the Cotton Patch, but when I went in it looked too intimate and too much like a bar for me to brave alone. I turned around and left.

Wandering down Reynolds, I pondered cutting over to Broad and going to The Bee’s Knees. It was then that I spotted Beamie’s. I’ve wanted to try that place ever since I first saw it, so I went in and took a seat in their outdoor section, adjacent to the parking lot.

Lunch took pretty much exactly my alotted hour, what with waiting for my food and then waiting for my check. The sandwich was, as I mentioned, delicious.

When I got back to the office, the president took a look at the pictures I’d found and picked the ones he liked, then had me print contact sheets so we could narrow them down further. Once the pictures were decided on, it was finally time for the fun stuff: putting all the content together.

I actually had a template for this, so it wasn’t difficult to put everything together. There were 23 pages in all, and things were going well until I got near the end–and suddenly there was way too much copy per page. I messed with the design to make it work, but it really wasn’t looking good…

…so I rewrote most of the copy.

That actually didn’t take very long. I didn’t put my new copy in the document, of course, but I did keep it in a separate Word doc.

I was fairly happy with how I’d laid out the project when the head art director mentioned to me that the font size absolutely had to be the size she’d set it in her template.

This freaked me out, because I had drastically reduced the font size due to the sheer amount of copy. I edited my guides in Master A so I could expand the text area (I was using InDesign), but even this didn’t make enough room for the text without seriously altering the layout on some pages. I did it begrudgingly, thinking that if my copy was used, such drastic measures wouldn’t have to be taken.

I printed out my Word document with the original copy and my revisions, and then printed a proof of the project with the original copy and the mangled images. The head art director took a look at the proofs and pointed out that I was forgetting that kerning is my friend (d’oh), and I could crop some images to make them look better. Then the president looked at the proofs and my copy edits.

He approved in general of the way the page layouts were coming, with my qualification that some font and image manipulation would occur. Then, “These are good,” he said of the edits. “I like what you’ve done here. A writer and a designer. That’s great!”

X)

So after that, it was just a rush to get my copy in place, fix the kerning, and crop some images. And I got it done.

Because I rule.

I am seriously happy with the final product. I think it looked great. I’m glad I persevered through the changes. And I’m uberglad I did those copyedits, because they were sorely needed. I feel that I put out a final product I can be proud of.

And my abilities were recognized! That makes me happiest of all.

This was, really, the first “live” project that I worked on feeling like an equal. It was a collaboration rather than a “here, you do this, and then I’ll redo it later”. (I know they didn’t plan to redo this later because they had me print out the final color copies. ;>) I feel like I’ve finally learned enough to be useful, which is great.

Still plenty more to learn, of course. But this was a red letter day for me. I haven’t accomplished a big project in awhile. It made me remember how it used to be at 2go-Box. Despite my problems with that place, I truly did love the work.

I had been starting to wonder if I was on the wrong path, if I would never find something I liked to do. But today made me remember just how much fun it can be to put documents together.

I’m glad :)

That catfish sandwich was good.

…everyone sits on a nice plush (usually white) couch and messes around with a laptop.

Look at the cool box art for the Japanese DVD release of Kyou Kara Maou volume 1!

And then, look at how much the poor bastards have to pay for three freaking episodes.

Immediately!

…

If you’re still here, then maybe this will convince you:

Being conditioned to look for a bold statement, that’s exactly what I did. Look.

“Land of the Dead. Well hell, that’s a statement right there, right? Isn’t it? It has to be. Like ‘this land is your land’, except it’s not anymore, because it’s overrun. Yeah. By evil. Yeah. Utterly inhospitable to life. Yeah. Because of the zombies, but also because of repression. YEAH. And denial of rights. GOD YES,” really cheering myself on now, “brought about by the Patriot Act. And globalization. The failing dollar. And McCarthyism. Good God: taxation without representation! America really is the Land of the Dead!”

Before the opening credits, this was already the most broad and convincing social satire I’d ever seen. Unbelievable. A master stroke.

Except it wasn’t.

Go. Now. There’s a twist ending!

The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. has put together what looks to be a totally awesome exhibit.

The beauty and humor that he pictured on the road between two great cities brought fame to Utagawa Hiroshige, one of the greatest Japanese artists of the 1800s, and influenced French and American painters from Paul Cezanne to James McNeill Whistler.

The Phillips Collection has put together a rare exhibit of all “53 Stages on the Tokaido” Road, first published in 1863-4 as an accordion-like album, but now widely scattered. There are in fact 55 woodblock prints in the set: an additional one from Edo (Tokyo), the start of the trip, and another at the terminus, Kyoto, nearly 300 miles to the southwest.

Curator Susan Behrends Frank has matched the Hiroshiges with 41 European and American pictures to show how he changed Western ways of looking at things. “East Meets West” will be on view through September 4.

Road trip!

The glottis strikes again:

“We conclude that a major difference between a novice and an experienced player is a learned, but usually subconscious ability to reduce the glottal opening,” said Joe Wolfe, who headed the research team, in the science journal Nature. A didgeridoo is about 1.5 meters (yards) long and was traditionally used to accompany chants and songs. Its unusual sounds are produced by interactions among the sound waves of the instrument and in the player’s vocal tract and the motion and air flow between their lips.

The movement of the lip sends a sound wave into the instrument but it also travels back into the vocal tract which can act like a resonator – boosting some sounds and repressing others.

Already my mind is whirling with thoughts of how that “small tube” and microphone could be used to study language :>

Asbestos-related deaths are making the news in Japan right now.

I went to this article purely because of the title: Wee shops turn out flat TVs. I wonder if you can meet a leprechaun there!

The RIAJ attacks!

In a first for Japan’s beleaguered music industry, five individuals have agreed to pay compensation to five record companies for unauthorized distribution of music on the Internet through file-swapping programs.

According to the Recording Industry Association of Japan based in Tokyo’s Minato Ward, the five agreed to a total of about 2.4 million yen (about $21,600) to five record companies.

The five individuals expressed remorse and apologized for their illegal activities, the association said Wednesday. They also submitted written promises not to conduct similar acts that violate copyright laws.

Meanwhile…have I mentioned that Koizumi loves Elvis? Well, he does.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi joined in a 59th birthday tribute for U.S. President George Bush Wednesday night, joining other G-8 leaders to sing “Happy Birthday,” and then did a brief solo of a song by Elvis Presley.

And here’s a story that might turn even the pieman‘s stomach…

In a bustling market in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, dogs, cats, chickens, frogs, snakes, turtles and palm civets are stacked on top of each other in crates, wire cages and water buckets ready for sale.

Customers peer at the caged animals before choosing their meal of the day. They watch as the butcher cuts up the animal with knives and machetes, spreading blood, guts, faeces and urine all over the market floor.

People from South China believe that eating wild animals is good for their health and vitality, and gulping down such exotic fare as cobra and Asiatic brush tailed porcupine is seen as a symbol of social status.

Indeed, there is a saying in South China that “anything with four legs, except a chair, and anything that flies, except an aeroplane, can be eaten.”

But hey, at least Leonardo DiCaprio has purchased himself an island.

Hmm. $1.75 million isn’t really all that much. I bet I could save that if I went couch-diving every few weeks…!

;P

And lastly, here’s something nice. Learn the Tanabata song!

Do you ever find that you’ve been walking, or running, or driving, or working, for some time, and you can’t actually remember what you’ve been doing?

3 plunge into elevator shaft after elevator fails to arrive

Police said that when the doors of an elevator on the first floor of the six-story “Sunshine Chugo” building in Nagoya’s Nakagawa-ku opened, two men and a woman stepped inside, thinking that the elevator had arrived.

However, the elevator was still on the fourth floor of the building at the time, and the three, aged between 21 and 22, fell into a 1.5-meter deep hole. They suffered light back and arm injuries in the incident.

Auto-pilot can be dangerous…

I was driving in to my internship this morning when I heard about the bombings in London. They said on the radio that the Underground was completely shut down because of the explosions, and also that a bus had been blown up. One woman who was riding the bus was quoted as saying there was a huge noise, and then she looked back to see the rest of the bus falling away.

This completely shocked and horrified me, enough that tears came to my eyes while I was trying to drive, and I speculated: Al Qaeda? Someone unhappy that London will be the site of the 2012 Summer Olympics? (The former is more logical, as it probably would have been too soon for the latter…)

Apparently there was no warning whatsoever; no demands were made beforehand. The attack, then, stands as its own “warning”, just like all the other terror attacks.

I am so fucking tired of the stupid fucking terrorists.

Here are some news articles:

Channel 4: London blasts: death toll rises to 37

CNN: Britain launches search for bombers

Three blasts took place in the city’s subway system and one more hit a double-decker bus, all at the height of rush hour. (Timeline)

Paddick said there were 700 to 900 people on each of the affected trains at the time.

Witnesses described the horror of seeing victims dying and with serious injuries. There were scenes of panic as power failed on crowded underground trains, and tunnels filled with smoke.

“We were all trapped like sardines waiting to die,” said Angelo Power. “I honestly thought I was going to die, as did everyone else.”

Yahoo: London attacks kill dozens as world leaders meet

People streamed out of underground stations covered in blood and soot. Hundreds of passengers were evacuated from stations across the capital, many in shock and with their clothes ripped to shreds, witnesses said.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone, speaking in Singapore where he had championed the capital’s Olympic bid, suggested suicide bombers may have been involved.

Also in Singapore, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said: “I’m deeply saddened that this should happen at the heart of an Olympic city. Unfortunately there is no safe haven. No one can say their city is safe.”

Washington Post: Four London Blasts Kill 37, Injure 700

Four explosions rocked the London subway and tore open a packed double-decker bus during the morning rush hour Thursday, sending bloodied victims fleeing in the worst attack on London since World War II. At least 37 people were killed and more than 700 were wounded, according to the official count.

A clearly shaken Prime Minister Tony Blair called the coordinated attacks “barbaric” and said they were designed to coincide with the G-8 summit opening in Gleneagles, Scotland. They also came a day after London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics. A group calling itself the Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe claimed responsibility.

BoingBoing has a photo and blog roundup.

Bush is a diehard biker, I guess :) I know how he feels. It’s exhilirating to ride a bike, because you can go so far, but you’re not going too fast to see things. It’s a great way to explore new places. I wouldn’t have been able to resist going for a ride either, despite the rain.

Chris (Man in Japan) posted a hilarious “panel” discussion of why the Japanese do the V-sign in photos. You just have to read it!

Here’s “Noam Chomsky”‘s take:

The two fingers raised are a product of the brainwashed society created by the elites. The person being photographed has been trained by the media to see this small gesture as a sign of rebellion against what is permitted, thereby reducing the risk of greater action against the establishment.

XD

I am so confused by this article.

New scientific find may help smokers quit

In a study that may hold insights into ways to help people quit smoking, researchers at the CNRS-Pasteur Institute in Paris showed that receptors on cells in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the brain are involved in nicotine’s addictive and cognitive qualities in mice.

[…]

Changeux and his team genetically engineered mice so they lacked a gene for a portion of a nicotine receptor, to discover the impact it would have on how the mice functioned.

The mutant mice had a mild learning impairment and unlike normal mice, which had learned to press a lever to self-administer nicotine, they showed no interest in getting nicotine.

“When there is a loss of the nicotine receptor then there is a loss of cognitive function in the mouse,” Changeux, who reported the finding in the science journal Nature, told Reuters.

But when the scientists re-injected the gene, the mice’s cognitive function was restored. The rodents were also more likely to seek out nicotine.

They think this research could lead to a way to help smokers quit. But I ask you: how? By giving people learning disabilities?

I mean, really; is this article just horribly written? Obviously it is–just try and interpret the first sentence. But is it so horribly written that important facts vital to comprehension of the meaning of this study are omitted? Or am I missing something?

If cognitive function and nicotine receptors are inextricably linked, what does this mean? Is cognitive function affected by whether or not a person smokes, or only by whether or not they have nicotine receptors? And what do they mean by “mild learning impairment”? How mild, exactly? I don’t smoke, so this is all academic, but if I did, I can’t imagine that any level of “learning impairment” would be acceptable to me.

Circumcision may offer Africa AIDS hope: Procedure linked to much lower rate of new HIV infections

Laboratory studies have found that the foreskin is rich in white blood cells, which are favored targets of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. So the theory is that men who are uncircumcised are much more likely to contract the virus during sex with an infected woman, and that the epidemic spreads when these newly infected men have sex with other women within their network of sexual partners.

Is that weird, or what?

Discussing the article with Hai, the following exchange occurred:

Me (17:42:00): at first I was like, what could the connection possibly be?
Me (17:42:09): is it just that people who are circumcised are less promiscuous?
Me (17:42:13): but no!
Me (17:42:20): it’s actually physically related to the foreskin!
Me (17:42:27): it is NUTS to find a connection like that
Hai (17:42:32): no pun intended
Hai (17:42:35): you sicko
Me (17:42:47): ROFLMAO

:>

Just came across a great article on CNN by historian Dr. Theodore Zeldin about “a new kind of conversation”. Dr. Zeldin proposes that people are learning to be too specialized, and this is a root cause of our unhappiness. He suggests that we have conversations with strangers about our beliefs and our dreams in order to determine what we truly want out of life–that we focus on generalizations, a holistic picture, rather than specifics, so that we can achieve a more well-rounded world view.

This particular section really struck me:

Education — bachelor, master, doctor — is organized to make you ever more specialist and often incomprehensible.

Specialization seldom gives wisdom. Join instead the newly invented postgraduate course that uses conversation to make people generalists and not just specialists, giving them broader sensitivities, and an understanding of how different occupations and cultures think.

Participating in the intellectual adventures of other disciplines is a purge for arrogance.

I have instinctively avoided specialization for some time now. Whenever I think about what kind of job I would like to have, I ultimately see myself walking down a narrow corridor, trapping myself on one route, eliminating thousands of other options. That prospect has always terrified me into inaction. Is there a way to generalize, to keep my options open, to “participate in the intellectual adventures of other disciplines”…and still put food on the table? Or will I have to give in and specialize at least a little in order to survive in this economy?

Germaine to my comment about wind power in my post on distributed generation, here’s a story via Drudge about bird deaths due to wind farms.

A California Energy Commission study estimated wind turbines in the Altamont kill 881 to 1,300 birds of prey a year, including as many as 116 federally protected golden eagles.

Miller said the county could impose conditions that would cut bird deaths in half almost immediately. To accomplish that goal, he said, all of the wind turbines in the Altamont would need to be idled from mid-November through February.

Another 350 machines that kill a disproportionate number of birds would have to be permanently scrapped, the center maintains, citing similar conclusions by biologists studying the issue for the Energy Commission.

In addition to taking wind turbines out of service, the center wants the companies that operate them to pay $6.5 million to preserve bird habitats in the Altamont.

Wind farm operators are willing to shut down only half their turbines each winter and permanently shut down or relocate about 100 turbines that pose the greatest risk to birds. The plan they have put forward to county officials commits to a 35 percent reduction in bird deaths within three years.

If the county places too many conditions on their operations, wind farm operators say they won’t be profitable.

Drudge’s link is entitled “Enviromental Shocker: Wind Farm Kills Thousands of Birds — Including Scores of Golden Eagles…”. Why is Drudge claiming shock at this? Are people just unaware that huge fans in the sky kill birds? Or does he just think it’s funny that this situation pits people with environmental concerns head to head?