I admit it. I hate Microsoft Office. I’m constantly appalled at how bloated and complicated it is even to do simple things. I won’t write in Word, mostly because I’ve never been able to simply sit down and write with it. Maybe I’m too easily distracted? I know I don’t have the time to try to figure out how to simplify the interface by getting rid of useless toolbars and turning off annoying pop-ups that second-guess what I’m trying to … Read the rest
For a long time my drawing work has been done with precise technical pens and lots and lots of crosshatching. I’ve done very little in the way of loosening up into a more cartoony style. So when I was approached by the Life’s Work Center to create a single-frame cartoon to accompany an article in Open Exchange (one of the local free newsprint magazines), I wasn’t really sure I should take the assignment. I like Tom and the program they … Read the rest
The iBook was always just a little bit loose. That’s how I bought it. Everything in working order, but cosmetically you could see some gaps telling the story of an occasional brush with gravity. The pieces just didn’t fit together the way they surely did when they came from the factory.
All that changed when it slid off the drawing table in my studio and crashed into the floor.It would still turn on, but the screen and its housing … Read the rest
The most hackneyed blogger line in all of history: sorry I haven’t been writing much recently. I would have thought that being injured and keeping my foot up would have given me more reason to write. In fact while I may have had more time to write in the last two months, I haven’t had a lot to write about. Not really proud of all the television I’ve watched in the last two months. I’ve done some other things, but … Read the rest
On Thursday while I was on my way to my dentist’s office, I got hit by a car while riding my motorcycle.
For the last couple of weeks I’ve been wondering whether I was imagining it or whether recently people have been paying less and less attention to their driving. It seems in the past month that I’ve seen a fourfold increase in red light running and a lot more people just doing outright dumb things. Most times, these people … Read the rest
I can’t say that I’m thrilled about my Treo 680. The best thing I can say about it, I think, is that it’s not as bad as all the other options out there. But a couple of days ago the screen got cracked and so all the thinking I’ve been doing about how to replace it has suddenly become no longer theoretical. It’s time for a new phone.
Trouble is, I have very high expectations of a handheld computing device. I … Read the rest
The Rotring 600 is Rotring’s most popular and well-known fountain pen, with the possible exception of their inexpensive ArtPen line. When people think of Rotring pens, they almost invariably think of either rapidographs or the 600.
There were a couple of 600s in the pen case the day I bought my 700 back in the late nineties. I tried them out and didn’t care for them as much as the 700. Of course, I’m glad that I … Read the rest
In case there is any confusion, Namiki and Pilot are brands of the same company. Generally speaking, Namiki makes «fine» pens while Pilot sells office supplies. But the markets in different countries cause the company to shift those lines around. The Namiki Bamboo one might buy in the United States is available in Europe as the Pilot Bamboo. Similarly, I’ve seen the excellent Pilot Knight advertised as the Namiki Knight.
Pilot/Namiki makes some fantastic pens. A company that does as … Read the rest