www.sethkimball.com

Mac OS X “Second Dock”

Seth — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:29:05 +0000

I’ve been using a simple technique I consider my “second dock” for semi-frequently used applications. It’s a simple setup, and if you use a lot of apps but aren’t exactly a mac “power user”, you might like it:

H.A. Rey and The Stars

Seth — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:43:39 +0000

You owe H.A. Rey. If you passed an astronomy test on constellations any time since 1960, chances are you passed because this author/illustrator (best known for the original Curious George books) wrote The Stars, A New Way to See Them.

I heard of the book listening to Science Friday. I grew up on Curious George and love when art meets science, so I did a quick search in our local library system. Royal Oak and Ferndale didn’t have it, but thanks to inter-library loan I got my hands on it late last week.

When I first looked at his redrawing of each constellation (Figure 4) I thought, “Oh, this is how I learned the constellations. He must have popularized this.”

But I was wrong. He made it up.

It’s a great intro to stargazing; mostly practical, non-technical guides to recognizing the constellations. The end of the book has some technical details regarding astronomy but leaves out most of the math. He’s quoted in the book jacket, “What surprises me is that nobody has done it before.” Indeed.

My Home Oven… I mean Office

Seth — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:58:46 +0000

My home has two AC window units, one upstairs and one in the living room. This normally works out perfectly considering mine and my wife’s opposite body temperatures. I keep my office door closed and windows open. This keeps our electric bill down and keeps me from freezing all day.

I don’t often get too hot. I’d even use the term “rarely”, but when MichiganRadio.org says today’s 91º “feels like 99º”, I know what they mean. So I’m toughing it out this week, considering the AC would never reach into my office anyway. And I’m utilizing an advantage of working from home: working in your underwear. TMI? Too bad.

Herbs and Watercolor

Seth — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:26:30 +0000

I created three ink & watercolor drawings as a wedding gift this weekend. It’s been years since I created some finished artwork entirely by hand — there’s an element of excitement to having no option to “undo”. I drew the herbs from life, tying and hanging each to draw. Then I took a photo for color reference and added the watercolor using the photos.

I added the labels by printing them backwards, making a laser photocopy, and transferring the ink to the drawing using xylene (a wonderfully toxic solvent/cleaner). The transfer came out far too light, so I used a 005 micron pen to trace the type by hand. It was the last detail I added to the finished drawings. The effect is perfect, and after a half hour my nerves had sufficiently recovered from the ordeal.

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union

Seth — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:10:53 +0000

I cashed in a personal rain check last week by picking up The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon. I loved The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and really liked hearing Chabon interviewed by Terry Gross, so it was a good bet I’d enjoy it.

Let’s see. It’s a detective novel, in a foreign locale, steeped in foreign culture & folklore, and dealing with the murder of a messiah figure. Um… win, win, win, and win.

Add a handsome jacket design by Will Staehle. I don’t know book jacket designers aside from Chip Kidd, but Staehle has some other nice designs I found here.

Moustache May 2010 – Fin.

Seth — Mon, 31 May 2010 19:34:17 +0000

It was a great Moustache May, though Molly is happy to be rid of the ’stache. My full set of photos is here, but the surprise I managed to keep the entire month is a series of action shots I took while drawing each day, compiled for your enjoyment:

27th Worldwide Sketchcrawl

Seth — Sat, 22 May 2010 19:57:31 +0000

May 15 was the 27th Worldwide Sketchcrawl. Molly took the kids solo one more morning than usual that week, and I took Smartbus 460 to the Royal Oak Farm Market. Results:

Project Moustache May – In Progress

Seth — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:43:47 +0000

It’s Moustache May, and disparate group of moustache wearers have gathered again at MoustacheMay.com. The official rules are as follows:

You Moustache May:

Have / Grow a glorious moustache
Post one image per day
Participate in frequent shenanigans

You Moustache May NOT:

Go more than one week without posting.
Detract from your moustache with other overly prominent facial hair.
Be mean spirited, vulgar, or socially inappropriate.
Photoshop your images. Let’s keep it classy.

In addition to following these rules, I made Moustache May a personal project this year. My brother helped me build a stand that suspends a pane of glass between myself and the camera, and I’ve been creating a drawing each day and photographing the combination of myself and the drawing. My progress through May 16 is below (click to enlarge). Follow the madness and see full size images here.

Spam: A Performance Piece

Seth — Wed, 12 May 2010 18:56:52 +0000

Facebook Near-Strike-Out Saved by Moustache Ad

Seth — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:05:04 +0000

If you didn’t know, facebook advertisers target their ads to certain demographics based on the information in user’s profiles. So a local restaurant could advertise to you if where you live is part of your profile. That’s why I always get ads for [insert any product or service here] showing women with big boobs (demographic: male, 30 years old).

This set of ads came up in my account today, and it’s a great example of the pros and cons of demographic advertising. Yes, I’m a 30-year-old man, but no, I am not interested in laser hair removal. On the other hand, whoever targeted this moustache t-shirt ad hit me dead on. I’m pretty sure facebook doesn’t know I’m participating in Moustache May. I haven’t even blogged about it yet, and it certainly isn’t part of my demographic info. But I’m not complaining. Great t-shirt.