Photographer Michael Wolf has an interesting photo project depicting 100 apartments at 100 sq. feet each in one of Hong Kong’s oldest public housing estates.

Some are cheery, some are dreary - all are very tiny.

via

]]> http://www.arcticoak.net/posts/lettering-and-stencils/feed/ http://www.arcticoak.net/posts/ew/ http://www.arcticoak.net/posts/ew/#comments Mon, 09 Mar 2009 05:31:53 +0000 megan http://www.arcticoak.net/?p=1190

Tiny hairs on this child’s hands and feet allow it to climb the door jamb in its native yuppie apartment.

Please, don’t get me wrong about that.

And the coup of science, engineering, technology and imagination that made the below photo of the galaxy possible = pretty good work.

So, why gum up the works with the arrow and yellow letters?

On the other hand, is there a more perfect way to illustrate our relative, hmm, youth and distance than highlighting our position in yellow bubble letters?

]]> http://www.arcticoak.net/posts/i-too/feed/ http://www.arcticoak.net/posts/justine-cooper-saved-by-science/ http://www.arcticoak.net/posts/justine-cooper-saved-by-science/#comments Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:10:28 +0000 megan http://www.arcticoak.net/?p=1124

I found these behind the scenes photographs of artifacts in the American Museum of National History totally captivating.

Museum artifacts in their natural habitats.

via

I love these guys. Don’t tell army about it though…they’ll be popping up from the strawberry bin and spraying your family before you can scream “I’m a civili-”

ps. there’s video.

I am in a position where my handwritten notes on various clients need to be read by several other parties.

This has resulted in a consistent flurry of comments on the poor quality of my penmanship.

In most instances, I solve this by typing. However, my desire to not repeat/explain my notes over and over has prompted me into trying to improve my writing /shut the folk up.

Spoiler alert: It comes from the shoulder. I guess most of us not educated in a one room school house squiggle our fingers about like plebeians and the resulting chicken scratch wouldn’t be fit to line a bird cage.

The real hippo is to keep your fingers and wrist frozen and move from the shoulder and forearm.

I must admit, after some practice it is quite clearly a more comfortable way to do things. I rather like it. For now, my writing is larger than it used to be, but also more elegant and legible. Anyway, try it if you want. You can read the article I found most helpful here.

Also, from an aesthetic p.o.v, I’ve always found handwriting exercise pages compelling:

More on that tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ll be practicing my penmanship, cursing the noble class and referring to science as sorcery.

]]> http://www.arcticoak.net/posts/ok-fine/feed/ http://www.arcticoak.net/posts/turns-out-hope-really-does-die-last/ http://www.arcticoak.net/posts/turns-out-hope-really-does-die-last/#comments Sat, 06 Dec 2008 19:26:59 +0000 megan http://www.arcticoak.net/posts/turns-out-hope-really-does-die-last/

Still smiling, one month later.

The children of DC are safer without Cheney’s dark shadow circling the sky. Although, baby calves thoughout rural Montana should be nervous come January, cause Cheney’s supply of fresh baby hearts is going bankrupt …this is the only recession that will effect him.

Anyway, I don’t care how broke we are as long as those “conspirators, card sharks, double-crossers, and secret betrayers of their own people” leave Washington.

Amen.

PS. I don’t remember how I found this painting from Africa, but it is super bad.

The bottle-collection-turned-building started in 1984, when the monks used them to decorate their shelters. The shiny building material attracted more people to donate more bottles, until eventually they had enough to build the temple standing today. Bottle caps are also integrated as decorative mosaic murals. Going beyond use of glass as a sustainable building material, the bottle bricks don’t fade, let natural light into the space and are surprisingly easy to maintain. So if you’re looking to find Nirvana in a bottle, you might want to consider making a stop at the Wat Pa Maha Kaew Temple.

Nothing like running into a monk to make you realize you are being a whiny bitch.

via

“Designed by Mr. Piano on the site of the academy’s demolished home, the building has a steel frame that rests amid the verdant flora like a delicate piece of fine embroidery. Capped by a stupendous floating green roof of undulating mounds of plants, it embodies the academy’s philosophy that humanity is only one part of an endlessly complex universal system.”

See the rest of the slideshow here.

Thanks e for the link.