The great American Shit Show sponsored by Donald Trump

I have been waking up writing a blog post in my head ... which tells me my brain is begging to have a task other than picking a show to watch on tv! Mind you, it does tax my brain to keep up with what trashy Hallmark movie I am going to watch next OR what Miss Marple I haven't watched 100 times! 

I have been on a high-school age TV show binge. Some Turkish high school show was great. Bri would walk through the room and make some disparaging remark. I love the new loves, the romance of it all ... stuff I have forgotten ages ago. I never watched Dawson Creek so I gave a few seasons a twirl. After one season, the thrill if gone for most of these shows, then they just become silly messes. I am still on my Turkish Rom Com movement... I think I have run out of them now. Detective Hole, excellent. As was Untamed. Voicemails from Isabelle. I start looking through my Netflix list and it is scary how many movies are out there to entertain us in our time of need. One of my favorite silly Turkish rom-com are Love Tactics and Love Tactics 2 and Old Money (mainly the hot leading male characters, but who is counting).

My eyes pop open at 3:30am most mornings, check the news, start the coffee, then go back to sleep for my "morning nap". Like most people in their 70's, I don't sleep! It is so weird to say that, "in their 70's". That can't be me because I feel 40-ish today and not a day over. 

Not much to report, we are experiencing a heatwave the last couple of days. Along with the best soccer coverage. Apparently soccer people love Seattle! I mean, what is not to love? We don't watch soccer here since David is gone. If he were here, it would be 'round-the-clock viewing. But I keep up with most of the matches, the soccer fans, the cities, the parties, the fun. 

The backyard is really wonderful this year. Lots of flowers, even more enjoyable since I have not been the maintenance of that lovely yard! Matt has been whipping up some delicious dinners. The grand-kids have screaming matches throughout the day. It is summer so they are here to pester each other. Not so bad during school. We are hoping to come up with some mini-vacations, or something to keep them entertained. 

Mason got her braces off looks fabulous. They are both such "girly-girls" which doesn't surprise me, given Bri is one. 

Of course, I am completely obsessed with this shit show we call the government. I am numb to the ridiculousness of it all. 

I think we might be fostering a dog for awhile. Like it is not crazy enough, but to fair, I did not say NO. Probably more craziness to keep my mind off our country going to shit.

I just remembered why I hate using my computer these days ... I can't log on to anything except Blogger. Not Instagram or FB ... it prompts me to reset which then means I need to sign on to all other devices again. The last time I went through this exercise I got locked out of everything ... will have to figure this out some day soon.

YUKIMI ANNAND is a calligrapher, lettering and book artist based in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, California. She was born in a small town in Boso peninsula, Japan. Her parents were flower farmers and she grew up with an appreciation of the beauty of nature and a respect for its power. After high school, she studied visual communication design in Tokyo. In the 1980s she worked as a graphic designer on mainly visual identity design programs for large and small corporations. She left her position as a director in the prestigious Takenobu Igarashi Studio to come to the U.S.

Natural history

Joris Hoefnage and Georg Bocskay never met, but they collaborated (or more likely competed) on a masterpiece: Mira Calligraphiae Monumenta. Born in Hungary (today Croatia), Bocskay was secretary to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, and in 1561 to 1562, he demonstrated his preeminent skill in calligraphy by compiling the Model Book of Calligraphy. Bocskay wasn't trying to pass along meaningful knowledge so much as show off. Whether he intended to have his work illustrated is not certain, but a scribe penning the script, and an illuminator subsequently adding pictures had been standard practice for centuries. Still, Bocskay probably couldn't anticipate the whimsical approach that would be taken 15 years after his death by the learned illustrator Hoefnagel, perhaps Europe's last great illuminator. The son of a diamond merchant, Hoefnagel learnd the value of a practiced eye early on, and aimed "to demonstrate the superior power of images over written words."  

Joris Hoefnagel or Georg Hoefnagel (1542, in Antwerp – 24 July 1601, in Vienna) was a Flemish painter, printmaker, miniaturist, draftsman and merchant. He is noted for his illustrations of natural history subjects, topographical views, illuminations and mythological works. He was one of the last manuscript illuminators and made a major contribution to the development of topographical drawing. 

His manuscript illuminations and ornamental designs played an important role in the emergence of floral still-life painting as an independent genre in northern Europe at the end of the 16th century. The almost scientific naturalism of his botanical and animal drawings served as a model for a later generation of Netherlandish artists. Through these nature studies he also contributed to the development of natural history and he was thus a founder of proto-scientific inquiry.

 

 

Interesting ink

Pokras Lampas manifesto: Traveling all around the world and reflecting on cultures, I represent my knowledge and share my experience in terms of Cyrillic. 

Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Georgian, Olmec and any others (all) graphemes influence on Cyrillic letter-formation in the new cultural context. 

 I find his images completely mesmerizing! I have always wanted to "make up" marks and make chops out of the images. 

utōpia х calligrafuturism from Ivan Novikov on Vimeo.

Andrew Fox

Andrew Fox's calligraphy animals. Loving.

Job Wouters

This is so much fun, from Swash & Kern

 

Calligraphy

They make it look so easy!

Silvia Cordero Vega

Calligraphy becomes so much more in the works of Silvia Cordero Vega. Collection of calli-collages on Flickr. Honestly, my eyes become so excited when looking at a selection of her work, I don't know where to explore first. ;) (Later, before I posted this I saw Dear Ada also has a lovely post on Silvia Cordero Vega ... great minds think alike?) ;)

By Hand

Crystal Kluge creator of fine lettering, custom maps, illustrations and one of a kind stationery designs and Nigel Peake's wonderful site Second Street both via Oatmeal & Cinnamon, Hand lettering, hand writing, calligraphy & doodles.