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| Something has been bugging me for a long time--and I'm talking years. I was too afraid to let it out for fear of offending my non-graphics-oriented friends. But it's time to get it off my chest... not directed at any one person though, mind you. Here it is:
Typing with two spaces at the end of a sentence is no longer cool. This practice, although it helped the readability of pieces produced by typewriter, was made obsolete with the introduction of computer typefaces (fonts), which automatically put extra space after your sentence-ending punctuation. I realize this practice was pounded into our heads in middle-school computer classes. But it no longer applies. If you want I can explain in more detail how those unneeded extra spaces actually hinder readability when produced on computers... but I'll spare you guys for now.
Just please, stop double-spacing. And tell everyone you know to stop double-spacing. Because if I have to design the block of text that you wrote, I will go in and remove your every last superfluous space.
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| I've been thinking a lot lately about change. Probably the first person
to get me thinking about it was the professor of my last class, History
of Motion Media and Mass Communication. Some things he pointed out got
under my skin... for instance, did you know that pretty much all the
media outlets--newspapers, radio stations, television stations--are now
owned by five big conglomerate companies? Only a decade or so ago, they were
owned by ten. That's a little scary.
Then, in following the political campaigns going on, "change" seems to
be a big catchword--like talking about being the "candidate for change"
will magically get you into office. And then this weekend, I went to a conference/book tour by Brian McLaren, called "Everything Must Change."
Another professor I had a couple years ago, in the class History of
Graphic Design, talked about how our country's culture seems to swing
from one extreme to the other. If you look at the years of the 1950's,
our culture was very conservative--women went back to wearing corsets
(after abandoning them in the 20's), the focus was on having a perfect
"Leave it to Beaver" family, and status was generally attained by
having a house, perfect marriage, well-behaved kids, etc.
Then the 60's
came along, and people revolted--women shed their corsets (along with
other undergarments), the hippie movement encouraged experimentation
with drugs and sex, the civil rights movement rebelled against
status-quo racism, and the culture faced some serious turmoil.
I can't
remember which category my teacher placed the 70's in--probably a
little of both--but by the 80's, the culture was pretty conservative
again, with an obsession over money instead of revolution, and even in fashion, conservative elements such as the family crest/plaid/boarding school/preppy look were big.
Along came the 90's and people turned toward grunge, weird baggy clothing, and new types of music... and "saving the planet," being angry/depressed, and other ways of challenging the status quo of normalcy became cool.
I know that's a simplistic way of categorizing these decades, but guess where that broad view of culture would put us now? We're back to conservativism. Not necessarily in a political way (although you could take into account that we've had a conservative in office during the 2000's, a liberal in office in the 90's, a conservative in the 80's...), but in a cultural way.
Is it just me, or has our country become very materialistic? Gas prices are high and people still drive Hummers and schoolbus-sized SUVs. Our biggest joys in life seem to come from how big a house we can buy, how well we can decorate it, how nice our cars are, and what name brands our toddlers can be seen in. It's exacerbated a bit for me because the town I live in revolves around the banking industry, and its people love making money and showing it off.
But in general, the American focus has turned inward--and not just because we grew out of our rebellious years in the 90's. I think 9-11 had a lot to do with it. We as a society have been consumed by fear since then. We've stuck close to home--quite literally--as we traveled overseas less and spent our paychecks on expanding the housing bubble instead. We've distracted ourselves with trivialities like celebrity gossip and unending sequels to movies that were bad the first time (don't even get me started on how this shows a fear/lack of creative risk-taking on Hollywood's part). We jump into war at the slightest provocation (i.e. the rush into Iraq with little approval from the rest of the world). We're afraid.
I don't want to sound like I'm accusing my country--I'm probably the best (worst?) example of these traits. Having spent most of my 20's making decisions informed by fear, I'm thinking perhaps it's time for a change. A new decade is right around the corner, after all.
What if we started paying attention to our neighbors and the destitute around the world a little more? What if we realized that God blesses us in order to bless others? What if we gave out of our need? What if we strategized to live lives that would leave some sort of legacy?
These are thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head for a while. I'm not sure what to do--what needs to change... but something does. And I think the time is drawing near.
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| Okay, a quickie post about something I just saw on tv... I caught the end credits of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. They were so amazing that I wasn't sure if I was catching the beginning of the movie instead. Usually end credits are almost universally ignored by art directors, composers, and whoever writes the movie budget (perhaps with the exception of 300--its credits really invoked the look of the graphic novel). Watch here for the higher quality LS video or here for the full-length version. Also, the music is by Thomas Newman (his soundtrack for Little Women was the first movie music I ever bought)--I went straight to iTunes and downloaded this song. So cool! Now I suppose I'll have to watch the rest of the movie...
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| Watch this video. The beginning of it gives me goosebumps.
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|  | Currently Reading
A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I Am a Missional, Evangelical, Post/Protestant, Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Biblical, Charismatic/Contemplative, Fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Methodist, Catholic, Green, Incarnational, Depressed-yet-Hopeful, Emergent, Unfinished CHRISTIAN
By Brian D. McLaren
see related |
Lately I've been wondering/chiding myself for giving up too much for my friends. Most of the time I think I'd give my right hand if it would help someone. People are pretty important to me. But maybe that's what's driving them away. If I'm too available... there's no mystery that sparks attraction in return.
Then again, some friends seem to think I don't give up ENOUGH for them (just ask me about The Cats).
Tonight I just feel like doing my only "giving up" on making and keeping friends for a while... although that probably won't happen. Maybe I should focus more on me though. Maybe I've become too needy and am expecting too much of people... and maybe those needs are supposed to be met in different ways.
I normally try not to be this moody in blog posts so forgive me. Just venting.
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