Today’s lunchtime news chum brings a collection of articles, all related to our changing times:
- Writing It Down. We start with a real interesting article from the LA Times, on how in a world dominated by computers and typefaces, calligraphers are still going strong. However, it is a marginalized skill. Lettering styles that look hand-drawn can be downloaded off the Internet. Budget constraints have led the city and county of Los Angeles to employ fewer artists skilled in calligraphy — targeted as an unnecessary taxpayer expense — and computers now produce portions of proclamations. Still, some insist on the handwritten. In a related article, CNN notes how your handwriting can change over time based on friends and family. I’ve noticed this phenomena: I have about 3 or 4 different fonts I tend to write with, although my signature stays the same illegible scrawl.
- Keeping your Receipts. One thing that used to be handwritten, but became printed pretty quickly, are receipts. The times are changing, and you are increasingly getting receipts emailed to you, instead of a printed copy. Just what I need: more clutter in my inbox. At least it is easier to search, and to shred when I’m done.
- In the Market. Whenever I go up to camp, I would tick off the landmarks in order. Malibu Canyon. Kanan Dume. Zuma. Trancas. Cabrillo. Mulholland. Well one of those is going away: the Trancas Market, which became Hows Trancas, is closing. The more fascinating part of the article, however, is the confused ownership of the new property owner: Paige Dubbert, a member of the Walton (as in Sam) clan.
- Gone to the Dogs. Another thing rapidly disappearing is the “dirty water” hot dog cart in New York City. What’s doing them in? More modern carts… and more modern permits…. that allow the vendors to actually grill the hot dog. From what I understand, the dirty water dog is an NYC classic.
- Making a Mountain out of a Molehill. As times have changed, some women have gotten more and more obsessed with the signs of aging… and of course companies are certainly willing to play that up to sell products. The latest: how to fight cleavage wrinkles. We already have enough infomercials for bras on DirecTV. I fear the day when we start seeing infomercials for this problem (although I certainly expect the subject to show up on “Wait Wait”).
Lastly, in an unrelated item, I’m well aware that Barack Obama’s popularity is lower than his age. But he may still win, absent a good Democratic challenger, because the Republican field is worse. The latest? Michelle Bachmann is complaining about the Renaissance. A remarkable profile of the candidate appearing in the Aug. 15 issue of the New Yorker magazine, Bachmann indicates that she is upset that the artistic flowering of the Italian Renaissance did away with the god-fearing Dark Ages.
