WordInk » cool

That’s the Power (Laces) of Love

Katie — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 23:02:46 +0000

This video addresses my only two qualms with the Nike Air Mag: 1) it’s not 2015 2) no power laces. As a result, I am completely on board with this from a “child of the 80s” standpoint and a “doing something super fun to cure a terrible disease” perspective. Also this picture pretty much sums up my reaction to the idea of the forthcoming power lacing Air Mags.

1.21 Gigawatts of Cool

Katie — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:56:51 +0000

You know your teaser campaign is awesome when people want not only your product, but all the other stuff you used to get them to excited about the main attraction. I want these glasses just to have around the house. You know, just in case.

Fixed that for you!

Katie — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 23:47:29 +0000

Oh happy day! Someone has finally stepped up to do the job that apparently book editors are no longer willing (or able) to do: edit books. I’m all for leniency with the gray areas of grammar (comma and hyphens, I’m looking at you) and respect for different writing styles. But there are basic rules that must be followed! It’s what separates us from the animals! Literally. Look it up.

The subject of choice for this blog couldn’t be better: The Twilight series. I think there should be a whole classes in high school based on this blog. Caution: occasional NSFW language. And I mean that with all seriousness. Don’t just tell kids how to write well; show them what bad grammar looks like and why it’s so completely, horribly wrong. Abuse of this kind should not be tolerated. We must warn the children so that they are not doomed to repeat our mistakes.

So sad. So true.

I’m almost positive this particular lesson was covered in high school, if not middle school.

There’s a reason some sentences sound awkward: because they are awkward.

This unnecessary pause reminds me of the Seinfeld where Pendant Publishing book editor, Elaine Benes ends every sentence with an exclamation mark.

This critique is dead on. Find a trusty online thesaurus, kids. Then bookmark it so you’ll have it forever and ever.

This many commas in a single sentence is a sign you either need to reevaluate your comma usage or rewrite the sentence.

Oh. Dear.

March of the Penguin Classics

Katie — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 01:21:23 +0000

Well that explains THAT. Penguin is celebrating 75 years of being awesome and torturing high schoolers (in many ways, the same thing) and is going all graphic design crazy on their literary classics. Well done.

In other news, if you have yet to visit Penguin UK’s blog, you’re missing out on one of the better corporate blogs on the Web. Much like today’s librarians, you expect them to be all stuffy and uptight, but it turns out that the hipsters were busy taking over the literary world at the same time they were conquering Williamsburg.

The Great Cover Up

Katie — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 12:33:31 +0000

Remember all those awful Penguin Classics and other books we were forced to read against our wills in high school and college? Remember how painful they were? Now with the wisdom of years I look back on those books and my god so many of them are still terrible, but check out what they’ve done with the covers! All of a sudden, I’m thinking man, this Moby Dick looks like an action adventure I could really get into, rather than some overstuffed tome I somehow avoided reading in high school. Look at that whale! It’s jumping out of the water like one of those great whites on Shark Week! I mean come on! How could you not want to read this book?

And Wurthering Heights! It looks so intriguing and mysterious, like something your cool artsy friend sketched in their binder during math class. It like, totally gets you, and like sucks you in and before you know it you’re entrenched in some mediocre story from the least impressive member of the Bronte crew.

The Frankenstein I read in high school was a mere 100 pages or so–every one of them insufferable. But this, this actually looks cool. Granted the entire book isn’t in comic book form, but all of a sudden I want to know more.

And check out the author bio, even that’s done as a comic. So much more interesting.

I include my BFF Kurt Vonnegut here as well, simply because the spines of these books include a shout out to Vonnegut fans who know that that asterisk isn’t an asterisk at all. Mwahaha…inside joke!

The Stranger offers a side-by-side look at the before and after of Vonnegut’s redesigned books. Maybe it’s because he’s gone to that big clam bake in the sky, but I think using Vonnegut’s own drawings and handwriting is far more interesting than whatever geometric thing they had going on before.

I See What You Did There

Katie — Mon, 31 May 2010 20:34:27 +0000

Common Market is cool for a reason. Delicious sammiches, wide-selection of adult libations, cool clientele…and of course there’s my personal favorite: word play.

Reach out, touch me.

Katie — Tue, 18 May 2010 12:44:53 +0000

How cool is this? Band aid is putting braille on their packaging. A little gesture that makes a world of difference for some people and for the rest of us, a reminder that hey, that paper cut probably isn’t the life altering event we’re making it out to be. Plus, it’s always fun to be exposed to new languages.

CLASSIC!

Katie — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:38:23 +0000

Classical music reminds me of the dentist office. Every time I think I’m going to mellow out and give my neurons a little pick-me-up I’m gripped by the anxiety of knowing that I will soon be reprimanded for not flossing eighteen times a day. My dad enjoys the old stuff and pointed me in the direction of his favorite station, KUSC, which proffers this bold manifesto on their Web site:

I think this is a station I can get behind.

For my hipster brethren, The Hood Internet is throwing down the awesome with indie/hip hop mash ups that are single-handedly keeping me in the loop with what’s playing on terrestrial radio. More holler, more MGMT…or something like that.

The Hood Internet – Two Weeks Of Hip Hop (Dead Prez x Grizzly Bear) by hoodinternet

1up for Xmas

Katie — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 01:05:01 +0000

Ho Ho Ho-ly crap! Christmas classics done in the musical genre of 8-bit video games? It’s a Festivus miracle of creativity and good old 80s nostalgia. Gloria and Joy to the World are highly recommended.

Do you remember the 21st of Mo’vember?

Katie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:15:54 +0000

My mother, who gets the majority of her pop culture education from talk radio and likes to claim she’s “hip,” recently pulled out a shocking bit of on-trend knowledge by reminding me that it’s Mo’vember–the month of mustaches!

As of late, mustaches have been gaining in popularity rank right up there with zombies and ninjas in the hipster cannon of “the now” I’m not certain how I missed this one.

And after getting a look at the official Mo’vember Web site, I can’t believe it’s not getting more press. Their Web site is FANTASTIC and obviously designed by *gasp* a graphic designer. The logo? *Swoon*

And the kicker is that it’s all for charity, prostate and testicular cancer and whatnot. Watch out pink ribbon. Mo’vember is coming for YOU.

In fact, my only real qualm is that there isn’t actually an apostrophe in the name, which without proper context I’d probably read as Mooooovember. If the AP style guide is going to force me to write Web site as two word and capitalize one of them, I’m taking liberties AND creative license with Mo’vember and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.