Yoyogi House, Tokyo, Japan Garden, Deck, Carport, Kitchen, Full Bath: 250 sq. ft. Milwaukee - Anti-war Protest Digital IR photograph + long exposure + interesting subject Bear Shirt “The irregularity in the fabric makes them feel extra soft, but it also makes them look like they have been worn before. Plus it makes the shape look a little less than perfect, and we loved that. In fact we got all nostalgic and started reminiscing about our childhood clothes.” Brian Dettmer: Book Autopsies Indescribably amazing. Franklin Roosevelt’s Second Inaugural Address “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” Similar Diversity Communalities and differences of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism are shown in this visualization. [especially for chart lovers!] Big Dog Be terrified for 3:30. The Data So Far Proving the supernatural != faith bios [bible] An industrial robot reproduces all 66 books of the bible in calligraphic script. The nonstop process takes seven months. Issuu Get design inspiration from around the world. Upload your own. 120 Years of Electronic Music Theremin is only part of the story. (With cool photos!) God and Time Foreknowledge, atemporality, and libertarian freedom… I’m going to make a cup of tea. Or am I? Kyle Cooper: Prologue Creativity magazine named Cooper one of the top 50 biggest and best thinkers and doers from the last 20 years of advertising and consumer culture. He’s a graphic designer AND a christian? The Billboard Liberation Front “In fauxvertising, an existing message is creatively falsified to reach a higher truth or deeper meaning.” Jeremy Enigk and Aaron Weiss Talk about God and Life for an hour. (via steev) Walk Score See how “walkable” your neighborhood is. Mine is surprisingly high. Common Errors in English Whether you’re flaunting your grammatical prowess or flouting conventional grammatical standards you’ll enjoy this exhaustive list of nerdly errors. Urban Farming Goes Global “[Milwaukee] is at the center of a growing international movement that advocates urban vegetable gardens, and even livestock farms, to raise food locally and to bring together residents of neighborhoods torn apart by poverty and crime.”

We’ve got anti-emo riots breaking out in Mexico. Also a couple of interesting lists from Wikipedia - Youth Subcultures and Subcultures in general. But it really all starts with the music scene, and what better place to look into that than Scaruffi’s exhaustive History of Rock Music (New Wave, Punk and Hardcore 1976-1989). And finally, the classic Your Scene Sucks. Enjoy!

i haven’t thought about forgiveness as a concept for a long time. not until a recent conversation with a friend where i was challenged to define forgiveness and during the course of which it was suggested that forgiveness does not exist. i suppose the concept of forgiveness is another thing that i have taken for granted during my lifetime - indeed it has rich theological meaning to me, but also profound practical meaning. i had never considered that the thing itself might not be real. it’s like saying Love isn’t real i suppose. or Hope. because these words are kind of meaningless without some context.

i stand by my definition of forgiveness though: “when you are hurt you do not hold that against the one who hurt you.” it’s not forgetting certainly. barring amnesia or head trauma i am incapable of forgetting being wronged. especially the ‘big’ wrongs. but it is letting it go. in fact, it’s much deeper than just “i don’t hold it against you.” it’s also recognizing that i give up my right to hold it against you. the hardest things to forgive are the things that i am justified in not forgiving. i would qualify this as the ‘legal sense’ of forgiveness. an example of this would be ‘debt forgiveness’ in which a bank or lender releases me of my obligation to repay a money loan. the lender has given up his (legal) right to hold my debt against me. he can no longer lay claim to that debt. and while we would probably all agree that ‘forgiveness’ in the legal sense is real, what about forgiveness in the personal (or ethical) sense? my friend would say this is impossible. she would say we as a race are incapable of it. and after thinking about it i agree - if left to our own hearts, we are as incapable of Forgiveness as we are of Love.

[more…]

My friend Mat suggested I write about the death of E. Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons & Dragons. I don’t really have much to say, as my experience with D&D was pretty much limited to stern warnings of “real” spells and satanic influences. Fortunately, having grown up in Lake Geneva i can relay the following memories which to my surprise are heavily influenced by the work the late Mr. Gygax:

1. TSR was across the street from our barber growing up. My dad would take us over there (we were never allowed to actually go in) to look at the huge dioramas set up in the picture windows. Little fantasy characters engaged in multi-level battles with dragons, trolls and the like.
2. My dad actually designed a lot of ‘role playing games’ for us as kids. He had the hexagonal graph paper and would draw big dungeons with traps and treasures. He’d create cards and basic rules. And we’d play. I have many of these games which i found a while back in some old box at my parents’ house and i would like nothing better than to recreate them digitally.

3. My dad would often get “supplies” from the dumpsters behind TSR’s warehouse (he worked for the Gas Co. and would read their gas meter). We had a huge sack of ‘imperfect’ dice; dice with bubbles or cracks or misprints. Everything from bizarre pyramid dice to standard D6s to D20s and up. We also had a few miscast diecast figures.

4. Text adventures for our TI99-4A! And later, computer RPGs that were not D&D. As long as something didn’t have the D&D logo on it, it was permitted. Strange but true.

So there’s the legacy of E. Gary Gygax in my life. Your stories? In fitting tribute please click on the following link to a google search for the word “owlbear.”

Please note these are prints, not original art… but they are all hand-numbered and signed limited edition prints. So if you’ve got a spare 50 bones laying around, why not get a couple of these sweet prints.

1. Thumbtack Press. Buy it or submit your own! $20+

2. Blueflip Art. Affordable art also donates to the artists charity of choice out of each sale. $20+

3. 20×200. Large editions + low prices x the internet = art for everyone. $20+

4. Tiny Showcase. Tiny, archival artwork. $20+

5. Keep Calm Ltd. Bits and pieces from the UK. $20+

6. Art Star Gallery - Philly-based shop specialize in work from emerging artists worldwide. $20+

BONUS: 7. Panteek. Rare and antique prints from old books. $35+

BONUS, BONUS: 8. Etsy. You can actually find “real” art here for cheap. $20+