vortex dot net dot en zed

This will be me in just 23 days… so excited to marry the...

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:24:21 +1300

This will be me in just 23 days… so excited to marry the love of my life! Click the photo to see the full images of this beautiful wedding…

Just hope

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:24:19 +1300

bobulate:

Having two z’s in one’s name is nothing like Scrabble where they bring high value. They limited my creativity in rhyming as a child for one, and Zil Ociznad, my attempted secret nickname, was all but foiled by the odd z-angles. (Say it out loud, you’ll see.) But letters and, at a larger scale, language give form. We use them to be explicit, and at the next turn, to soften concepts.

We try to be just; we do have hope, and therefore, just and hope, as vocabulary terms, crop up in our nomenclature more often than you might realize.

On just

It’s just a prototype.
It’s just a first draft.
I just put it together quickly.
I’m just sitting in; don’t mind me.
Just go on without me.
I just want to tell you one more thing.

Suddenly we’ve dismissed the sentence. One word has the ability to undermine the power of what could have been an otherwise powerful statement. Paul Rand points out, “The vocabulary of a language of art … this is the language of form.” Of course he was speaking of the aesthetics of visual form and scope of graphic design, but when we speak, we too give form with our word choice, undermining it with “just.” All the while, we hope for impact.

On hope

See also:
There are always exceptions, and Paul Rand (quoting Mies van der Rohe) can get away with one: “Don’t try to be original. Just try to be good.”

Hope is enjoying a rise in popularity, but we seem to be spending it unwisely. “Hope that helps.” “Hope you enjoyed it.” “Hope that made sense.” As a closing line in a client presentation, as an email closing, or — worse — a closing for a talk when we’re on stage, it seems only natural that we would hope we’re imparting knowledge. But to the audience, “hope” is “just’s” counterpart. We’ve just delivered information, then followed it with a question mark — “hope that helps?” The audience is left to wonder, did it?

Be definitive. You can be more just with less “just” and leave more hope with less “hope-that-helps.”

I like this sentiment a lot - as someone who always thinks that ‘but’ negates whatever preceded it, I’ll be trying to minimise use of ‘just’ and ‘hope’ for similar reasons as Liz.

triviality: service industry 2.0

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:50:01 +1300

triviality:

service industry 2.0

wondering

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 07:39:00 +1300

what song did you walk - or would you walk - down the aisle to? (you can answer on the facebook thread if you wanna)

(44 days to go! hooray!)

this is me, trying to make a heart shape with a sparkler before...

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:18:35 +1300

this is me, trying to make a heart shape with a sparkler before the clock struck for the new year. i am certain that the fact that i celebrated the start of a new one with so many dear people will be auspicious for good things. (via darren131)

courgettes

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:21:00 +1300

courgettes:

This year we decided to grow our courgettes from seed rather than from seedlings. The first of the crop have been lovely & tasty - and by the looks of things we’ve got a lot more about to come:

smokeandfever: lovedoesntwalkawaypeopledo: can i legally own...

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 14:23:49 +1300

smokeandfever:

lovedoesntwalkawaypeopledo:

can i legally own an owl?

megpickard: bookspaperscissors: thousands of recycled keyboard...

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:47:36 +1300

megpickard:

bookspaperscissors:

thousands of recycled keyboard keys are embedded into a continuous textile. The keys spell out a line-by-line transcript of the email correspondence between the artist and fabricators regarding the creation of the artwork. As a result, the sculpture documents its own making. Viewers can also type their own messages on the active keys amid the first three rows of emails. These new messages are then projected onto the opposite end of the fabric, thereby continuing the virtual dialogue. The project speaks to the pervasiveness of email in our lives while commenting on the fact that, despite the modern technology of virtual communication, our written language is linked to the tactile sensation of moving our fingers over an outmoded typewriter system.

um, that’s crazy….

"What matters is not the perception, nor the fashion, not who’s up and who’s down, but what someone..."

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:05:45 +1300

“What matters is not the perception, nor the fashion, not who’s up and who’s down, but what someone has done and if they meant it.”

- A single line from a terrific email response by author Dave Eggers regarding creativity, criticism, selling out and “the unshakable need to reduce”. You’ll be glad you read this. (via Wilson Miner) (via matthewb)

"This is what we do, humans. We tinker, and change, and endlessly imagine a more perfect future. And..."

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:37:02 +1300

““This is what we do, humans. We tinker, and change, and endlessly imagine a more perfect future. And at the same time, we idealize the past. So we’re trapped. Progress’s constant companion is nostalgia for the way things used to be. … The thing we forget about progress: there is no master plan. It lurches forward, in the dark, accidentally, and you’re never sure where it’s taking you. There’s no going back, whether it wants to or not.””

- Ira Glass (speaking about factory farms) from s1e6 of This American Life, the television show (via spaceminer).

in this we have to remember to see opportunity so we don’t get stuck in time like a kid whose face really did change with the wind.

"Time seems to be moving quickly, maybe because things are changing. And they’re always..."

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:58:00 +1300

“Time seems to be moving quickly, maybe because things are changing. And they’re always changing. And that’s a good thing, but it also causes me to think back on all the things that have changed, and how each still moment between all of the changing things has been a thing in itself. Something to appreciate, something to learn from, something awesome, beautiful, terrible, scary, whatever it was. I am not one for much nostalgia but sometimes I feel a glimpse of it when it comes to this feeling that we’re all just planets in the same orbit and sometimes those orbits intersect for a while, and then the orbits move away, or just change angles, like Pluto, and it feels like we should all be appreciating every moment more than we are. Being real in every friendship, trading war stories, sharing the same cup, highs and lows, swearing to die for each other, so that it’s apparent that we are all really on the same ship together, and we know it, and will never forget. That’s how I feel about people, even if we don’t feel that close all the time, I know that at the core of each of the people in my life is this shared boat that we’re all on and it’s too cheesy and idealistic to mention it unless you’re going through really tough times or just really drunk, but it’s there and it’s something worth writing songs about and embarking on adventures for and howling for as you leave the shore.”

- I’m more nostalgic than Buster, but I really like this. It also feeds into a post which I may or may not write about why we’re getting married and why we’re having a wedding (yes, these are two separate topics).

IntenseDebate comments enhance and encourage conversation on your blog or website

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:55:12 +1300

IntenseDebate comments enhance and encourage conversation on your blog or website

LinkWithin - Related Posts with Thumbnails

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:55:12 +1300

Tears in the rain

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:18:50 +1300

Tears in the rain:

darren131:

“We are losing a piece of internet history. We are losing the destinations of millions of inbound links. But most importantly we are losing people’s dreams and memories.”

The cast of Seinfeld on Twitter

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:05:27 +1300

The cast of Seinfeld on Twitter:

Just one more reason they never should have stopped making this show.

as winter turns into spring

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:34:00 +1300

as winter turns into spring:

The winter is always a bit of a slow time in terms of projects on and around the blue house. It’s cold, often wet and we just don’t get the long days which so help DIY projects. However, here is a…

(via annielin) LOVE! INFOGRAPHICS! especially ones that remind...

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:19:08 +1300

(via annielin)

LOVE! INFOGRAPHICS! especially ones that remind me of happy fun times at la clique.

darren131: Lo-fi ad blocker. (via merlin)

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:41:19 +1300

darren131:

Lo-fi ad blocker. (via merlin)

things i have learnt from radio

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 08:34:00 +1300

(a new series)

hip hop artists announce their names at the beginning of songs because in the states, radio stations (some not all i’m assuming) charge to announce or back announce the names of songs.

i think this makes huge sense - why not bundle your identifier IN the song/actual artefact itself, rather than relying on related data.

(source: 95bfm breakfast show)

lachstock: broccolini: The girl who silenced the world for 5...

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:47:51 +1300

lachstock:

broccolini:

The girl who silenced the world for 5 minutes.

“What you do makes me cry at night.” Fuck me, this is harsh. And deservedly so.

Watch this. Don’t think about whether to - just watch it. I am heartened that the next generation are this motivated but what more should we all be doing to help them and ourselves? I don’t think recycling cuts it anymore.