Some insight into a font I don't like

I really don't care for Verdana. When called to defend my stance by my partner, I didn't have the words to describe my distaste. My partner uses Verdana for everything (printed and online), and as we are currently applying for residencies as a collaborative team, we have (much to my chagrin and horror) submitted our proposals ala Verdana.

Thought I'd do a quick search on the WWW to give Verdana the attention it deserves.

I came across this: http://johndberry.com/blog/2009/09/08/ikea-verdanarama/.

Good points, all in all. Still not convinced, but we'll get to that later.

How Friend(group)s has changed technology, or How Technology has changed Friend(group)s

This is a VHS tape that was given to me by a friend after I told her about a project I'm working on about how technology has changed friend groups as evidenced in the television show Friends. I will be doing an educational lecture on said topic, using examples from the hit 90s show to further prove my theories. When my friend heard about this, she couldn't believe how specific my topic was, because she in fact, had just the thing. The thing is this educational video guide to Windows 95 hosted by none other than Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry.

I can't wait to watch this video (I just got it today). Not only will thie video benefit my research for the Friends, it will also no doubt come in handy here.

One-Liners and Blog Names

I've fretted for the last hour on what to call this blog. Because my artistic practice often takes interest in the format of the 'one-liner', I approach the naming of this blog with a self-imposed pressure that has only been lifted due to time constraints.

I could very well focus my research on what to call a blog about fonts, the internet, and my interest in them.

Why do I like one-liners so much? One-liners get to the point. One-liners can sum up an entire story, feeling and movement in an instance, and catch the essence of something with an immediacy and 'spot on-ness' that I admire and aspire for in my daily life.

In looking at my work, my fondness for the one-liner format is no secret. One-liner, two-liners, short blurbs, lists, etc, is how much of my work comes to being.

My interest in typography, specifically the typography used in desktop computing and the Internet comes from both curiosity, and guilt. Over the past few years, my work has shifted from video and animation to well, words, sentences, paragraphs, and more words. As the written/typed word has taken a front seat, I have begun to realize how little I know about the choices I make surrounding the aesthetics of these words. While I tend to rely on default settings (such as this blog here) that are chosen for me, I want to know more about the tools I use. To me, (and probably to thesis juries, advisors, and critics), this is not enough. If I'm going to use typography (default fonts or otherwise), I'd better not only know why I use them, but also how I can use them to my advantage, and go beyond the surface.

Also...If I'm going to use one-liners, they better look pretty damned good.

In the end, I decided to go for the blog title 'Fonts and Folkore' because when I really think about what I want out of this blog, research, etc, is to gain a better understanding of how communities exist and work with language, interface, structures and everything else that allows for communication on the WWW. (Well, okay, that might not be as articulate as I'd like it to be, but again, I'd prefer to work with one-liners, and let the world assume what I mean).

The following is a list of blog titles that didn't make it (and thank God, they are awful, except for the Omar Serif one....)

http://comicicecreamsanswich.blogspot.com
http://courieranewhope.blogspot.com
http://omarserif.blogspot.com
http://verdanarama.blogspot.com
http://verdanaletsmebreathe.blogspot.com
http://doesmyfontlookfatinthis.blogspot.com
http://enfontterrible.blogspot.com
http://theserifsheriff.blogspot.com