OF A GOLDEN AGE

For you, I baked a double batch of big, soft cookies with whole wheat, oatmeal, flax, apple sauce, liqueur-soaked raisins. I won’t say wholesome, because that word is adopted by the food industry to mean “Filling but bad for you” or “Parents, feed this nutritionally valueless food to your children without guilt.” What’s wrong with us that we can’t simply eat what we want and describe it the way it is? Pasta that’s secretly good for your kids. Cookbooks describing how to include a quarter cup of vegetables in each serving of macaroni and cheese.

These are healthful, but still cookies.

When a customer asked me for a recommendation on which projector she should use for her very specific application, I asked one of our technicians for guidance. He explained that regular old brightness and contrast weren’t all we had to worry about, and then drew me a picture to clarify what he meant by native resolution.

I realized the best way to explain it back to my customer was the same way: with a picture. So I drew my own:

My friend and coworker Emily has a birthday today. She always has beautiful flowers from her garden in a vase on her desk and I thought some small tributes might be in order. I gave them to her in an envelope and she got them matted (!) and framed.

And a detail of each panel, clockwise from top left:

Kelly Slater is the most successful professional surfer in history. He won his first world championship at age 20, in 1992.

In 2006 he told GQ, “I’m just having fun, because I don’t have to win a title to be fulfilled.” He won that year and again in 2008.

between my high school graduation and new student days at beloit, i painted a room border for a friend of a friend. she is sweet and well-intentioned but one of the most neurotic people i’ve ever met, and even knowing this much didn’t prepare me for her house. each room had a different busy wallpaper pattern and coordinating EVERYTHING: pillow fabric, shower curtain designs, floral arrangements. it seems to me that at the point where your rooms become so customized, maybe things are getting a little bit overly precious. then again, i would be happy to wallpaper with newsprint.