GRIZZLY PEAR

written snapshots

Category: Things

  • A couple from the boy (five-pack four+Magic Puzzle Company)

    Some 5WP’s from that came from here and out there.

    ,

    12/15

    floor
    slug
    clapping
    his
    feet

    When we eat, the boy wanders around the house. I wrote this after watching him mop the floor with his back and clapping his feet in the middle of dinner. The girl has always been well behaved at meals so I’m gonna chalk it up to genetics.

    ,

    12/13

    dreamland
    dusk
    seeking
    the
    girl

    An early morning poem after waking up from a dream.

    ,

    12/16

    metal
    tail
    chubby
    sky
    shark

    Next to the airport is a big shopping center. I’m always tickled by the tail fins gliding in the background by as jets prepare for takeoff while I’m parking the car to pick up oranges.

    ,

    12/31/2024

    poetry
    pokes
    thru
    imperfect
    precision

    It started with the phrase “poetry is precision” but it felt too pat and wasn’t five words.

    I have no business making pronouncements on the nature of poetry. If I keep this up maybe this will feel prescient. Or just cringe. Tomorrow’s problem!

    ,

    1/2/2025

    do dreams teach you stuff?

    A couple of weeks ago, the boy walked up as I was typing on the computer and asked an innocent question.

    Unfortunately my first attempt had a mistake. But it’s prettier.

    ,

    I’ve been focusing on using a straight brush for this month.

    I’m not using a “real” standalone brush, but Pentel refillable brush pen. The price fluctuates wildly, but I’ve gotten them at around $8 for a pen (with two black cartridges). I refill the empty cartridges with whatever color I want. I’ve got three at home and one at the office.

    We also picked up a straight brush from Blick for Christmas. Maybe I’ll pull it out and have something deep to say about straight brush calligraphy by the end of the month. Ha!

    Cya next time!

    ,

    PS–Magic Puzzle Company

    In spite of my fatherly brainwashing, my kids just aren’t into boardgames.

    But they did go through a jigsaw puzzle phase. A couple of years ago I found a puzzle at Goodwill priced at $12.99, when I’ve never seen a puzzle go for more than $2.99.

    That price sparked my curiosity so I looked it up on Amazon. It had good reviews, the box felt sturdy, and the art was undeniably cute. I bought it for the girl’s birthday.

    Bingo!

    I bought another one for my son’s birthday (this time new).

    Bingo, again!

    These offerings by Magic Puzzle Company are spectacular. Thick pieces, intricate art, creative cuts, damn near magical. Heads and tails better than Ravensburger puzzles (which are already significantly better than other brands normally found in thrift shops).

    So I’m giving it the highest possible recommendation. In a world where I can keep buying used puzzles at the library and thrift stores for two bucks a pop, I’ve purchased the entire Magic Puzzle Company catalog at $23 a piece.

    To add a slight literary valence (and to avoid being a complete shill) I’ll also recommend that y’all check out George Perec’s Life a User’s Manual. I often think about the puzzle maker in that novel while playing these puzzles. It’s high time that I revisit that epic.

    ,

    PPS—Heal

    1/3

    are you going to heal the sink?
    yes, we need to fix it next week.
    I like to say heal—it’s like a person.

    From a conversation last year with the boy soon after we moved into this house.

    .

  • Catching up December (five-pack three+Ties*2)

    With the holidays, I’ve fallen behind on these compilations. We’ll see if I catch up or if life will keep me busy so that production just falls off in this new year. It’s gonna be a busy year at work, without adding any burdens from a self-imposed hobby schedule.

    ,

    12/7 Inktober 52, week 49

    krampus
    tracks
    you
    year
    round

    I tried to create claustrophobia with Krampus spying through the caps in the words. Turns out that half-hiding the four words along the top was more effective.

    ,

    12/11 Inktober 52, week 35

    loft nest of cruel fairies

    Made a loft out of “loft”. Unfortunately, I’ve totally forgotten how I created that creepy effect with “fairies”, maybe with a ruling pen?

    ,

    12/12 Inktober 52, week 34

    ride clouds with 72 transformations

    Another homage to the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. I used to believe that I didn’t have a favorite didn’t have a superhero. When the boy was old enough to get into the Sun Wukong cartoons, I realized I did had one all along, decades after my mom read these stories to me as a boy. Soon after, I read the Journey to the West and fell in love with that crazy monkey even more.

    ,

    12/14 Inktober 52, week 33

    pink dreams in a stormtrooper

    pink stormtrooper in a dream

    Stormtrooper was the word, but it played out in two different ways.

    ,

    12/19 Inktober 52, week 31

    It’s just one tiny bean

    “Stormtrooper” and “Bean” are both unapologetically inspired by this essay by Michele Banks about the work of Christopher Wool. It’s is well worth a read.

    The variations (among several more that aren’t published) show that there is a whole world of additional decisions that follow the initial concept. Details upon details, all the way down.

    ,

    After all the decisions, there is the final execution. Which is always a thrill and terror.

    Every time I get frustrated at a piece, I re-center by reminding myself that it’s a huge privilege to work on these drawings. I should savor these multiple bites at this apple. Is there any better use of time than making art?

    Here’s to more 5WP’s in ’25.

    Cya next time!

    ,

    PS–Ties

    Architects have a weird relationship with ties. We’re artsy professionals.

    Look at the photos of any architecture website—we don’t wear ties. I never wore one in private practice. We’ll rock a sports coats for big meetings and some architects make a statement with a bow tie. But no ties.

    But things were a bit more formal in the State. As the low guy on the totem pole, it’s best to be overdressed for government meetings. So I kept a coat in a car (with two ties, to match whatever shirt I might be wearing).

    How about meetings where I’m not the low guy? In such a case, I like to signal west-coast casualness to keep folks at ease, but I’m still a government official. Last year, I finally solved the conundrum. I can just wear the tie, without the coat! With a tie, I’m taking the meeting seriously, but not I’m not full of myself.

    A good example would be consultant selection interviews. I don’t want to outshine the interviewees, but I want to acknowledge that this is a big deal for them.

    If I know I’m going to wear a tie that day, I’ll wear a long sleeved shirt, but in a pinch, a short sleeved shirt with a tie has a nice 50’s vibe to it. But wait! There’s more—the badge lanyard. At the State our employee ID card was functionally useless. So I never wore it except for meetings in other State buildings. In such a case I’m signaling that I’m “one of you” (versus the outside consultants or contractors).

    ,

    PPS-Airport Dress Update

    With airport security, the badge lanyard went from bonus to required. Even then, which lanyard? These things are all branded! Currently I’ve settled for a LAS lanyard that was passed out at an all-hands meeting. I’d prefer a thinner lighter lanyard, but until I splurge on a UC Berkeley lanyard, it’s best to rep for the employer.

    More complicated is how to dress. For most folks that’s not a problem. Almost all of the airport dresses pretty much as we did at the State. But my boss comes from the East Coast. He’s always well dressed. Invariably better dressed than the top directors of this place! It’s a balancing act. As his subordinate, I don’t want to underdress my boss, but it feels weird to be overdressed to his bosses.

    Currently my compromise is that while I’m in the office I dress as I’ve always done (button down and slacks). But whenever I hit the terminals I tuck the shirt in and wear a sports coat. If I’m in a big meeting, I’ll wear a tie. Definitely when I’m meeting the public or when elected officials, and I’m still figuring out how to play it out when it comes to our internal leadership.

    So to that end, I finally bought a couple ties. First time in decades! I got tired of the old hand-me-downs with bland patterns and got a pair of simple navy blue ties (representing the color the new Harry Reid logo). With a sports coat in the car and another in the cubicle, I’m always ready to look formal.

    Of course, I’m is totally overthinking things, nobody else is wasting brain space on such questions. But overthinking is what architects do. So Walmart is $20 richer, and I’m the proud owner of two blue strips of cloth.

    ,

    PPS-Blick Paper Play

    For Christmas we bought a ream of sulfite paper from Blick. I took a moment to compare it against an existing ream that we already have. The texture is the same so the only difference is a very subtle beige tint on the Blick paper that might have been washed out in the post processing.

    Still, it’s always fun to play with all the tools on one sheet.

    .

  • Rhodia Reverse Book (80 sheets, dot grid, 8.3″x8.3″, 80g paper, wire bound)

    This summer I rediscovered fountain pens.

    A month later, I had to get better paper. Cheap steno pads are great for work, but they don’t show inks at their finest.

    Hedonic treadmill!

    Rhodia paper is great (as advertised!) Love the smooth buttery slide. The colors pop. They shade.

    Every morning I’d draw a hand in this book. (Whoa! Minus ten pages of doodles, that means I have about a hundred fifty hands in here!)

    I barely used the dots. If given a choice I’d go blank. (Then again, it was nice to have guides for the few times I played with calligraphy.)

    Absolutely love the square. I don’t have to compose a sketch for the rectangle. 1:1 simplifies the mind before pen strikes paper.

    But I’m not tossing out the other sketchbooks. I’m far too cheap to abandon unused paper.

    In the meantime, I hope Rhodia keeps making these Reverse Books. (I’ll be back.)
     

    It’s been a good year for my hand. With the new fountain pen habit, I’ve started a morning journal / sketching / calligraphy practice. And worked through several small notebooks (random product show gifts) at the dinner table. I’m slowly getting over my old hangups about sketching.

    Much as I hate to admit it, social media+consumerism sometimes hits the spot.
     

    Postscript — I restarted my Blick 5.5″ x8.5″ sketchbook with this note:

    Christmas 2023 Restarting a new-old notebook & drying up old pens. I wonder what will show up on these pages? What will be discerned in manipulating pen & ink on paper — privileges unthinkable to our ancestors of previous generations. When paper was a fucking trade secret. In a fraught time — we still owe the world our art. To much has been given — lets return this gift to the present (and maybe the future too.)

     

  • Five Pens

    If I had to start over, here are the pens I’d get in order.

    1. Pilot Kakuno, Extra Fine
    2. Pilot Parallel, 3.8mm
    3. FPR Muft, Ultraflex nib
    4. Sailor Fude De Mannen, 40 degrees
    5. FPR Muft, Architect Nib

    Notes:

    1. I love the smiley face on the nib. Just need to get a Kaweco Sport clip for my shirt pocket. The Kakuno beat out the Platinum Preppy because of cartridge compatibility with the Parallel if I was to take them both on the road. The Japanese Extra Fine nib takes the top slot because it’s perfect for everyday carry and sketching.
    2. The Parallel is in a Pilot Sign Pen Body and has been used as an eyedropper at home for months without leaks, but I’d use a cartridge if I was traveling (just to be safe).
    3. The FPR Muft had been perfect at home (love the clear eyedropper body) but leaked on the road. I’m curious about the Osprey Madison with a Zebra G nib, but worried about rust. If the road-ability is important I could just use the ultraflex in my FPR Guru (a piston filling pen that didn’t leak when we went on a trip in summer).
    4. The Fude is screwed in a Sailor Compass body. Even though it’s clear, it isn’t eyedropper convertible without epoxy to plug up the body. I like the 40 degree nib slightly better than the 55 degree nib but I’m exploring other Fude Pens, so this may change.
    5. This Architect nib lays a beautiful bold line that goes skinny on a dime. And yes, it’s great for architectural lettering.

  • Goodbye to Green

    At the start of 2023 I got back into using fountain pens after a long hiatus after finishing Berkeley. The ink in my bottle of Waterman Green had dried out so I revived it with water.

    A couple of weeks ago, I decided to focus on finishing this bottle so I took it out of the dark storage box and left it on the desk.

    Yesterday I realized there was a little white mold floating on the surface!

    I’m most likely too cheap for my own good, but I refilled up a couple eyedroppers that already had this green in their barrels and pulled out a brush to burn through the rest. As you can see, the green had morphed to an interesting dark teal.

    I suspect I got this bottle while still in high school, so it’s been with me for more than a quarter century. It’s now empty and washed.

    Given my morning pages and sketches, I suspect this old buddy will be all gone in a week.

  • Ultra Flex Steel Nib, Fountain Pen Revolution

    After reading a post by Ashlyn, I purchased a pen from Fountain Pen Revolution.

    Here are a couple before-after images.
    The “K” was drawn with a Pelikan 14k Medium nib
    The “L” was drawn with the FPR Steel Ultra Flex.

    This “L” doesn’t take advantage of the power of the flexy-flex, but the The nib pops when I’m doodling hard, as I did below.
    (The top two alphabets are the flex nib, the third one is the Pelikan Medium nib.)

    Understandably, the steel isn’t silky smooth like the gold nib, but it’s a great value at $30 (half for the body and half for the nib). Plus I’m willing to push a $15 nib to the limit, while I doubt I would have the courage to do that with one that costs 10x).

    Time to start practicing if I want to wield its power and breath life into my lines.

  • Sharpening Blades

    The knives in our house were ridiculously dull, so I finally took took to the internet. YouTube did not fail*.

    As with any varied collection of DIY videos, I was confronted with a conflicting advice that could have frozen me to inaction**. I could have been intimidated by my lack of good equipment. Fortunately, the knives were so dull I was forced to do something.

    I grabbed our cheap stone*** and sharpened.

    I started with 5 pounds of pressure**** on each side. Try putting that much pressure on a kitchen scale. No joke. Once a blade was back to mediocre, I ran descending passes (ten to one) on both sides of knife on both sides of the whetstone — 220 in total for this second phase.

    Repeat that process for a house full of knives. My forearms were sore***** the next day.

    But I had a meat cleaver that could cut paper******.

    So over the top, but so satisfying******.

    ~

    *A basic search led to a beginner’s tutorial by Joshua Weissman, then warnings against beginner mistakes by Ethan Chlebowski, and finally in Burrfection’s extensive library.

    **On the other hand, the algorithm fed me videos sharpening the silliest things, like a cardboard box. At least my knives were made of metal.

    ***Two years later and I’m still using our cheap whetstone. I should spend a $40 Japanese whetstone to see what I’m missing. But that would force me to buy at least one knife that cost as much as the stone…and that’s how the damn hedonic treadmill gets started.

    ****Burrfection recommends against putting so much weight on a knife while grinding. Pick your poison.

    *****I now use my legs in an extremely shallow “bow and arrow stance” to shift my whole body back and forth, minimizing the effort in my arms. That’s about the extent of my martial arts now.

    ******After writing the initial draft, I chopped up a batch of bad apples for composting. Wow, the new knives were scary sharp. I didn’t notice the seeds as I sliced through the cores.

    *******I sharpen the kitchen knives about every other month whenever my wife makes a big meat purchase from Costco. I don’t know how we lived years with such dull blades.

  • Clothes (just presentable)

    One thing my parents nailed was their Pareto Principle approach towards clothing. (If flashy isn’t the goal, 20% of the effort gets 80% of the results.)

    As a man, it’s easy to be decent — button-down shirt, slacks, and dark non-sneaker shoes. That should work for anything outside of a wedding, job interview, funeral, or legislative hearing. (It’s also the most comfortable way to dress.)

    I blend in by making sure I’m not the most underdressed guy in the room. If in doubt, I’ve got a cheap sports coat stashed in the trunk of my car, and I slap on a tie. (Yuck…Tuck in that darn shirt…Double Yuck.)

    I wear the clothes until they wear out, and then I wear them around the house until they fall apart. Then I thank the rags and move on to the next Costco special or hand-me-down. (I recently got a haul from my retired uncle.)

    It’s not minimalism. (It’s a lot easier.)

  • kampMATE firebox, 2021

    We’ve been a couple of weeks away from camping, for years.

    Last year, we slept in the backyard to test the tent, the sleeping bags, and pads, and stayed properly indoors for the rest of summer.

    The year before, we spent Memorial Day weekend testing the kampMATE firebox. It’s a simple contraption: five interlocking stainless steel plates that create a small wood cooktop.

    On Friday, we learned that harnessing one of the four elements takes a learning curve! We’ve never cooked with fire before, so we wasted wood to boil water and scramble eggs.

    My mother-in-law stepped in the next day. Unlike pampered Americans, she grew up cooking with coals. She danced between wood scraps and charcoal briquettes to build a proper fire. We stir-fried ground pork, added white beans, and stewed for an hour. We switched pots to cook rice. After the rice was cooked, we reheated the stew with cauliflower. It was a legitimate meal, but it took forever. We used 42 briquettes.

    On Sunday, I started the fire using charcoal, paper, and dried leaves. We made a savory stew with stir-fried onions, garlic, sweet potatoes, and garbanzo beans. Surprisingly good; more surprising than good. The meal was supplemented with veggies and rice cooked in the house as the stew simmered for two hours. We used 20 briquettes.

    We celebrated Memorial Day with an all-American chili. We filled the box with rocks to pushing the charcoal up to the pot. Unfortunately, the red beans were uncooperative and took hours to soften so it still took 20 briquettes.

    We closed the long weekend buying a dutch oven from Home Depot. We planned one-pot meals by adding rice to the stews and watched outdoor bread baking videos.

    The firebox spent the summer in the sun before moving permanently into the shed. (The dutch oven is a cast iron bread box on the kitchen island.)

    Still, $25 was a cheap diversion for a long weekend.

    I wonder when we’ll go camping, two weekends from whenever.

  • Berol Draughting 314 Pencil

    If brands are an emotional connection, this one grabbed me while laying buttery blacks on ED11A drawings during my freshman year at Berkeley.

    A few months ago, my mom returned old pencils that I left with them after college. That night, my daughter was using this round burgundy pencil with a thick graphite core in the living room.

    In spite of the two decade hiatus, a warm fuzzy feeling swept over me. I was surprised at the strength of the reaction.

    It’s just a pencil.

    What a fine pencil!

    Unfortunately, Berol is no more.

    What will be the nostalgia brands for our kids? 2056 is just around the corner.

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