Thursday, September 04, 2008

RNT Mission Statement

I’m currently redesigning the Ransom Note Typography site. I’m also taking the opportunity to re-think some things.

Hence, I present you with the shiny and new Ransom Note Typography Mission Statement:

1) At Ransom Note Typography, we are committed to presenting our loyal readers with quality content on a regular basis.

The same standard of poorly written, cheaply executed and deeply flawed ideas will continue. On the same unpredictable, irrational and irregular schedule I’ve enjoyed of late.

2) The reader is the most important member of the Ransom Note Typography Team. Without you, we wouldn’t be here.

I have readers! Suck it, lesser blogs! And, you can’t spell “reader” without stealing a few letters from “team,” now can you?

3) Ransom Note Typography strives to open new markets and garner as many new readers as possible while still maintaing our high standards.

Why can’t I be dooce or kottke, too? And don’t say it’s because they have talent and I’m basically a hack. That’s been said to me a million times already, OK? And for the love of all that is holy, will someone please click on those goofy ad things over there? I have a kid in college now! Come on!

4) Ransom Note Typography will never stoop to being evil, merely for a piece of your page views.

Submit this to Digg! Reddit! StumbleUpon! Please, pretty please on a bacon flavored cherry lollipop, tell all your friends and family members about me! Subscribe in a feed reader! I’m pathetic and emotionally needy and desperate for the attention and validation of strangers on the Internet! The therapy isn’t helping!

5) Ransom Note Typography is “kid friendly” and will never go blue and seek the cheap laughs of comedic vulgarity.

Shit, we’d never do that.

Jon scribbled this mess on 09/04/08 at 06:04 PM, best we can tell it fits in the category of Regular Post. This many folks had something to say about that, (7) Comments. The permanent home of this entry is here: Link

Monday, September 01, 2008

Gender Politics, Indeed

Jonah (10) has asked about pregnancy. Specifically, he wants to know what labor and delivery means. Reha is going into some detail about how uterine contractions and labor and delivery work. All that squeezing.

Re: So when the baby is coming and all that is happening you want to be [she’s about to say, “be near a hospital in case something goes wrong,” but Jonah interrupts]

Jonah: A man. It’s a good idea to be a man.

Well played, Jonah. Well played.

Jon scribbled this mess on 09/01/08 at 12:03 AM, best we can tell it fits in the category of Regular Post. This many folks had something to say about that, (1) Comments. The permanent home of this entry is here: Link

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Fear My Tears

Carrie from Jon Deal on Vimeo.

Our oldest daughter left for college. I gathered a bunch of old photos of her and strung them together.

She’s awesome.

It’s crazy how time flies. I swear, it feels like she was born about twenty minutes ago.

And yes, I did weep a lot while making this.

And if you dare make fun of my hair as seen here (or the popped collar at around the 3:00 mark), I will hunt you down and do bad things to you. Or, I’ll just find bad pics of you from your past and post them on the IntarWebs. Don’t push me, pal, I’m a man on the edge right now.

Jon scribbled this mess on 08/28/08 at 04:09 PM, best we can tell it fits in the category of Regular Post. This many folks had something to say about that, (24) Comments. The permanent home of this entry is here: Link

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Ain’t No Pain Like This

I am still swamped and will be until later this week.

But I just have to say this:

Carrie (our oldest), just left for college.

I watched from the middle of the street as the van turned the corner.

And wept. Tears of sorrow and joy at the same time. It’s awful and wonderful and crazy-making.

More later. (I have a fair amount to say about this, as you can imagine.)

Jon scribbled this mess on 08/26/08 at 09:24 PM, best we can tell it fits in the category of Regular Post. This many folks had something to say about that, (8) Comments. The permanent home of this entry is here: Link

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

I Kinda Suck as a Guest Poster

There are reasons why people don’t ask me to guest post on their blogs.

A) I send them my post and then forget to link to the guest post from my site. This is kinda unforgivable in the blog-ity world, which as well all know is fueled by links, Red Bull and longing.

B) I ask, “what should I write about?” and the guest posting requesting blogger says, “Just be yourself, it’ll be great!” which sends me into a spiral of self-doubt, shame and self-loathing such that I can only calm down after eating an entire tub of cookie dough ice cream, a whole package of Twizzlers, hours of aimless “procrasti-surfing” on Wikipedia, YouTube or Hulu and then puking for days. (I do this instead of regular therapy and it’s proven to be the least healthy and effective thing I’ve ever done in my life. I should stop doing that.)

C) People rarely ask me. (This is probably the largest reason, if I had to be honest with myself, I suppose.)

Anyway, I’m a bad blog citizen (and a bad husband and father and generally a bad person and oh hell, WHERE IS THE ICE CREAM? WE ARE OUT! I HAVE TO GO TO THE STORE, be right back), but I’m rectifying that now. Many of you are probably landing here at Ransom Note Typography HQ from here, where I spewed a little thing the other night. Brenda is a peach.

And though you will wonder why after you read it, you might also be interested in a post I scribbled in crayon over at my good (and patient) friend Loralee‘s site. It’s about BlogHer 08, so it’s about 1400 years old in “web time.” (i.e., last month). Loralee, over my not terribly strident objections has convinced me that I simply must go to BlogHer next year, which I’ll probably do. I’ll be one of the twelve guys in a crowd of 1000 women, wondering exactly what I’ve gotten myself into. And trying not to be “creepy bearded guy” and instead be “non-threatening, cuddly beard guy.”

I have a year or so to work on that.

Jon scribbled this mess on 08/20/08 at 10:09 AM, best we can tell it fits in the category of Regular Post. This many folks had something to say about that, (5) Comments. The permanent home of this entry is here: Link

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