gel pen on graph paper
5 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches
Category: Art
Doodle
Who needs paper when you’re wearing old jeans?
Instant Review: Doane Idea Journal
gel pen on 60lb graph paper
6 x 7 inches
While looking at the photo streams of people who had added me as a contact on Flickr, I came across some notebooks made by Doane Paper. Spiral-bound notebooks containing gridded paper, to be precise. Be still my beating heart!
I have this thing about graph paper, you see. My very favorite notebooks in college were those half-sized ones with yellow paper, made by Cambridge, I think. The pages were plain lines on one side and graph paper on the other. I’ve searched and searched and haven’t been able to find a suitable replacement. The color of the paper is less important than the grid, so I thought I’d give one of the Doane notebooks a try.
I ordered their 8 x 10 inch Idea Journal on Wednesday and received it today. Not bad. I was happy to see that the packaging was all reused. Recycling is important, but I think all too often, people forget the “reduce” and “reuse” parts of the equation. The notebook itself has rigid, raw chipboard covers on front and back, with a generic sort of design on the front that really appeals to me. The paper itself is 60lb, so it’s heavier than standard notebook paper. This makes it nice for doodling, because ink doesn’t bleed through to next sheet. It’s not so heavy that it feels bulky, though. It’s a good compromise for a notebook that will be used for both writing and doodling.
They also included a free 5 x 8 inch writing pad, with grid paper. Nice touch! I’ll definitely be ordering from them again.
Staff Meeting Doodle
gel ink and stickers in steno pad
6 3/4 x 6 inches
We had a big tech services meeting today, so I had time to doodle. I also had my annual evaluation this morning (at 7am!), which was fine. Human Resources decided to switch to a different format this year, and I guess a bunch of people are upset about it. It’s pretty standard, though. I suspect that the folks who are most upset are the ones who have worked here for 20-30 years. They don’t know what it’s like to work anywhere else, so they’re incredibly inflexible. I don’t care, as long as I get a decent evaluation. And I did!
Staff Meeting Doodle
gel pen and sticker in steno pad
3 5/8 x 6 inches
A coworker and I got lunch from Jimmy John’s over the holiday break. The sticker on my wrap came off in one piece, so I stuck it in my doodling notebook.
Staff Meeting Doodle
gel pen and ballpoint pen in steno pad
9 x 6 inches
I meant to post this last Thursday, but completely forgot. Oopsie! We had a webinar on creating provider neutral bibliographic records for e-books–not exactly a staff meeting–last week, which is where the right-hand and lower parts of the doodle were done. Riveting stuff! Actually, one item did make me sit up and take notice. We’ve begun cataloging e-books from print copy records, instead of from the item itself, something that will make a lot of catalogers’ brains explodiate. But with the move toward FRBR, wherein multiple item types will be nested under one uber-bib record, this makes a whole lotta sense. Under the provider neutral model, individual variances (e.g. one manifestation has 155 pages and another has 146) are not important. Under FRBR (which is a long way from being implemented yet), format itself will cease to matter at the bibliographic record level (e.g. a book and a DVD of a movie made from the book will fall under the same master bib record). So I see the provider neutral model as a step toward FRBR.
Interesting stuff, if you’re a cataloger, but probably not so much otherwise.
Anyway, we started creating provider neutral records a few weeks ago, so I understood the practice, but the theory–especially the point that we are to preference good records for print manifestations over the actual electronic item itself–hadn’t quite sunk in. Hence my momentary bogglement. Using records for print manifestations to flesh out the e-book record you’re creating is one thing, but to preference information in a bib record created from a manifestation you cannot physically put your hands on? Blasphemy!
Oil Pastels
I’ve had the box since Drawing I. None of the original crayons are still in it, of course, but the box is more or less in one piece.
Red Pear
Red Pear
oil pastel on denim
7 1/4 x 6 inches
Staff Meeting Doodle
gel pen and ballpoint pen in steno pad
4 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches
I forgot my new doodling pen at home and had to use ballpoint. Ugh. Ballpoint is not only messy, but it takes more hand pressure and is more time consuming, so I didn’t cover as much acreage as I would have if the blue area had been done with gel pen.’
Big Al’s Birthday
It’s Big Al’s birthday. I remember the date, because it was the database password when I worked at the art museum. Altogether, I worked there seven years, so that string of numbers may be permanently tattooed on my brain. I often can’t recall my phone number, the last four digits of my social security number, or my checking account number, but I will always remember Alain’s birthday.
So, happy birthday, Big Al. You were the best and most infuriating boss I’ve ever had. I will always remember you chain smoking, cussing up a storm, and chugging warm Tab from a 2-liter bottle. You made me laugh and cry and I’m pretty sure I wanted to kick you in the shins at least once a week. You also let me create my dream job, turning what could have been a boring data entry position into one where I got to research, write about, and play with art. And when I graduated and was no longer eligible for student employment, you wrote a grant to keep me on full time. I will always be deeply appreciative for that. Not only was it a wonderful way to finish off my work there, but it let me segue into another university job, which in turn was a stepping stone to the job I have now. Thank you.
This is one of my very favorite paintings. I love the Fauves, and this one is, as Alain would say, “seriously cute.”
André Lhote, Under the Trees I (Sous-Bois I), 1906, oil on canvas, 28 3/4 x 23 5/8 inches (73.02 x 60 centimeters), Ball State University Museum of Art, Gift of David T. Owsley
red paper boat 